The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-09-23
MORE TROUBLE
FOR VENEZUELA
Squabble With Great Britain
Over Goose Island.
ALMOST AN OPEN RUPTURE
LITTLE REPUBLIC UP AGAINST
THE REAL THING.
ALMOST AN OPEN RUPTURE

7 ONDON. Sept. 22.-The Ass1cistss
Press is in a position TO Announce
- that diplomatic relations betwes,
Great Britain and Venezuela are On M,
verge of being severed. Any day. slnos,
any hour may bring the annouacemsrr
that the British minister at Caracas b,-
been given his passports. with corr
ponding action toward the Vene,raIs.
representative In London. The csrss o-
the crisis seems not 70 be conffDsf
any particular instance. but consists A.
various differences which have rgir, ~.
mated IN Venezuela assuming such an an
cry attitude as 20 leave DOWning ST.
fully impressed with the belief tlar f6s
Venezuelan government intends 10 Tor
matters TO crucial issue That "a III.
lOmatic rupture would result iu hGsrUfrjs.
Is a contingency thus Tar scarcely C0u-
temDlated,
Almost a Rupture.
The present. Diplomatic relations ara %,
strained that. 20 quote a respoosilI.
British official. IL would make really veTl,
little difference If the fact became mix
lie property by the absence OF The dini1-
matte representatives from Caracas ana
London.
The view of the foreign office is thar
affairs have reached a stage where 10 j.
impossible 20 deal satisfactorily Win
Venezuela in any matter which m8r
come IN In proof OF this contention fbA
foreign office instances the report of fha
United States minister az Caracas. Her
bert W. Bowen. announcing Thar tba
Venezuelan government had protested
against the British flag being raised over
PatOs Cor GOOsel island. over which The
Venezuelan government claimed s0yer-
eighty. According 10 the British govern
ment's understanding PatOs island be-.
longs TO Great Britain lust as much "a
Trinidad and so far as known no cues.
ton as 10 the OWnedshiD has ever arisen
Inhabitants of the island have recently
been shot or otherwise endangered
through the action of Venezuela, whether
government or revolutionary parlisans Is
not known. For purposes OF protection
the local West Indian authorities ordered
the British flag 10 be prominently dis
PLAYED on the island. hence The protest
which the foreign office says is only one
of MANY
A Hopeless Middle.
An exceptionally prominent official said
to a representative Of the Associated
Press this evening:
Affairs in Venezuela are so hopelessly
muddled that we can get nothing done.
There Is no concealing the fact that the
Venezuelan government has made heated
protests 10 our minister The chief grleg-
ance appears 10 be the allegation thar
the British government is aiding the rev.
dictionary array. 1t Is needless 10 say
this is perfectly baseless. We only wish
the United States would take over the
whole country and then perhaps We could
get some peace. or all the disturbances
If the last decade the present seems q
be the worst This. combined with th,
attitude of the nominal government
makes US somewhat indifferent 10 any
action which NAV take place. The Nene
zuelans appear inclined 10 be rather reck
less. thanks chiefly 10 what / presume
Is the mistaken notion that Washington
Will protect them from the results Of
their own folly. however inimical that
might be TO the lives and property Of
British subjects and those of other Eu
rODeans. AS we understand Monroelsm
Venezuela is quite mistaken in this mat
ter, though apparently the impression
has much TO do with her present action