Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-10-31
THE VENEZUELA TROUBLE.


Whether Great Britain or Venezuela
has the better historical and legal title
to tho territory so long in dispute be-
tween those two countries, no one with
out the easy omniscience Of Lodge, a
Campbell, Blaine, or Tribune"
editor would venture to decide otfhand.
1t is an intricate and dubious question.
England derives from the Dutch,
Venezuela from the Spanish, possess
sions; but Just what were the boun-
daries of each it is difficult to toll.
Those who wish to see tine evidence on
either side in condensed form, should
consult Senate Executive Document
22G, Fiftieth Congress, first session.
Therein the Venezuelan ease ia set forth
by different hands, as is also hnrl
Granville's outline of the British
claims, with the evidence to support
them, historical, diplomatic, and
geographical The controversy is emf
nently one for experts 10 pass upon, and
for arbitration to determine.
Our Secretaries of State of recent
years have all had something 10 say
about the conflicting evidence in the
case, and most of them have refused to
discover tho truth, as only great his,
torical scholar like Senator Lodge can,
lat glance " Secretary Gresham
declined TO express ian opinion con
corning the merits Of the historical and
other data upon which the conflicting
territorial claims may respectively
rest. " Secretary Freinghuysen waa
equally modest--or lethargic, il one
chooses. He refused TO commit this
country to any prejudiced solution in
favor of Venezuela and added that
the United States 'doos not seek TO
put itself forward as the arbiter
of international disputes affecting
America. +" Mr. Bayard when Secre-
tary, wrote to Minister Phelps instruct
| ing him to propose our good Office to
heal the quarrel and bring about arbi-
tration, but weakly referred to the dis
ppte as merely one Of geographical
limits and title, not Of attempted
political jurisdiction. f" II was reserved
for Mr.. Blaine, in 1890, to discover
that the volume of evidence in favor
of Venezuela is overwhelming. -
This will be conclusive with all those
who havo forgotten how Mr. Blane's
Bohring Sea evidence was equally over
whelming. In that case he had his
maps, his treaties, his international
law all ready to confound the English
I diplomats, and he did confound and
triumph over them most gloriously in
every Republican newspaper and stump
| speech for many resounding months.
But ON an evil day his overwhelming
evidence was submitted to an inter
! national tribunal of arbitration, and
| the whole of it was laughed out Of
court, even one of his own arbitrator
voting that the Blaine history and
4 geography were pure MYTH That was
/ the first and only time that one of the
Blaine international arguments was
4 passed upon by competent judges, and
| the humiliating results ought to make
us little circumspect. Certainly, il
we now see that it would have been
folly to 90 to war, on our own account,
for case in which Mr.. Blaine knew
that we were overwhelmingly right,
we ought to have some better warrant
than his TO so to war in behalf Of an
other country. Tho overwhelming
might turn out Of another sort.
Another thing TO bear in mind in the
| whole controversy is, that the Venezue-
Ian authorities have all along been
| yisibly anxious TO draw us into their
| quarrel. In fact if we will not fight
for them, they are ready to quit at
any time. This appears over and over
again in the correspondence. In 1881
the Venezuelan President showed our
minister an ultimatum" which he
was ready to hurl at Great Britain,
provided he were assured of the sup
port OF the government of the United
States, " This was during Mr.. Blaine's
first secretaryship, but he was busy
elsewhere, and strangely ignored this
I Al e. ~, -
| Venezuela felt of Mr.. Frelinghuysen,
saving that she herself could never
afford the means to stop Great Brit
ain F." but hoping that she might find
\ help and encouragement in the Monroe
/ doctrine. But the Secretary codly
/ wrote Mr.. Lowell that formal action
ID the direction Of applying that doc
| trlne 10 speculative case affecting
Venezuela seemed to me to be inoppor.
tune, and | could not advise Ven
ezueIa to arouse discussion of the
point
The most curious of all these appeals
to us was made in 1887. Venezuela
had uniawlully detained two English
schooners, and had refused to pay the
damages demanded. Thcreupon came
a note from the Governor of Trinidad,
giving the government I days in which
to pay over $40, 600, or else TO be re
sponsble for any consequences that
may arise There was a great sour
rying about to find the American min
lister. Alas, he would do nothing ex-
cept write home about it. Then the
dean OF the diplomatic corps was ap.
pealed TO, but he wrote back, with the
deepest sympathy, that the members
had decided unanimously that II was
not their duty Gin any way 10 inter
fcrc. -" So the money had to be pnid,
as the Minister for Foreign Affairs
expressed it in his note "to avoid Ill
terror complications - Tho same course
will doubtless follow Lord Saliabury's
recent demand for rcparation for the
arrest and detention Of British officials.
AS we said, the right to the disputed
territory seems to be lust the kind of
question that should be submitted Ia
arbitration, and to.day'a London dis
patches show that England will agree
SO to submit it. 1t is certain that she
by M means takes il for granted that
the territory in controversy is all to be
hers. The British authorities in
> llcmorara notify prospectors and
miners that England will not guaran-
tee protection or compensation in ease
boundary questions are decided in
favor Of Venezuela. " In 1889 treaty
, Of arbitration was all but closed be-
tween Earl Granville and Ciuzman
Blanco, but Salisbury came into power
and insisted upon notifications which
wrecked the negotiation. Shortly after
wards, in 1887 Venezuela broke off
diplomatic relations with Great Brit
ain, and since then nothing has been
done except to aggrayato the i'll feeling