The San Francisco call., 1896-04-25
YET SEEKING THE TRUTH,
Experts to Be Sent to The Hague
by the Venezuelan Boundary
Commission.
Counsel Scruggs Points Out Incon.
sistencieS in the British
Blue Book.

WASHINGTON, D. c., April 24.-The
Venezuelan boundary commission reas-
sembled to-day after recess of ten days.
Its most important business was de-
cision previously foreshadowed in these
dispatches to send one or more persons to
The Hague to examine the original Dutch
manuscripts relating to Guiana. No Sc
lection OF such agent or agents was made,
however.
An additional mass of testimony in
behalf of the Venezuelan claim was filed
with the commission to-day. Mr.. Scruggs,
the Venezuelan counsel, also filed a brief
criticizing the blue book. A voluminous
amount of testimony from Caracas was
likewise presented to the commission.
The brief presented by Mr.. Scruggs
answers the various contentious of the
British Government as given in the pub
lished blue book, mainly through histori-
cal notations, with comments of his own.
He mentions the statement of the blue
book that in 1895 dutch settlements were
formed near the mouth of the Orinoco."
But" says Mr.. Scruggs, ait was pre-
cisely in 1886 that Sir Walter Raleigh
made his first voyage to the island of
Trinidad, and thence through Boca de
Navois up the Orinoco to the mouth of
the Caroni. He reported that after first
overcoming the Spanish force at Trinidad,
he assembled the great river as stated,
where he found the Spaniards had previ-
ousIy traversed the whole country; that
they (the Spaniards) had been cruel to
the Indians that he had made friends of
the Indians and told them he had come to
I11s
querors and oppressors.
"And IL is gravely asserted in the blue
book that in 1896 the Spaniards did not
hold any part of GUIANA and care
fully selected Il will not say garbled) ex-
tract from letter from Don Rogue de Mon
tes, the Spanish Colonial Treasurer at
Cumana, is produced to prove this. But
even this carefully selected extract
proves just the contrary. The writer
says he had instructed Captain
Felipe de Santiago of the Spanish
service to ascend the river Orinoco and
arrest two Englishmen whom Raleigh had
left there as spies and informers,' and to
advise the Indian chiefs not to admit or
receive any foreigners except Spaniards'; !;
that these instructions were faithfully car
ried out; that the only surviving English
man had been arrested, and that the
Indians were warned against the intrusion
of any more foreigners. -
"lf the Spaniards were not then in
actual possession of the Lower Orinoco
| and in fact of the whole of Western
Guiana. how were they able to arrest the
only foreigners found there and to warn
| the Indians against similar spies and in
| formers in the futurep''
A second chapter considers the boundary
question from the date of the English
| acquisition OF title to British Guiana and
third chapter takes up the latter phase
| of the case.
| LONDON, ENG, April 24.-The Times
will tomorrow publish dispatch from
George w. smalley, its American CORE.
spondent, affirming the statements in his
dispatch on Thursday last as to the views
| OF the American executive. SmaIley says
| he might have used stronger language
without exaggerating the apprehension
existing in Washington. The Times COM
menting upon Mr. Smalley's dispatch ex-
presses surprise at the condition of affairs
that he sets forth, and argues that Wash
lngton is under misundersta nding.