The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1895. THE VENEZUELA QUESTION.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 147, 20 December 1895, Page 2

The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1895. THE VENEZUELA QUESTION.

«. The strained relations which have existed between Great Britain and the United States of America on the subject of the boundaries between Guiana and Venezuela, have excited unusual interest, especially as it was just possible at one .time that war might ensue. The following particulars wiil therefore be interesting to our readers: As is well known, Venezuela inherited the -territorial rights of Spain when she proclaimed her independence in 1810, and Great Britain, iv 1814, acquired tbe Dutch colonies of the Essequibo. Prior to that period the boundary line had not been definitely fixed, but in 1691 an extradition treaty signed by the Spaniards and Dutch stipulated in general that the* Orinoco colonies belong to the former and the Essequibo to the latter. It might seem that the watershed of tbe respective rivers would be included under this -general provision of ownership. But it happens that while the Essequibo runs north, a very large tributary running eastward enters it nesr its mouth. The tributary, the river Cuyuni, bas its headwaters among the Caratal goldfields, and if its watershed should also be included iv 'that of the ' Essequibo, it would /take in the enormous.'tract west 'of the latter river, winch Gf eat Britain now claims. Vea-e-

--zuela, therefore, insists that what wast meant by the Essequibo colonies waß the J Dutch settlements on and near that I river. Now a point in the Venezuelan case is that in 1836 the British Legation spontaneously recognized Venezuela's sovereignty at Punta Barima by asking her to build a lighthouse there for the safety of navigation. But in 1841 the . Engineer Schomburgk, for reasons best known to himself, chose to run an arbitary boundary line, in England's interestj far west of the Essequibo, and far enough northward to take in Punta Barima as British, and so to give Great Britain a bold on the mouth of the Orinoco. At Venezuela's prompt demand, the British authorities disclaimed this line as a formal assumption of possession, and said it was a step preliminary to settling tbe boundary ; and, thereupon, tbe posts and other marks were removed. During tho last half century Great Britain's encroachments have increased, and the exploring of the Caratal and Yuruari goldmines has increased the trespass. As is well known, Great Britain has of late insisted on holding everything east of the Schomburgk line. An American paper, The Sun, in an article on tbe subject, says :— " There is apparently no good reason why Venezuela should not have a chance to put before a referee for decision her right to at least a part of the area east of the Schomburgk line. That line has no more international authority than any other in the controversy, and for Great Britain to insist upon it is to apply the law of force. A fair and competent arbiter would very likely give England something west of the Essequibo, which Venezuela now claims as the boundary, because the proofs are indisputable that the Dutch settled and held the ground west of that stream ; but he might not for that reason award to her a foothold ou the Orinoco, or the great tract possessing uo traces of Dutch occupaoccupation which Schomburgk claimed. Perhaps for that very reason England will not consent to arbitration until she receive everything up to the Schomburgh line. Our telegrams which appear elsewhere explain what the position is at the present time. In oar opinion the whole agitation aDd clamour by the President of the United States, is got up for the purposes of the electoral campaign, and that no serious intention of going to war with England exists.