741 



IEZUBLA. 



of preparing for the discussion of the boundary 

 question between Venexuela an.l Kn-land. anil 

 not done, a* Venezuela se ar. with I ho 



intention of indicating dominion or empire." 

 He expressed satisfaoti.-n that the colonial nu- 

 i at Demerara had nt ..ccnpicd Point 

 lUriina; and when SeAor l-'.-rt i.jii.- demanded 

 that (he m. -num. nts set up by Scbombtii 

 rtmov iti-h Government. 



1843, wot orders to that effect, sir 1. 

 Schomburgk WM directed at the same time to 

 .. which he completed in 

 -xue'lan Government took the 

 ground tlmt all Guiana originally farmed part 

 of the Sjmnish captain generalcy of Ven. 

 and that the part ceded to Holland (which Hol- 

 land had transferred to Great Britain) comprised 

 only l : :id ruled by the Dutch, 



whose westernmost m-tileim nts were confined 

 to the banks of the Essequibo, except near the 

 coart, where they ex tended to the I'M MM- P.: 

 In 1M1 a caw came up in tin- Dcmerara court, 

 touching jurisdiction over Maroco river, where 

 a murder had been committed, and the court 

 held that that place was with in Vcne/u.-lan juris- 

 diction. ( Hi .luly 39. 1843, Ixird Aberdeen sug- 

 gested arbitration of the boundary dispute. In 

 to accept Maroco river as the 

 starting jK-int of a conventional boundary, which 

 in the interior should follow the Cuvuni river to 

 its tourer, hr. l-'"i-ti<jue would not concede a 

 more northern boundary than I'liniermi river, 

 and his death, in 1MI. interrupted the negotia- 



t.. !.v 



Some years later the Venezuelan Minister of 



.uterropited the British > 



fa/aire* ** to the rumored intention of Great 

 Britain to build a fort at Point Barima. Belford 

 n Wilson replied that hi- <M.\, rnnu-nt had 

 ntion to ocoupv or encroach upon the 

 tj iii depute, amf expected the Venezuelan 

 .nient to instruct the local authorities in 

 Guiana to refrain from taking which 



the British authorities mi^ht justly regard as 

 aggressive, and which would lead to' a collision. 

 In response to his request and formal d> 

 Uon. made under m-t ructions, that -Great Brit- 

 ain hn- i, .n to occupy or encroach upon 

 the territory in dispute," the Venezuelan min- 

 v. 18. 1850, entered into a mutual 

 engagement with him to treat such territory as 

 neutral and inviolate pending a settlement. " 



the civil war in Vene/uehi. boundary 

 negotiations were not resumed till 1871 



then offered to accept , line 



that Ixml Aberdeen bad proposed, b,it this offer 

 ws* reject. disbury. An alleged 



naval demonstration at the month of the Ori- 

 noco formed the subject of a letter from the 

 Vmuelaa minister in Washington, daU 

 , l*7.to wMH ,,, Secretarv of State, 



ottJaii. SI. 1H80. replied : - 1 have to inform vou 

 thai, in v*w nf the deep interest which the Cfov- 

 Unit ^ ** takes in all trans- 

 to attempted encroachments of 

 npon the territory of any of the 

 thU OoTenim..|.t 

 on the forcible 



miles southeast of 



jnin.u' all territorial 



claims over the mouth of the Orinoco. Inland 

 it followed the npp- f Cuyuni n\r, 



like the Aberdeen line. This propi.>iti..i;. 

 less favorable to Ycne/neta than the pi 



the boundary i|iiestio|| ,li,l 



not come up again till lss-j. but the di- 

 became acute after p. Id had been disc..\. 

 1888, on one of the afllnent- <f Ma/arun 

 and miners began to fl-k into the e.-in,' 



.i conrlndcii in l^s-J that tin'- only 

 solution OJM-II to her was nrbitration. Si: 

 laws and the Constitution f the rci>ubli< 

 nated the K-sc|uibo as the eastern boun<i 

 compromie line short of it would be ac< 

 il. whereas t he deei-.jon of an ini< TH 

 r a.s to the true boundary woiiM b. 

 ing an n" -cuelan i\-, 



in lyondon was instructed, on .luly !. i 

 suggest arbitration, and Preside! 

 Blanc... in November of tliat .muni- 



cate.l the state of the negotiations to t h< 



tary of State at Washington, together with a 

 copy of an intended note ; 

 requesting advice fnun the I i. 

 eminent and such support as it was deeii 

 sible to jrive. Mr. PTSlinghuyseii, in a d 

 to the mini-ter in r.-n-aca-. intimated the will- 

 ingness of the t'nii. to u-e U 

 offices to promote arbitration, though noi 

 (I'-ai-h Great Britain as the advocate oi 

 prejudged solution in favor of Venezuela, He 



: the minister to say t the l-'orej-i. 

 tary in Caracas that "the United States, while 

 advocating strongly the recourse to arbitration 

 for the adjustmenl of international dispu 

 feet ing the states of Ameri'-a. does not N 

 put itself forward as the arbiter: that, vii 

 nil such questions impartially, with in* intx 

 de-ire t.) prejudice their merits, tin- Tnite.! 

 will not refuse its arbitration if de-iivd I 

 parties; and that, re^ardinu' all such c|ii- 

 as essentially ami distinctively American, the 

 United States would always prefer 

 contentions adjusted through the arbitrament 

 "f an American rather than a Kuropean ] 



<>n Nov. i.'i. i^^:{. the Venezuelan Government 

 proposed to submit the frontier dispute to arbi* 

 . -ayiiiL' 'hat it was necessary to have the 

 decision of an impartial referee, since th. 

 stitution of the republic forbade the ali- 

 of any part of the national territory. Col. 

 field, then British mini-ler at Caraea-. n |.lied,.n 

 March 'J!. lS.sl.thnt the di-pilte was , 

 subject for arbitration, and (in/.man I 

 went to London us minister plenipotenti..' 

 the purpose of reaching a settlement, if [ 

 <Mi his way he stopped in \\ 

 ferred with t he Secret ary c.) 

 Mr. Lowell as to how : 



good offices could be profitably employed. : 

 any rate, to "take proper occasi"ii 

 Granville know that we are not without < 

 as to whatever may affect the interests ,,f ;i 

 republic on the American continent and it 

 tion in the family of nation-." <M-H. I 

 gested to the liri'ti-h (iovernment.a- an all 

 tive to arbitration by a third party, tli; 

 question be submitted to a commission of 

 appointed by both parties. This Lord Granville 

 found incompatible with the British Coii.-titu- 



