The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-20
A speck of Trouble.

SPeck of Trouble.
There IS nothing that has yet appeared
in the correspondence between our gov
eminent and that Of Great Britain. rela-
tive TO the latters claim 10 territory in
Venezuela, that would justify the state
ment that there is danger OF serious
trouble between this country and Great
Britain. The claim is an old one. Very
recently. however. Great Britain has
shown a disposition to occupy the disputed
territory and Venezuela has indicated her
purpose to resist such occupation.
our government has several times sug-
gested to the British government the ad-
visibility Of submitting TO arbitration the
question Of the boundary line between
Venezuela and the British possessions.
Arbitration is what Venezuela wants She
feels she is being imposed upon by
stronger power. Great Britain does not
want arbitration. She insists there is
nothing 10 arbitrate. Her position is that
she knows what belongs TO her and that
she intends to have what she claims.
What is known as British Guiana was
Exactly what territory was acquired has
never been satisfactorily determined. At
present Great Britain claims all the ter
ritory within what is known as the Schom-
burgk line. This line was run in 1910 by
Sir Robert Schomburgk without the know
ledge. and therefore without the con-
currences of Venezuela. Since that line
TO an immense region of country outside
of that line. 1t is contended that Holland
never had possession of much of the
territory within the Schomburgk line and
none outside of it, and, hence, could not
have conveyed to Great Britain all the
territory which the British government
now claims In fact, Immediately after
the SchomburgK line was run the British
government admitted that there was no
authority for IT, and offered to accept
compromise line on certain conditions,
which We're not satisfactory to Venezuela.
The United States are brought into the
dispute through the Monroe doctrine
which, briefly stated. is that It is against
their policy to permit European govern
ments to acquire additional territory on
the American continent by conquest or
otherwise. The British government con-
tends that it is not seeking to acquire
fresh territory; that it is only claiming
what it acquired from Holland.
In view of the fact that Venezuela in
sists that the territory claimed by Great
Britain is far greater than Holland pos
sessed. and is a large part of her terri
tory, our government takes the position
that the Monroe doctrine applies. and
Secretary Olney, in a recent note to the
British foreign Office, stated clearly and, it
is said, quite emphatically, that it would
insist upon that doctrine in the settlement
Of the boundary dispute between Great
Britain and Venezuela.
There are reasons for saying that II
is the purpose of our government 10
maintain with firmness the position it
has taken. That being the case, there is
likely to be trouble between the United
States and Great Britain unless the Brit
ish government agrees to submit, the
boundary dispute to arbitration for the
purpose of determining whether or not
Great Britain's claim includes territory
which she did not acquire from Holland.
A new phase Of the matter is the init
nation that the British government de-
lays answering Secretary Olneys note
for the reason that it is trying to unite
the European powers against the Mon
roe doctrine. France, as is well known,
and there may be reasons why other Eu-
ropean governments would join Great
Britain in a declaration against the
Monroe doctrine. The speek of trouble
which is now apparent between the United
States and Great Britain may disappear
or it may assume serious proportions