New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-10-09
BLOOD on THE GUIANA NOON.

"Thc melancholy days are come. indeed. Tom
Wais sons voice has given out and the Ncn"z-
uell business j. stirred up again. The former
calamity alone could have been borne. with SOr-
row and chaStcned soul. The greatest joys Of
life are all too fleeing. But the latter comes
perilo,Isly near Ia being what the lamcncd \.
Ward would call 49, mulch" For there will bc
talk interminabe about Schomburgk lines and
treaties Of Utrecht, and Maxim guns and Span
Isl Indian savages. and insults and snart-moncy
and the Great Horn Spoon. What has poor. sllf-
ferng humanity done that all this should come
upon It?
For 1t Is all a fitting of spectral knights nj
visionary windmills nothing more There is
really not the slightest occasion for usually
staid and somnoeni British papers 10 be- jump
ing NJ and down. yelling war and blue ruin.
Nothing has happened to justify such antics.
The colonial legislature of British Guiana has
in a hasty and irregular manner rushed through
n bill granting 10 somebody-cxact identity I'M
known-a concession 10 build a railroad some
where or other it is said on the territory in dis
putc between Venezuela and Great Britain. That
seems 10 be- all. 50 far can be- made oui from
the incohcrent "hollcrine' that just now pre-
walls or course if the facts be- such. the lcgis-
lature had no business To do 50. Lord Salisbury
admits the title to that territory 10 be in dis
pute. and has practically agreed that. pending
settlement of it, no further acts of aggression
should be taken by either party. Tho conduct
of the legislature was therefore highly mprop-
or. not to say indecent. Nobody. it is TO be pre-
sumed, recognizes that fact more clearly than
the British Government, which viii doubtless
forthwith disavow and dsallow the act of the
L.. 4, and III. .llr for.
a chmcrcal railroad into the waste-papcr bas-
kct. Sef-rcspccting gentlemen do not fall TO
fighting because the too precocious son of one
of them Is guilty Of some Bit of mischief. The
good faith Of nations is not to he impaired. nor
the peace Of the world impcred. because few
little colonial Jingolcls have grown fcverish on
a diet of dynamite. and are seeking Il Barima
gold cure for Essequibo aguc.
As for the general settlement of the Nenez-
uela dispute. there have been of late so many
cocksurc announcements, each fatty contradict
ing every other, that the credulous mind may
well be quite bcfuddlcd. 1t may readily be re-
stored to clarity. however. by dismissng all such
rumors as unauthoritative gucsswork Negoila-
tons are probably proceeding, slowly but not
unfavOraby. 1t Is no grievance to mankind that
they are not conducted with speaking trumpcts
on the housetops; nor is there reason for lnlpa-
thence because they are not 10 be concluded be-
fore breakfast-tme this morning The one sig
nificant and certain thing Is that the ncgotia-
lions for general arbitration treaty between
Great Britain and the United States are pro-
cccding satisfactorily. and are nearly done
that their completion will probably be announced
before the end Of the year. When that treaty Is
an accomplished fact the Venezuela business
will soon be disposed Of under IT, and 1t Is alto
gether probable that Great Britain and Venez-
uela are both waiting for such settlement Of
fheir differences. In the mean time. cooling
draughts for the blood and icepacks for the
heads may well be prescribed for the overex-
cltable patriots who are shouting "Hl-yl.' aud