The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-12-09
OWNERSHIP
OF AN ISLAND.
England and Venezuela May Get Into
Serious Wrangle Over Isle .
Of PatmOS.
both COUNTRIES LAY Claim TO IT.

Washington Dec. 8. - In Venezue-
las yellow book" for 1901, copy o
which was received in Washington re-
Gently from the foreign Office at Car
acas, are the exchanges between the
London and Caracas governments last
year in regard to the ownership of Pa
tos island which has been III dispute
between the two countries for many
years. significance attaches to this
correspondence in view of the ap-
rroaching crisis between Venezuela
and Great Britain, as it is not imprOb- A.,
able that in the settlement of the
claims of British and German citizens
against Venezuela the Patos dispute
will also be involved. Re-opering of
the Patos question was caused by the !
action of the Venezuela sunboat Au-
glsto in January, 1901, in capturing |
certain British subjects on the island
When the Caracas authorities were !
called to account by the London for
eign office the former replied by re-
newing their long standing claim to
Patos and a diplomatic controversy
extending throughout the year was the
result Venezuela bases her claims to 4
the island on its proximity to the coast
of Guaira, from which it is distant only |
three miles, claiming that it is tenet
of International law that the country /
coplInands waters within a marine
league OF it's coast; that the interna-
tional law institute has defined the ter
ritorial sea as six miles. whereas the |
island of Patos is more than ter miles
from Trinidad the nearest British pos
session Further that the treaty of
March 1916, explicitly confirms the
title of Venezuela over all the Islands
near the coast, which were under the |
dominion Of Spain in the initiative
period of Venezuelan independence"
In support of this contention the
Venezuelan authorities produce a let |
ter from the royal Spanish minister
for state in 1873, in which he denie;
that royal sanction ever was given
to She concession alleged to have been
dad by the governor of Patos, Huevos
and Monos.
Great Britain, through her charge
d'affairs at Caracas, and later through
her minister, advanced the contention
that when she conquered the island OF
Trinidad in 1897 sovereignty over Pa
tos also as obtained and so recognized
by the Madrid government; that Pa
tos has remained in the peaceful pos
session of Great Britain for more than
a century, during seventy years Of
which time Venezuela advanced no
counter claim and that the official map
of Codazzi colors the island of Patos
the same az Trinidad, indicating that
both belong to the same country.
To this last contention Venezuela re-
piled by stating that the map of Cod
azzi was so old as to make it impos-
sible to distinguish the various colors
and produced other maps by the same
author which place PaBos as belonging
to Venezuela.
Being unable to agree on even the
minor points of the controversy. the
British minister near the close of last
year informed the Venezuelan foreign
Office that he would make no further
representations in the matter, as there
was nothing to be gained in continu-
ing the correspondence.
II is evident that President Castro
will ask that the question be settled
by arbitration, proposition TO which
the British government will hardly &C.
,cede In view Of its contention that the
ownership Of Patos Is SO clearly Brit
ish ~ not tc furnish suitable subject
fog esbitrsticn'