414 AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



debarred from acting in the capacity of umpire ; and the 

 United States alone was acceptable as an umpire to Vene- 

 zuela. On the other hand, while the United States was 

 perfectly willing to name an umpire, it could not do so 

 with propriety, unless a concurrent request came from both 

 parties to the dispute. 



Further English advances near the mouth of the Orinoco 

 River in 1886 were viewed with alarm and dismay, and war 

 was almost precipitated by the despatch of a Venezuelan 

 gunboat to Barima Point with engineers and equipment to 

 construct a lighthouse in that locality of disputed owner- 

 ship. At this same time a Venezuelan note was addressed 

 to the British authorities that should Great Britain object 

 to this assertion of sovereignty over Barima, diplomatic 

 relations between the two nations would instantly cease. 

 Even at this critical juncture, public interest in the United 

 States was not greatly moved. Mr. Bayard, voicing hi 

 friendly concern in the adjustment of the dispute, felt 

 warranted in tendering to the British Government the 

 good offices of the United States, in an endeavor to 

 promote an amicable settlement of the respective claims, 

 with which the secretary coupled an offer to act as arbi- 

 trator, should such proposal prove acceptable to both coun- 

 tries. In a communication to Mr. Phelps, December 30, 

 1886, Mr. Bayard touched upon the responsibility of the 

 United States in relation to the South American republics, 

 in which he mentioned "the doctrine we announced two 

 generations ago " ; such responsibility he declared to be 

 entirely consistent and compatible with an "attitude of 

 friendly neutrality and entire impartiality." He said fur- > 

 ther : " It is not supposed for a moment that any idea of Y 

 political or territorial expansion of authority on the Ameri- 

 can continent can control Her Majesty's counsellors in any 

 action they may take in relation to Venezuela. . . . The 

 dispute with Venezuela is merely one of geographical limits 

 and title, not of attempted political jurisdiction." 



With the clash of authority at Barima Point, Venezuela 

 assumed a more aggressive attitude toward Great Britain. 



