this dispute to impartial arbitration, and having been now finally apprized of her refusal 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 boundary which that country may deem for her advantage and may enter into of her own free will can not of course be objected to by the United States. "Assuming, however, that the attitude of Venezuela will remain unchanged, the dispute has reached such a stage as to make it now incumbent upon the United States to take measures to determine with sufficient certainty for its justification what is the true divisional line between the Republic of Venezuela and British Guiana. The inquiry to that end should of course be conducted carefully and judicially and due weight should be given to all available evidence records and facts in support of the claims of both parties. "In order that such an examination should be prosecuted in a thorough and satisfactory manner I suggest that the Congress make an adequate appropriation for the expenses of a commission, to be appointed by the Executive, who shall make the necessary investigation. and report upon the matter with the least possible delay. When such report is made and accepted it will in my opinion be the duty of the United States to resist by every means in its power as a willful aggression upon its rights and interests the appropriation by Great Britain of any lands or the exercise of governmental jurisdiction over any territory which after investigation we have determined of right. belongs to Venezuela. "In making these recommendations I am fully alive to the responsibility incurred, and keenly realize all the consequences that may follow. "I am nevertheless firm in my conviction that while it is a grievous thing to contemplate the two great English-speaking peoples of the world as being otherwise than friendly competitors in the onward march of civilization, and strenuous and worthy rivals in all the arts of peace, there is no calamity which a great nation can invite which equals that which follows a supine submission to wrong and injustice and the consequent loss of national self-respect and honor beneath which are shielded and defended a people's safety and greatness.” President Cleveland, special message to Congress, Dec. 17, 1895, S. Ex. Both houses of the Brazilian Congress unanimously adopted a motion of February 13, 1896, the minister of Costa Rica at Washington informed "The entire correspondence having been laid before Congress by the President with his message of December 17, 1895, Arbitral settlement. that body provided for the appointment of a domestic commission of eminent jurists to examine and report touching the ascertainable facts of the controversy, with a view to enable this Government to determine its further course in the matter. That commission has pursued its labors unremittingly during the present year, its researches being greatly aided by the elaborate statements placed at its disposal by both the interested Governments together with a mass of documentary evidence furnished from the archives of the European countries that shared in the early discoveries and settlement of South America. "Pending this arduous investigation, however, the Governments of the United States and Great Britain have omitted no endeavor to reach a friendly understanding upon the main issue of principle through diplomatic negotiation, and it is most gratifying to announce that amicable counsels have prevailed to induce a satisfactory result, whereby the boundary question and its associated phases have been at last eliminated as between this country and England. A complete accord has been reached between them, by which the substantial terms. of a treaty of arbitration to be concluded by Great Britain and Venezuela have been agreed upon, the provisions of which embrace a full arbitration of the whole controversy upon bases alike just and honorable to both the contestants. It only remains for the two parties directly concerned to complete this equitable arrangement by signing the proposed formal treaty, and no doubt is entertained that Venezuela, which has so earnestly sought the friendly assistance of the United States toward the settlement of this vexatious contention, and which has so unreservedly confided its interests to the impartial judgment of this Government, will assent to the formal adjustment thus attained, thus forever ending a dispute involving far-reaching consequences to the peace and welfare of the Western Continent. "Coincidently with the consideration of the Venezuelan boundary question, the two Governments have continued negotiations for a general convention, in the line of the recommendations of the British House of Commons, to which previous messages of the President have adverted, that all differences hereafter arising between the two countries and not amenable to ordinary diplomatic treatment should be referred to arbitration. The United States and Great Britain having given repeated proofs of their acquiescence in the great principle involved, not only by treaties between themselves, but severally by concluding like adjustments with other powers for the adjudication of disputes resting on law and fact, the subject was naturally approached in a benevolent spirit of agreement, and the negotiations have so satisfactorily progressed as to foreshadow a practical agreement at an early date upon the text of a convention to the desired end." Report of Mr. Olney, Sec. of State, to the President, Dec. 7, 1896, For Rel. For correspondence leading up to the conclusion of the treaty for the "The Venezuelan boundary question has ceased to be a matter of dif- For the exact terms of settlement, embodied in the treaty of Feb. 2, 1897, see supra, § 88, I. 296-297. "The arbitral tribunal appointed under the treaty of February 2, 1897, between Great Britain and Venezuela, to determine the boundary line between the latter and the colony of British Guiana, is to convene at Paris during the present month. It is a source of much gratification to this Government to see the friendly resort of arbitration applied to the settlement of this controversy, not alone because of the earnest part we have had in bringing about the result, but also because the two members named on behalf of Venezuela, Mr. Chief Justice Fuller and Mr. Justice Brewer, chosen from our high est court, appropriately testify the continuing interest we feel in the definitive adjustment of the question according to the strictest rules of justice. The British members, Lord Herschell and Sir Richard Collins, are jurists of no less exalted repute, while the fifth member and president of the tribunal, M. F. de Martens, has earned a world-wide reputation as an authority upon international law." (President McKinley, annual message, Dec. 5, 1898, For. Rel. 1898, lxxxiii.) "I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt through the Venezuelan minister at this capital of a copy of your instruction of January 15th last, stating that the Government of Venezuela proposes to request all the nations of North, Central and South America to form an effective agreement in order that the Guiana boundary question may speedily reach the honorable and peaceful end which justice and reason demand; also to call a Congress which shall categorically define the rights of those nations and devise such means as may be necessary to prevent their political existence from being menaced by the dangers which frequently grow out of international demands. "In reply, I have the honor to say that the contents of this instruction have been read with great interest, and that when the proposed invitation to the United States is received, it will have that careful attention which the great importance of the subject deserves." Mr. Olney, Sec. of State, to Señor Rojas, Venezuelan minister of foreign affairs, March 18, 1896, MS. Notes to Venezuela, I. 553. "The Commission appointed by the President of the United States' to investigate and report upon the true divisional line between the Republic of Venezuela and British Guiana' has organized by the election of the Hon. David J. Brewer, justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, as its president, and is entering upon the immediate discharge of its duties. "Since its organization I have received a letter from the president of the Commission, in which, while pointing out that it is in no view an arbitral tribunal, he nevertheless suggests that Great Britain and Venezuela, the parties immediately interested in the subject-matter of the Commission's inquiry, may both, or either of them, desire or see fit to aid the labors of the Commission and facilitate their reaching a correct conclusion by giving it the benefit of such documentary proof, historical narrative, unpublished archives, or other evidence as either may possess or control. "Justice Brewer adds: "It is scarcely necessary to say that if either should deem it proper to designate an agent or attorney whose duty it would be to see that no such proofs were omitted or overlooked, the Commission would be grateful for such evidence of good will, and for the valuable results which would be likely to follow there from.' "Either party responding affirmatively to the Commissioners' invitation would do so of course merely as amicus curia. As the president of the Commission declares in the concluding sentence of his communication: "The purposes of the pending investigation are certainly hostile to none, nor can it be of advantage to any that the machinery devised by the Government of the United States to secure the desired information should fail of its purpose.' "Requesting you to bring the matter to the attention of the British foreign office at your earliest convenience, I am, etc." Mr. Olney, Sec. of State, to Mr. Bayard, amb. to England, No. 956, Jan. An identic communication was sent on the same day to Mr. Andrade, "Lord Salisbury readily places at the disposal of the Government of the United States any information in the hands of Her Majesty's Government relating to Venezuela boundary. Engaged in collecting documents for presentation to Parliament. He will have great pleasure in forwarding advance copies as soon as completed." Mr. Bayard, amb. to England, to Mr. Olney, Sec. of State, tel., Feb. 9, 1896, For. Rel. 1895, I. 576. "The International Commission of Arbitration, appointed under the Anglo-Venezuelan treaty of 1897, rendered an award on October 3d last, whereby the boundary line between Venezuela and British Guiana is determined, thus ending a controversy which has existed for the greater part of the century. The award, as to which the arbitrators were unanimous, while not meeting the extreme contention of either party, gives to Great Britain a large share of the interior territory in dispute and to Venezuela the entire mouth of the Orinoco, including Barima Point and the Caribbean littoral for some distance to the eastward. The decision appears to be equally satisfactory to both parties." President McKinley, annual message, Dec. 5, 1899, For. Rel. 1899, xxxii. Having in view the long declared and widely known policy of the United States, any attempt on the part of a European power to acquire the Venezuelan coast-island of Margarita "would be a source of concern to this Government, if not tending to the embarrassment of the cordial and frank relations" between the United States and such power. Mr. Hay, Sec. of State, to Mr. Jackson, chargé at Berlin, No. 1186, Apri! 10, 1901, MS. Inst. Germany, XXI. 283. |