St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-26

and refused to accede to it Pending
these negotiations the authorities OF
the colony proceeded TO occupy por-
ton of the Venezuelan territory, and
failing to deast after protest, Vene-
zuela severed her diplomatic relations
with England.
I'm 1891 Harrison called the attention
of congress to the matter, but nothing
came of it. The matter dragged along
until the present time. Whatever may
have been the intention of England,
the mouth of the Orinoco IS prize
worth conteSting for. The commerce
of this river is already considerable,
and is destined to become very 1mpor-
tant. 1t is navzgable for long dlS-
tance by ocean craft, and its. .tribu-
taries afford a vast system of inland
navigation covering a great territory
that will, at no distant day, yield
large traffic, and should an inland sys-
tenn of railroads ever be developed, the
mountain range along the north coast
of South America will force the trat-
fic out through the basin of the Orino-
CO, and England exhibited, to say the
least, great commercial saSacity In
seeking to secure the mouth of the
river, as well as securing that por-
ton of the rich gold fields which would
fall within her territory should her
extreme westward claims be allowed
to stand,
ITO talk of war over this subject is
idle. England, with her commercial ana
with us, and the United States has
no desire to engage in war. 1t Is
neither probable nor necessary. II
our people, through their constituted
authorities, simply maintain digni-
suit in the peaceful and just settle
ment of the Venezuelan question ana
the firm establishment of a great prln-
ciple, but will win for us the respect
of other nations.
I'm regard to the interests of the
Manoa company the facts are briefly
that in 1883 q large grant OF land, IN
cludinls the delta of the Orinoco, was
made This grant was for ninety-nlne
years, with the right to occupy the land
and remove all products, with some
minor matters, such as certain eXemp-
tions. The grant also provided that
the absolute title to all mines should
rest in the grantee. The Manoa COM
pany became the owner OF the grant,
and after doing some developments and
securing the recognition of it's rights
from the government, from certain
causes ceased operations, and last Win
ter Hon. Donald Grant, obtaining con-
trolling interest in the company, pro-
ceeded to Venezuela for the purpose OF
securing a formal recognition and con-
firmation Of the rights of the COM
pany. This was secured, except as to
some 500 acres, which was in dispute,
and a new company, called the Orinoco,
leased the property of the Manoa COM
pany, the concession extending to the
eastern boundary of Venezuela, wher-
ever that may finally be settled, and is
to that extent interested in the settle
ment of the question, bu as the conceS-
sion includes several million acres, and
the amount in dispute is small, it is not
of vital Importance. The claim that
the company is behind the present
trouble is groundless, for while the
company expects to be protected, still
the principle invoked against the ac-
QUESTION of American territory by Eng
land or other foreign countries is a
question of national Importance and
too thoroughly grounded in the Amer
lean mind to warrant the claim that
the company is behind it. The Amer
lean people are determined to insist
upon the principle"