Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1895-05-02
VENEZUELA'S OPPORTUNITY.

d Gu0 SdluudIy IL GSlupOI-
airy effect of suspending British
aggression in that quarter. Ven
ezuela will make a mistake if it
do not improve the occasion to
insist that the temporary truce
shall become permanent. There
is scarcely a country on this
hemisphere which could so we'll
afford to defy foreign invasion
as the mountainous, inaccessible,
ly defended republic on the
northeast shoulder of South
America. It has natural resour-
ces enough to provide an army
of defence with food for years.
in Jading force could be land
ed in sufficient strength 10 ensure
permanent control.
Venezuela has, moreover, a
stronger weapon of offence and
defence. AS a sovereign State
it has the right TO issue letters
of marque and reprisal against
any enemy; and if, instead of APP
pealing to arbitration, it should
boldly throw down the gauntlet
and declare war against Great
Britain, it could summon to its
assistance a host of volunteer
allies more formidable than any
levy of regular troops. A Ven
ezulan patriot suggests a line Of
attack which, if adopted. would
put an entirely new face on his
nations quarrel with England.
His suggestion, briefly stated,
is that Venezuela buy forthwith
a number of fast steamers, arm
them with rified and rapid-fring
guns, man them with American
sailors, and incorporate ships
and men into the service Of the
republic. Let Venezuela then
boldly declare val against Eng
land and send her cruisers forth
to prey upon the enemy's ship
ping. The waters of every sea
are white with the sails or black
with the smoke of British com
merce. In one month, he es-
Inmates, those Venezuelan cruis-
ers would be able to infict more
damage on Great Britain, in her
weakest spot, the pocket, than
the cost of a whole campaign in
the field.
The Venezuelan gentleman
thinks that his idea is worth con-
sidering. We think SO, too. He
would find no trouble in recuit-
ing hardy sailors for the purpose
in any port of the United States.
Enough Irish-American seamen
could be found to man a whole
fleet in such a cause. Every
thing, of course, should be done
with due reverence for the sane
tity of international neutrality.
The financial returns from
such an enterprise would enrich
Venezuela proportionately as i'm
poverished England. Butcher,
gazing upon London after Water
loo, sighed to think of the count
less loot there stored. Drake,
Arson, Frobisher and other
gentle British buccaneers found
floating gold mines in the Span
ish galleons Of two hundred
years ago; but those were mere
children's tin banks in compari-
son with the rich cargoes that
cross the ocean every day in
British bottoms. England is
rich; Venezuela is poor. So
Spain was rich and England poor
two centuries ago; but the Eng
fish buccaneers restored TIE fin
ancial equilibrium by a series of
financial exploits which even
Wall Street could not rival.
The Venezuelan gentleman's
idea may be chimerical, but it has
the appearance of practicability;
and, if carried out, it would at
least give apleasant flip Or ro-
nance to the humdrum prose of
present sea life. Should his
novel but praiseWorthy sugges-
ton be adopted, no doubt his
Government will provide for a
possible English proclamation of
.outlawry against the privateers,
by selling and keeping in a cold
storage warehouse a sufficient
number of British subjects as
hostages for good behavior on
the part of their country.
That being attended to, we see
no reason why Venezuelan priv
altering should not become a
patriotic and lucrative industry,
as we'll as a useful agent in the
promotion of poetic justice and
the redistribution of national
wealth. Here is. the chance of