The record-union., 1895-12-07
THE VENEZUELAN AFFAIR.
Interesting Statement of the Whole
Question by an Ex-Minister
How England and Venezuela Came to
Fall Out-Argument in Defense
of the Monroe Doctrine.


resented this country at the Vene-
zuelan Capital 1t is from the columns
of that excellent review and record OF
the worlds progress. The ReVle" u
Reviews for December.
Concerning the article by MI.
Scruggs, the editor of The Review Oh
Reviews says:
Elsewhere in this number, the Hon.
w. L. Scruggs has made a stateiilTdlt en-
regarding the claims OF Venezuela we
do not publish this statement as an
impartial one, but rather as an autnor-
itative explanation of the grounds upon
which Venezuela rests her cause: MI.
Scruggs was formerly United states
Minister in Venezuela; and we undef-
stand that, in what he now writes upon
that topic he speaks as an ADVISOR OF
counsel of the Venezuelan Government
We do not for a moment assert that
England may not have some equaly
plausible claims to make as against
the Venezuelan position. But we can
say with entire calmness that the
claims we have seen made for England
by the English press are not OF klhu
which serve to change our OPINION tndI
Venezuela is morally right in asking
for the arbitration of the whole broad
question. We do not wish to judge the
English case upon the merits OF the ar
zuments which the English press has
made, because these arguments are so
lame that they must certainly do Great
Britain an injustice.
The argument by Mr.. Scruggs is as
follows:
Venezuela, as the successor in title OF
Spain in 1910, claims certain territory
west of the EsseQuibo River, in what IS
known as the Guayamas (or "Gulneas
on the northeastern portion OF the South
4nerican continent. Great Britain, as
the successor in title of Holland in 1914,
claims the same territory. The issue Is
therefore one of historical fact as 10
whether Spain or Holland was the ieSal
owner and occupant of this territory dI
the time of their respective transfers oI
title to Venezuela and Great Britain
In other words, the recognized bound
ary between Spain and Holland at tne
time of those transfers is the rlghttui
boundary between Venezuela ana BTU
iSh Guinea.
Venezuela claims that the Essequlbo
River was the boundary established pc
tween Spain and Holland by the treaty
of Westphalia in 1913; that this bound
ary was never changed, by treaty OF
otherwise during the 166 years from
1G4S to 1914; and that it has never been
changed since, either by subsequent
concessions or by prescription. Eng
land is understood as controVertng TINS
position. At any rate, as early as lozt'
she had occupied territory beyond the
Essequibo; and when demonstrated
with by the old Colombian Federal
Union of which Venezuela was tnen
constituent member, she claimed the
Pumaron River as the ancient bound
ary.
1t is manifest, then, that the terri
tory originally in dispute was nm1led
to the narrow strip between the Esse-
Ouibo and Pumaron Rivers, since the
left banks of the one and the right bank
of the other, was the extreme limit OF
the Venezuelan and British preten-
sions respectively. It was not until
later period that England extended her
claim TO the borders of the Morocco
which she then asserted to be the dl-
viding line. It is true that When, IN
1910 Sir Robert SchOmburgk was COM
rnissioned from London to survey and
mark out the limits of British Guinea,
he by the capricious line which pears
his name, extended the British claim
westward to the Orinoco delta ana
southwark to the Amacura and the
watersheds of the Cuyuni. But that
was done without the knowledge or
concurrence of Venezuela, who stlll
claimed the Fssequibo as the boundary
Moreover, in 1S43, when Venezuela
protested against this invasion of her
territory the British Premier Lord
Aberdeen, explicitly disclaimed the
.'Schomburgk Iine," and directed its
Obliteration by the Demarara aulhOTl-
ties.
quo ante, and by necessary inference,
limited the disputed territory to the re-
e-ion east of the Morocco In the course OF
negotiations which followed, Lord
Aberdeen proposed a conventional
boundary line beginning near the
mouth of the Morocco and extending IN
general direction to the headwaters OF
the Acarabisi.
But as this would have given to Brit
ish Guinea even more than all the terri
tory then in dispute, and contained De
sides conditions humiliating to Vene-
zuela the proposition was rejected.
Venezuela. still claiming the Essequlbo
as the rightful boundary, then proposed
q reference of the whole question TO
friendly arbitration. This was re-
iected by England. The final outcome
of the negotiations was the diplomatic
agreement'' of 1850. by which each of
the parties obligated itself to the other
not to occupy any portion of the un-
occupied territory in dispute
Where then, was this 'unoccupled
territory in dispute2" Manlfestiy II lay
between the Essequibo and the Morocco
Bivers. Venezuela so understood it.
and there is every reason to believe
that Lord Aberdeen understood the
agreement in a like sense. Certainly
II was not until nearly whole genera
ton afterWard that England, ulSIe-
rarding the repeated assurances of
Lord Aberdeen, extended her claim so
as 10 embrace all the territory within
the original "Schomburgk line and
some 10000 square miles beyond it.
She took forcible possession of this ter
rftory. fortified the main entrance 10
the Orinoco. established police stations
ON the left banks of the Amacura and
or the right banks of theCuyuni, and
SET up posts and monograms to indicate
that the entire region. larger in area
than the whole State of New York, was
1,ndsr British dominion. Her refusal to
evacrate these positions, and to restore
tba statu quo of 1850 with a view to ar
bttration. led to the rupture of 1887,
when the Venezuelan Minister at Lon
don was. recalled, and the British Min
lister at Caracas was given his pass
ports.
Unable. however, to repel these ag-
gressions in the manner usually
adopted in the last resort by strong ma
tions. Venezuela appealed to the moral
sense of the civilized world in the hope
OF inducing England, through the
mediation of friendly Powers to agree
to submit the whole question OF bound
Hcy 10 impartial arbitration. In re-
sponse to this appeal the United states,
Spain and nearly all the Latin Ameri-
can Republics, each separately ten
dered their good offices. and suggested
method of settlement