Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-03
VENEZUELA |S PREPARED To Furnish All Necessary Evi-
 dence and Maps. PROOF IS WELL ARRANGED President Crespo Anxious to Know Where the
 Commission Will Meet. NONE OF THEM HAVE YET ACCEPTED England May Ask to Present Her Side of the Case, Which Will Delay the De-
 cision--Foreign Archives to
 Be Examined.

washington, Jan. Z-The venezuelan minister promptly cabled his government this morning of the boundary commits sioners' appointment and the names of its members The Venezuelan officials in Caracas had already assumed that the commission would be authorized by con- gress, and had lost no time in preparing that country's side of the controversy for the commissions consideration. All their evidence has been complete for some years, but much depends on whether the commission will decide to visit Venezuela or to hold all the sessions in this coun- try. President Crespo has notified Min ister Andrade to inform him as soon as possible of the resolution of the commits sion on this point, that there may be no delay in submitting the Venezuelan case. The documents are exceedingly volumi- nous and include a large number of valu- able maps, which must be sent to Wash ington it the commission concludes to sit there. All these documents are now in Caracas, but ready for immediate trans mission. They could be presented to the state department within ten days of the notification that they were required here. Until that time the work Of the com- mission must necessarily be altogether of a preliminary character. If the or ganization of the body is perfected, as is now expected, early next week, some time must elapse before the American ministers at The Hague and Madrid could secure and transmit copies of Dutch and Spanish archives, which are considered essential to an impartial ad- judication of the opposing claims.
 Venezuela Is, however, prepared to fur nish certified copies of all these docu- ments that tend to prove her right to the disputed territory, and perhaps Great NT ltn others.
 The probable attitude of the English government towards the commission evokes the keenest curiosity. While 1t is the prevailing opinion that 1t will em- brace the opportunity to state its side of .she case without agreeing to be bound by the findings, 1t is not believed that this can be done without considerable delay. It Is. understood that although the Eng fish have accumulated all possible evil dence to support their claims to the en- tire Orinoco region, they have never ex- pected to be compelled to produce it, and have not arranged it in such shape that it could be promptly submitted. It would not be surprising, therefore, in case Great Britain should take cognizance of proclamation of the American commis- sion, if a request should be received from Lord Salisbury asking for sufficient de- lay to enable his government to prepare IS.d the actual discussion of the merits of the controversy can hardly commence inside of the next two weeks, and there is no possibility of a decision for several months, if the investigation is to be made as thorough as contemplated.
 The five members of the Venezuelan commission have not yet formally noti- fled the president of their acceptance, but MT Cleveland had received assurances before the appointments were announced that each of the gentlemen selected was willing to serve.
 It Is learned that no formal tenders of places on the commission were made. but Justices Brewer and Alvey and Messrs. Coudert, White and Gilman were sound- ed as to their sentiments with regard to serving, and the president was fully cognizant of their views. This possibly accounts for the technical denials made by two members of the commission as to the place having been rendered them. The selection of Prof. Gilman was largely de- termined by his prominence as a geogra- pher. The fact that he has written life of President Monroe, in which chapter is devoted to the Monroe doctrine. was of secondary importance in connection with his appointment, as Prof. Gilman does not express any radical views on the sub feet. It is interesting to note that Prof. GilIman in his book on Monroe takes the ground that the idea embodied in the fa- nous doctrine did not originate with Charming, but was practically suggested many years before his time.
 Chief Justice Fuller is largely re- sponsble for the selection of Justice Brewer The chief justice had several talks with the president and Secretary Olney on the subject, and 1t Is not un- likely that his opinion also had weight in the appointment of Chief Justice Alvey.