138 TFIE ANGLO- VENEZUELAN BOUND A R Y DISPUTE 



message its recommendations had been enacted into law, and almost, 

 if not quite, without parallel, nc^t a single vote was recorded against 

 it in eitiier house. What stronger evidence of its non-partisan charac- 

 ter is possil)le? And 3'et onl}' last week a j)rominent London news- 

 paper could say : 



"We were brought to tlie verge of war four years ago for the s^ake of Mr 

 Cleveland's reelection, and a pretext for a diplomatic quarrel will never be want- 

 ing when the anti-English elements of the Re])nblic have to be conciliated." 



Thus, in January, 189G, was horn the United States Venezuelan 

 r^oundary Commission, composed of David J. Brewer, Associate Jus- 

 tice of the Supreme Court of the United States; Richard H. Alvey, 

 Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, a 

 .skilled Spanish .scholar; Mr F. R. Coudert, a distinguished member 

 of the New York bar and of counsel for the United States in the Bering 

 Sea case ; Dr D. C. Gilman, geographer, president of Johns Hoi)kins 

 University, and Dr Andrew D. White, historian and diplomatist. As 

 its chairman, the commission chose Judge Brewer, and as secretary 

 Mr S. Mallet-Prevost, of the New York bar, a thorough Spanish scholar 

 and trained lawyer. Thus jurists, lawvers, and scholars composed the 

 United States Connnission, wldch organized forthwith, established an' 

 office in the Sun Building, on F street, and l>egan investigation. 

 Floods of information were poured in upon it, and floods of applica- 

 tions for em[)loyment. For a few weeks its work was the leading 

 news item of the British and American ])ress. To its aid it invited 

 scholars — Justin Winsor, of Harvard College, distinguished for his 

 great work on American history and cartograph}' ; Prof J. Franldin 

 Jamison, of Brown Universit3%esi)ecially familiar with the histor^'of 

 the Dutch in America; and especially did it summon Prof. George L. 

 Burr, of Cornell University, u[)on whom fell most of the historical 

 research work. I have not ceased to marvel at the amount and ex- 

 cellence of the work done and results achieved by him. For aid in 

 geographic matters the commission came to the Geological Survey, 

 availing itself of the special knowledge of several of the experts in that 

 office. After preliminary studies the work was organized, and Pro- 

 fessor Burr went to Holland and to T^iondon to study the Dutch 

 records. Here he was joined later by Mr ("oudert. The secretary 

 made, in the Harvard library, a special study of the maj>.s of the 

 region, and similar studies were carried on in Washington. It is not 

 too much to say that the studies thus conducted threw much new 

 light on the question ; that supposed facts were in some important 



