Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-20
GREAT BRITAIN MUST YIELD
She Is Usurper on the Soil of
Venezuela.
BlUFFING NOW TO GAIN TIME
1t Is Game That She Knows How to Play.
The Monroe Doctrine Must Be
Upheld.

Washington, Oct. Correspondents
of the New York PresS)-ln spite of the
excited furry both in London and Wash
ington with regard to the Venezuelan
boundary dispute, itadoes not appear that
anything substantial has grown out of
the correspondence between Secretary
Olney and the Marquis of Salisbury. The
case stands exactly where 1t has stood for
the last ten years, with the possible a&-
ception that Great Britain seems more
determined than ever to insist on the full
measure of her claims, without regard to
the attitude of the United States.
The editorial in the London Times
which was .cabled to this country today
is believed to voice the sentiment of the
administration now in control of affairs
in Downing. street, and that editorial
holds. out no hope whatever for any set
Element which shall not despoil Venezu-
ella of her richest mining region lying
east of the Schomburgk line A dlstin-
guished diplomat explained to the Press
correspondent tonight certain features
of the boundary dispute which have not
hitherto been clearly exploited.
One Thing That Is Certain.
at should be distinctly understood, in
the first place." said he, that this ques-
ton is not one to which arbitration
should properly apply. 1t is a matter of
well-established fact in history. contain
ing not an atom of doubt, that to Great
Britain there was coded by the treaty of
1914 with the Netherlands all the terri
tory belonging to the latter country east
ward of Venezuela.
LAS the line of demarkation between
the possessions of the Netherlands and
of Venezuela-at that time province Of
Spain-is clearly defined in that treaty
all occupation on the part of Great Brit
al of tow o,.d hot line ic
clearly a usurpation.
UNFOLDING an Arbitrary Act.
Great Britain lays great stress on the
Schomburgk survey of 1910. 1t is an in
teresting question to know by what in
ternational sanction such a survey was
made-certainly not with the under
standing or consent Of the Venezuelan
government. 1t was an arbitrary act of
Great Britain, and one she is determined
to uphold against a weaker nation, I'M
less the United States government recog-
niZes the injustice of such a position and
once more proclaimS with decisivenesS
the principles of President Monroe
Great Britain's game in the Vene-
zuelan dispute is the same as she played
in the Behring sea business, to arbtrate
the unquestionable right of another ma
ton so that during the progress of ne
gotiations the dispute may become so
clouded as to CONFIRM her in the posses
sion of everything which she has unjust
ly claimed.
A Point We Can Never Yield.
This is not the worst of it. Great
Britain has had the effrontery to- sug
gest that the only point which is proper
ly susceptible of arbitration is that of
the right of the United States to inter
fere in the controversy In other words,
we are to subject to arbitration the valid
ity of the Monroe doctrine. 1t must be
borne in mind that the solution of this
controversy involves the very existence
of the Monroe doctrine as a recognized
principle of American diplomacy.
There is only one line for the United
States to pursue. She must insist upon
oonfining the question to the original
territory in dispute, a comparatively mar
row strip of land between the Essiquibo
and Morocco rivers. which is many miles
east of the Schomburgk line. All enz
croachments since 1914 west of the Mo-
RICO river are clearly acts of aggression
and Great Britain should be compelled
to acknowledge the fact that the occu-
pancy by her subjects gives her no terri
torial Jurisdiction"