194 THE VENEZUELAN BOUNDARY COMMISSION 



and irritating controvers3^ The matter was taken up by our own 

 foreign ofl&ce (the Department of State) and correspondence car- 

 ried on in 1895 between Secretary Ohie}" and Lord Salisbury. 

 Secretary OIney, in a document resembling a laAvyer's brief much 

 more than it does the ordinar}^ diplomatic dispatch, stated the 

 case as it appeared to him and asked that it be arbitrated. To 

 this Lord Salisbur}'- replied in two careful and most courteous 

 dispatches (as diplomatists are wont to call letters), declining 

 general arbitration. 



Thereupon President Cleveland, on December 17, ] 895, sent to 

 Congress this correspondence, accompanied by a brief but now 

 famous message — a message of which, without exaggeration, it 

 may be said that it startled the civilized world. After summa- 

 rizing the correspondence and commenting upon Lord Salisbur3''s 

 two replies, President Cleveland proceeded as follows : 



In the belief that the doctrine for which we contend (the Monroe doc- 

 trine) was clear and definite, that it was founded upon substantial consid- 

 erations and involved our safety and welfai-e, that it was fully applicable 

 to our present conditions and to the state of the world's progress, and that 

 it was directly related to the pending controversy, and without any con- 

 viction as to the final merits of the dispute, but anxious to learn in a 

 satisfactory and conclusive manner whether Great Britain sought, under 

 a claim of boundary, to extend her possession of territory fairly included 

 within her lines of ownership, this government proposed to the govei-n. 

 ment of Great Britain a resort to arbitration as the proper means of set- 

 tling the question, to the end that a vexatious boundary dispute between 

 the two contestants might be determined and our exact standing and 

 relation in respect to the controversy might be made clear. 



It will be seen from the correspondence herewith submitted that this 

 proposition has been declined by the British government upon grounds 

 which, in the circumstances, seem to me to be far from satisfactory. It 

 is deeply disappointing that such an appeal, actuated by the most friendly 

 feelings toward both nations directly concerned, addressed to the sense 

 of justice and to the magnanimity of one of the great powers of the 

 world and touching its relations to one comparatively weak and small, 

 should have produced no better results. 



The course to be pursued by this government, in view of the present 

 condition, does not appear to admit of serious doubt. Having labored 

 faithfully for many years to induce Great Britain to submit this dispute 

 to impartial arbitration, and having been now finally apprised of her re- 

 fusal to do so, nothing remains but to accept the situation, to recognize 

 its plain requirements and deal with it accordingly. Great Britain's 

 present proposition has never thus far been regarded as admissible by 

 Venezuela, though any adjustment of the boundarj'^ which that country 

 may deem for her advantage and may enter into of her own free will 

 cannot of course be objected to by the United States. 



