The Portland daily press., 1896-08-10
VENEZUELAN ARBITRATION.
United States Commission VIII Not I'm
peril 1t by Premature Action.

washington, D. c.. August 9Th
Venezuelan commission is expected to
report "a true divisional line" as the
boundary between British Guiana and
Venezuela, which will be favorable to
venezuela rather than to British Guiaua,
for 1t is we'll understood among those in
the confidence of the commissioners, that
what they have heard and read of the ar
guments and evidence, all Of which are
now practically in hand, has satisfied
them that Venezuela's claim are more
correct than those advanced Dy Great
britlan on behalf of Guiana. The ex-
creme Venezuelan claim has not been
published, but the divisional line will
Do That which Venezuela desired, rather
Than that claimed for British Guiana.
however, the commission is not expected
30 formally adopt it's decision until late
IN the Tall, and meanwhile Lord Sails
Dury Is expected to agree to an abritra
Jion OF the Venezuelan question, which
Will probably postpone the announce
ment OF the commissions decision, since,
when that ia once announced, our gov
ernment will have to stand upon it as
nnaI and not subject to arbitration
lhe commissioners will therefore, be
,gllilng time III one sense, in the hope
'6haf an arbitration agreement may be
British ambassador, returns from Eng
land, where he has been enlightening
Lord Salisbury and the cabinet on the
subject, and doubtless advising an agree.
ment to arbitrate.
A semi official statement of tho present
status OF the commissions work is as
fOllows
During the past month the work OF the
Venez uelan boundary commissions has
entered upon a new stage. Heretofore,
the efforts of the commissioners Rave
been directed mainly to securing the
evidence upon which the final report is
to be based. This work from now on
will very largely consist in examining
and classifying the information already
collected.
The British government, 1t is to be
presumed, has put into its two yotumni
GUS blue books all the information upon
which it relies in support of its claim.
The Venezuelan government has done the
same thing, in it's three volumes of tran
scripts from the Spanish archives.
Independently of this, the com mission
has been searching on its own account
The Congressional library in Washing
ton and many public and private libra
ries in various parts of the country have
been ransaoked for historical and oarto-
graphical information. The archives at
The Hague have been gone through with
thoroughness that not even the zeal
of Great Britain or Venezuela has here
tofOre attempted, and, as result, impor-
tant documents which the world thought
lost or destroyed, have been unearthed.
This work, although not yet terminated,
Is nearing completion.
.sAEor some months past, Sir Clements
z. Markham, president of the Royal
Geographical Society, has been in CORE
spOndence with the secretary of the COM
mission and hos furnished valuable in
formation on the subject of tbs Schon
Durgk line. accompanying it by copies
of maps on file in the colonial Off CO. some
of which have never been published. 1t
may be said. briefly, that while informa
tion is looked for from Rome, from The
Hague, and possibly from other places,
the bulk of the evidence Isl in, and the
question now is to determine what ii la
that evidence esta blishes.
In order to solve this problem, a num-
ber OF preliminary reports are being pre-
pared. Among these may be mentioned
special reports upon the geographical
and physical characteristics Of the region
in dispute; reports upon the evidence
presented by the 300 or more maps which
have been published since the discovery
of America; reports upon the facts Of
occupancy and settlement, as given by
historians, and separate reports upon the
same facts as developed by the documents
from the dute-Dutoh and Spanish az
ohiyes critiques upon the arguments of
the British and Venezuelan governments
as these appear in tho British blue books
and in the Venezuelan brief. These re-
ports are being prepared for the most
part, by the commissioners at their re-
spectiye summer homes.
President Brewer spent several days
last week at the Office of the commission
In Washington. He will be joined there
Thursday by Mr.. Hallet- Provost the SEQ
retary and the two spend the day in oon-
suItation. President Brewer has gone on
to his home In Vermont. The secretary
will remain for some days in Washing
ton.