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BANCROFT 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 'Itieo II, Crook Collection 
 

 ^: 
 
 i ENGLAND AND VENEZUELA, 
 
 *iTHE& ' 
 
 MOHIOE DOCTRIIIE AmiLED; 
 
 OR 
 
 ., Z^ . ,;,-V^ — o>- 
 
 AN ADDRESS BY 
 
 :^ 1 
 
 MR. JOHN, ROONEY 
 
 AT 
 
 EVERETT HALL, 
 
 BROOKLYN, 
 
 New York 
 
 i^^^ 
 
ENGLAND and VENEZUELA; 
 
 -OR- 
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE ASSAILED. 
 
 AN ADDRESS BY 
 
 Mr JOHN ROONEY 
 
 -AT- 
 EVERETT HALL, 
 
 Brooklyn, N. V. 
 
1- ;2-33 I 
 
 " I should have been glad to announce some disposition of the Iwundary dispute l>eetween 
 "Great Britain and Venezuela, touching the western frontier of British Guiana, but the 
 friendly efiorts of the United States in that direction have thus far been unavailing. This 
 Government will continue to express its concern at any appearance of foreign encroach, 
 ment on territories long under the administrative control of American States. The determi 
 nation of a disputed boundary is easily attainable by amicable arbitration where the rights 
 of the respective parties rest, as here, on the historic facts, readily ascertainable.'' 
 
 -PRESIDENT HARRISON'S MESSAGE, DECEMBER 9TH, 1891, 
 
n i \ io ^ 
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE STILL HOLDS. 
 
 The portion of President Harrison's message relating to the boundary- 
 dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela was an unmistakable inti- 
 mation to Lord Salisl)ury that the Monroe doctrine still holds good. The 
 President, after exi^ressing his regret that the friendly efforts of the Uni- 
 ted States had failed to settle the question at issue, said : "This govern- 
 ment will continue to express its concern at any appearance of foreign 
 encroachment on territories long under the administrative control of 
 American States;" and he reminded Great Britain that the determination 
 of a disputed boundary by amicable arbitration is readily attainable, 
 where, as in the present instance, it is easy to ascertain the historic rights 
 of both parties. This, translated from the language of diplomacy, means 
 that England must stop bullying Venezuela. The statesmen of the Court 
 of St. James should take the hint. — New York Daily /'/•t.s.s'. 
 
JOHN ROONEY HONORED. 
 
 The Obder of Bolivar Conferred on Him by VENEZUEiiA. 
 
 Banqueted by His Friends. 
 
 A dinner was given last Thursday eveniug in honor of Mr. 
 John Rooney, of Brooklyn, on the occasion of the presentation 
 to him of the '' Order of the Liberator," by the representative 
 of the Venezuelan Government. This distinction has been 
 conferred on Mr. Rooney in recognition of his services in 
 directing the attention of the American people to the invasion 
 of Venezuelan territory by Great Britain. Covers were laid 
 for over a hundred guests. Among those present, were : Gen. 
 Kerwin, Hon. Napoleon Dominici, Dr. Jos^ Alfonso, Alejandro 
 Escobar, Leoncio D'Aubeterre, Ramon Bolet, Hon. John 
 
 C. McGuire, Eugene Kelly, Hon. Edward Rorke, Hon. James 
 Rorke, Edward Rorke, Jr., Coroner Alex, Rooney, Hon. 
 Robert A. Van Wyck, J. S. C. Judge, M. A. Power, Thomas 
 Cassin, Hon. John A. Milholland, Hon. Arthur J. Heany, 
 Hon. R. F. Downing, J. Curley, Miles O'Reilly, James 
 Cassidy, John D. Carroll, Hugh King, John D. Taylor, W. 
 M. Denman^ Col, James Adair, Wm. Lyman, Daniel Walsh, 
 P. H. Alexander, Mass.; Frank J. Morrison, Baltimore ; S. 
 Lenox Treadwell, J. J. O'Connor, Rev. D. J. Hickey, Rev. 
 
 D. J. Sheehy, M. J. Dolphin, J. P. Farrell, Hon. Theophilus 
 Olena, Felix Gallagher, John Berry, Dr. Wm. T, Carmody, 
 Bernard Leavy, Roderick Robertson aiid others. The dining 
 hall was handsomely decorated with Venezuelan, American 
 and Irish fl a At the conclusion of the banquet Gen. M. 
 Kerwin, who occupied the chair, said : 
 
 GEN. KERWIN'S speech. 
 
 Gentlemen. — I feel a special pleasure in being present on 
 this occasion. We are here this evening not only to mani- 
 fest our friendship and esteem for a worthy citizen , but es- 
 
-VI- 
 
 pecially to express our appreciation of wliat he President of 
 Venezuela has characteiized in his letter to Mr. Rooney, as 
 *' services of the most signal merit performed in the cause of 
 international justice." The honor conferred on our fellow 
 citizen by the Venezulean Government is bestowed only for 
 distinguished services, rendered in the cause of right, civiliza- 
 tion and humanity. With the character of these services 
 doubtless most of you are familiar. Mr. Rooney has for some 
 time past taken an active interest in placing before the 
 American public the true status of the difficulties existing 
 between the Republic of Venezuela and Great Britain. His 
 action in this regard was inspired by a double motive, name- 
 ly : the conservation of American interests by the maintain 
 ance of the Monroe Doctrine and the prevention of the territ 
 orial spoil ation of one of our sister American republics at tho 
 hands of a truculent and rapacious invader. 
 
 The significance of England's long continued encroach- 
 ment on Venezuelan territory has not hitherto been duly 
 appreciated by the American people. It is, however, to us a 
 question of vast political and commercial importance — a ques- 
 tion compared with which ourBehring Sea or Canadian Fish- 
 eries difficulties scarce rise to the level of serious consideration. 
 From the first, England's design has been to acquire posses- 
 sion of the Orinoco Delta, and thus secure the control of the 
 entire waterways of the South American coiitinent, and the 
 consequent monopoly of South American trade. And this she 
 .has attempted and still attempts to accomplish, in the face of 
 justice, right and that unwritten law promulgated by Presi- 
 dent Monroe, and reiterated in still stronger language by 
 President Harrison in his message of this year. And it is a 
 matter for congratulation both on the ijart of the citizens of 
 the Unitfed States and of Venezuela that our Government has 
 expressed itself so forcibly on the question of foreign en- 
 croachments on her territory. The welfare of our people, the 
 safety of our Republic, demands that no foreign power should 
 exercise any jurisdiction on the American Continent, save 
 that which is now maintained under existing laws. At a time 
 when we are reaching out for South American trade, and culti- 
 
-Tn- 
 
 vating closer relations with the governinents and peoples to the- 
 south of us, and constructing a waterway across the Isthmus at 
 a vast expenditure, it would be certainly suicidal for us to per- 
 mit our only commercial rival and political enemy to gain a 
 foothold in. South America, especially when such a project is; 
 accomplished by spoilation and fraud. It should rather ba 
 our purpose to use all legitimate means to expel all foreign 
 governments from American soil, whether at the north or the- 
 south or the centre, and perfect thereby the Monroe doctrine 
 of America for Americans. 
 
 Gen. Kerwin then pi-esented Senor Dominici, Confidential 
 Agent of Venezuela in New York, who said : 
 
 SENOR DOMINCI'S SPEECH. 
 
 " Having been diily commissioned by the Government of 
 Venezuela to present to Mr. John Rooney the decoration of 
 the Order of ' El Busto del Libertador,' I have the honor, in 
 the name of the Republic which is so ably presided over by 
 the illustrious Dr. Rainnmdo Andueza Palacio to express to 
 you the high esteem in which it holds the generous manifesta- 
 tions of Mr. Rooney regarding the present boundary question^ 
 and the attitude maintained by the Venezuelan Government 
 against the odious encroachments of Great Britain on Vene- 
 zuelan territory. Already she holds a large portion of our 
 territory, and brutally attempts to retain it, in flagrant viola- 
 tion of the principles of justice, and despite her own promises^ 
 which she so solemnly made. The whole nation of Venezuela^ 
 greatly appreciates your sympathetic and magnanimous 
 efforts, and appeals to the generosity of this great sister ^Re- 
 public, which is as noble as it is powerful, for its sympathies 
 and invaluable support." 
 
 Mr. Dominici then invested Mr. Rooney with the Order 
 amid tumultuous applause. The decoration is very ])eautiful, 
 and consists of two large badges, one gold and the other 
 silver. The gold badge is attached to a ribbon of the Vene- 
 zuelan colors, which is worn round the neck in the place of a 
 tie, the badge showing in front. The silver badge is worn on 
 the left breast, and with it is a button of the Venezuelan 
 Legion of Honor, which is worn like our Grand Army button. 
 
-vin— 
 
 When the applause subsided, Mr. Rooney said : 
 
 MR. ROONEY'S address. 
 
 The high honor that has been conferred on me by the Gov- 
 ernment of Venezuela is of such a delicate character that I 
 feel embarrassed to know in what words I may express my 
 acknowledgment of it. 
 
 I observe that the medals of gold and silver are those per- 
 taining to the Order of that illustrious patriot and soldier, 
 General Simon Bolivar, the founder of five of the Republics 
 of South America, a man whose name will go down the 
 annals of history, and form a part of that grand galaxy of 
 noble and illustrious men, whose lives and fortunes have been 
 conse crated to the cause of civilization and hunaan. liberty. 
 And while I appreciate the honor of having my name dis- 
 tinguished by the Order of the Liberator, yet it will ever be 
 my proud distinction to remember that the Government 
 which he founded has not deemed me unworthy of becoming 
 a member of the Society which was organized and established 
 to perpetuate his name and glorious deeds. 
 
 This decoration, so essentially different from the meaning- 
 less baubles conferred by mona.rchies and despotisms, I, as an 
 American citizen, can freely and proudly accept, representing 
 and symbolizing as it does the principles of Republicanism 
 and National liberty ; and, further, coming as it does from the 
 Gove, nment of a sister Re]3ublic with which I have never 
 been associated, and which I nevor had the pleasure of visit- 
 ng, it is clearly devoid of any suspicion of self-interest of 
 ieither donor or recipient ; and, therefore, it will be the more 
 prized by me, and it will consequentlj^ ever remain an honored 
 heirloom in my family. 
 
 Gentlemen : I do not regret, but rather feel proud, if I 
 have been the instrument of calling the attention of even a 
 portion of the people of this great Republic to the threatened 
 spoliation of the territory of our sister Republic of Venezuela 
 by that universally acknowledged invader of the rights of 
 weak and defenceless nations — England. And I make bold to 
 state that should she ever attempt to enforce her pretended 
 claims to one inch of the s-ocalled disputed territory north of 
 
— IX - 
 
 the Esequibo River, slie would raise a storm that would shat- 
 ter her power from the circumference to the centre. 
 
 The bully and the invader are characters that are despised 
 by the entire American people, whether those characters ap 
 pear in the person of the individual or the nation ; and the 
 day for such to interfere with impunity in questions of na- 
 tional or international importance, or in the internal affairs 
 of the Republics of this hemisphere is passed. 
 
 England entered upon the territory of Venezuela in direct 
 violation of existing treaties and kept encroaching thereon 
 until the gold mines of Caratal were discovered in 1858, since 
 which time she took possession of the territory mentioned 
 as a highwayman would of the property of his victim.; 
 and when Venezuela protested England resorted to her old 
 time policy of i)laying the bully and threatening to bombard 
 her seacoast cities if Venezuela dared to dispute her right to 
 the possession of this property. 
 
 The Government and people of Venezuela relying on the 
 justice of their cause and true to their past record for patrio- 
 ism and bravery refused to be either bullied or cajoled into a 
 compliance with England's unjust demands ; and they still so 
 refuse and I mistake the American character if it ever would 
 permit England to carry out her threat of retaining possession 
 of this vast and valuable property, including the Orinoco 
 River — the Dardanelles of the Southern Continent — thereby 
 giving her absolute control of the entire internal waterways 
 of South America ; and I say without fear of contradiction 
 that no Administration, be it either Republican or Democ- 
 ratic would ever permit the consummation of such an inter- 
 national outrage on a sister republic. Any attempt on the 
 part of England to retain this stolen territory would arouse 
 the American peoj^le to such a degree that before they re- 
 sumed their avocations they would completely wipe out 
 every vestige of British power from this continent. 
 
 It is my fond wish to see the two great continents of North 
 and South America at no distant daj^ united in an alliance, 
 offensive and defensive, to protect the rights of each in a 
 grand brotherhood of prosi^erous republics whose govern- 
 ments will consist of their respective citizens, peaceably 
 managing their own affairs without the need of vast bodies of 
 
— X— 
 
 arfned men, kept in klleness, for the subjection and suppress- 
 ion of every generous and human instinct. 
 
 Mr. Dominici: I hope you will accept on behalf of your 
 Government the assurance of my profound gratitude for this 
 token of confidence and esteem from the Government of Ven- 
 ezuela of which you are the bearar; and, in such fitting lan- 
 guage as you may deem best to use, convey to your illustrious 
 President and his Cabinet my heartfelt thanks for, and high 
 appreciation of this distinguished hojior. 
 
 The Chairman next proposed the toast. "'The President of 
 the United States." which Avas responded to by Mr. W. M* 
 Denman of New York as follows: 
 
 Mti. desman's speech. 
 
 I am glad that the toast which has been assigned to me is 
 one that furnishes a subject at once congenial as well as re- 
 plete with patriotic inspiration. It is said that we ought 
 to estimate a population not by the worst specimens, but 
 rather by the bf st it contains, and accordingly if we may i e- 
 gard the United States by the standard of its first citizen we 
 have great reason to congratulate ourselves as being the most 
 intelligent, the most virtuous and the most progressive country 
 in the world. Benjamin Harrison stands to-day before the 
 world as a man ^vlio by universal acknowledgment is the fit- 
 ting occupant of the highest position in the gift of the nation? 
 and in the years wherein he has so worthily filled the office of 
 Chief Magistrate the wisdom of his views, the dignity of his 
 conduct and the gracious utterances of his lips have disarmed 
 his political opponents and transformed them into enforced 
 admirers. Let the tongue of scandal assail him and none are 
 quicker than his partisan adversaries to rise up in his defense 
 and demand fair play and proper respect. A.lthough this 
 festive occasion is not the opportune time to dwell in detail 
 upon the events which have conferred sogreat a lustre upon 
 his administration, it is right and proper to say that with an 
 exceptionally able Cabinet of eminent advisers, the names of 
 some of whom and without disparagement to the othe'"s, that 
 of James G. Blaine particularly, excite and inspires senti- 
 ments of the ])urest patriotism, the government of this great 
 
—XI— 
 
 people has never been more ably conducted, nor the proud as- 
 piration of our citizens of America for Americans been more 
 manfully vindicated and realized. 
 
 The snobbishness that flourishes in the smiles of foreign 
 aristocrats, and loves, obsequiously, to imitate the manners 
 and habits of aliens, has received a wholesome check, and we 
 have at last come to realize that this nation has an arm to 
 enforce as well as a tongue to plead for right and justice; and 
 that to be a citizen of the United States of America is as proud 
 a distinction as that conferred by Rome in the ancient days, 
 when to be a Roman was greater than a king. 
 
 Our thoughts are particularly directed this evening to our 
 sister Republic of Venezuela whose representative is here 
 present to place a deserved compliment in the hands of our 
 friend John Rooney, and it is to me a very great satisfaction 
 to know that his efforts in behalf of that Republic in oppos- 
 ing the forcible and wrongful aggression of a foreign power 
 are all in the line of the bold and unmistakable tone and tem- 
 per of the utterances and declarations of the President. 
 
 Long life to President Harrison and his Cabinet. May 
 the record of their achievements be the inspiration and pride 
 of our future historian. 
 
 Mr. John J. Rogers, the well.known Brooklyn lawyer, spoke to the 
 toast of " Ihe South American Republics." The response to this toast 
 had been assigned to SeTvor Vicente Mayrez, but that gentleman teas un. 
 voidably absent. Mr. Rogers said : 
 
 It is, I assure you, a source of much i^leasure to me, as an 
 American, to observe the interest and fraternal feeling oa the 
 part of the Governm.ent and the people of the United States to- 
 ward the South American Governments and peoples that have 
 lately been exhibited, and to see the barriers of indifference 
 to their mutual iiitsresbs removed, that have so long existed 
 only for the benefit of foreign nations, alien to us in govern- 
 ment, in feeling, and in interests. 
 
 It would, of course, be impossible for me to convey to you 
 in a few moments talk, in any adequate way, the manifold 
 reasons for a closer commercial union between the peoples of 
 this hemisphere, and the advantages tliat all would derive 
 from such ? reapproachment . 
 
—XII - 
 
 It is a matter of regret that hitherto the people of the 
 United States and those of the South Amercau Republics have 
 remained in such iguorauce of oue another. True, the peo- 
 ples of the Southern Continent have always been ardent ad- 
 mirers of this great and generous and liberty loving Republic 
 of the North, and we have always manifested a friendly in- 
 terest in their destinies, from the time when President Mon- 
 roe proclaimed his immortal doctrine, warning all foreign 
 Governments to keep their hands off South American Repub- 
 lics to the present day, when President Harrison, as we see by 
 his recent message, exercised the good offices of his adminis- 
 tration, to avert the threatened revolution in Brazil. 
 
 An erroneous impression has hitherto prevailed — a senti- 
 ment sedulously propagated and confidently believed — that 
 the people of South America were turbulent and revolution- 
 ary, and were not educated up to the level of constitutional 
 government. How easily the South Americans could show 
 the absurdity of that allegation. They could point to the 
 sacrifices of blood and treasure that they made in establish- 
 ing their independence ; they could point to the incompara- 
 ble achievements of Simon Bolivar, the liberator of five Re- 
 pulics; they conld show that less blood has been shed in South 
 American revolutions so called, since they threw off the 
 yoke of Spain, than has been shed in any one of the numer- 
 ous wars that has taken place in enlightened Europe during 
 the present century. They might even advert to the fact that 
 while it cost us people of the United States 800,000 lives and six 
 thousand millions of money to free our slaves a quarter of a 
 century ago, the people of the United States of Brazil within 
 the last two years, freed their slaves — 1,500,000 in number — 
 and changed from a monarchy to a republic without angry 
 collision, and passed through two bloodless revolutions. Can 
 any higher testimony be adduced to the civilization and 
 developement of the South Americans ? The colonization of 
 the North and South American continents was accomplished 
 under salienily different conditions ; and if a rigid comparison 
 of results were instituted, I confidently believe that South 
 America would not suffer by the comparison. Here in the 
 North American continent, for instance, the aboriginal races 
 
— xm— 
 
 were exterminated, as so-called civilization sounded its on- 
 ward march. But wherever the Spaniards settled the native 
 races were spared ; the invaders intermingled and intermar- 
 ried with them, and there they are to-day in their millions, 
 from the Rio Grande to the Straits of Magellan, to attest the 
 humanity of the Spanish invaders. Why do I mention those 
 things ? To give you one instance out of many why the 
 South Americans should not be measured by the standard of 
 other peoples. In elevating the native races^ their own was 
 in a degree dragged down, and this largely accounts for the 
 apparent turbulence of the South American populations in 
 their political progress. 
 
 I hope that the auspicious movement for a closer union . 
 and understanding of our peoples in this hemisphere will con. 
 tinue. South America possesses all the bounties of nature, 
 the sources of untold wealth, a soil bursting with precious 
 minerals, a Republican form of Government from the centre 
 to the sea, a progressive and ambitious population ; and it 
 should be the ardent desrire of all the peoples from, the St. 
 Lawrence to Cape Horn that those independent peoples 
 should be united in a moral, political, and com^mercial 
 solidarity , and advance hand in hand to the accomplishment 
 of a common and glorious destiny. 
 
 MR. M. D. GALLAGHER 
 
 who responded to the toast " The United States," delivered an 
 admirable address. His happy references to, and elucidation 
 of, the educational facilities presented in this country as con- 
 trasted with the lack of opportunities for mental advance- 
 ment in Europe, were timely and well told. "The Monroe 
 Doctrine" and its application, as between Venezuela and 
 British encroachments, received especial allusion and justifi- 
 cation. Mr. Gallagher closed his remarks, complimenting the 
 honored guest of the evening, Mr, Rooney, and dwelt at con- 
 siderable leng'th upon his well known love for and services to 
 the brave little Republic of Venezuela. 
 
 Mr. R. F. Downing^ head of the customs brokerage and 
 
—XIV— 
 
 forwarding firm of R. F. Downing & Co., of New York, then 
 responded to the toast : '" Our Conunercial Relations with 
 Venezuela," Mr. Downing said : 
 
 MR. DOWNING'S speech. 
 
 A friend at my left has just remarked in a joking mood 
 "We are the people !" I Believe he is right, not only in the 
 joking sense, but in the full acceptance of the phrase. 
 We American people are the people ; no North, no South, 
 but all Amej'ica bound together in one love of our country, 
 with hands extended to each other and hearts b' ating to- 
 gether. Here we have only the warmest feelings for our 
 Southern sister republics and, while the same feelings will, 
 .we hope, be extended to us still it has happened that in one 
 place we felt a little "Chili," Venezuela has shown her feel- 
 ings in a marked manner by honoring one of our distinguish- 
 ed citizens in a way that is international and most pleasing 
 fo us all. 
 
 We congratulate the happy recipients, John Rooney. 
 Some little while ago, while h) a foreign couJitry, I was told 
 that we may have the friendship of America so long as Europe 
 has her trade. To exemplify. I was told the story of a mos- 
 quito and an Irishman 
 
 'Ye say that everything was made by Pi-ovidence for a 
 purpose. Now what on airth was a mosquito made for ? " 
 
 " Oh, that's quite plain,'" was the answer. "Mosqiiitos 
 were made to destroy the germs of malaria." 
 
 " Malaria, is it ? Destroy the germ, eh I well " — after 
 deep consideration — " Well, why don't the baste attend to his 
 business ?" 
 
 That is exactly our j^osition. We are friendly to the 
 South American Republics; we want closer trade relations 
 with that grand continent. If so — why on earth don't we 
 .attend to our business ? 
 
 When we really go to work on this subject we can get our 
 share of this vast trade. Then we can illustrate the story 
 told me by a darkey up in Westchester County along the 
 Sound. This old fellow went out to fish. He put a minnow 
 ne the hook and threw the line in. Then he remembered 
 
-XV- 
 
 that lie had to go off and take a ' Nip.' When he came back 
 there was a big fish on the hook. ' Little hsh catch big fish;- 
 big fish catch bigger fish/ mused Sam. So he left the big fish 
 on the hook, threw it over and went oft' for another 'nip.' A 
 ' friend ' of Sam's came along, saw the line, pulled it ny, and 
 taking off the big fish put on a little fellow and threw in the 
 line again. Sam came back and bi-aced himself to pull u[) a 
 big one. Up came a minnow. 
 
 • My Lord,' said Sam, with bulging eyes; ' My Lord, lu^w 
 he am shrunk I' 
 
 So it will be, gentlemen, with the European trade with 
 South America when we get to working together. When the 
 Enrol )ean fishermen pull up their trade fish in the near future, 
 they will exclaim, with bulging eyes, ''Lord, how it am 
 shrunk I'' 
 
 The total value of the imports from Venezuela to the 
 United States for the year ending June 30th, 1890, was 
 $10,966,765, of which all but -*5,995 was entered free of duty. 
 
 The total exports from the United States to Venezuela 
 during the same period were $3,984,380. 
 
 This leaves an excess of imports over exports of 66,982.485. 
 
 In other words, even under present conditions and without 
 the needed stimulus of mutual treaties, and closer commercial 
 friendship the United States is losing nearly seven millions of 
 dollars' worth of trade that naturally belongs to her, which is 
 being taken by outside rivals. Not only, therefore, .should 
 we secure this enormous trade of seven millions of dollars, 
 which should be ours as return cargo, but there is but little 
 doubt that vigorous action would very greatly enlarge 
 this volume. 
 
 A few words showing the great natural resources of Vene 
 zuela may be interesting. Agriculture leads all other branches 
 of industry, and chiefly embraces the cultivation of cocoa 
 sugar cane and coffee, coffee being the greatest source of na- 
 tional wealth. It may be safely said that the soil of Vene- 
 zuela ranks among the mctst fertile of the South American 
 Continent, producing all kinds of grain, cotton, tobacco, and 
 every kind of fruit native to tropical climates. The immense 
 plains of the Republic covered with nutritious grasses, sup- 
 
-XVI— 
 
 ported as far back as three years ago 8,476,891 head of cattle 
 thus giving the basis of a great exj)ort trade in hides. This 
 interest is growing constantly. 
 
 Throughout the Venezuelan territory are many mines o 
 ])recious metal, including gold, silver^ copper, coal, asphalt 
 tin, lead, petroleum Kaolin, Iron, and phosphates. 
 
 The precious woods, timber and dye woods, are found in 
 many parts of the State and need only active development, 
 and increased foreign demand to be a source of great wealth. 
 Foi example in the National Exhibition of 1883 samples of 
 six hundred different kinds of native wood suitable for cab- 
 inet work, and carpentry were displayed. These woods com- 
 prise both the richest and most useful varieties. " Medicinal 
 plants and substances of all kinds including Peruvian Bark 
 abound. 
 
 Another source of national wealth are the salt mines which 
 were discovered in the 15th century by the Spaniards. These 
 mines are operated however under Government directions. 
 
 Without going into all the details of the Venezuelan re- 
 sources, which embrace the hardy products of our Northern 
 climes, with the growths of the tropics, it will be seen that 
 our Southern Sister has witliin herself the elements of great 
 wealth and progress, and that our own interests, if we confine 
 ourselves alone to business motives, Avould dictate a closL>r 
 nnion on commercial lines. 
 
 As may be seen by the inspection of the maps the chief port 
 of entry La Guaira situated in the Northern part of the State 
 of Miranda is the most ideal commercial inlet to the 
 country being in direct communication by cable and five or 
 six line of steamers with the United States, and the various 
 countries of Europe, and as a matter of geographical position 
 Venezuela is the most accessible of South American coun- 
 tries. 
 
-XVII— 
 
 From ''THE NEW YORKi.TABLET," 
 December 13, 1891. 
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE SUSTAINED. 
 
 One of the most significant utterances' in President Harri- 
 son's Message is the allusion to the encroachment of England 
 (m Venezuelan territory, in violation of the Monroe Doctrine. 
 It is the most unequivocal and direct assertion of that 
 doctrine that has been made by any President since that 
 principle was first promulgated. President Harrison's posi- 
 tion in relation to this question will receive the undivided 
 support of the American people. The history of the gradual 
 invasion of Venezuelan territory, sometimes by stealth, and 
 at other times by the methods of the burglar and the bully, 
 during the past forty years, is well known 'to our readers. 
 The attempt of England to seize the Orinoco Delta, and 
 thereby possess herself of the internal waterways of the 
 South American Continent, has been carried on with a per- 
 sistency and cunning peculiarly her own. While posing as 
 an advocate of the principle of arbitration, she defiantly re- 
 jects that principle in her dealings with weak States. She 
 submitted the Afghanstan boundary difficulty with Russia to 
 arbitration recently, but bullied Portugal out of her African 
 possessions ; and she to-day agrees to settle her Behring Sea 
 claims as against the United States by a commission of arbi- 
 tration, while refusing to accept the same method for the 
 determination of her difficultv with Venezuela. 
 
 The Gladst(me administration had promised to settle the 
 question by arbitration, but Lord Salisbuiy on assuming 
 l)Ower, repudiated, in violation of all precedent and of his 
 oAvn declarations, the act of his predecessors. He refused the 
 good offices of Spain and of the United States to bring the 
 long-standing difficulty to an amicable settlement. 
 
 President Harrison's statement of the attitude of this 
 Government on the question cannot fail to have a wholesome 
 effect. " This Government will continue to express its concern 
 at any appearance of foreign encroachment on territories 
 lon^g under the administrative control of American States.' 
 
—XVIU- 
 
 This meauiug is as plain as diplomatic language will allow. 
 Anil that there is no adequate reason for continuing the dis- 
 pute the President makes equally plain. " The determination 
 •of a disputed boundary is easily attainable by amicable arbi- 
 tration, where the rights of the respective parties rest, 
 as here, on historic facts, readily ascertainable." In thus re- 
 asserting the Monroe Doctrine the President will receive the 
 united support of the whole American people. Instead of 
 allowing England to acquire new footholds at this side of the 
 Atlantic, it should rather be the purpose of Americans 
 to weaken the power she already possesses here, and to pro- 
 mote and sustain the doctrine of America for the Americans, 
 whether at the north or the south or the centre. 
 
 From "THE NEW YOEK WORLD,'' December 37, 1891. 
 
 MR. ROONEYS NEW MEDALS. 
 
 WHY HE WAS GIVEN A TOKEN OF A FOREIGN 
 NATION'S GRATITUDE. 
 
 DECORATED WITH ''THE ORDER OF THE LIBERATOR'' 
 OF VENEZUELA. 
 
 A Brooklyn Citizen Who Has Long Been Prominent in 
 
 Irish and American Political Movements Delivered 
 
 AN Address Upon England's Encroachments Upon 
 
 Venezuela, Which the Latter Country 
 
 Fully Appreciated. 
 
 A Brooklyn man is the latest acquisition to the ranks of 
 American citizens who have been honored with decorations 
 from foreign governments. He is John Rooney, and he is 
 well known in conection with political movements as well as 
 with Irish agitation on this side of the Atlantic. The dis- 
 tinction conferred upon him recently is that of a decoration 
 of " The Older of the Lilierator" of Venezuela. 
 
—XIX- 
 
 The personality of the man thus honored by a sister 
 republic is a mauy sided one. Those who only know Mr. 
 Rooney — for he disclaims any right to the title of Judge — by 
 his political record have but a poor idea of the man, owing to 
 the fact that he has been a sort of political free lance ; more 
 than a few have got the impression that he was a political 
 adventurer of that type which is commonly identified with 
 ''independent " movements. So far, however, from making 
 politics a profession he has made it a side issue, for he is a 
 man of means and he has never held ofiftce. 
 
 Physically Mr, Rooney is rather above the medium height, 
 compactly built and with a military bearing. He is in his 
 fifty-fifth year, but he does not look it, as there is no trace of 
 silver in the almost Titian and luxuriant gr')wth of hair, or 
 in his imperial whiskers or shaggy eyebrows. The fact that 
 he is an ardent advocate of Ireland's cause, and an equally 
 tireless agitator against British encroachment, was the prime 
 cause of his winning Venezuela's esteem. His attention was 
 called by a commissioner of the latter's Government to the 
 attempts upon the part of England to annex to British Guiana 
 a large slice of Venezuelan territory, and of the futile 
 attempts made' during a period of many years to have the 
 question 6f boundary lines settled by arbitration. 
 
 As an American citizen, Mr. Rooney became more inter- 
 ested inasmuch as England's action was in direct opposition 
 to the Monroe Doctrine. He promised to look carefully into 
 the matter and to do what he could to interest the United 
 States in a subject that had an important bearing upon this 
 nation's commerce. He subsequently delivered an address, 
 wherein he set forth the facts of the case at a meeting of the 
 King's County Protective League, held at Everett Hail on 
 January 29th last. The address attracted attention, and in 
 recognition of the services rendered, the Venezuelan Govern, 
 ment decorated Mr. Rooney with "The Order of the Libera- 
 tor." 
 
 The order is so called in commemoration of Simon Bolivar, 
 whom every schoolboy knows as the South Auierican Wash- 
 ington. It is somewhat similar to the Legion of Honor, of 
 France. The decoration can only be conferred upon those 
 
—XX— 
 
 ■who have done some signal service for the country, and with 
 the combined approval of Congress and the President. The 
 emblem is in two pieces. Of these, the larger is of gold in 
 the form of a sunburst, about three and a half inches in cir- 
 cumference. In the centre is a miniature of Bolivar. The 
 smaller piece is engraved with the coat-of-arms of Venezuela. 
 Delmonico's was the scene of the formal presentation, which 
 occurred at a dinner given less than a fortnight since. A 
 number of well-known men were among the guests. 
 
 On receiving the decoration Mr. Rooney made a speech^ 
 Among other things he said : 
 
 "This decoration, so essentially different from the m.ean- 
 ingless baubles conferred by monarchies and despotisms, I, as 
 an American citizen, can freely and proudly accept, repre- 
 senting and symbolizing as it does the principles of Repub- 
 licanism and National liberty ; and, further, coming from the 
 Government of a sister Republic with which I have been 
 associated, but never had the pleasure of visiting, is clearly 
 devoid of any suspicion of self-interest of either donor or 
 recipient, and, therefore, the more to be prized by me, and it 
 will consequently ever remain an honored heirloom in my 
 family. 
 
 '' The bully and invader are characters that are despised 
 by the American people, whether those characteristics appear 
 in the person of the individual or nation. England entered 
 upon the teiritory of Venezuela in direct violation of existing 
 treaties, and kept encroaching thereon until the gold mines of 
 Carotol were discovered in 1858, at which time she took 
 possession of this place and valuable property, as a highway- 
 man would take possession of his victim, and when Vene- 
 zuela rebelled, England resorted to the old-time policy of the 
 bally, and threatened to bombard the seacoast cities of Vene- 
 zuela if she dared to question her right to the possession of 
 this property. The Government of Venezuela, relying on the 
 justice of the cause, and true to its past record for patriotism 
 and bravery, refused to be either bullied or cajoled into 
 a compliance with England's unjust demand, and she still so 
 refuses. " 
 
 Mr. Rooney has a handsome residence at No. 59 St. John's 
 
-XXI— 
 
 Place on Prospect Heights, while his office is at No. 145 
 Broadway, New York. He was born in County Monoghan, 
 Ireland, in 1837, and when only eleven years old participated 
 in the rebellion of 1848 by carrying pikeheads from the 
 blacksmith shop to the depot. He came to America when a 
 boj'-, and proceeded to carve out his own destiny without 
 delay. After trying his hand at several callings, he began 
 the study of law under Frederick A. Lane, through whom he 
 became identified with sortie large financial enterprises. His 
 success in this line has kept him in it up to the present ti me. 
 He is now an officer of several large corporations. For some 
 time he was connected with Gen . Butler, a large photograph 
 of whom looks down upon his desk. 
 
 In Land League matters Mr. Pooney occupied a prominent 
 place, and he was a chief organizer of the Irish- American 
 Blaine movement in 1884, although originally he was a Demo- 
 crat. During the last campaign he was one of the founders 
 of the Protectionist organization of which the King's County 
 Protective League, whose President he now is, is the successor. 
 
 NEW YORK TRIBUNE, Friday, December 18, 1891. 
 
 A DINNER TO JOHN ROONEY. 
 
 DECORATED WITH THE VENEZUELAN ORDER OF THE LIBERA- 
 TOR. 
 
 Some time ago JohnRooney, the well-known Irish Repub- 
 lican of Brooklyn, called the attention of the Government to 
 the efforts that England was making to obtain possession of 
 the Orinoco Delta, and thereby secure control of the internal 
 waterways of South America. In recognition of his services 
 in the matter, the Venezuelan Gov^ernment bestowed upon Mr. 
 Rooney the " Order of the Liberator." This decoration was 
 preseiited by a special representative of the South American 
 Republic last night at a dinner at Delmonico's, given in honor 
 of the recipient and in recognition of the affair by the numer- 
 ous friends of Mr. Roonev. 
 
—XXII— 
 
 General Kerwin, Collector of Internal Revenue, preisided. 
 Covers were laid for 100 guests and there were few vacant seats. 
 The dining-hall^was tastefully decorated with American, Vene- 
 zuelan and Irish flags. Mr. Rooney sat the right of the chair- 
 man. General Napoleon Dominici sat at the left. The 
 others at the speakers* table were Dr. Jose Alfonse, Dr. Pe- 
 dro Vicente Myarez, the Rev. Dr. D. J. Sheehy, Edward 
 Rorke, the Rev. D. J. Hickey, General Nicanor Bolet Peraza, 
 Bernard Biglin, Deputy Collector Gunner, Supervising-In- 
 spector Milholland, ex- Justice Maurice J. Power, Judge Van 
 Wyck, John McConvil, J. P. Farrell, Major E J. O'Shaugh- 
 nessy, J. W. O'Brien, Dr. Luis Rodrigues, R. F. Downing, 
 Dr. C. J. MacGuire, C. W. Anderson, Thomas Lenane, Hugh 
 King, J. C. McGuire, of Brooklyn ; General D. F. Burke, A. 
 J. Heaney, Captain Alexander Watts and Bernard Leavey. 
 
 In his opening address General Kerwin touched upon the 
 international significance of the celebration. He quoted the 
 language of the President of the Venezuelan Republic, who 
 characterized what Mr. Rooney had done as "services of the 
 most signal merit performed in the cause of international 
 justice." He pointed out the political and commerical impor- 
 tance of the question, and complimented the present Admin- 
 istration for the unequivocal stand ithad taken in relation 
 to the affair, and declared that the American people were all 
 of one mind when it Avas a question of maintaining the Mon- 
 roe Doctrine. 
 
 General Kerwin then presented Senor Dominici, who in- 
 vested Mr. Rooney with the order amid tumultuous applause. 
 The decoration is v^ery beautiful, and consists of two large 
 badges, one gold and the other silver. The gold badge is at- 
 tached to a ribbon of the Venezuelan colors, which is worn 
 around the neck in place of a tie : the silver badge is worn on 
 the left breast. Secretary Blaine's name was loudly cheered 
 during one of the speeches that followed. Among the toasts 
 were : " The President of the United States," " Our Sister 
 Republic," " The United States " and "Our Commercial Re- 
 lations with Venezuela." W. M, Denman, M. D. Gallagher, 
 andR. F. Downing were among the principal speakers. 
 
THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS WAS DELIVERED AT 
 
 EVERETT HALL, 
 
 BROOKLYN, . NEW YORK, 
 
 FJY 
 
 MR, JOHN ROONEY, 
 
 apropos of tlie present invasion of Venezuelan Territory ]>y the British 
 Guainan authorities. Several prominent Venezuelan geutlen)en occupied 
 seats on the platform. 
 
 The Venezuelan Government lias again called the attention 
 of the United States Government to the high-handed and 
 outrageous proceedings of the British Government in its 
 attempted annexation of one-seventh of the territory of the 
 Republic of Venezuela. Great Britain has been for a num- 
 ber of years steadily encroaching on Venezuelan territory* 
 heedless of the protests of the Venezuelan Government. 
 The robbery has been perpetrated while England and the 
 Republic are at peace. British laws are established in 
 Venezuelan territory ; British men-of-war patrol the rivers 
 to guard the invaders; the rich mines and timber lands 
 are in their possession, and the British are reaping a rich 
 harvest, despite the remonstrances of the Venezuelan Gov- 
 ernment. The British set the protest of their weak neigh- 
 bors at defiance and steadily clutch more territory. Their 
 method is to push into and colonize Venezuelan lands, and 
 theu to claim them as British territory. As the Venezuelans 
 are weak, England tries to terrorize them into compliance 
 with her demands, and awe tfiem into submission by threaten- 
 ing them with her vast military armaments. She has already 
 puslied her way beyond the Schomberg demarkation line — 
 a line not only unauthorized by either of the respective Gov- 
 ernments, but rejected by the one and repudiated by the 
 other. The Venezuelan Government, unable to resist the 
 march of British power, has repeatedly offered, while pro- 
 testing against the outrage, to submit the question to arbitra- 
 tion. But Great Britain refuses to acquiesce in the proposal. 
 She only recognizes the principle of arbitration when dealing 
 with great powers. The other day she bullied Portugal in 
 Africa, although the Portuguese were willing and anxious to 
 
submit their rights as against British claims to arbitration. 
 She is more willing to submit the Behring Sea question to 
 arbitration, after some charactsristic bluster and a crude 
 attempt to outwit Secretary Blaine. In short. Great Britain 
 is willing to submit to arbitration, where she is sure to lose 
 in any exent, as when dealing with America, Russia. Ger- 
 many, France, or some other strong customer of the sort, but 
 where she is strong enough to crush the weak beneath her 
 iron heel, she recognizes no law but that of force. She will 
 meet America at a Geneva conference ; she will come to 
 terms with Russia at a Bsrlin conference ; but where the 
 rights of a weak nation are involved, the only principle 
 of settlement she admits is the arbitrament of the sword. 
 This is the case in the present Venezuelan question. 
 
 That does not, however, relieve the United States Govern- 
 ment from taking action in the matter. It cannot be indiffer- 
 ent to the situation without ignoring the " Monroe Doctrine," 
 and sacrificing American interests. The object of the 
 British Government from the beginning of this affair has 
 been to obtain possession of the Oronico River, which by its 
 tributaries connects with the Amazon, and through the latter 
 gives access to all South America. This is the key to Great 
 Britain's action in relation to Venezuela for the past half 
 century. When the Venezuelan Government and press 
 appeal to the United States to defend their territorial in- 
 tegrity, we are met with an outburst of protestation on the 
 part of the British pre«s and the '"'Foreign Office" is 
 threatened on us if we should make any move in the matter. 
 The British iournals declare that any interference of ours in 
 the affair would involve an extension of the " Monroe 
 Doctrine." We can see nothing in the action of the United 
 States in ordering all foreign nations to keep their hands off 
 all states on this hemisphere, and nothing in the so-called 
 '' Monroe Doctrine" in the least inconsistent with European 
 diplomacy. Every country holds that there are certain terri- 
 torial questions, in which, though the territory involved lies 
 (Hitside of its own immediate dominion, it has a peculiar and 
 exceptional interest. Germany has repeatedly declared this 
 about the fate of Trieste and Constantinople. England 
 
declares it always about Egypt and the whole group of terri- 
 tories that abut in any manner, however remote, upon the 
 shortest sea-route to India, Loi'd Granville, a few years ago, 
 when Minister of Foreign Affairs, protested against a pro- 
 tectorate over Tripoli on that avowed principle, and Lord 
 Salisbury did likewise a short time ago. The French Gov- 
 ernment is at this moment guarding by armed force its 
 exceptional rights in north Africa, where it owns nominally 
 only one province. The Government of the United States, 
 n precisely the same way, declares that political events on the 
 American continents have for it a special and separate inter- 
 est. This is all it says, and the importance of the saying is 
 i'n no way increased by the habit of calling its intimation a 
 " doctrine " and attaching a President's name. The United 
 States Government has recently served notice to all whom it 
 may concern that it intends to uphold this doctrine, by its 
 action in relation to the Samoan Island's difficulty, and 
 by Secretary Blaine's invitation to the Hawaiian Govern- 
 ment to attend the conference of American nations at Wash- 
 ington. Nobody questions that Germany is deeply interested 
 in Trieste, France in north Africa, and Great Britain in the 
 route to India, and America is entitled to make a similar 
 claim touching these western continents. Nobody is bound 
 by it any more than any one is bound by the British, German, 
 or French : they are only informed of a possible danger 
 of resistance under certain contingencies, and it is well to be 
 so informed. If France resolves to threaten Egypt, or Italy 
 to menace Trieste, the German or British doctrine on the 
 subject will be taken into as serious account as if it had been 
 newly formiilated in a dispatch ad hoc, no more and no less. 
 
 If a European power has a grievance against Chili, or 
 Columbia, or Mexico, or Venezuela, it will first consider 
 whether it is worth while to risk American displeasure, as it 
 would consider in a European quarrel the displeasure of a 
 great power. 
 
 The following historical resume will make the matter in 
 question plain to all. 
 
 It is a somewhat lengthy story, and will require a glance 
 at the past history of the Spanish Dominions in America to 
 make it clear to the reader. 
 
 The Republic of Venezuela inheritecl its territorial rights 
 
.._4— 
 
 by a treaty of recognition signed by Spain, Marcli SO. 1845. 
 The Province of Guiana was a part of this territory, and its 
 boundaries were the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and the 
 Amazon River on the south. Spain ceded part of this terri. 
 tory, by which its boundaries were changed. 
 
 During the war with the Dutch in which the latter seized 
 part of Guayana, Spain ceded the part held by the treaty of 
 Munster, January 30, 1648. Although the Dutch possessions 
 were not specified in the treaty, they were named in the ex- 
 tradition treaty of Aranjue, June 23, 1791, and embraced the 
 colonies of San Eustaquio, Curacoa. Esequibo, Demerara 
 Berbice and Surinam. By the treaty of London, August 13, 
 1814, the Dutch ceded to Great Britain, Esequibo, Demerara, 
 and Berbice. Hence these are the sole rights possessed by 
 Great Britain in Guiana, the rights ceded by Holland. If 
 Holland had no rights to other possessions, no such right is 
 now possessed by Great Britain. In this connection it is 
 Avorthy to remark, that, although the Dutch tried to violate 
 this treaty, which prohibited them from navigating and bar- 
 tering in the Spanish provinces they were repulsed by force 
 of arms by the Spaidards. The Dutch did not even pretend 
 to be the owners of lands beyond the Esequibo on the north 
 side, and nothing was said in relation to such claim in the 
 transfer made to Great Britain. 
 
 It is evident then that in 1810 the Esequibo was recog- 
 nized as the southern boundary limit of Venezuelan territory. 
 In 1819 the Republic of Columbia, embracing New Granada, 
 Venezuela, and Ecuador, was declared independent. In 1831 
 a congress was convened, and a constitution adoj^ted for tlie 
 new republic in which it was incorporated that the Esequibo 
 was the limit between the Republic of Venezuela and Dutch 
 Guiana. In 1839, the three states separated amicably, and a 
 new constitution was adopted by Venezuela, and the Esequi- 
 bo was maintained as the boundary line. In 1840, Mr. 
 Schomberg, an engineer, was sent by the British Government 
 to make a survey regarding the demarkation line, and with- 
 out any reason or pretext, he established posts and other 
 marks as far as Barima and Amacuro. The Venezuelan 
 Government protested, and the English Government in con- 
 
sequence ordered the removal of tlie posts and marks, ex- 
 plaining that they were not placed there as signs of owner- 
 ship. 
 
 Since then Venezuela has vainly been trying to make a 
 treaty to settle the boundary question. The English Govern- 
 ment has meantime pursued its traditional policy with weak 
 States where boundaries are in dispute, namely, that of keep- 
 ing the question open and continually encroaching on the 
 disputed territory. In 18i2, tlie Government of Venezuela 
 sent to London Dr. Alexander Fortique, who obtained the 
 results above referred to. It also sent to Demerara as commis- 
 sioners, Messrs. Jose S. Rodriquez and Juan Jose Romero to 
 learn the details of the explorations and surveys, to ftiaintain 
 the rights of Venezuela, to investigate the origin and reasons 
 of the Amacuro affair, to give the English authorities all 
 necessary explanations concerning the true limits of Vene- 
 zuela and English Guiana, to protest against the violation of 
 Venezuelan territory and to demand the removal of the 
 marks, flags, etc., placed in the mouth of the Amacuro and 
 Barima Rivers and everywhere else, and to agree concerning 
 the limits, if the Governor of Demerara was willing to do so. 
 The latter replied he had no authority to make any treaty 
 touching the boundary question, which he thought should be 
 discussed with the British Government. As to the marks, 
 he answered that they were placed by Mr. Schomberg, by the 
 request of Lord John Russell, who, at tlie solicitation of Lord 
 Palmerston had asked him, the Governor, to agree with the 
 engineer in regard to the limits . And he added curiously, 
 that the work of the engineer was not an act of appropriation 
 but a mark of presupposed limits. At this time the Venezue- 
 lan Minister in London proposed a treftty which was not con- 
 sidered till 1844, fixing the Esequibo as the boundary, and 
 basing his claims on history, conventional rights, and the au- 
 thority of geographical charts. Lord Aberdeen, then Minis- 
 ter of Foreign Affairs, proposed the Moroco River, and stated 
 that with this boundary Venezuela had the free title to the 
 Orinoco River. But Venezuela refused to accept a boundary 
 which deprived her of the land between the Esequibo and 
 Moroco Rivers ; to which England had no title. In 183G, Mr. 
 
— 6— 
 
 Kerr Porter, Charge d' Affairs of the British Govern iiient, on 
 account of the loss of the brigs Coriolanus and Sir Walter 
 Scott, loaded with cattle, bound for Trinidad, the last named 
 vessel having gone ashore for want of pilots, when sailing 
 fi'om Caugrejos to Barima Point, asked as a favor from Ven- 
 ezuela to erect a lighthouse at Barima Point, stating that 
 without it, it was impossible to obtain any marine insurance. 
 Even Lloyd's in London had refused to take risks, except at 
 the highest rates, and sometimes refused at any figure- This 
 concession, made in the interests of commerce and for the 
 benefit of humanity in general, was the only one ever granted 
 by Venezuela, or claimed by England. Venezuela never 
 thonght»that her titles were disputed to the lands further 
 north of the mouth of the Pomaron River, but of those be- 
 tween that river and the Esequibo. This may be easily seen 
 from the proposition of Lord Aberdeen, who was satisfied 
 with the mouth of the Moroco River as the western limit of 
 British Guiana. Even if admitting for argument, that the 
 lands in dispute were greater in extent. Great Britain has no 
 right to occupy them, for she contracted such an obligation 
 by the convention of November, 1850, through Sir Bedford 
 Clinton Wilson, British Charge d' Affairs. This convention 
 was held at the request of the British Minister, and with in- 
 structions from the British Government. The British repre- 
 sentative declared that Great Britain would not occupy nor 
 usurp the territory in question, and he obtained similar 
 declarations from Venezuela, yet Great Britain has flagrantly 
 violated this agreement, has entered into and seized Vene- 
 zuelan territory, navigated the Guiana, Morajuana, and 
 Amacuro and Brazo-Barima Rivers ; posted signs on the 
 trees promulgating li«er laws, appointed policemen, kid- 
 napped a Venezuelan officer on Venezuelan territory for the 
 alleged ill-treatment of a Portuguese ; imprisoned him at 
 Georgetown, and condemned him to pay a fine of £20. She 
 has established in Amacuro public offices. She keeps the 
 sloop Transfer guarding the coast between Amacuro and Ba- 
 rima ; has appointed judges to decide on criminal and 
 civil cases ; has authorized the working of mines in Venezue- 
 lan territory and is appropriating whatever she pleases on 
 the pretended grounds of an undecided boundary line. 
 
In the year 1858 the discovery of the gold mines of Caratel 
 attracted great numbers of natives and foreigners ; and Eng- 
 lish experts and scientists also arrived at the place, all of 
 which excited the colony of Demerara, the desire to open a 
 direct communication with the gold regions. The Govern- 
 ment of Venezuela opposed entrance into these regions except 
 through the regular ports of entry, and refused its consent to 
 the opening of any road leading thereto. In 1844 and 1850 
 the British Government, through its Minister in Caracas 
 Sir Bedford Clinton Wilson, declared that Great Britain 
 would not occupy the territory in qiiestion, and Venezuela 
 has never itnderstood nor shall she ever admit that Barima 
 Point should have been in dispute, or Barima Island either, and 
 the propositi(ms of Lord Aberdeen, Lord Granville and Lord 
 Roseberry, as may be seen, never included Barima Island. 
 The dispute was not over the lands comprised between the 
 Pomaron and Amacuro Rivers but those between the Poma- 
 ron and Esequibo. Never losing sight of the question, Vene- 
 zuela urged a settlement in 1876. After the expiration of five 
 years, September 1881, Lord Granville presented a new de- 
 markation line, beginning at a point on the sea-coast, at a lon- 
 gitude of twenty-nine to the east of the right bank of the Ba- 
 rima River. He added that by so doing he satisfied the reason- 
 able claims of Venezuela, and ceded to her the so-called Dar- 
 danelles of the Orinoco, and the most complete domiuio]i of its 
 mouth. The Venezuelan Government did not accept this line 
 either, which for well-known reasons, is still more damaging 
 to the Venezuelan nation than that of Lord Aberdeen. In 
 1883, the British Government joined together the three ques- 
 tions of boundaries, an additional duty of 30 per cent, on mer- 
 chandise coming from t*lie West Indies and pecuniary claims. 
 In 1883 the Venezuelan Government made the contract of Ma- 
 noa in which it gran'ed to Mr. Fitzgerald the working of the 
 territorial wealth of that section of the country up to the boun- 
 daries of Biitish Guiana, Hence the pretext of the English 
 ■Government to state, through its representative in Caracas, 
 in its note of January 8, 1885, to the Venezuelan Government 
 that the Government of Her British Majesty, under the date 
 ■of November, 1884, informed him that he should call the at- 
 
-8— 
 
 tention of the Government of Venezuela to the proceedings 
 of the Maonoa Company in which Her British Majesty's Gov- 
 ernment as well as that of Venezuela had claims, and he 
 added that Lord Granville sent him instructions to request 
 the Venezuelan officials to act in the matter of prohibiting 
 the said company from taking possession of any part of the 
 territory claimed by the British Government, and that the 
 latter Government, in the event of Venezuela refusing to act 
 upon the matter would to its regret adopt strong measures 
 against the usurpation of the Manoa Company, and that the 
 Government of British Guiana had been authorized to adopt 
 those measures which would prevent such usurpation and 
 preserve the peace. The Venezuelan Government answered 
 the British Minister, Mr. Mansfield, that in accordance with 
 the terms of the contract, up^to the boundaries of British 
 Guia.na, the said boundaries only reached as far as the limits 
 under discussson, and promised to satisfactorily explain all 
 the acts which had already been attributed to the Manoa 
 Company regarding its alleged trespass within the limits 
 mentioned. 
 
 Previous to this state of affairs some officers of the British 
 navy and civil authorities of Great Britain had (exercised their 
 jurisdiction in the great mouth of the Orinoco River and else- 
 where, without anA regard to the sovereignity laws, and au- 
 thority of Venezuela. In 1884, the British authorities asked 
 for pilots in order to go up the Orinoco River. This request 
 was denied inasmuch as they were not bound for any regular 
 port of entry yet they proceeded on their trip and penetrated 
 territory which had exclusively belonged to the Reimblic of 
 Venezuela, and there plaiced marks an^l notices stating that 
 the British laws were in force in said regions. They changed 
 the Venezuelan officers and promised to return with stronger 
 force in order to make effective this territorial usurpation. 
 They returned as promised and never paid any attention to 
 the protests of the Venezuelan authorities, and even took 
 prisoner a Venezuelan Commissioner, Mr. Robert Wells, under 
 the j)retext that he had committed a certain offense and he 
 was x)laced on trial in Demerara, and punished as already 
 
mentioned. The Venezuelan Government sent a commis- 
 sioner to investigate the facts and he found in Morajnana, a 
 certain Mr. Michael McTnrk with whom he conversed and 
 exchanged notes. This individual whose title is that of spe- 
 cial magistrate pro tem and superintendent of Crown Lands 
 and the forest in the district of the Pomaron Rivei', answered 
 in the following terms : 
 
 I have been on the rive.s Amacuro, Barima, Morajuana, 
 and Wani and placed notices in English at the principal 
 points on said rivers. I regret that I have not a copy of these 
 notices to send j^ou, but as they were removed by the em- 
 ployees of the Manoa Company, you may probably be able 
 to get one from them. The notices were posted once only by 
 order of his Excellency the Governor of British Guiana. It 
 is proved beyond dispute that the British Government has 
 violated the agreement entered into with Venezuela respect- 
 ing the declaration that the British Government would 
 neither occupy nor usurp any part of the territory under dis- 
 cussion. This happened in 1884, and the British officials be- 
 gan their invasions and encroachments upon the Venezuelan 
 territory without even giving any notice through their lega- 
 tion at Caracas, nor stating to the Govei-nment of Venezuela 
 the reasons they had to commit such invasions. On the 8th 
 of January, 1885, the British Minister in Caracas, Mr. Mans- 
 field, informed the Venezuelan Government that the Gov- 
 ernor of British Guiana would not take any action, pending 
 the application sent to the Venezuelan Government to re- 
 strain the employees of the Manoa Company from claiming 
 or occupying any part of the territory claimed by Great Brit- 
 ain. A few days later he said Mr. Mansfield, in his note of 
 January 34, 1885, informed the Venezuelan Gf)vernment that 
 since October 18. 1884, the Governor of British Guiana had 
 ordered posts to be placed on the eastern shore of the Ama- 
 curo River and elsewhere. On January 25, 1885, Mr. Mans- 
 field also informed the Venezuelan Government that the 
 Governor of British Guiana had sent a police detachment 
 and a magistrate to investigate the proceedings of the Manoa 
 Company on the eastern shore of the Amacuro River. The 
 Venezuelan Government in its answer tc Mr. Mansfield 
 
—10- 
 
 stated that it liad a Pleuii^otentiary Minister in London for 
 the purpose of ending that long controversy of limits and 
 that at the instance of the British Foreign Minister, Mr. 
 Wilson, he had requested : First. The removal of all the 
 posts and notices establishing the sovereignity of England in 
 the disputed territory. Second. The withdrawal of all offi- 
 cers and the police force which had been stationed in the 
 places in question. Third. A satisfactory explanation of 
 the violation of the agreement. Fourth. The annullment of 
 the proceedings against Mr. Wells. Fifth. The complete 
 re-establishment of the state of things as in 1850. 
 
 The complaints of Venezuela were unheeded by the 
 Britisli Government, and were not even politely answered. 
 In 1886 Lord Roseberry asked for a boundary line, starting 
 from the coast as far as the River Guiana. In 1868 the Gov- 
 ernor of Demerara in a decree concerning in the division 
 of registry did not define the boundary, but only up to the 
 northern line with the Pomaron River. It was not till 1886, 
 when by order of the British Government, he established 
 new deuiarkatious which reached to the eastern shore of the 
 Amacuro River, which flows into the Orinoco River. The 
 Venezuelan Minister in London had already begun negocia- 
 tions with the British Government in 1884. The English 
 Minister, Mr. Mansfield, informed the Venezuelan Govern- 
 ment that, under the date of February 29th, Lord Granville 
 stated that Her British Majesty's Government did not think 
 that the question uf limits ought to be submitted to a court 
 of arbitration, and insisted in this matter, notwithstanding 
 the protests of the Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
 who set foith, — that Venezula could not admit any other 
 boundaries but those which she possessed in 1810. Besides, 
 reference was then made to the proposition submitted by Lord 
 Aberdeen in July, 1843, in regard to arbitration. Further 
 more, when on the occasion of the Treaty of Paris, in 1866, 
 Great Britain through her minister at Caracas asked the 
 Venezuelan Government to avail itself of the good offices of 
 a friendly nation, in order to avoid international complications. 
 Venezuela gladly assented, with the understanding that such 
 suggestion involved the principle of arbitration. The Vene- 
 
—11— 
 
 zuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs also stated then tliat the 
 Prime Minister of Great Britain once expressed himself 
 in the following terms : " As for the proposition to submit 
 international misunderstandings to arbitration, I think it is 
 in itself a great triumph." This is, perhaps, the first time 
 that the representatives of the principle nations of Europe 
 have given an emphatical expression to feelings which at 
 least contain a limited disapproval of the resort to war, and 
 has vindicated the supremacy of reason, justice, humanity, 
 and religion. This referred to the spirit which prevailed 
 at the aforesaid Conference of Paris in 1856. The proposition 
 of Mr. Richards to recommend Her Majesty to instruct the 
 Secretary of Foreign Affairs to puthimself in communication 
 with other powers in order to improve International Law, 
 and to establish a general and pernianent system of arbitra- 
 tion between nations^ was approved in J 873 by a mnjoiity of 
 98 votes against 88 votes. It is affirmed, also, that Sir John 
 Browning introduced the principle of jirbitration into treaties 
 which he negociated with Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, 
 Sweden, Norway, and Hanover. The Venezuelan Ministerof 
 Foreign Affairs also recalled the practical instances in which 
 Great Britain has adopted arbitration as a, means' to settle 
 disputes ; namely, tjie question of limits with the United 
 States, submitted to the King of Holland in 1830, and in 1871 
 to the Emperor of Germany, and concluded by mentioning 
 a more recent event, the arbitration clause inti-oduced in the 
 protocol annexed to the treaty between Great Bi'itain and 
 Italy in 1883, which met with the general applaus(> of the As- 
 sociation of International Arbitration of England in an 
 address signed by eight members of the House of Lords, 
 by forty-five of the House of Commons, and by professors of 
 the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, as 
 well as b}^ magistrates, merchants, and prominent persons 
 in the United Kingdom. The British Minister duly trans- 
 mitted the note of the Venezuelan Government above re- 
 ferred to, to his government, and under date of August 6, 
 1884, declared that Lord Granville instructed him to state 
 that Her Majesty's Government adhered to their opinion that 
 arbitration is not a desirable, or, indeed, a suitable mode of 
 
—13— 
 
 dealing witli the long standing question of limits. The 
 Minister Plenipotentiarj^ of Venezuela in London still en- 
 deavored to bring the matter to an amicable and equitable 
 solution, and having exchanged with the British Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs several drafts of treaties, came to the final 
 conclusion of makijig a treat}' between the two nations 
 in which it was agreed to insert the clausule of arbitration in 
 order to submit all controversies and misundrstsndings 
 between the high contracting i)arties to that principle. 
 Everything was nearly ready for the signing or this contract, 
 when a change took place in the British Ministry, and Lord 
 Salisbury came into power in June, 1884. His Lordship 
 refused to acknow^ledge the acts of his predecessors concern- 
 ing the proposed treaty with Venezuela, notwithstanding 
 that the Venezuelan Minister in London transmittted to Lord 
 Salisbury a copy of the note of the Earl of Granville, in 
 which he stated, under the 25th of May, to the Venezuelan 
 Minister that "Her Majesty's Government agree to the sub- 
 stitution of the phrase 'Power' to be chosen by the high 
 contracting parties, instead of " Arbitration ' in the article 
 respecting aibitration. and that they further agree thai the 
 undertaking to refer differences to arbitration shall include 
 all differences which may occur between the high contracting 
 pai'ies, and not those only which should arise from the inter- 
 pretation of the treaty.*' The Venezuelan Minister also referred 
 to the utterances of Lord Salisbury, British Minister (-f 
 Foreign Affairs, when he stated the policy of the new gov- 
 ernment in his speech of June 0, 1884, in the following terms: 
 *' It is not our business to enter on controversial questions 
 which may formerly have been raised. And still more, your 
 Lordships will observe the very matei'ial restriction on our 
 action and on our statements, which arises from the fact that 
 we have come into these matters, j'ight in the middle of them, 
 and we are finishing or furnishing the end of that which 
 others have begun. The consequence of that is. that many 
 pledges have been given, and the first dutj' of any Govern- 
 ment, whether it is now or has lasted for a considerable 
 length of time, or from whatever side of the house or party 
 it is drawn, is to see that the [pledges which the English Gov , 
 
—13— 
 
 ernment has given sliall be observed." Reference was also 
 made to the fact that Majesty's Government have 
 adopted arbitration for questions about territory as the hap- 
 piest solution with the United States of America in which 
 two territorial disputes were referred respectively to the 
 King of the Netherlands and to the Emperor of Germany. 
 Venezuela has sought the intercession of the United States 
 towards re(|uesting the British Government, in view of its 
 established principles of arbitration and its former proposi- 
 tions made to Venezuela, to submit the question of limits 
 between Venezuela and British Guiana to an arbitration set- 
 tlement. Spain offered her good services, but England 
 refused them, as well as those of the United States. The 
 Venezuelan Government has kept a voluminous correspon- 
 dence regarding the subject, and the Cabinet at Wasnington 
 has submitted it to the American International Conference. 
 
 The control of the mouth of the Orinoco must of necessity 
 belong to Venezuela, and the greatest of all Americans inter- 
 ests are now depending on the issue of this great question of 
 the limits of the Republic of Venezuela and Great " Britain, 
 since English control of the Orinoco River would be tanta- 
 mount to the control of all trade which can be carried on 
 British vessels on the second of South America's greatest 
 waterAvaj's; and hence a prompt and energetic solution 
 of this controversy cannot be overestimated by the American 
 people. 
 
 Intimately connected with the question is another of su- 
 preme importance to the people of the United States. We 
 are already reaching out for the trade of Central and South 
 America. With this object in view a conference of Ameri- 
 can nations was recently held in Washington, and the project 
 of an intercontinental railroad is already on hand to bind the 
 American Republics in a closer union. But if foreign powers 
 are to be allowed to annex South American territory at will, 
 and seize on the gateways of the South American continent, 
 the late conference was but a solemn farce, and the Monroe 
 Doctine a delusion. The foreign trade of Central and South 
 America amounts to the enormous sum of $850,000,000 yearly. 
 Of this $420,000,000 consists of merchandise imported from 
 
—14— 
 
 the United States and Europe. And of this total trade the 
 United States has secured only $130,000,000, and of this $40,- 
 000,000 represents exports from the United States, and the 
 figures are far below the present estimate of the South Amer- 
 ican trade. Considering our great manufacturing facilities 
 and mechanical ingenuity, and proximity to those countries, 
 it should be our policy and purpose to secure the vast bulk of 
 this trade, now monopolized by England, France, and Ger- 
 many. But it cannot be done by any stand and wait policy ; 
 but by a positive and, if need be, an aggressive one. Again 
 and still more important is the fact that a new waterway will 
 in a few years be opened across the isthmus. That water- 
 way will be in the language of a Republican President 
 in his message to Congress " a part of the coast-line of 
 the United States." That part of our coast-line, England 
 will endeavor to control. Already the London " Times "' tells 
 us that the position of a Great Britain in i-egard to the 
 canal is ' impregnable." and that it is England's duty to pre- 
 serve the freedom of international trade. Her position in the 
 West Indies and British Honduras, which she turned into a 
 colony in violation of the Clayton Bulwer treaty as Mr. 
 Blaine so conclusively showed in his contention with Lord 
 Granville, gives her a point of vantage in those regions that 
 we do not possess. Do we intend to strengthen her hand, 
 and give color to her pretentious now by permitting her to 
 carry on her Asiastic methods of land grabbing in South Amer. 
 ica and making the Orinoco a British River ? The political 
 and commercial A^alue of the canal was clearly understood 
 and expressed nearly two hundred years ago by Patterson 
 who wrote ;'' The time and exi)ense of navigation to China, 
 Japan, and the Spice Island, and the greater part of the East 
 Indies will be lessened more than one half, and the consump- 
 tion of European commodoties and manufactures will be more 
 than doubled and again, * thus this dooi of the seas and key of 
 the universe with anything of a reasonable management will 
 of course enable its proprietors to giye laws to both oceans 
 and become arbitrators of the world." A report made some 
 years ago to the Secretary of the United States Navy stated 
 that the construction of the canal would save the following 
 
—15— 
 
 distriiices over the cape route : from New York to Shanghai, 
 11,600 miles ; to Valparaiso, 8,100 ; to Calao, 10,000 ; to San 
 Francisco, 14,000 ; to Canton, 10,900 ; to Calcutta, 9,600. It 
 will also proportionately shorten the way from Australia, 
 New Zealand, and other countries. It is of course the United 
 States and the other Republics on the Pacific seaboard of Cen- 
 tral and South America that would be most profited by the 
 canal. Besides this great volume of traffic with foreign 
 countries the United States would greatly profit by having 
 communication with our own Pacific States via the caual. 
 Next to the United States the canal is of the greatest impor- 
 tance to Great Britain. She would use it for practically all 
 her trade with our Pacific States, her commerce with which 
 is now represented by a tonnage of more than 700,000 tons a 
 yearfand a value of £9,000,000 sterling. It would be used 
 for one half of her trade with Mexico, representing a declared 
 value of £2,500.000 and the trade of Peru and Chili yield- 
 ing nearly 600.000 tons of shipping and officially valued at 
 £9,000,000 sterling per annum. But this would not be the 
 chief advantage to Great Britain. The many unsettled prob- 
 lems that still surround the Suez Canal administration make 
 it advantageous to England to possess another alternative 
 route to her Australian Colonies and the Chinese Empire. 
 Owing to the congestion of traffic and the heavy dues 
 amounting in the Indian transport to about 40 per cent, of 
 the total freight, not much moi'e than 56 per cent, of Eng- 
 land's total imports from A.sia and the Australian Colonies, 
 and not more than 70 per cent, of her exports to those coun- 
 tries pass through the Suez Canal. The remainder are taken 
 by the Cape route."^ The present value of her trade with the 
 Australian Colonies alone, imports and exports, is over £550,- 
 000,000 sterling per annum. And the trade will always be a 
 vastly increasing one. It will be readily seen how deeply 
 England's interests are involved in controlling, or preventing 
 our control of the canal. 
 
 Those people who object to our having a foreign policy for- 
 get that it is not a foreign policy to take the measures neces- 
 sary to secure our home interests. Besides, the United States 
 is destined to become the great commercial nation of the fu- 
 
-16- 
 
 ture and to monopolize all the commerce of the western 
 world to exclusion of Great Britain or any other power. But 
 this condition will not be easily attained unless the " Monroe 
 Doctrine " is to he something more than a tradition. Our 
 Washington statesmen have been too long pursuing a mere 
 negative policy instead of laying broad and deep the founda- 
 tions of American su[)remac5^. commercial as well as political 
 in this half of the world, and securing the place that our po- 
 sition entitles us to in the commerce of nations as outlined re- 
 cently by oar able and far-seeing Secretary of State, the 
 Hon. James G. Blaine, and fully indorsed by President Har- 
 rison. 
 
 To do this the United States need not enter upon any new 
 or aggressive policy. It has only to say ^' hands off " to anv 
 nation that attempts to assert its dominion within the com- 
 mercial or political orbit of the United States. This has 
 hitherto been with us an unvarying policy, and has always 
 been upheld by the ])eople. We caused the withdrawal of 
 the French from Mexico, and so put an end to Maximilian's 
 Empire ; we asserted our rights regarding the Sandwich 
 Islands and Samoa, and we intimated that no foreign power 
 must possess Cuba, in the event of Spain parting with that 
 island. How then, in the face of this traditional policj', a 
 policy sustained by our ablest statemen and public opinion, 
 can we remain indifferent to England's spoliation of our 
 sister rei^ublic of Venezuela, which if permitted to be carried 
 out, will be used as a leverage against our vital interests, as 
 already intimated. It is an erroneous supposition that 
 the "Monroe Doctrine" is asserted by the United States 
 alone. It has already been appealed to on various occasions, as 
 by Venezuela recently in relation to the present difficulties. 
 But, perhaps, the strongest and most significant declaration in 
 relation to the " Monroe Doctrine "' since it was first enunciated 
 by its author, and on the mutual relations of tlie American 
 Republics, was that made a few months ago by the President 
 of the Republic of Brazil, on receiving the credentials of the 
 United States Ministpr. In addressing President de Fonseca, 
 Minister Conger said that he boie to Brazil assurances of the 
 most cordial sympathy and co-operation in all laudable move- 
 
—17— 
 
 ments that would tend to increase the friehdly relations 
 existing between the two Governments, and that would give 
 future promise of mutual good. In his reply, the President 
 said among other things: "' Although we are the last to enter 
 into the communion of republics which, heginning with 
 the glorious Declaration of your Independence, has given to 
 the world a lesson of liberty and human progress, you will 
 find us henceforward among the first in the line of defense of 
 the republican institutions which bless our hemisphere, 
 as your colaborers in the work of American civilization, peace 
 and happiness. It was still in the time of the monarchy that 
 an illustrious savant, your compatriot, said in this capital 
 that there were no more two Americas. To day, with greater 
 truth, I can affirm that all the states of America find them- 
 selves united by the fraternity of their institutions and 
 hy the identity of their destinies. To the sentiment of an in- 
 dependent country, enjoyed by each citizen of the Republic 
 which extends from the ice of your northern lakes to the 
 mountains of our neighbors of the south' between which 
 throbs the Brazilian heart with pulsations of patriotism, 
 is united the sentiment of a great American fatherland, 
 the most lofty symbol of the fraternity of free people united 
 by a common ideal. This hope then, which you cherish, is not 
 merely a hope, Mr. Minister, it is a happy reality. We are 
 more than neighbors in spite of the distance which separates 
 us ; we are brothers, and if the conditions of chance or the 
 laws of history have made your country and Brazil the 
 greatest republics of America, in territory and population, 
 the greater thQ duty incumbent on us to give to each other the 
 hand in the future defense of our rights and those of the 
 sister nations." This is direct and i^lain intimation that the 
 United States of Brazil, as well as the United States of 
 America, binds itself as a government to the " Monroe Doc- 
 trine." But President Fonseca goes further than President 
 Monroe. The latter intended that the United States should 
 not permit any foreign power to extend its dominion over this 
 hemisphere. " But President Fonseca outlines a closer interest 
 on our part in the American nations, inasmuch as they 
 declare they are only a part of " a great American fatherland. 
 
—lb- 
 extending from the lakes to Cape Horn." He outlined a 
 great confederation of republics, embracing the entire conti- 
 nent, North and South, bound together by mutual interest, 
 political and commercial, each supreme within its. own 
 dominion, but morally bound to the defense and preservation 
 of the rights and liberties of its neighbors . 
 
 That the Panama Canal will be completed within the next 
 decade is more than probable. According to the agreement 
 entered into between the Columbian Republic and the French 
 Company, the work must be resumed by 1893, else the con- 
 tract will be void and the Republic will enter into full posses- 
 sion and ownership of the work, plant, and property. In the 
 latter event, the Panama Canal will then be in the market for 
 competitive bids for the completion of the work. American 
 capital will not be forthcoming, as it will be absorbed in the 
 Nicaragua enterprise. 
 
 Nor is it likely that the French will risk ^100,000,000 
 in addition to the 8260,000,000 in that recklessly mismanaged 
 affair. It will in all likelihood be built by English capital, 
 and then what will prevent the British Government to buy 
 up the shares, as in the case of the Suez C^nal ? With the 
 internal waterways of South America in her possession and 
 the Panama Canal under her control, she will have Vene- 
 zuela and Columbia wedged in as in a vise, and so can hold 
 the commercial interests of fh.e entire Southern Continent 
 within her grasp. In 1885, we landed our troops on the 
 isthmus to protect American interests. And only a short time 
 ago we brought our force to bear in the Hay tian revolution, for 
 a similar purpcse.4 We have recently maintained our rights 
 in regard to the Canadian fisheries, and the Behring Sea ques- 
 tion, in the face of England; yet these questions were insigni- 
 ficant as compared with the momentuous interests of the 
 United States in South America. The cry of entangling 
 alliances has no relation to the issues in question. The de- 
 fense of our own interests involves no alliances, but the 
 neglect of them would involve a criminal supineness. Besides, 
 this is a policy which will command the ap})roval of the 
 entire American people. Secretary Bayard took as strong a 
 position on the Venezuelan difficulty as did his predecessors. 
 
— 1!>- 
 
 Evarts and Frelinghuysen., or his successor, Secretary Blaiue. 
 Nothing could more plainly show the brutal designs of Eng- 
 land than the answer made a short time ago to the Venezue- 
 lan Envoy, Dr. Pulido, who was sent to obtain an equitable 
 and satisfactory settlement of the boundary dispute. Lord 
 Salisbury, in violation of his own declaration that he would 
 abide by the engagements entered into by the preceeding 
 government, refused to submit the question to arbitration, 
 excepting on the preposterous grounds of ceding all the 
 Venezuelan territory that Great Britain has seized. In that 
 case he would arbitrate concerning a large extent of territory 
 to which the British hitherto never laid claim, but which, by 
 way of a threat, they have now undertaken to survey. 
 
 In any case it is the duty of the United States Govern- 
 ment to protect our own interests so seriously threatened in 
 the matter, as well as to prevent the spoliation of a sister 
 Republic on this continent. The relations of Venezuela and 
 Great Britain are now strained to the snapping point. 
 
 Already collisions have been reported between bodies of 
 Venezuelan and British troops, and an enlargement of the 
 forces on both sides. Under these circumstances. President 
 Anduesa Palacio, of Venezuela, has again appealed to the 
 United States Government to uphold the rights of that 
 republic, and to prevent the seizure of its territory. The 
 American people and press are almost unanimously in favor 
 of applying the "Monroe Doctrine" in its strictest sense, 
 especially where Great Britain is the offender.^ The only 
 opponents of this policy are the Mugwump and Anglo-Ameri- 
 can journals, which happily have neither influence nor a 
 numerous following. The principal objections alleged against 
 the interposition of our Government in the matter are, that 
 the boundary dispute involves questions that are very compli- 
 cated, and that the belligerent attitude of the two disputants 
 is unfavorable to the maintainance of peace between them. 
 There are no complicated questions involved in the matter, as 
 we shall abundantly show ; and, as to the belligerency mani- 
 fested by the parties at issue, it is only the belligerency of the 
 pirate, the burglar, and the bully on the one side, and the 
 natural and legitimate resistance of the victim on the other. 
 
-•20— 
 
 But it is difficult to reconcile the allegation of these journals 
 that Venezuela wants fight, while admitting at the same time 
 that she is willing and anxious to have the difficulty settled 
 by arbitration. 
 
 Again we are told that Venezuela has boundary disputes 
 with Brazil and Columbia, and that we cannot support Vene- 
 zuela in all of them. To which we answer. "Nobody has 
 asked us.:"' But these three republics agreed at the late Pan- 
 American Conference in Washington to settle all their boun- 
 dary disputes by arbitration, and it will be time enough for 
 us to complain when they show that their agreement to that 
 principle was not made in good ff ith. The argument that 
 Venezuela is frequently afflicted with internal commotions 
 and revolts, and that, therefore, it is better to avoid all unnec- 
 essary dealings with any government that may be in power 
 there, is scarce worthy of reference. As -well say that because 
 a family have frequent quarrels, that the police should not 
 interfere if they saw burglars enter their house, to rc)b and 
 murder them. We are also informed that Secretary Blaine 
 has promised the Venezuelan Government the strongest possi- 
 ble moral support of the United States in the matter. But 
 something more substantial than moral support is required 
 where American interests and American rights are assailed. 
 The difficulty should be settled by arbitration or by the direct 
 interference of the United States Government in support of 
 the rights of Venezuela. We did not continue our efforts to 
 moral force in our two wars with Great Britain, nor was it 
 moral force that compelled her to yield to arbitration on the 
 San Juan question, the Alabama claims, theBehring Sea em- 
 broglio, and other instances. It was the knowledge that she 
 would otherwise have to encounter the physical power of the 
 United States, that caused her to yield. It may be objected 
 that these causes concerned ourselves directly. But this 
 Venezuelan affair concerns us also, and if only indirectly, 
 none the less materially. We would not allow England to 
 seize the Sandwich Islands, much as she desires to do so, and 
 we have refused to acknowledge her claims in Central Ameri- 
 ca, founded our usurjiation and we are to look on with indif- 
 ference at the spoliation of a republic of far more importance 
 
—21 — 
 
 to US in a commercial and political sense ? Would we permit 
 England to-day to seize Hayfci, or San Domingo, or Cuba, if 
 tlie latter were a free reiDublic ? Certainly not. Then why 
 allow her dismember a republic, that possesses the second 
 greatest waterway of South America ? Why should we drive 
 the French out of Mexico, and let the English into Venezuela ? 
 We do not desire to interfere with Great Britain in Guiana, if 
 she keeps her own side of the boundary line, and abstains 
 from transferring her Asiatic methods of land-grabbing to 
 this Western hemisphere. And I confidently assert that no 
 administration or j)arty that permits any European power in 
 violation of the Monroe Doctrine to seize the dominions of any 
 of our sister republics can appeal with success for the support 
 of the American people. The party that would permit such 
 an outrage would be compelled to efface itself like the old 
 Whigs, and to reorganize on an American basis. No party 
 fealty can be counted on where American interests are sacri- 
 ficed. " We are the national protectors of the territorial integ- 
 rity of the whole of this western world, and we propose in 
 conjunction with our sister republics to monopolize its com- 
 merce to the exclusion of foreign nations and to protect its 
 liberty against all attack. But even if the Government should 
 not move in the matter, the United States would furnish 
 plenty of volunteers to swell the armies' of Venezuela. We 
 need violate no neutrality law or do aught inconsistent with 
 our duties as citizens of this republic. What is to hinder 
 thousand^of Americans and veteran officers of our civil war to 
 go down to Venezuela as mere lookers-on in case of hostilities 
 between that republic and Great Britain ? And, if after their 
 arrival they should not continue long in the capacity of spec- 
 tators, whose business would it be save their own ? England, 
 it is said, threatens to bombard the coast cities of Venezuela. 
 She will hesitate before doing so. If she starts in to bombard 
 American cities, she will run the risk of kindling a flame that 
 may efface her commerce from the seas, and even envelope 
 her in her tight little island. She will not be alloAved to tum- 
 ble down South American cities, because their inhabitants 
 will not yield to her stand-and-deliver policy with the impu- 
 nity she has experienced in Ja]ian. Cliina. and Egy])t. *■ 
 
—22- 
 
 I trust that botli of the great parties will next year reiter- 
 ate in their platforms tlieir purpose to' uphold the Monroe Doc- 
 trine in its strictest application, and if so, I also trust that 
 whichever party may rule at Washington for the next 
 four years will use every legitimate means to extend our com- 
 mercial relations with the South American Repuhlics — 
 Venezuela among the first of them — and will have the con- 
 sistency to defend our interests in those countries, which 
 cannot be done without at the same time, defending those 
 countries from foreign encroachm.ents or attack. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Rooney's address the audience 
 arose and gave three hearty cheers for the Republic of Vene- 
 zuela, and the Monroe Doctrine. 
 
 End.