New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-04-27

sufricent to prevent such ludicrous historical
blunder as this.
HOLLANDS JURISDICTION
Recurring to the subject OF Indian protectorates
documents are cited In the Blue Book to sustain
the assumption (made on page 20 that England as
the in title to Holland exereised 1urls sse
ton for considerable distance up the rivers ESS he
assumption is not sustained by the carefully
selected extracts produced Breny' the cdSd d,an
BEYOND the immediate limits Of the Essequbo set
tiement' He arrested and brought to triai pc
was admitted to have been beyond limits of the
iolony and in region Inhabited by Indians; Lne
But it was held that the old Dutch protectorate OF
Indians had extended over that particular res'T on
English The accused accordingly tried and IND
cOnvcted but he was Almost a N. trial
had disclosed that the so-called Protectorate was
A ssseS Of h shf nu Saa
years in the colony and had held the ONCE OF pro-
sctor Of the Indians that In Has SaPaG mags
trate that he had mo authority TO compei a,.g i
tor; that he had no authority over them Una. ne
and Certainly no jurisdiction them and that
he was merely authorized to give nd mem scs
1T is sravely stated that some time about 1881
Protestant missionaries from England visited and
Mezaruni and Cuyun rivers. 1t is even limited that
these Christian teachers erected preaching stations
American and English Protestant teachers In var-
Gus parts OF Venezuela Colombia and Mexico. put
II has never before been intimated that this TACT
transfers domain land Jurisdiction to the American
or English Governments
A SIGNIFICANT REQUEST.
I'm May 1886. md again in September of the same
wear Sir Robert Ker Porter. the British diplomatic
agent at Caracas, addressed a formal note TO the
Minister of Foreign Affairs. requesting the Venez-
uelan Government to establish and maintain buoys
and beacons at the very places on the main
and forcibly held British territory And IT Is ad-
mtted that this fact was known at the British FOR
egn Office. certainly early as 1912, II not before.
But now sixty years after this formal request was
mads ana a sesome Known at the Foreign Once
Her Majesty's Government graveiy disc!alIn ana
dsavow this official act OF their duly accredited
representative Moreover, 1t is seriously asserted asserted
that the Venezuelan Government never returned
however to page 245 of the Blue Book Itself. we
find there reproduced. in somewhat defective trans
G i r1." dated june i5 1856 promising
pliance with Sir Roberts request 1t may De ADDED
with and that the buoys and beacons were there in
1886 when the English took forcible possession oil
those places in open violation of repeated pledges
up to 1899 not single, map could be found on
which traced divisional line west of Cape
dates gave Cape Nassau as the starting point. and
the Morocco River the line. very much larger
and the Pumaron River as the Inc. Others. still
more authentic including Myers and other eminent
the Essequioo a. the starting point. and the river
Essequlbo itself as the true divisional line 80 that
up to 1899 the only territory In dispute was. at
most the narrow strip between the Morocco and
EssequIbo rivers venezuela tue TO the t Vas.
domain southwark of this had never once been
called into question
MR. sCHoMBURGKS FAMOUS LINE.
"In 1870 Mr. (afterward Sir RoberD schomburgk
was employed by Her Majesty's Government TO
survey and mark out the frontier boundaries of
British Guyana 1t was purely an ex parte ar
rangcment. Venezuela not asked to participate
In H. nor was her assent solicited II was then, Tor
the first time. that map was prepared In accord,
ancc with the Schomburgk survey which EXTENDED
the British claim to the Lower Orinoco and TO the
Lower Mazarun and Cuyuni rivers This caprcious
line tstill known a. the Schomburgk line, repre-
scented not an absolute, but only possible. future
claim by Great Britain. 1t was professedy estab-
negotiation of boundary treaties with adjacent coun-
tries In case those countries should make any any
give such answers az might appear proper and
Just: g., ,,.
objected. but demonstrated and protested. She not
only demonstrated and protested but refused abso-
lutely TO enter into any negotiation OF a boundary
treaty 70 Icing as that caprSious me should ,,n be
was explicitly disclamcd. and ts marks and posts
ordered obliterated or taken down. TER Majesty
Government then indicated Cape Nassau as the
starting point OF a divisional line
Under these circumstances. II may well seem
incredible that fortythrec years later the question
OF boundary being still unsettled and tho agreement
OF 1850 still in force. the discarded schomourGk
line should be revived and claimed By Her Majesys
Government as an absolute boundary within which
proposition looking to peaceful arbitration would
be entertained 1t is even more incredible that IN
order TO tins untenable position there should
be produced carefully selected and very m,sead-
ing extract from a letter dated July 49, 1879, adj
dressed to the Marquis Of Normandy by Governor
Light OF Demerara
VENEZt'ELA'S FIRST CLAIM
elsewhere in the Blue Book ii is stated that
venezue.a's first formal claim that the territory OF
the Republic extended to the Essequibo was made
in 1874 The first formal claim to that limit was
pu, forth as early lS22. as has been shown al.
ready, and that claim has been persistently and
consistently maintained ever since whenever the
That portion OF the Blue Book covering the
Period from $50 TO date seems to have been antici-
paied by Lord Salisbury In his note OF November
last and since all tho points therein have received
dine attention already. 1t is not worth while to go
over them again. "
contention not hitherto very prominent; yet ever
lurking in the background which Is OF the sravest
import. II the recent inspired utterances OF the
London court journals are to be credited II Is now
conceded that tho caprcious Schomburgk line VIII
claimed absolute limit. within which no pro-
posal for arbitration can be entertained But II Is
op eyan hose Beyond it, must be exempted from
arbitration. Her Majcstys Government no longer
claim indefeasIble title to the soil II IS stated only
that British subjects are settled there. and that
Ter Majesty's Government must protect them in
1T has been many times shown that every British
settlement west OF the EssequIbo, whether large or
monstrances OF the Venezuelan Government .In And
settlement large or small west OF the Morocco and
southwark of the Cuyun was planted there in
open violation OF the agreement OF $50. II has
been likewise pointed out that nearly two years
after the British forces had taken possession OF
Point Barlma and the Amacura mouth the Colonial
Government Of Demerara warned British settlers
there that they could expect no protection or any
compensaton for losses in the boundary ques-
ton should ne finally decided In favor OF Venez-
uela
I'm view these facts this latest phase OF the
british contention NAV well excite apprehension.
" mere de facto British settlements. however
Illegal in origin. to constitute basis of British
claim to domain and Jurisdiction In one part Of
Venezuela, they may do so In other parts of the
Republic. II In any part OF Venezuela. then why
not In anv rart Of other Central or South
American State? And n the principle Is to be adj
mittcd with respect all Central and South Amer-