Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1895-10-20
THE vBNBzUELAN QUESTION.

The telegraph brings us a good many
surmises and possible questions of inter-
national importance growing out of the
dispute between Venezuela and Great
Britain, all of which must be taken with
many grains of allowance. No doubt
Great Britain will press her contention
for sovereignty over the disputed terri
tory. She never takes her grip from land
that she once seizes, unless it is shaken
loose as our. colonies shook it loose by
revolution, or when 1t is relaxed as in
the case of Mexico before the threats of
this country 1t is very probable that
the dispute will be brought to a crisis by
the demand for reparation for injuries
inflicted upon the British Sergeant Beh-
rens. If Great Britain makes the de-
nand, as She seems to have done, 1t looks
as il Venezuela must acquiesce. She can
not afford to have her seaports bonn
barded The loss of those seaports, es-
pecially Laguayra, would be a blow from
which Venezuela could not easily re-
cover.
Venezuela has no power to resist the
force that Great Britain can bring
against her. She must yield at once I'M
contention that the boundary of the dis
puted territory should be left to arbitra-
/. ton. The note of Mr. Olney to Lord
Salisbury appears to be one of advice
merely. 1t is not a demand for arbitra-
Ttion. In reply to that note we have the
opinion of the British government as
given in the following language of the
London Times
at is begging the question to assume
that the British claim is for fresh terri
tory. The British case rests wholly upon
the Vindication of our original right. The
British contention is that as British
Guiana became British by right of con-
quest from the Dutch, the British terri
tory extends over the whole area pos
sessed by Holland. Every year adds to
the value of a settlement in the colony
within the Schomburgk line
1T is no longer possible to admit any
question of a curtailment of British ju-
risdiction beyond that line We are now
willing to submit the frontier question
to arbitra ton. but a few years hence it
may be equally impossible to admit such
a question anywhere within the limits
which we believe to be rightfully ours.
ut is inevitable that note such as
the United States Ambassador, Mr. Bay
ard. presented to the Marquis of Sails
bury on this question some weeks ago
should he drawn almost exclusively from
Venezuelan sources. 1t therefore re-
quires the fullest consideration before re-
plying.
THE tolera ton which q strong power
is bound to display in dealing with weak
er neighbors must have its limit. and as
far as American representation may as
sist in inducing a settlement without re-
course to unfriendly measures, they will
not we imagine. be unwelcome.'
The Schomburgk line was run in 1910
by an English Commissioner named Sir
Robert Schomburgk, sent to Venezuela
for the purpose without Venezuela's
knowledge.
The British government has rejected
with profound contempt Mr. Olney's dis.
QUESTION upon the Monroe doctrine.
Now, what will Mr.. Cleveland do about
it? What would Great Britain have done
to the Turkish government if the Sultan
had informed Lord Salisbury that the
conduct of the Kurds towards the Ar
menians was a matter with which for
elgn country had nothing to do? Why,
the British fleet would have at once
sailed up the Dardanelles and brought
the sublime Porte to terms.
Our own right to interfere with our
advice and even to demand arbitration in
a case involving the Monroe doctrine
stands on higher ground than the British
right to demand investigation in dis
putes between subjects of foreign
power But Great Britain is Great Brit
ain. She Is lord of the sea. She inter-
feres when she pleases and she forbids
others to interfere with her just as she
pleases.
1t Is in order now to hear from Mr.. OIL
ney.