272 AVES ISLAND. 



Mr. Cass to 3Ir. Eames. 



No. 53.] Department of State, 



Washington, August 31, 1857. 

 Sir : Your dispatch No. 38, of the 13th of June last, has been re- 

 ceived. From this and from your personal report on the subject, it 

 appears that the wrong done to Messrs. Shelton & Co. by the violent 

 eviction of their agents from the Island of Aves, still remains unac- 

 knowledged by the Venezuelan authorities. Considering the aggra- 

 vated character of this wrong, the very serious damages which it occa- 

 sioned to innocent parties, the period of time which has elapsed since 

 it took place, the promptness with which it was brought to the atten- 

 tion of the government at Caraccas, and the urgent manner in which, 

 under the instructions of the President, you have demanded reparation 

 for it, the continued indifference of Venezuela, is so extraordinary in 

 its character as to become itself an occasion of serious complaint. The 

 injury which claims redress occurred so long ago as December, 1854. 

 In the month of March following, it was brought to the attention of 

 the Venezuelan government. In repeated instances during the same 

 year it was prominently referred to by you, both in personal interviews 

 with the President of the republic, and in communications to the minis- 

 ter of foreign affairs, and always mentioned as a subject of grave import- 

 ance, which would unquestionably be pursued by the United States to 

 a just conclusion. In the proceedings which attended and led to the 

 Pickrill contract, this Aves claim was scrupulously reserved for sepa- 

 rate adjustment on its own merits, and at an audience of the President, 

 about the middle of September, 1855, you expressed to his excellency 

 your "confident conviction that it would be effectually sustained." 

 On the 8th of March, 1856, you renewed the reclamation which you 

 had made twelve months previous, and informed the minister of foreign 

 relations that you had ' ' recently received emphatic instructions to con- 

 tinue to urge the same upon the government of Venezuela." In 

 August, following, and again in January, 1857, the department ex- 

 pressed great surprise at the protracted delay which this claim had 

 encountered, and demanded in the gravest manner that it should be 

 brought to a speedy conclusion. "There remains no course, then," 

 you were informed, " but to press the demand for redress upon Vene- 

 zuela in a formal and decisive nianner, and request, in behalf of your 

 government, her determination m reference to this case. If she admits 

 her liability for the spoliations committed, the basis of adjustment 

 may be fixed without difficulty or delay. If she refuse redress, she 

 will be expected to offer such reasons for that course as will be satis- 

 factory to this government, especially in view of the stipulations con- 

 tained in the 3d section of the 34th article of the treaty of 1836, which 

 contemplates certain modes of redress in a case where either ' party, 

 considering itself offended, shall first have presented to the other a 

 statement of such injuries or damages, verified by competent proofs, 

 and demanded justice, and the same shall have been either refused or 

 unreasonably delayed.' Before the reception of this dispatch, you 



