New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-21
extent Of $4,000 will be cheap. when the Vaiue
If IFS new territory is taken into account
VENEZUELA AND GREAT BRITAIN.

TENEZUELA AND GREAT BhlIhiN'
The controversy over the ownership OF the
Cry,ni Valley has been complicated Win iiia"l
elaborate phrases and outlandiSh seosraph'i
names So far rs the essential facts ar" con
ccrned however. nobody needs To he Tor si'iIic
momcnt In doubt The ease X perfectly simple
Venezuela owns the land. Great Britain covers
II and IS irving 10 grab it-by guile II she can
hv force if she must Is she to succeed: lhat
is the whole Venezuelan question. Ana II Is
4 question in which not only Venezuela but
every American LIticn. south ana nor'h' Is
deeply interested.
The territories on the northern coast OF Soulh
America formerly belonged to Spain ana liol-
land The dividing line between the two Powers
was thc EsScqlibo River all east of it belonging
to Holland and all west Of it 10 Spain. The
boundary was not fixed by written treaty but
was tacitly accepted by both parties. ana re-
manned unchallcnged by either for nearly TWO
hundrnl wears Countless historical facts OF
record and diplomatic references establish 1t. III
right. beyond all question. In 1910 large
territory Immediately west Of the river revolt
cd. became independent Of Spain and formed
thc Republic Of Venezuela. II inherited all
the rights and privileges and territorial owner
owned. that is to say. all the land on the west
bank of the Esscquibo, souihward 10 the hra-
lillian frontier Four years later. in 1871. llol-
land coded to Great Britain a considerable p"r-
tion Of her territory to wit. that portion lying
on the east bank of the Esscqubo ana extend
ING eastward To the Corcnin River, since known
as British Guiana. In this transaction Great
Britain acquired all the rights, privileges ana
territorial ownership Holland had enjoyed but
no more Tn" ESscqubo River remained me
rightful dividing line between Venezuela ana
British Guiana And this fact was substantially
acknowledged by Great Britain for sixty years
Observing however. that the entire boundary
was not mathcmatically described III written
treaty Great Britain early began 10 max" NAri-
ous attempts to seize Venezuelan territory.
Down to 1910 she reached ont no further than
the Pomaron River small stream a few miles
west of the EsseqIibO This advance gave her
but little more land. but il gave her entire con
troll Of The Essequbo and of the mouth Of lis
chief affucnt the Cuyun In 1910, however,
she suddenly claimed everything clear up 10 III"
great Orinoco River. From this demand she
presently rcccdcd little and between that time
and the present has made about a dozen claims,
for rs many entirely different boundary lines.
drawn AT random here and there in The region
between the OrnoCo and the ESscquibO. with no
especial reason for any save III" taste ana fancy
of the land grabbing mapmakcr On IN" best
British maps of recent date the boundary begins
AZ the delta Of The Orlnoco and follows IN"
Amacuro River. Zgzaggng southwark along the
sixticth meridian. This i what i known * the
original Schomhurgk line. II WIS mad" arpl-
trarilv. without the least regard 10 right. ana
was soon rcpudatcd 10y the very man VINO
made H.
As late ~ 1874 the authorities II British
Guiana explicitly admitted that they had ~
valid claim to ally land west Of ia" f"indr'h
River Rui since hat date discoveries hay"
been made of exceedingly rich deposits - gold
AMI silver. diamonds. asphalt. and what moi.
in the disputed territory. and especially In ih"
valley Of the Yuruau River. an liliucut II The
Cuyunl These have excited the greed OF Hfi'
ish prospcctors. and In consequence a more de
tcrmincd effort than ever before is being made
10 grab that region and annex II 10 hrlu'h
.;uiana. The Importance Of The Orinoc" rs ih'
third great river 81 the continent. c"nihihdlh-
nr,c,ically all IN, trade Il Vcncmcll. i also
recognized. ana Great britain therefor" seeks
10 control II by Selling 20 least ON" Sh'r" 81 Us
mouth And Tor al lW>' 'lillHN NI' '''N ''
better ground than that some two hundred years
ago some wandering Dulchmcn built tempo.
rarv fort or two on The fomaron River. ana had
a skirni>h with he Spluards whose domain
they were trrSpassinc upon lust ~ though ON"
should say that bccAus" som" Canadians crossed
the ST Lawrence and campcl on Saranac Lake
all Of New York and New England must b" IN
ncXc1l To the Dominion,
II i nothing more nor less than ha"ilc"l
attempt by European Power - Cypress an
independent American State and 10 SEIZE ana
colonizc It's territory. What interest this conn
try has or should have in II l. scarcely a mat
ter of doubt, II was expressed NOR" than
seventy years ago by the then President, James
Monroe. when he said: THE American cont
"ncnis . are hcnccforh not 10 he con>d
"crcd rs subjects for future colonization 10y any
european Power With the Govern
"mcnts who have declared their independents"
"and maintained II we could not view
"any intcrposltion for Ia" purpose of depressing
them, by any European Power, in any other
light than as a manifestation Of an unfricnlly
"dlsposi,ion toward the United States. That
doctrine is as pertinent and as important in
1895 as il in lS2.'