Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, December 20, 1895, Image 1
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ISSUED TWIOE-A-WEEBl?WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY.
i. m. grist & sons, Publishers. }, Jf Kantilg gfemspger: 4orffromotion of thi; ?oliticnI, Social, jljriculturat and Commercial Interests of the ?outh. {TERsil;?^0co^ thbM SC8'
VOLUME 41. YORKVILLE, S. C., FRIDAY, PECEMUER 20, 1895. KUMBEE 89.
FROM TH
BY CAPTAIN C:
Copyright, 1894, by the J. B. Llppincott Co.
CHAPTER XIV.
Tuesday and the day of the long projected
german had come, and if ever a
lot of garrison people were wishing
themselves well out of a flurry it was
the social circle at Sibley. Invitations
had been sent to all the prominent people
in town who had shown any interest
in the garrison Bince the regiment's arrival;
beautiful favors bad been procured;
an elaborate supper had been prepared,
the ladies contributing their.
^ efforts to the salads and other solids,
the officers wisely confining their donations
to the wines. It was rumored
that new and original figures were to
be danced, and much had been said
about this feature in town, and much
speculation had been indulged in, but
the Beaubien residence had been closed
until the previous day. Nina was away
with her mother and beyond reach of
- question, and Mr. Jerrold had not
shown his face in town since her de?,
parture.
Nor was he accessible when visitors
inquired at the fort. They had never
known such mysterious army people in
their lives. What on earth could induce
them to be so close mouthed about a
mere german? One might suppose they
had something worth concealing, and
presently it became noised abroad that
there was genuine cause for perplexity,
and possibly worse.
To begin with, every rue at Sibley
now knew something of the night adventure
at the colonel's, and as no one
could give the true statement of the
case the stories in circulation were
gorgeous embellishments of the actual
facts. It would be useless, even if advisable,
to attempt to reproduce these
wild theories, but never was army garrison
so tumultuously stirred by the
whirlwind of rumor. It was no longer
denied for an instant that the absence of
the colonel and his household was the
direct result of that night's discoveries,
and when, to Mrs. Hoyt's inexpressible
relief, there came a prettily worded note
from Alice on Monday evening informing
her that neither the colonel nor her
?other felt well enough to return to
Bilbey for the german, and that she herself
preferred not to leave her mother
at a time when she needed her care,
Mrs. Hoyt and her intimates, with
Whom she instantly conferred, decided
that there could be no doubt whatever
that the oolonel knew of the affair, bad
forbidden their return and was only
waiting for further evidence to decide
what was to be done with his erring stepdaughter.
Women talked with bated
breath of the latest stories in circulanf
PKoafrsr'u mfwlr ci Iodpa unH
preoccupation, of Jerrold's ostracism
and of Frank Armitage's sndden return.
, On Monday morning the captain had
quietly appeared in uniform at the office,
and it was known that he had relinquished
the remainder of his leave of
absence and resumed command of his
company. There were men in the garrison
who well knew that it was because
of the mystery overhanging the colonel's
household that Armitage had so suddenly
returned. They asked no questions
and sought no explanation. All men
marked, however, that Jerrold was not
at the office on Monday, and many curiously
looked at the morning report in
the adjutant's office. No, he was not in
arrest Neither was he on sick report
fle was marked present for duty, and
yet he was not at the customary assembly
of all the commissioned officers at
headquarters. More mystery, and most
exasperating, too, it was known that
Armitage and Jerrold had held a brief
talk in the letter's quarters soon after
Sunday's evening parade and that the
former had been re-enforced for a time
by Captain Chester, with whom he was
afterward closeted. Officers who heard
that he had suddenly returned and was
at Chester's went speedily to the latter's
quarters?at least two or three did?and
^ were met by a servant at the door, who
fkft rxAnHamAn korl i-nflf fTATlO
muu uunii iiuv ^ouiiavuivu uuu j uov gvuv
oat the book way. And, sure enough,
neither Chester nor Armitage came
home until long after taps, and then
the colonel's oook told several people
that the two gentlemen had spent over
an hoar up stairs in the colonel's and
Miss Alice's room and "was foolin
around the house till near 10 o'clock."
Another thing that added to the flame
of speculation and curiosity was this.
Two of the ladies, returning from a
moonlit stroll on the terrace just after
tattoo, came through the narrow passageway
on the weet side of the colonel's
quarters, and there, at the foot of the
little flight of steps leading up to the
parade, they came suddenly upon Captain
Chester, who was evidently only
' moderately pleased to see them and nervf
ouslv anxious to expedite their onward
1 movement With the perversity of both
sexes, however, they stopped to chat
and inquire what he was doing there,
and in the midst of it all a faint light
? gleamed on the opposite wall, and the
I reflection of the cnrtains in Alice RenI
wick's window was distinctly visible.
I Then a sturdy masculine shadow ap|
peared, and there was a rustling above,
& and then, with exasperating, mysterious
and epigrammatio terseness, a deep voice
A propounded the utterly senseless quesK
tion:
M "How's that?"
To which, in great embarrassment,
Y Chester replied:
[ "Hold on a minute. I'm talking
with some interested spectators."
Whereat the shadow of the big man
shot out of sight, and the ladies found
E RANKS.
<
HARLES KING. I
i
that It was useless to remain?there (
would be no further developments so
long as they did?and 60 they came
away, with many a lingering backward j
look "But the idea of asking such a
fool question as 'How's that?' Why .
couldn't the man say what he meant?" ,
It was gathered, however, that Armi- ,
tage and Chester had been making some ,
experiments that bore in 6ome measure
on the mystery. And all this time Mr. ,
Jerrold was in his quarters, only a ,
cfnno'o nwnv FTnw intfvrfiBted
he must have been!
But while the garrison was relieved
at knowing that Alice Renwick would
not be on hand for the german, and it
was being fondly hoped she might never
return to the post, there was still an- ]
other grievous embarrassment. How .
about Mr. Jerrold? (
He had been asked to lead when the ,
german was first projected and had ac- ]
cepted. That was fully two weeks be
fore, and now?no one knew just what ]
ought to be done. It was known that ,
Nina Beaubien had returned on the previous
day from a brief visit to the upper .
lakes, and that she had a costume of ,
ravishing beauty in which to oarry deso- ]
lation to the hearts of the garrison (
belles in leading that german with Mr. ,
Jerrold. Old Mme. Beaubien had been ,
reluctant, said her city friends, to re- ,
turn at all. She heartily disapproved of j
Mr. Jerrold and was bitterly set against ,
Nina's growing infatuation for him. But
Nina was headstrong and determined.
Moreover, she was far more than a ,
match for her mother's vigilance, and
it was known at Sibley that two or
three times the girl had been out at the
fort with the Suttons and other friends
when the old lady believed her in quarters
totally different.
Cub Sutton had confided to Captain
Wilton that Mme. Beaubien was in total
ignorance of the fact that there was
to be a party at the doctor's the night ho
had driven out with Nina and his sister;
that Nina had "pulled the wool
over her mother's eyes" and made her
believe 6he was going to spend the evening
with friends in town, naming a
family with whom the Beaubiens were
intimate. A long drive alwuys made
the old lady sleepy, and as she had accompanied
Nina to the fort that afternoon
she went early to bed, having secured
her wild birdling, as 6he supposed,
from possibility of further meetings
with Jerrold. For nearly a week, said
Cub, Mme. Beaubien had dogged Nina
bo that she could not get a moment
with the man with whom she was evidently
so smitten, and the girl was almost
at her wits' end with seeing the
depth of his flirtation with Alice Renwick
and the knowledge that on the
morrow her mother would spirit her off
to the oool breezes and blue waves of j
the great lake. Cub said she so worked ]
on Fanny's feelings that they put up
the scheme together and made him ]
bring them out. Gad, if old Maman ]
only found it out, there'd be no more
germans for Ninal She'd ship her off f
to the good Sisters at Creve-Coeur and ]
slap her into a oonvent and leave all t
her money to the church.
And yet, said city society, old Ma- J
man idolized her beautiful daughter 1
and could deny her 110 luxury or indul- t
gence. She dressed her superbly, though ]
with a somewhat barbaric taste, where
Nina's own good sense and eastern j
teaching did not interfere. What she i
feared was that the girl would fall in i
love with some adventurer or?what ^
was quite as bad?some army man who t
would carry her darling away to Ari* t
zona or other inJbcessible spot Her ?
plan was that Nina should marry here i
?at home?some one of the staid young y
merchant princes rising into prominence 1
in the western metropolis, and from the t
very outset Nina had shown a singular t
infatuation for the buttons and straps i
and music and heaven knows what all
out at the fort. She gloried in seeing y
her daughter prominent in all scenes of
social life. She rejoiced in her triumphs j
and took infinite pains with all prepa- 1
rations. <
She would have 6et her foot again6t t
Nina's simply dancing the german at t
the fort with Jerrold as a partner, but <
she could not resist it that the papers t
should announce on Sunday morning
that "the event of the season at Fort 1
Sibley was the german given last Tues- i
day night by the ladies of the garrison 1
and led by the lovely Miss Beaubien" ]
with Lieutenant or Captain Anybody, i
There were a dozen bright, graceful,
winning women among the dames and
damsels at the fort, and Alice Renwick
was a famous beauty by this time. It
was more than Maman Boaubicu could
withstand that her Nina should "lead"
all these, and so her consent was won.
Back they came from Chequamegon, and
the stately home on Summit avenue reopened
to receive them. It was Monday
noon when they returned, and by 3
o'clock Fanny Sutton had told Nina
Beaubien what she knew of the wonderful
rumors that were floating in from
Sibley. She was more than lialf disposed
to be in love with Jerrold herself. She
expected a proper amount of womanly
horror, incredulity and indignation, but
she was totally unprepared for the outburst
that followed. Nina was transformed
into a tragedy queen on the instant,
and poor, simple hearted, foolish
Fanny Sutton was almost scared out of
her small wits by the fire of denunciation
and fury with which her story was
greeted. She came home with white,
frightened face and hunted up Cub and '
told him thut she had been telling Nina <
some of the queer things the ladies had
been saying about Mr. Jerrold, and
Nina almost tore her to pieces, and
could he go right out to tho fort to see
Mr. Jerrold? Nina wanted to send a
uote at once, and if he couldn't go she
had made her promise that sho would
get somebody to go instantly and to
come back and let her know before 4
o'clock.
Cub was always glad of an excuse to
go out to tho fort, but a coldness had
sprung up between him and Jerrold.
He had heard tho ugly rumors in that
mysterious way in which all such things
are heard, and while his shallow pate
could not quite conceive of such a monstrous
scandal, and he did not believe
half he heard, ho sagely felt that in the
presence of so much smoke there was
surely some fire and avoided the man
from whom ho had beon inseparable.
m course lie nan not spojcen to mm ou
the subject, and, singularly enough,
this was the case with all the officers at
the post except Armitage and the commander.
It was understood that the
matter was in Chester's hands, to do
with as was deemed best. It was believed
that his resignation had been tendered,
and all these 48 hours sinco the story
might be said to be fairly before the
public Jerrold had been left much to
himself and was presumably in the
depths of dismay.
Ono or two men,, urged by their wives,
who thought it was really time something
were douo to let him understand
ho ought not to lead the germ an, had
gone to see him and been refused admission.
Asked from within what they
wanted, the reply was somewhat difficult
to frame and in both cases resolved
itself into "Oh, about tho german," to
which Jerrold's voice was heard to say:
"The german's all right. I'll lead if
I'm well enough and am not bothered
to death meantime. But I've got some
private matters to attend to and am not
seeing anybody today." And with this
answer they were fain to be content. It
had been settled, however, that the officers
wero to tell Captain Chester at 10
c'clock that in their opinion Mr. Jerrold
ought not to be permitted to attend
so long as this mysterious charge hung
ever him, and Mr. Rollins had been notified
that he must be ready to lead.
Poor Rollins! Ho was in6ore perplexity.
He wanted nothing better than to
lance with Nina Beaubien. He wonlered
if she would lead with him or
tvould even come at all when she learned
that Jerrold would be_unable to attend.
"Sickness" was to be the ostensible
cause, and in the youth and inno5ence
of his heart Rollins never supposed
that Nina would hear of all the
)ther assignable reasons. He meant to
ride in and call upon her Monday evening;
but, as 111 luck would have it, old
31oat, who was officer of the day, step>ed
on a round pebble as he was going
lown the long flight to the railway station
and sprained his ankle. Just at 6
j'clock Rollins got orders to relieve him
ind was returning from the guardhouse
ivhen who should come driving in but
3ub Sutton, and Cub reined up and
isked where he would be apt to find
Mr. Jerrold.
"He isn't well and has been denying
himself to all callers today," said RolLins
shortly.
"Well, I've got to see him or at least
jet a note to him," said Cub. "It's
!rom Miss Beaubien and requires an answer.
"
"You know the way to his quarters,
[ presume," said Rollins coldly. "You
nave been there frequently. I will have
i man hold your horse, or you can tie
aim there at the rail, just as you please.'' j
"Thanks. I'll go over, I believe." j
ind go he did, and poor Rollins was j
inable to resist the temptation of watch- j
jag whether the magic name of Nina
ivould open the door. It did not, but he
;aw Cub hand in the little note through
;he shutters, and ere long there come
mother from within. This Cub stowed
n his waistcoat pocket and drove off
ivith, and Rollins walked jealously
lomeward. But that evening he went
ihrough a worse experience, and it was
;he last blow* to his budding passion for
iparkling eyed Nina.
It was nearly tattoo and a dark night
vhen Chester suddenly came in.
"Rollins, you remember my telling
rou I was sure some of the men had
>een getting liquor in from the shore
lown below the station and 'running it'
;hat way? I believe we can nab the
tmuggler this evening. There's a boat
lown there now. The corporal has just
;old me."
Smuggling liquor was one of Chester's
horrors. He surrounded the post
vith a cordon of sentries who had no
ligher duty apparently than that of
preventing the entrance of alcohol in
my form. He had run a "red cross"
xusade against the post trader's store in
;he matter of light wines and small
jeer, claiming that only adulterated
ituff was sold to the men and forbidling
the sale of anything stronger than
'pop" over the trader's counter. Then,
vhen it became aDDarent that liquor
ivas being brought on the reservation,
le made vigorous efforts to break up
;he practice. Colonel Maynard rather
joohgoohed the whole business. It was
lis theory that a man who was deternined
to have a drink might better be
illowed to take an honest one, coram
publico, than a smuggled and deleterious
article, but he succumbed to the
ule that only "light wines and beer"
ihould be sold at the store and was lelient
to the poor devils who overloaded
ind deranged their stomachs in consequence.
But Chester no sooner found
limself in command than he launched
nto the crusade with redoubled energy
ind spent hours of the day and night i
Tying to capturo invaders of the reservation
with a bottle in their pockets,
rhe bridge was guarded, so was the
Tossing of the Cloudwater to the south,
and eo were the two roads entering
from the north and west, and yet there
was liquor coming in, and as though
"to give Chester a benefit" 6ome of the
men in barracks had a royal old spree
on Saturday night, and the captain was
sorer headed than any of the participants
in consequence. In some way he
heard that a rowboat came up at night
and landed supplies of contraband down
by the riverside out of sight and hearing
of the sentry at the railway station,
and it was thither he hurriedly led Rollins
this Monday evening.
They turned across the railway on
reaching the bottom of the long stairs
and scrambled down the rocky embankment
on the other side, Rollins following
in reluctant silence and holding his
sword so that it would not rattle, but
he had no faith in the theory of smugtriers.
Ho felt in some vague and unsat
isfactory way a sense of discomfort and
anxiety over his captain's late proceedings,
and his stealthy descent seemed
fraught with ill omen.
Once down in the flats, their footsteps
made no noise in the yielding sand,
and all was silence save for the clash of
the waters along the shores. Far down
the river were the reflections of one or
two twinkling lights, and close under
the bank in the slack water a few stars
were peeping at their own images, but
no boat was there, and the captain led
still farther to a little copse of willow,
and there in the shadows, sure enough,
was a rowboat, with a little lantern
dimly burning, half hidden in the stern.
Not only that, but as they halted at
the edge of the willows the captain put
forth a warning hand and cautioned silence.
No need. Rollins' straining eyes
were already fixed on two figures that
were standing in the shadows not 10 feet
away?one that of a tall, slender man,
the other a young girl. It was a moment
before Rollins could recognize
either, but in that moment the girl had
turned suddenly, had thrown her arms
ab k in,
The girl had thrown her arm* about the
neck of the tall young '/ran.
and with her head pillowed on his
breast was gazing up in hiB face.
"Bass me once more, Howard. Then
I must go," iiey heard her whisper.
Rollins seized the captain's sleeve and
strove, sick at heart, to pull him back,
but Chester stoutly stood his ground.
In the few seconds more that they remained
they saw his arni6 more closely
infold her. They saw her turn at the
brink, and in an utter abandonment of
rapturous, passionate love throw her
arms again about his neck and stand on
tiptoe to reach hiB face with her warm
lips. They could not fail to hear the
caressing tone of her every word or to
mark his receptive but gloomy silence.
mt 1 J ?- ? a. .? 1 i.1 XT
xney coma uoc mibisuse toe vuiue, mo
form, shadowy though it was. The girl
was Nina Beaubienand themaa beyond
question Howard Jerrold.
They saw him hand her into the light
skiff and hurriedly kiss her good night
Once again, as though she could not
leave him, her arms were thrown about
his neck, and she clung to him with all
her strength. Then the little boat 6wung
slowly out into the stream, the sculls
were shipped, and with practiced hand
Nina Beaubien pulled forth into the
swirling waters of the river, and the
faint lighft, like slowly setting star,
floated downward with the sweeping
tide and finally disappeared beyond the
point
Then Jerrold turned to leave, and
Chester stepped forth and confronted
him:
"Mr. Jerrold, did I not instruct you
to confine yourself to your quarters until
satisfactory explanation was made of
the absences with whioh you are charged?"
Jerrold started at the abrupt and unlooked
for greeting, but his answer was
prompt:
"Not at all, sir. You gave me to understand
that I was to remain here?
not to leave the po6t?until you had decided
on certain points, and though I
do not admit the justice or your course,
and though you have put me to grave
inconvenienoe, I obeyed the order. I
needed to go to town today on urgent
business, but between you and Captain
Armitageam in no condition to go. For
all this, sir, there will come proper retribution
when my colonel returns. And
now, sir, you are spying upon me?spying,
I say?and it only confirms what I
said of you before."
"Silence, Mr. Jerroldl This is insubordination.
"
"I don't care a d?n what it is, sir 1
There is nothing contemptuous enough
for mo to say of you or your conduct to
me"
"Not another word, Mr. Jerorldl Go
to your quarters in arrest. Mr. Rollins,
you are witness to this language."
But Rollins was not. Turning from
the 6pot in blankness of heart before a
word was uttered between tliem, be followed
the waning light with eyes full
of yearning and trouble. Ho trudged
his way down along the sandy shore
until he came to the silent waters of the
Blough and could go no farther, and then
he sat him down and covered his face
with his hands. It was pretty hard to
bear.
TO BE CONTINUED.
ARBITRATE OR FIGHT.
Cleveland to England About
the Venezuela Dispute.
? /
WAR IS EASILY POSSIBLE.
The President Reviews the Venezuela
' Controversy, Concludes That he
is Right, and Says There is no
Calamity Equal to Supine Submission
to Injustice.
Clairolunrl QiiKmitiarl a rn_
markable message to congress last
Tuesday. It is in relation to the
boundary dispute between Venezuela
and Great Britian and sounds pretty
nearly like a declaration of war unless
Great Britain shall agree to submit the
matter to arbitration. Here is the
message in full :
To the Congress: In my annual message
addressed to the congress on the
3d instant, I called attention to the
pending boundary controversy between
Great Britain and the republic of Venezuela
and recited the substance of a
representation made by this government
to her Britannic majesty's government,
suggesting reasons why such
dispute should be submitted to arbitration
for settlement and inquiring
whether it would be so submitted.
The answer of the British government,
whioh was then awaited, has
since been received and, together with
the dispatch to which it is a reply, is
hereto appended.
Such reply is embodied in two communications
addressed by the British
prime minister to Sir Julian Pauncefote,
the British ambassador at this
capital. It will be seen that one of
these communications is devoted exclusively
to observations upon the Mon
roe Doctrine, ana claims mat in me
present instance a new and strange
extension and development of this doctrine
is insisted on by the United
States; that the reasons justifying an
appeal to the doctrine enunciated by
President Monroe are generally inapplicable
"to the state of things in which
we live at the present day," and especially
inapplicable to a controversy
involving the boundary line between
Great Britain and Venezuela.
Without attempting extended argument
in reply to this position, it may
not be amiss to suggest that the doctrine
upon which we stand is strong and
sound because its enforcement is important
to our peace and safety as a nation,
and is essential to the integrity of our
free institutions and the tranquil maintenance
of our distinctive form of
government. It was intended to apply
to every stage of our national life and
cannot become obsolete while our republic
endures. If the balance of
power is justly a cause for jealous
auxiety among the governments of the
old world and a subject for our absolute
non-interference, none the less is an
observance of the Monroe Doctrine of
vital concern to our people and their
government.
Asshmine. therefore, that we raav
properly insist upon this doctrine without
regard to "the state of things in
which we live," or any change in the
conditions here or elsewhere, it is not
apparent why its application may not
be involved in the present controversy.
If a European power, by an extension
of its boundaries, takes possession
of the territory of one of our neighboring
republics against its will and in
derogation of its rights, it is difficult to
see why, to that extent, such European
power does not thereby attempt to extend
its system of government to that
portiou of this continent which is thus
tuken. This is the precise action ,
which President Monroe declared to be !
"dangerous to our peace and safety,"
aud it can make no difference whether ,
the European system is extended by an j
advance of frontier or otherwise.
It is also suggested in the British ,
reply that we should not seek to apply (
the Monroe Doctrine to the pending (
dispute because it does not embody any ,
principle of international law which "is ]
founded on the general consent of
nations," and that "no statesman how- (
ever eminent" and no nation however (
powerful, are compentent to insert into
the code of international law a novel ,
principle which was never recognized j
before, and which has not since been |
accepted by the government of any
other country." J
Practically, the principle for which (
we contend has peculiar, if not exclusive,
relation to the United States. It
may not have been admitted in so j
many words to the code of internation- (
al law ; but since in international lawcounsels
every nation is entitled to the (
riahts beloncine to it. if the enforce- .
ment of the Monroe Doctrine is some- ?
thing we may justly claim, it has its
place in the code of international law
as certainly and as securely as if it
were specifically mentioned, and when
the United States is a suitor before the
high tribunal that administers international
law, the question to be determined
is whether or not we present
claims-which the justice of that code
of law cannot find to be right and
valid.
The Monroe Doctrine finds its recog- /
nition in those principles of international
law which are based upon the
theory that every nation shall have its j
rights protected and its just claims
enforced. c
Of course this government is entire- (
ly confident that in the sanction of this (
doctrine we have clear rights and un- t
doubted claims. Nor i9 this ignored
in the British reply. The prime minister,
while not admitting that the
Monroe Doctrine is applicable to present
conditions, states:
"In declaring that the United States
would resist any such enterprise if it
was contemplated, President Monroe
adopted a policy which received the
entire sympathy of the English government
of that date." He further declared
: "Though the language of President
Monroe is directed to the attainment
of objects which most Englishmen
would agree to be salutory, it is impossible
to admit that they have been
inscribed by inadequate authority in
the code of international law." Again
he says : "They (her majesty's government)
fully concur with the view which
President Monroe apparently entertained
that any disturbance of the exintSn/w
?* ? t Awlrtl /liat An !n tknf
lOUUg icimuiiai uioiuuuuvu iu buuv
hemisphere by any fresh acquisition on
the part of any European state would
be a highly inexpedient change."
In the belief that the doctrine for
which we contend was clear and definite,
that it was founded upon substantial
consideration, and involved
our safety and welfare, that it was
fully applicable to our present conditions
aud to the state of the world's
progress, and that it was directly ,
related to the pending controversy,
and without any convictions as to the
final merits of the dispute ; but anxious
to learn in a satisfactory and conclusive
manuer whether Great Britain
sought her possessions on this continent
without right, or whether she
merely sought, under a claim of boundary,
to extend possession of territory
fairly included with her lines of ownership,
this government proposed to its
government of Great Britain a resort
to arbitation as the proper means of
settling the question, to the end that a
vexatious boundary dispute between
the two contestants might be determined,
aud our exact standing and
relation in respect to the controversy
might be made clear.
It will be seen from the correspondence
herewith submitted, that this
proposition has been declined by the
British government, upon grounds
which, in the circumstances, seems
to me to be far from satisfactory. It
is deeply disappointing that such an
appeal, actuated by the most friendly
feelings towards both nations directly
concerned, addressed to the
sense of justice and to the magnanimity
of one of the great powers of the
world,' and touching its relations to
one comparatively weak and small,
should have produced no better results.
The course to be pursued by this
government in view of the present condition
does not appear to admit of serious
doubt. Having labored faithfully
for many years to induce Great Britain
to submit this dispute to impartial
arbitration, and having been now finally
apprised of her refusal to do so,
nothing remains but to accept the situation,
to recognize its plain requirements
and deal with it accordingly.
Great Britain's present proposition
has never thus far been regarded as
admissible by Venezuela, though any
adjustment of the boundaries which
that country may deem for her advantage
and may enter into of her own
free will, cannot, of course, be objected
to by the United States.
Assuming, however, that the attitude
of Venezuela will remain unchanged,
the dispute has reached such a stage
as to make it now incumbent upon the
United States to take measures to determine
with sufficient certainty for
its justification, what is the true divisional
line between the Republic of
Venezuela and British Guiana. The
iuquiry to that end of course, ought
to be conducted carefully and judicially,
and due weight should be given to
alljavailable evidence, records and facts
in support of the claims of both parties.
In order that such an examination
should be prosecuted in a thorough
and satisfactory manner, I suggest
that the congress make an adequate
appropriation for the expenses of a
commission to be appointed by the
executive, who shall make the necessary
investigation and report upon the
matter with the least possible delay.
When such report is made and accepted,
it will, in my opinion, be the duty
of the United States to resist by every
means in its power as a willful agression
upon its rights and interests the
appropriation by Great Britain of any
lands, or the exercise of governmental
jurisdiction over any territory, which,
after investigation, we have determined
of right belongs to Venezuela.
In making these recommendations, I
an fully alive to the responsibility
incurred, and keenly realize all the
eousequences that may follow.
I am nevertheless firm in my conviction
that while it is a grievous thing
to contemplate the two great Englishspeaking
peoples of the world as being
otherwise than friendly comDetitors in
;he onward march of civilization and
strenuous and worthy rivals in all the
irts of peace, there is no calamity
tvhich a great nation can invite which
squals that which follows a supine
submission to wrong and injustice and
;he consequent loss of national self espect
and honor, beneath which is
shielded and defended a people's safety
ind greatness.
Signed) Grover Cleveland.
Executive Mansion, Dec. 17, 1895.
klelton Is Chairman.
The National Executive committee
>f the Republican party, has recognized
Captain L. D. Melton, of Columbia, as
shairman of the Republican organizaion
in South Carolina.