Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1895-12-12
LOs;O : SiLISBURY'S REPLY
Received bT the British Ambassador at
Washington.

Washin; -.tou. Dec. 6 Lord Sails
bury's reply - Secretary Oiney s
dispatch. VIII Gil. according to
the Presidents message, called
upon the british GoverAinent for
a detiuite answer 10 the question
Wnelher it would or whs.tLer it
would uO0 submit lhe territorial
controversy between itself ald
Venezuela III It's entirety to i'n-
partial arbitration, was receiv>
ed by Ambassador Pauncefote
this evening. It will be handed
to Secretary Olney to morrow.
At the same time that the for
NAL reply was transmitted to the
British Ambassador here. an
other copy, according to dipiu-
matte custom)was handed 10 Mr..
Bayard, our AIN bassndor in Lon
don, through whom, last July,
Secretary Olney's S original note
was presented to the British For
eign Office, Sir Julian Paunce-
fote being then absent in Eng
land on vacation. This copy
was undoubtedly placed in Mr..
Bayard's possession some days
before the Presidents message
was presented to Congress. 1t is
inconceivable that in d matter Of
such Importance some inkling OF
its contents should not have
been communicated by cable 10
Secretary OIney prior to the
framing Of the Presidents mess
sage. Bearing in view this point,
the passage in the message in
which the President says that
the United States will not be ''sa :
uisfied ii one Of the powers con-
cerned is permitted to draw an
arbitrary line through the terri
tory in doubt, and declare that
it will submit to arbitration Only
the portion lying on one side OF
it, will be regarded as having
much significance. There is
promise in the Presidents S
message, tnat when the
text Of the answer Of the British
Government ''eXpected shortly
shall have been received, fur
ther communication on the sub
ject will probably be made TO
Congress. Of course this cans
not be done while JhePresident is
absent duck shooting, and the
probabilities seem to be that the
CORES pOndence will not see the
light until after the Christmas
holidays, unless it should be
made public on the other side Of
the Atlantic.
The maiden report Of JudSon
Harmon as Attorney General,
containing review Of the oper-
ations Of the Department Of Jus
tice for the last fiscal year, was
laid before Congress to day It
treats at length of the business
Of the Supreme court Of the
United States and recommends
that, except in capital cases, ap-
peals in criminal matters should
not be taken to the Supreme
court. To accomplish this result
he recommends an amendment Of
the law so 20 exclude the words
''Other Infamous crimes" from
the cases subject to appeal to the
highest tribunal and to remit
minor cases to the Courts of APP
peaIs- He points out that the
words ''infamous crimes" have
been given very broad inter.
pretation. The definition. he
says, includes all offenses which
may be punished by imprison-
ment at bard labor, or tor more
than one year without hard la
Dor, whether they are actually sc
punished or not.
Another recommendation, call
ed out by recent dilatory pro,
ceedings in the case of DIR. Blu
chanan. the New York wife poi
soner, and in a num Der of othe.
notable murder cases.