Birmingham state herald., 1895-12-31


 her action does not differ from seizing and holding new territory in the Ameri- cas by the right of conquest. The seiz- ure of this South American territory by England, he asserted, was an absolute violation of the Monroe doctrine.
 At the last session of congress, said MT. Lodge, I called the attention of the senate and of the country to the manner in which England had absorbed the islands of the Pacific and to the necessi- ty of our controlling the Hawaiian islands-a necessity which now becomes more impressive each day. l ask you to note the strong naval station which England has established at St. Lucia Follow a line thence westward and you find Trfnided the development of which has been strongly pushed of late years; then Jamaica, and finally British Hon duras. That line faces the South Ameri- | can coast. This territory claimed from Venezuela is being pushed steadily to the westward along that coast, and the point at which it aims is the control of the mouth of the Orinoco, one of the great river systems of South America. The purpose of all these movements is writ l ten plainly on the map. If successful | they will give Great Britain control of | the Spanish main and make the Carib- | bean sea little better than a British lake. He concluded as follows: wv have | seen the British forces at Corinto. We | know the attitude they assume in Vene- Zuela. They are attempting to take land on the Alaskan boundary. They have | just denounced the moduS ViVendi and reopened in that way the perilous dis | pute of the northeastern fisheries. It is | not by accident that these events have | all occurred or all come to an acute stage l within the past year. They are not due l to us, for we have committed no aggres- l sion upon anybody Of all these difficult l ties which are now upon us the most im- | mediate is that involved in the dispute | with Venezuela. They tell us that this l iC roy ntn a,1d h fc- | remote,@ perhaps, but it is not worthless, l for if it had been the Venezuelan posses l sion of it would not have been dis | turbed. But it matters not whether it is | worthless or valuable. The tea tax was | trivial, but our forefathers refused to | pay it because 1t involved a great prin- | ciple, and the attempt to collect 1t cost 1 Great Britain her North American colo
 nies. The American people believe just | as firmly in the principles of the Monroe | doctrine. We have pointed out that we l are not the aggressors in the dispute, l whether in Alaska or Venezuela.
 | What then has strained our relations? | The peremptory refusal to arbitrate this | question of. boundary. Who gave that | refusal? Great Britain We have ap- Ipointed a commission, not to arbitrate between Great Britain and Venezuela, l but to inform us, after careful investiga- | tion, what the true divisional line, in | their opinion, should be- Who has drawn
 an arbitrary line of boundary and de- | clared that they should not arbitrate to | the east of it? Not the United States, but Great Britain. Ultimatums are what | strain relations, and they have come | from Great Britain, and not the United | States I believe that this question will | be peacefully settled by the representa- tives of the United States and Great | Britain but it is very clear that such
 settlement can only be reached by such | action on the part of congress and the | president which shall be as temperate as | it shall be firm, and which shall maintain the Monroe doctrine wherever 1t justly | applies. That doctrine is as important | to us as the balance of power is to Flu | rope and those who maintain the latter | must not attempt to break down the | principles which guard the integrity of | the Americans and protect them from the interference of foreign powers"
 In the course of MT Lodges historical review of the Venezuelan boundary ques- ton he was asked by MT. Hill whether | Venezuela had ever at any time reused | arbitration.
 "Never," MT Lodge replied.
 | "I refer to that" MT. Hill explained, | Ion account of a published interview
 with MT Lincoln in a Chicago newspa-
 per in which it was stated that Nene- | zuela had refused arbitration"
 "I never met" MT. Lodge said, with any instance in which Venezuela refused | arbitration So far as I am aware she has sought arbitration constantly. She | has reJecteQ one or two Ol tHe coiupIo- | misses offered by Great Britain. She re- iected them because Great Britain in- | sisted on the free navigation of the Orinoco I do not think that Venezuela has ever rejected arbitration. On the | contrary she has always sought it."
 At another point in the nara tive MT. 1 Lodge was asked by MT. Chandler | whether he had discovered any trace of the Indians with whom treaties had been
 said to have been made.
 .,ots Tx. T Od od | must be concealed in the British case At the close of Mir Lodges speech the
 correspondence on the subject of the vice.
 consuates at Erzeroum and Kharpoot
 was laid before the senate and referred
 to the committee on foreign relations.
 Then MT Mitchell, republican, of Ore | gon offered his resolution in relation to select committees of the senate, and it
 was Agreed to.
 T,.is was followed by the offering also
 by Mr Mitchell of a resolution providing
 for the reorganization by the republicans
 of the standing and the select committees
 of the senate from and after January l,
 1896.
 The proposed committee membership
 having been read at the clerks desk,
 MT German said that it was the univer
 sal custom in the senate for the party in
 the majority to control the committees.
 To that there was no objection. It was
 the proper and orderly way of conducting
 the business affairs of the senate; but
 owing to the fact that it was well known
 prior to the assembling of this congress
 that neither of the great parties, repub-
 lican or democratic, was likely to have a clear majority in the senate. a resolu-
 tion was adopted by the senate contin-
 uing the old committees until otherwise
 ordered by the senate. We are per-
 fectly. aware" MT. German continued,
 "that the democrats are in minority in
 this body. We have not asclear majority
 of all the senators elected. We do not | know as yet that the republicans have
 clear majority. That can only be de-
 cided by vote on the proposition. If
 they have they are unquestionably enti-
 tied to the adoption of the resolution
 and to the entire charge of all the prin-
 cipal committees of this body. Then
 the country will understand perfectly
 who are to be held responsible for the
 conduct of the business of this body.
 With view of ascertaining that fact I
 shall demand the yeas and nays on the
 adoption of this resolution"
 The vote was then taken, and the res
 olution fixing the membership of the
 committees was agreed to-yeas 30, nays