Year 1885
589.
COLONEL MANSFIELD TO EARL GRANVILLE
Caracas,
January 8, 1885.
My
Lord,
While
expressing my thanks for your Lordship's approval conveyed in despatch of the
28th November, 1884, received the day before yesterday, I have the honour to forward
a copy of a note which I have addressed to the Government of Venezuela in
conformity with your Lordship's instructions transmitted in the same despatch
requesting them to restrain the agents of the Manoa Company from all action in
the territory the sovereignty of which is claimed equally by Her Majesty's
Government and that of Venezuela.
(Signed)
C. E. MANSFIELD
*****
Inclosure:
COLONEL MANSFIELD TO SEÑOR QUËNZA
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Caracas,
January 8, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
In
a despatch dated London, the 28th November, I am directed by Her Majesty’s
Government to attract the attention of that of Venezuela to the proceedings of
the agents of the Manoa Company in certain districts the sovereignty of which
is equally claimed by Her Majesty's Government and that of Venezuela.
Earl
Granville further instructs me to request the Venezuelan Government to take
steps to prevent the agents of the Manoa Company, or of Mr. H. Gordon, who has
also a Concession for colonization from the Venezuelan Government, from
asserting claims to, or interfering with, any of the territory claimed by Great
Britain.
Her
Majesty's Government, in the event of that of Venezuela declining to move in
this matter, would, to their great regret, feel themselves under the necessity
of adopting measures for preventing the encroachment of the Manoa Company, and
the Governor of British Guayana would even be instructed to employ an adequate
police force for the prevention of such encroachment and the maintenance of
order.
Lord
Granville goes on to inform me, however, that, no steps will he taken by the
Governor of British Guayana pending this reference to the Venezuelan
Government.
I
need hardly remind your Excellency that the question of the boundary of British
Guayana is one of long standing, and that communications upon the subject are
at the present moment taking place between Her Majesty’s Government and the
Venezuelan Minister in London, and it is therefore all the more important that
incidents calculated to cause grave inconvenience should be prevented. The
territories, irrespective of those disputed by Venezuela and Great Britain,
conceded to the Manoa Company are enormous in extent; but, without entering
into that portion of the question, I feel certain that his Excellency the
President of the Republic will duly appreciate the immense importance of
obviating the possibility of any collision between the agents of that Company
and the British authorities in the territories the sovereignty of which is
still a disputed question.
(Signed)
C. E. MANSFIELD
590.
MEMORANDUM COMMUNICATED TO EARL
GRANVILLE BY GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO, JANUARY 22, 1885
"The
Government of the United States of Venezuela, and the Government of Her Majesty
the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, being desirous of
putting an end to the differences which have arisen respecting the meaning of
certain stipulations in the Treaty between the Republic of Colombia and Great
Britain of the 18th April, 1825, which Treaty was adopted and confirmed by the
Treaty between Venezuela and Great Britain, signed the 27th October, 1834, have
appointed as their respective Plenipotentiaries, to wit:
"The
Government of the United States of Venezuela,
"And
the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland,
"Who,
after having communicated to each other their full powers, and found them in
good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles: ¾”
This
preamble does not differ from the one proposed lately by Her Majesty's
Government.
"
Article I. As in the old Treaty.
"
Article II. Ditto.
"Article
III. Ditto.
"Article
IV. Ditto."
To
include the Colonies and possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, as desired by
her Government, in the advantages granted to the mother country concerning
navigation and commerce, it is proposed to add between the IVth and Vth
Articles a new Article of the following purport: ¾
"The
stipulations in the preceding Articles shall be extended to all of Her
Majesty's Colonies and foreign possessions.
"Article
V. As in the old Treaty.
"Article
VI. Ditto.
"Article
VII. Shall be considered as Venezuelan in Great Britain and as British in the
United States of Venezuela, to all intents and purposes, those vessels provided
with the sea papers and documents required by the laws of each of the two
Contracting Parties to justify the character of the merchant-vessels."
It
is proposed to replace the VIIth Article of the old Treaty by the above, on the
ground that the provisions of the former do not seem to be applicable to a
Republic like Venezuela, so different from the Great Colombia of 1825, and
that, instead of checking the development of her navy, ought, on the contrary,
to look for the means of increasing it. If, in order to regard as Venezuelan a
vessel, she must be constructed in Venezuela, as the naval industry is there in
its infancy, the number of her ships would be exceedingly limited, and her flag
would scarcely ever wave on foreign waters. On the other hand, should vessels
bought by the Government, or those seized upon her enemies, or those forfeited
in conformity with her laws, be not deemed Venezuelan, the Republic would want
the necessary means of self-defence or the power to punish the infringement of
her laws.
"Article
VIII. As in the old Treaty.
"Article
IX. Ditto.
"Article
X. Ditto.
"Article
XI. Ditto.
"Article
XII. This Article is not required now, for after 1825 the legislation has
experienced such changes, that a complete liberty of worship exists in
Venezuela; and, moreover, the interference with the exercise of such a liberty
is viewed and punished as a misdemeanour. On the other hand, the cemeteries now
in the Republic are burial-grounds for natives and foreigners, with no
difference of religion.
"
Article XIII. This Article is not necessary today, the promise therein
contained having been fulfilled on the 15th March, 1839, by the conclusion of a
Treaty between Venezuela and Her Britannic Majesty for the abolition of the
Slave Trade."
The
XIVth Article has no raison d'etre at this time, when the omission of
1828 is going to be filled.
The
XVth Article might be drawn in this shape: ¾
"The
present Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation shall be ratified according
to the Constitution and laws of the Republic of the United States of Venezuela,
and by Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in London within the term of
six months from this day, or sooner if possible."
It
is thought advisable to add an Article fixing the duration of the Treaty: ¾
"The
present Treaty, which, from the date of the exchange of its ratifications,
shall be substituted for the one concluded by Colombia and Great Britain on the
18th April, 1825, and renewed with Venezuela on the 29th October, 1884, shall
expire five years after the exchange of its ratifications; but if, one year
before the expiration of such a term, neither of the parties shall give to the
other notice of its intention of terminating it, it shall continue in force for
one year more, and so on from year to year till such notice is given."
591.
THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY TO GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Foreign
Office, January 24, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
I
have had the honour of receiving your letter of the 30th ultimo, which reached
this Department on the 17th instant, relative to the question of the boundary
between Venezuela and British Guiana, and, in reply, I beg to acquaint you that
it will receive the careful consideration of Her Majesty’s Government.
(Signed)
SALISBURY
592.
COLONEL MANSFIELD TO EARL GRANVILLE
Caracas,
January 27, 1885.
My
Lord,
With
reference to your Lordship's despatch of the 28th November, 1884, and to my
despatch of the 8th instant, transmitting a copy of my note to this Government
of the same date upon the subject of the encroachments of the Manoa Company, I
have now the honour to forward a copy and translation of the reply of the
Venezuelan Government.
Dr.
Quënza's tone is temperate, but his note is no answer to mine, is entirely in
my humble opinion, beside the question, and in fact flatly contradicts the
position taken up in my note in obedience to your Lordship’s orders, while he
raises the question of Mr. McTurk's vessel, which Dr. Quënza states to have
been a ship of war, continuing her course after the pilot had been refused by
the persons in charge of the Venezuelan light-ship, Dr. Quënza thus assuming
that a ship of war is subject to the same conditions as a trading vessel.
In
this question of the Manoa Company, etc., which may perhaps become a serious
one, I propose transmitting copies of my communications with the Venezuelan
Government, not only in order that your Lordship may see that my instructions
have been carried out with exactness, but also that your Lordship may
accurately appreciate the position and arguments adopted by this Government,
and to what extent they are justified by the communications from this Legation.
(Signed)
C. E. MANSFIELD
*****
Inclosure:
SEÑOR QUËNZA TO COLONEL MANSFIELD
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Caracas,
January 17, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
The
circumstance that I have given all my attention to the consideration of the
matter to which your Excellency's note of the 8th of the current month refers
has prevented my sending you the required answer at an earlier date.
Now,
however, having thoroughly studied the subject, I am of opinion that the
boundaries of the Concessions mentioned by your Excellency do not extend beyond
those of the disputed territory; but as your Excellency infers that the Manoa
Company have exceeded the limits assigned to them, the Government, whose
unshaken international policy is ruled by principles which, with respect to
Great Britain, shall always be carried out with the sincerity commanded by duty
and the interest inspired by sympathy, will take steps to ascertain the nature
of the acts which led your Excellency to address your communication to me, and
which even induced you to inform the Government that instructions would be sent
to the Governor of British Guayana to maintain order at all costs by means of a
police force.
The
elucidation of this question has become all the more indispensable since the
Government have received information that on the 18th October of last year a
British war-steamer entered the mouth of the Orinoco, and, reaching the
lightship, asked for pilots in order to ascend the above-mentioned river, a
request which was denied to them on account of the said steamer's destination
not being any one of the ports opened to foreign commerce, an act which
constituted a manifest breach of the law. It has also reached the knowledge of
the Government that, notwithstanding the opposition of the authorities of the
light-ship, the aforesaid vessel continued her course up to Amacura, leaving
the next day for Guainia by Barima, after having placed along the route
traversed sign-posts with printed Proclamations affixed to them, which tends to
assert acts of sovereignty.
Your
Excellency will no doubt understand that these proceedings have in a marked
manner attracted the attention of the Government, who have even gone so far as
to doubt their authenticity, owing to the unusual character of the incident, a
fact of which your Excellency will doubtless appreciate the importance.
With
regard to the possibility of the employment of the police force, pointed out by
your Excellency, I trust that a similar measure will not prove necessary, but
rather, on the other hand, Her Majesty’s Government will be convinced that
Venezuela can respect all rights in order that in return her rights may be
respected.
The
Representative of the Republic in London, General Guzman Blanco, has received
instructions to proceed without loss of time to discuss the boundary question,
and I feel assured that at no very distant date both nations will, by means of
peaceful negotiations, arrive at a definitive settlement of the question.
(Signed)
BENJAMIN QUËNZA
593.
COLONEL MANSFIELD TO LORD GRANVILLE
Caracas,
January 28, 1885.
My
Lord,
l
have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship’s despatch of the
30th December of last year, inclosing copies of correspondence from the
Governor of British Guiana and the Colonial Office in connection with the acts
of the Manoa Company upon the east banks of the Amacura River, and instructing
me to communicate the substance of the same to the Venezuelan Government. I now
beg to transmit a copy of the note which I have addressed to Dr. Quënza in
pursuance of your Lordship's orders.
(Signed)
C. E. MANSFIELD
*****
Inclosure:
COLONEL MANSFIELD TO SEÑOR QUËNZA
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Caracas,
January 26, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
In
compliance with instructions received from Earl Granville, and dated London,
30th December, I have the honour to bring to the knowledge of the Venezuelan
Government the circumstance that orders have been transmitted to the Governor
of British Guiana to send Mr. McTurk, a Stipendiary Magistrate, accompanied by
an adequate police force, to make an inquiry in the district on the east bank
of the Amacura River into the proceedings of the Manoa Company, and more
especially into the conduct of Mr. Robert Wells and others, who are accused of
torturing persons by hanging them up by their ankles for protracted periods.
Mr.
McTurk will, of course, deal with the case according to the laws in force in
the other parts of British Guiana in which Mr. McTurk holds jurisdiction as a
Stipendiary Magistrate.
The
words of the contract with the Manoa Company distinctly state "as far as
British Guiana," and I beg to observe that in the Report of the
Territorial Land Grant of the Grand Delta of the Orinoco for the Manoa Company,
Mr. Fitzgerald states that "about 10 miles to the south-west of Barima
Point is the entrance of the Amacura River, which in 1800 formed the boundary
between British Guiana and Venezuela," whence it would appear that the
locality in which the incidents of which notice has been taken is not even claimed
by the Manoa Company.
The
Governor of British Guiana has also reported to London that the posts placed by
order of the Government of that Colony on the 18th October on the east bank of
the Amacura River and in other spots, bearing notices against trespassers,
inasmuch as the territory is claimed by the British Crown, have been removed,
it is to be presumed by order of the Venezuelan Government, and sent to Ciudad
Bolivar, an incident which I cannot but fear may lead to correspondence of an
unsatisfactory character, if not to serious inconvenience, at a future date.
(Signed)
C. E. MANSFIELD
594.
EARL GRANVILLE TO GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Foreign
Office, January 28, 1885
M.
le Ministre,
I
have the honour to state that I have carefully examined the draft Treaty
between Great Britain and Venezuela, which you were so good as to communicate
on the 22nd instant to Lord Fitzmaurice.
The
draft in question is chiefly a re-enactment of the Treaty of 1825, but with the
addition of some Articles dealing with the inclusion of Her Majesty's Colonies,
and with the duration of the Treaty itself, and of others dealing with
modification of certain provisions of the Treaty which the Venezuelan
Government consider to require amendment.
It
is the opinion of Her Majesty's Government that the Treaty of 1825 is, in many
respects, not in accordance with modern requirements, and; that it might with
advantage be recast in many particulars. Her Majesty's Government are therefore
of opinion that it is not advisable or opportune to reproduce these old
Articles textually in a new Treaty.
I
wish, however, to remind you that the two questions which have formed the
subject-matter of the present negotiation are the duration of the Treaty and
the meaning of the colonial Article. In regard to the former, the term of five
years, suggested as the minimum duration of the Treaty in the final Article of
the draft, appears to Her Majesty's Government as unusually short, and they
trust that in any new Treaty the Venezuelan Government will agree to a period
of ten years at least.
The
proposed addition to the IVth Article, dealing with the British Colonies, not
appear to Her Majesty's Government to meet the circumstances of the present
case with sufficient explicitness. The prime object of Her Majesty's
Government, in consenting to modify the existing Treaty, has been to secure the
removal of the differential duties levied on goods imported into Venezuela from
the West Indies. Her Majesty’s Government have always held, and still hold,
that the imposition of these duties constitutes an infraction of the Treaty of
1825; but the Government of Venezuela has sought to justify its action by
placing on the Articles of the existing Treaty interpretations, in which Her
Majesty's Government have not been able to concur. In the first place, the
Government of Venezuela has held that the Treaty does not apply to the
Colonies. In regard to this contention, the proposed addition to Article IV
would no doubt remove all uncertainty upon the subject. But, in the second
place, the Venezuelan Government has maintained that even though the Treaty did
apply to the Colonies, the differential duties are no infraction of the
treatment stipulated for in Article IV. Thus, in his note of 7th January, 1882,
his Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs made the following statement to
Her Majesty's Minister at Caracas: "The new Law, it is true, imposes a
differential duty upon merchandise coming from the Antilles, but, this duty is
imposed on the merchandise of all nations, including Venezuela; so that even
Venezuelan produce imported from those islands is subject to the additional
duty. Thus, the unequal treatment alleged in your observations does not
exist."
Again,
in his note of the 15th March of the same year, his Excellency said:
"Great
Britain has a right that no other or higher duties be imposed on the
importation of articles, the growth, produce, or manufacture of either the
metropolis or the British dominions, than may be imposed on the like products
of the metropolis or the dominions of any other foreign country.
"Our
Law, whilst charging an additional tax on goods coming from the West Indies,
makes no difference as regards the place from which they originally proceed, so
that British goods coming from the West Indies are subject to the same
additional duty as those of other nations also coming from the West Indies; no
difference is made in favour of any particular country. Thus the right to
perfect equality of treatment, which we are bound under our Treaty to extend to
Great Britain, is maintained intact."
Her
Majesty's Government entirely dissent from this interpretation of the
most-favoured-nation Article.
Such
an interpretation would indeed nullify that Article, for it would justify the
imposition at differential duties in favour of France, for example, by a law
declaring that lower duties should be paid on goods imported into Venezuela
from France than on similar goods imported from England. In that case, it might
equally be said that all goods coming from France, or from England
respectively, were treated alike, because French goods sent through England to
Venezuela, would pay as high a duty as English goods, while English goods sent
through France to Venezuela could get the benefit of the lower duties.
It
does not appear to Her Majesty's Government that the additions to Article IV
which you did me the honour to propose in the draft Treaty would exclude the
above-mentioned interpretation.
Her
Majesty's Government are aware, however, from the assurances conveyed to Her
Majesty's Minister at Caracas, with which you have no doubt been made
acquainted, that an agreement on the Colonial Article has been already
practically arrived at between the two Governments; and I have the honour to
inclose a copy of the proposals sent by him on the 28th May last to Señor
Vicente Amengual, and accepted by the latter as the basis of settlement. These
proposals embody, on the one hand, the wish of Her Majesty's Government to
safeguard the interests of Her Majesty's Colonies, and, on the other, they
carry out the wish of the Venezuelan Government to provide a means of
terminating the present Treaty.
To
this draft Convention I have added the usual clause inserted in all the
Treaties recently concluded by Her Majesty's Government allowing for the
accession of the self-governing Colonies.
Lord
Edmond Fitzmaurice reported to me your assurance, which I received with much
gratification, that the Venezuelan Government were anxious that this
long-pending question should be settled as soon as possible. This wish Her
Majesty's Government entirely reciprocate, and I may remind you that they have
for a long period been pressing for a settlement of it. Under these
circumstances, they trust you will be able at once to accept the
above-mentioned draft Convention, and thus terminate the present controversy.
In
conclusion, I may observe that the proposal communicated by you to Lord Edmond
Fitzmaurice point to a desire on the part of the Venezuelan Government to
conclude a full and revised Treaty with Great Britain. With this wish, the
previous and immediate conclusion of the proposed agreement will in no wise
interfere; and I have the honour to inform you that Her Majesty's Government
will be glad at the proper time to negotiate such a Treaty on the lines of that
which has lately been concluded with the Republic of Paraguay. Of this Treaty I
have the honour to inclose a copy, and to inform you that Her Majesty's
Government will be very willing to consider in a friendly spirit any fresh
points which the Government of Venezuela may desire to suggest for
consideration.
In
order to avoid any possibility of misunderstanding as to the interpretation of
the most-favoured-nation Article, Her Majesty's Government have to insert in
the most-favoured-nation Article of the above Treaty the words
"whencesoever arriving”, although in no wise of opinion that the Article
without these, or similar words, will bear the meaning which was sought to be
put upon it by the Government of Venezuela.
(Signed)
GRANVILLE
595.
COLONEL MANSFIELD TO EARL GRANVILLE
Caracas,
February 5, 1885.
My
Lord,
I
the honour to transmit a copy and translation of a note which I have received
from the Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs, in answer to mine of the 26th ultimo,
of which l forwarded a copy to your Lordship.
Dr.
Quënza expresses the astonishment of his Government at the substance of my
communication. In the earlier part of his note he speaks of the east bank of
the Amacura as Venezuelan territory, and later he designates the district as
the "disputed territory."
He
proceeds to mention that the Venezuelan Government has learnt by telegraph with
even greater astonishment that Venezuelan territory had been violated by a
party of English, who had arrested and carried off the Venezuelan Commissioner,
leaving an English police force installed on the Amacura.
His
Excellency gives utterance to a desire for me to interfere, and concludes by
expressing a wish to see me.
I
waited upon Dr. Quënza this afternoon, when he showed me a telegram from the
Venezuelan Administrator at Pedernales, stating that he was proceeding to the
Amacura to ascertain ("cerciorarse") what was going on,
accompanied by police.
Dr.
Quënza, as in his note, expressed a wish for me to interfere, to write or
telegraph to the Governor of British Guiana, to the effect that both parties
should withdraw, and that the district should return to the status quo ante.
I
replied that the Governor of British Guiana acted under instructions from home;
that my sending either instructions or suggestions was out of the question;
that I do, from time to time, communicate with the Governors of neighbouring
British Colonies, but such communications could never assume any other form
than furnishing information or answering inquiries.
Dr.
Quënza's tone was one of much friendliness and cordiality; he repeatedly
expressed the hope that the whole matter would receive a satisfactory solution,
adding that the very full powers which General Guzman holds from his Government
must greatly facilitate such a solution.
Under
any circumstances, I should have hesitated to communicate with the Governor of
British Guiana, for I should have entertained no certainty that the Venezuelans
and Manoa Company's people would have equally withdrawn; on the contrary, I am
more than disposed to believe that the reverse would have been the case, but
your Lordship's despatch of the 30th December is so conclusive that no doubt
whatever rested upon my mind respecting the course for me to pursue.
(Signed)
C. E. MANSFIELD
*****
Inclosure:
SEÑOR QUËNZA TO COLONEL MANSFIELD
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Caracas,
February 3, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
I
have studied with due attention the substance of your Excellency's note, dated
the 26th of last month, to which I replied at an early date only acknowledging
the receipt of the same, deeming it necessary to communicate the contents
thereof to the Supreme Magistrate of the Republic, and to the other members of
the Cabinet.
The
Federal Executive have learned with deep surprise the account of the contents
of the aforesaid note, both concerning the acts which your Excellency informs
me have been committed by Mr. Robert Wells, who it appears belong to the Manoa
Company, as well as the orders which have been given to His Excellency the
Governor of British Guayana to send Mr. McTurk, Stipendiary Magistrate,
accompanied by a sufficient force of police, to institute an inquiry on the
eastern bank of the Amacura River into the proceedings of the above-mentioned
Company, which is an operation indisputably belonging to Venezuela. The
astonishment of the Government, M. le Ministre, has attained its utmost limits
on receiving yesterday a telegram from the Governor of the Delta Territory, in
which he informs them that an armed force, sent by his Excellency the Governor
of British Guayana, entered Venezuelan territory, and making use of force,
arrested the Commissioner of the mouth of the Amacura, whom they carried off,
leaving established there a force of police.
Besides
the other incidents of which your Excellency is already apprised, this last act
suffices for Venezuela to feel herself attacked in her sacred sovereign rights,
and to call with all urgency your Excellency's attention to the fact, with the
object of taking the measures required by the state of things in order that
such proceedings should cease, and matters revert to their former condition in
accordance with the status quo in force, and which determines that
neither one or the other nation shall exercise jurisdiction over any part of
the disputed territory.
Such
a measure becomes all the more indispensable, as negotiations have been entered
into between Venezuela and Great Britain with the intention of putting an end
to the lengthened discussion now existing.
The
Minister Plenipotentiary of the Republic has received instructions to push on
the negotiations, and these would doubtless rapidly attain the desired solution
if proceedings which exhibit the appearance of violent acts were to be avoided,
and which, moreover, are in direct contradiction with the respect due to the
principles of territorial sovereignty, and the justice which should
characterize the relations of civilized countries.
I
consider it advisable to hold an interview with your Excellency, and I beg to urge
the same, placing myself from this moment at the disposal of your Excellency.
(Signed)
BENJAMIN QUËNZA
596.
EARL GRANVILLE TO GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Foreign
Office, February 13, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
With
reference to my communication of the 24th ultimo, I have the honour to state to
you that Her Majesty's Government have carefully considered the proposal made
to them in your letter of the 30th December last, that the settlement of the
disputed boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela should be intrusted to a
Commission of jurists nominated by the British and Venezuelan Governments,
whose decision should be final.
l
regret to have to inform you, M. le Ministre, that the above proposal presents
Constitutional difficulties which prevent Her Majesty's Government from
acceding to it, and that they are not prepared to depart from the arrangement
proposed by the Venezuelan Government in 1877, and accepted by Her Majesty's
Government, to decide the question by adopting a conventional boundary fixed by
mutual accord between the two Governments.
(Signed)
GRANVILLE
597.
EARL GRANVILLE TO GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Foreign
Office, March 18, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
On
the 28th January I had the honour to communicate to you the draft of a
Convention for putting an end to the differences which have existed between Her
Majesty’s Government and that of Venezuela on the subject of the interpretation
of the most-favoured nation clause of the Treaty between the two countries. As
this draft has already been favourably received by his Excellency the Minister
for Foreign Affairs at Caracas, and embodies the desiderata of both
Governments, l trust that you will shortly be in a position to inform me that
it may be prepared for signature.
(Signed)
GRANVILLE
598.
GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO TO EARL GRANVILLE
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
194,
Queen's Gate, London, March 21, 1885.
My
Lord,
I
have had the honour of receiving your Excellency's note, dated the 28th
January, respecting the project of a new Treaty of Commerce between Venezuela
and Her Britannic Majesty, which I handed to Lord E. Fitzmaurice on the 22nd of
the same month. I received then also a draft of the proposal of your
Excellency's Government; and a copy of a Treaty concluded between it and that
of Paraguay on the 16th October, 1884.
The
present negotiation aims, on the one hand, at settling the controversy as to
the duration of the Treaty made with Colombia in 1825, and renewed with
Venezuela in 1834; and, on the other hand., at settling the question of the
additional duties established by the Republic on the importations from the
Antilles.
I
thought that both points might be made the subject of one Convention, and on
that account I formulated a draft, in which most of the old Articles are
preserved; an addition deciding the existing difficulty is introduced, and the
propriety of bringing other Articles in harmony with the present state of
things is pointed out.
Your
Excellency says now that, as the Treaty of 1825 is in many respects at variance
with modern requirements, and might advantageously be recast in another, Her
Majesty's Government is of opinion that it is not advisable to reproduce the
old Articles textually in a new Treaty.
But
your Excellency remarks that the addition proposed by me does not meet the
circumstances of the present case, say, the removal of the aforesaid
differential duties, with sufficient explicitness, owing to the construction
put by Venezuela upon the Treaty of 1825; and your Excellency adds that the two
Governments have agreed practically on the Article about the Colonies, since
Señor Vicente Amengual, the Minister for Foreign Relations, accepted, as the
basis of settlement, the proposal sent in by Mr. Mansfield. The said Minister
replied to that gentleman as follows: ¾
"The
President of the Republic is gratified to see that Her Majesty's Government
adheres to the line of good understanding and cordiality which prepares the
happy solution of these and other points in dispute between the two countries.
"By
this date your Excellency knows that the illustrious American, General Guzman
Blanco, who, in his capacity as President, initiated and has conducted these
matters, is going within some days to London, to represent Venezuela as Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. One of the commissions intrusted to
him is relative to the points in question; therefore, your Excellency will find
only natural and logical that the President should fix that capital as the seat
of the negotiation. Such an appointment, before it was made, had been
communicated to your Excellency.
"In
saying then to your Excellency that the illustrious American will soon
communicate the answer of the Government, and repeating the expression of its
satisfaction at the turn things are taking, l renew to your Excellency the
assurances of my highest consideration."
It
is this answer that I have made to your Excellency by proposing a Convention by
which a term is fixed in the Treaty of 1825, and the repeal of the Decree
imposing the additional duties is stipulated at the same time.
But,
since your Excellency has evinced a disposition to substitute for the obsolete
compact of 1825 another in accordance with the modern requirements, and has
sent me as a type the Treaty concluded between Her Britannic Majesty and
Paraguay on the 16th October, 1884, I accept the same, reserving to myself the
presentation, on the fitting opportunity, of such alterations, suppressions, or
additions as our peculiar circumstances may require.
The
clause concerning the Colonies might be inserted therein with all the desirable
perspicuity, so as to produce the repeal of the Differential Duties Decree.
I
repeat now what I stated to Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice on my handing to him my
draft, viz., that l am anxious to conclude this negotiation as soon as
possible; that the commercial community of Trinidad, which shows itself
friendly to the peace of Venezuela, may shortly reap the benefits of the
suppression of those duties.
Add
to this the consideration that the Venezuelan Legislature, the ordinary annual
Session of which lasts only seventy days, and, in case of extension of the
same, ninety, met on the 25th February, and consequently has little time left
to examine and approve, subject to the constitutional formalities in each
House, the Treaty we may conclude.
(Signed)
GUZMAN BLANCO
599.
EARL GRANVILLE TO GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Foreign
Office, April 2, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
I
have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 21st ultimo
respecting the Treaty relations between Her Majesty's Government and the
Republic of Venezuela.
In
my note of the 28th January last, I had the honour to inform you of the points
in which the draft Treaty communicated by you to Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice was
insufficient to put an end to the differences which have arisen respecting the
interpretation of the Treaty at 1825; and I inclosed a copy of a draft of
Convention which had already been submitted to the Cabinet at Caracas.
Throughout
the discussion of this question, Her Majesty's Government have shown the
greatest anxiety to meet the legitimate wishes of the Government of the
Republic. They accordingly acquiesced at once in the wish of that Government
for a new Treaty, and proposed to negotiate a full Treaty in accordance with
modern precedents, after the signature of the Convention. But they did not
anticipate that their action in so doing could be a source of fresh delay. They
regret, therefore, that in your note, to which I now have the honour to reply,
while the proposal to negotiate an entirely new Treaty is accepted, it is not
stated whether the Venezuelan Government finally accepts the draft Convention,
or for what reasons they reject it, if such is their meaning and intention. Her
Majesty's Government also regret that in accepting the Treaty with Paraguay as
the basis for the new Treaty, it is not stated in what particulars the Venezuelan
Government wish to see it altered.
I
fear that owing to the delay which has taken place, it will now be impossible
to decide what alterations, if any, may he requisite, in time for the Treaty to
be approved by the Venezuelan Legislature in the present Session. This being
the case, I trust, M. le Ministre, that you are able to proceed immediately to
the signature of the draft Convention, with the terms of which the Venezuelan
Government is already familiar. The signature need not interfere with the subsequent
negotiation of an entirely new Treaty.
But
whether you are able immediately to accept the Convention or not, I trust that
you will, in order to prevent the lapse of any time between the signature of
the definitive Agreement and the abrogation of the differential duties, most
strongly urge your Government by telegraph to take the necessary constitutional
powers by anticipation before the close of the Legislative Session to remit
those duties as soon as a Treaty or other Agreement shall have been signed.
Such Treaty or other Agreement could then be submitted to the Legislature in
the next Session.
The
adoption by Venezuela of an interpretation of the most-favoured-nation clause
which establishes differential duties against a part of Her Majesty's dominions,
and which is quite different to that hitherto accepted generally, could not be
considered by Her Majesty's Government otherwise than as an unfriendly act.
They note, however, with satisfaction the expression of your desire to settle
the question, and they feel convinced that you will, as a proof of that desire,
use your great influence with the Venezuelan Government to prevent any further
delay taking place at the present stage of the negotiations, when each party is
acquainted with the wishes of the other, and has happily found means of
acceding to them.
l
may point out to you that considerable interest is taken in this subject in
Parliament, and that Her Majesty's Government will shortly be under the
necessity of presenting papers.
(Signed)
GRANVILLE
600.
GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO TO EARL GRANVILLE
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
194,
Queen's Gate, London, April 6, 1885.
My
Lord,
I
have the honour of informing your Excellency that I have received your
communication of the 2nd instant respecting a Treaty of Amity and Commerce
between Venezuela and Great Britain.
Since
my arrival in this country, at the first interview I held with your Excellency,
I stated that the Government of the Republic was ready to terminate, as wished
by Her Britannic Majesty's Government, the three points spoken of in Mr.
Mansfield's note of the 15th October, 1883, namely, boundary between Venezuela
and British Guayana, differential duties imposed upon the imports from British
Colonies, and claims of British creditors of the Republic.
Your
Excellency referred me, for the discussion of details, to Lord E. Fitzmaurice
and Sir Julian Pauncefote. I have had with them several interviews concerning
the points I was instructed to bring to a speedy end.
Confining
myself here to the subject of the Treaty, may I be permitted to recall that it
was I who brought forward the first formula for giving a solution to the
difficulties that had occurred. Your Excellency found it to be insufficient,
declaring at the same time that many of the provisions in the Treaty of 1825
were not in accordance with modern requirements, and inclosing copies of the
one concluded with Paraguay on the 16th October, 1884, to be taken as a
standard. On the same occasion your Excellency assured me that an agreement had
already practically been arrived at between the two Governments about the
colonial Article, since M. Amengual had accepted as the basis of settlement the
proposals sent to him by Colonel Mansfield. Your Excellency transmitted them to
me with an additional clause relative to the accession of the self-governing
Colonies. All those circumstances prescribed to me the duty of consulting with
my Government, particularly as your Excellency's statement, that Señor Amengual
had accepted the proposal of Mr. Mansfield, was not in harmony with my
instructions. As soon as I received a reply, I addressed to your Excellency my
note, dated the 21st March. So that, if in the course of this negotiation, a
delay has occurred, it has not been owing to me, but to the turn things have
taken.
If
Her Majesty's Government are anxious to terminate this question, the Venezuelan
Government, which have sent me here with such a purpose, are no less prompted
by the same earnest desire.
After
the receipt of my new instructions, it is not possible for me to treat about
the draft Convention referred to, and to put off till another time the
preparation of the negotiation for a new Treaty. It is incumbent upon me to
forward the conclusion of the latter alone, this being the means not only of settling
the existing differences, but of laying at once and for ever the foundations of
a solid good understanding between the two parties, and the means, moreover, of
simplifying the work by making it one, instead of dividing it into several
parts.
Upon
the strength of the above, I transmit to your Excellency the project of a
Treaty which I am authorized to agree upon and sign as soon as your Excellency
is willing to do so. It is identical in most of its Articles with the Treaty of
Paraguay, which your Excellency sent me as a type; and some alterations only
have been made in the second and fourth Articles, and a new one has been
introduced in regard to the necessity of arbitration as the single means of
preventing any difference from affecting the friendly relations between the two
countries. The Treaty I present, immediately after the exchange of its
ratifications, would be substituted for that of 1834, and would secure the
results wished for on both sides.
The
moment it would be signed, I should communicate the fact by telegraph to my
Government, with the certainty that they would call upon Congress to extend its
present Session in order to examine and approve of the compact. At all events,
the differential duties should be suppressed, so that no inconvenience need be
apprehended in this particular.
(Signed)
GUZMAN BLANCO
*****
Inclosure:
PROJECT OF TREATY
ARTICLE
II
The
Contracting Parties agree that, in all matters relating to commerce and navigation,
any privilege, favour, or immunity whatever other than those provided for under
Article III, which either Contracting Party has actually granted or may
hereafter grant to the subjects or citizens of any other State, shall be
extended immediately to the subjects or citizens of the other Contracting
Party, unconditionally, if they are unconditional, and under the same
equivalent if they are conditional, it being their intention that the trade and
navigation of each country shall be placed, in all respects, by the other on
the footing of the most favoured nation.
ARTICLE
IV
British
ships and their cargoes shall, in the United States of Venezuela, and
Venezuelan ships and their cargoes, in the dominions and possessions of Her
Britannic Majesty, from whatever place arriving, and whatever may be the place
of origin or destination of their cargoes, be treated in every respect as
national ships and their cargoes.
The
preceding stipulation applies to local treatment, dues and charges in the
ports, basins, docks, roadsteads, and harbours of the two countries, pilotage
and generally to all matters connected with navigation; but it includes neither
the internal navigation of rivers nor the coasting trade.
Every
favour or exemption in these respects, or any other privilege in matters of
navigation except in so far as the one provided for under Article III which
either of the Contracting Parties shall grant to a third Power, shall be
extended immediately to the other party unconditionally, if they be unconditional,
and under the same equivalent if they be conditional.
All
vessels which, according to British law, are to be deemed British vessels, and
vessels which, according to the law of the United States of Venezuela, are to
be deemed Venezuelan vessels, shall, for the purposes of this Treaty, be
respectively deemed British or Venezuelan vessels.
ARTICLE
XVI
If,
as it is to be deprecated, there shall arise between Venezuela and Great
Britain any difference which cannot be adjusted by the usual means of friendly negotiation,
the Contracting Parties agree to submit the decision of said difference to the
arbitration of a third Power, in amity with both, without resorting to war.
ARTICLE
XVII
The
present Treaty, which from the date of the exchange of its ratifications shall
be substituted for the one concluded between Colombia and Great Britain on the
18th April, 1825, and renewed with Venezuela on the 29th October, 1834, shall
continue in force during ten years, counted from the above date, and in case
neither of the two Contracting Parties shall have given notice twelve months
before the expiration of the said period of ten years of their intention of
terminating the present Treaty, it shall remain in force until the expiration
of one year from the date on which either of the Contracting Parties shall have
given such notice.
601.
EARL GRANVILLE TO GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Foreign
Office, April 15, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
I
have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 6th instant,
informing me that you are unable to sign the proposed Convention for regulating
ad interim, until the negotiation of a full Treaty, the differences
which have arisen as to the interpretation of the existing Treaties between
Great Britain and Venezuela. Her Majesty’s Government are of opinion that the
proposed Convention would have been the more expeditious way of dealing with
the question, but they are desirous of meeting the wishes of your Government as
far as possible, and agree to the immediate conclusion of a full Treaty. They
note with satisfaction the assurance which you gave, that the Treaty can be
ratified during the present Session of the Venezuelan Legislature.
The
proposal to settle by arbitration questions which may arise between the countries
meets with the entire concurrence of Her Majesty’s Government. Experience has
shown, however, that when a difference has once arisen, it is often difficult
to come to an understanding as to the course to be followed respecting the
actual selection of the Arbitrator or Arbitrators, and respecting the procedure
of the Arbitration Commission or Tribunal when appointed. Her Majesty's
Government suggest, therefore, the adoption of the fuller Article added as a
Protocol to the Treaty of the 15th June, 1883, between her Majesty the Queen
and His Majesty the King of Italy. I have the honour to inclose a copy of that
Treaty.
The
proposed Second and Fourth Articles, inclosed in your above-mentioned note of
the 6th instant, would grant to the trade and commerce of the High Contracting
Parties a conditional most-favoured-nation treatment only. The policy pursued
by Her Majesty’s Government in matters of commercial and economic legislation
is such that it appears to them that no condition of the nature proposed can be
required by Venezuela in respect of British trade in the Republic; and they, on
their part, desire under all circumstances to extend to Venezuelan trade every
favour or privilege they may grant to any other Power. You are, no doubt, aware
that in this country every protective restriction or duty has been repealed.
Customs duties are levied only for the purpose of raising revenue; and where
they are levied on foreign goods which are also produced in the United Kingdom,
a corresponding excise or inland duty is levied on the home-produced article.
Even the coasting trade and the trade between the mother-country and the
Colonies is entirely open to foreigners and foreign ships. And, finally, any
concession made to one Power is immediately and unconditionally extended to all
others, even to Powers having no commercial Treaty with Great Britain. The
interests of Venezuela in the self-governing Colonies are sufficiently
protected by the Article relating to the Colonies, as any such Colony acceding
to the Treaty, and thus becoming entitled to absolute most-favoured-nation
treatment for its trade in Venezuela, would be bound to give similar treatment
to Venezuelan trade.
Great
Britain, having already made every possible concession to foreign trade, would
not he able to make the equivalent or similar concessions required by the
Articles proposed on behalf of Venezuela. It would in each case be found that
she had already granted freely and unconditionally the very favour which had
been purchased by a Power pursuing a less liberal commercial policy.
I
trust that a consideration of these circumstances will convince you, M. le
Ministre, that the restricted most-favoured-nation clauses proposed are not
required in a Treaty with Great Britain, and that you will thus be able to
agree to their standing as in the Treaty with Paraguay.
(Signed)
GRANVILLE
602.
GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO TO EARL GRANVILLE
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
194,
Queen's Gate, London, May 6, 1885.
My
Lord,
I
have had the honour of receiving your despatch of the 15th ultimo in answer to
mine of the 6th.
Your
Excellency assents, for which I am most thankful, to my proposal of proceeding
at once to conclude a full Treaty, involving also the settlement of the differences
arising out of the Venezuelan Decree, by which an additional duty upon the
importations from the Antilles was created.
Your
remarks refer to the arbitration and the most-favoured-nation Articles.
As
to the former, I suggested this wording: ¾
"If,
as it is to be deprecated, there shall arise between Venezuela and Great
Britain any difference which cannot be adjusted. by the usual means of friendly
negotiation, the two Contracting Parties agree to submit the decision of said
difference to the arbitration of a third Power in amity with both, without
resorting to war."
Your
Excellency assures me that the proposal to settle by arbitration questions
which may arise between the countries meets with the entire concurrence of Her
Majesty's Government, and, after remarking that experience has shown that when
a difference has once arisen, it is often difficult to come to an understanding
as to the course to be followed respecting the actual selection of the
Arbitrator or Arbitrators, and respecting the procedure of the Arbitration
Commission or Tribunal when appointed, suggests the adoption of the fuller
Article added as a Protocol to the Treaty of the 15th June, 1883, between Her
Majesty the Queen and His Majesty the King of Italy.
This
Protocol runs thus: ¾
"Any
controversies which may arise respecting the interpretation or the execution of
the present Treaty, or the consequences of any violation thereof, shall be
submitted when the means of settling them directly by amicable agreement are
exhausted, to the decision of Commissions of Arbitration, and that the result
of such arbitration shall be binding upon both Governments.
"The
members of such Commissions shall be selected by the two Governments by common
consent, failing which each of the parties shall nominate an Arbitrator or an
equal number of Arbitrators, and the Arbitrators thus appointed shall select an
Umpire.
"The
procedure of the arbitration shall, in each case, be determined by the
Contracting Parties, failing which the Commission of Arbitration shall be
itself entitled to determine it beforehand."
This
concerns only the controversies arising out of the interpretation or execution
of the Treaty to be concluded, but not those emanating from another source. On
the other hand, it seems that the Commissions of Arbitration spoken of will not
consist of Powers, but of private persons.
Now,
the clause which the federal Constitution of the Republic prescribes for her
guidance is as follows: ¾
"
Article 109. In the International Treaties of Commerce and Amity, there shall
be inserted a clause to the effect that all differences between the Contracting
Parties shall be decided without appeal to war by the arbitration of a friendly
Power, or of friendly Powers."
Venezuela
has agreed thereto with the United States of Colombia, Italy, Denmark, Belgium,
Spain, El Salvador, and Bolivia.
In
conformity with that Article, l wrote the one stipulating for arbitration in a
general way, and with reference to third Powers.
I
think that owing to the above reflections, your Excellency will find me
justified in again calling your attention to the wording of the arbitration
clause, in the hope it may bring about every desirable result.
Moreover,
I willingly agree to what, in connection with the procedure, is suggested by
your Excellency as a means of supplying the deficiencies shown by experience.
Proceeding
now to consider the most-favoured-nation clause, it is incumbent upon me to
remind your Excellency that Venezuela has not yet reached such a development as
to be able to enter upon the financial system adopted by Great Britain.
So
her legislation rests upon contrary principles, and it would require to change
it radically to give room to the new British system.
For
instance, the 18th Law of her Fiscal Code defines thus the coasting trade: ¾
"Interior
maritime coasting trade is that carried on from ports of entry and points on
the Venezuelan coast by national vessels transporting foreign goods which have
paid the duties levied thereon, or produce the growth of the country."
In
accordance with that, in a Treaty between Venezuela and Spain of the 20th May,
1882, it was stipulated that the coasting trade of the respective countries
should remain exclusively reserved to the national flag; and so on in other
Treaties.
There
are among nations special grounds which make them determine upon certain acts,
I will quote an example from a Treaty signed between Venezuela and New Granada
on the 23rd July, 1842, the XXVIth Article of which is to the following effect:
¾
"The
Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of New Granada, with a view to prevent
any interpretation contrary to their intentions, do hereby declare that any
advantages which both or either of them may derive from the foregoing
stipulations are and must be understood to be a natural result of the political
connections they formed when before united in a single body of nation, and as a
compensation for the alliance they have entered into to support their
independence."
Here
are not one but several reasons which justified the granting of exceptional
favours by each of the two Republics to the other, and another highly important
reason may be added anent the navigation of their rivers; viz., the fact of
some of them traversing the territory of both nations or receiving affluents
from each other.
In
such a case, there would be no ground for extending the stipulations required
by the same to third Powers differently circumstanced.
I
come, therefore, to the conclusion that, so long as Venezuela does not attain
to the stage of development and prosperity at which Great Britain has arrived,
it is not possible for the former to agree upon that clause as desired by your
Excellency.
Such
being the case, I propose either to preserve the IXth Article in the old
Colombian Treaty, or to leave out the word "unconditionally " in the
IInd and IIIrd Articles in the Paraguayan Treaty, and the word
"rivers" in the IIIrd, adding that the coasting trade is not included
in the concessions therein expressed.
(Signed)
GUZMAN BLANCO
603.
EARL GRANVILLE TO GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Foreign
Office, May 15, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
I
have the honour to acknowledge the receipt on the 12th instant of your note,
dated the 6th instant, respecting the proposed new Treaty between Great Britain
and Venezuela.
In
reply, I have the honour to inform you that Her Majesty's Government agree to
the substitution of the phrase "Power" to be chosen by the High
Contracting Parties instead of "Arbitrators" in the Article
respecting arbitration, and that they further agree that the undertaking to
refer differences to arbitration shall include all differences which may arise
between the High Contracting Parties, and not those only which arise on the
interpretation of the Treaty.
Her
Majesty's Government are also prepared to meet generally the wishes of the
Venezuelan Government as to river navigation and coasting trade as connected
with it; but I beg leave to point out that this exception to
most-favoured-nation or national treatment should not interfere with
ocean-going steamers touching consecutively at two or more ports of the
Republic.
With
regard to the arrangements made by Venezuela with Colombia, I have the honour
to state that Her Majesty's Government will agree that the provisions of the
most-favoured-nation Article proposed by them shall not include special
arrangements with regard to local trade entered into by Venezuela with
neighbouring countries with respect to traffic across the land frontier.
I
trust that these modifications will meet your views, and that I may shortly
hear from you that a formal draft Treaty framed on that with Paraguay, with the
addition of an Article respecting arbitration and the alterations in the
most-favoured-nation stipulations now suggested, may be prepared for your
approval.
(Signed)
GRANVILLE
604.
GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO TO EARL GRANVILLE
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
194,
Queen's Gate, London, June 8, 1885.
My
Lord,
I
have with much satisfaction received your Excellency's despatch of the 15th ultimo,
by which your Excellency is pleased to inform me that Her Majesty's Government
agree to the substitution of the phrase "Power" to be chosen by the
High Contracting Parties instead of "Arbitrators" in the Article
respecting “arbitration”, and that they further agree that the undertaking to
refer differences to arbitration shall include all differences which may arise
between the High Contracting Parties, and not those only which arise on the
interpretation of the Treaty.
Your
Excellency adds that Her Majesty's Government are also prepared to meet
generally the wishes of the Venezuelan Government as to river navigation and
coasting trade as connected with it, but on the understanding that this
exception to most-favoured-nation or national treatment should not interfere
with ocean-going steamers touching consecutively at two or more ports of the
Republic.
Your
Excellency states lastly that Her Majesty's Government will agree that the
provisions of the most-favoured-nation Article proposed by them shall not
include special arrangements entered into by Venezuela with neighbouring
countries with respect to traffic across the land frontier.
These
premises being set down, and taking into account, with reference to river
navigation and coasting trade, that the fiscal laws of the Republic permit
foreign vessels to take cargoes or passengers to two or more authorized (“habitados”)
ports, or to receive them there, I see that the negotiation is about to
terminate satisfactorily.
Upon
the understanding, therefore, that we agree as to the points expressed and
those which have not been made the subject of any particular remark, I hope
that your Excellency, according to the closing part of your note, will deign to
have prepared and sent me for examination a formal draft Treaty framed on that
concluded between Great Britain and Paraguay on the 18th October, 1884, and. on
the results of the negotiation we have pursued.
In
order to facilitate the accomplishment of such a work, I beg leave to inclose a
draft Treaty elaborated upon the aforesaid bases.
(Signed)
GUZMAN BLANCO
*****
Inclosure:
DRAFT TREATY BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND
VENEZUELA
The
Government of the United States of Venezuela, and the Government of Her Majesty
the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, being desirous of
putting an end to the differences which have arisen respecting the meaning of
certain stipulations in the Treaty between the Republic of Colombia and Great
Britain on the 18th April, 1825, which Treaty was adopted and confirmed by the
Treaty between Venezuela and Great Britain signed on the 29th October, 1834,
have appointed as their respective Plenipotentiaries, to wit, the Government of
the United States of Venezuela;
And
the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland;
Who,
after having communicated to each other their full powers, and found them in
good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles: ¾
ARTICLE
I
There
shall be perfect peace and sincere friendship between the Republic of the
United States of Venezuela and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
and between the subjects and citizens of both States, without exception, of
persons or of places. The High Contracting Parties shall use their best
endeavours that this friendship and good understanding may be constantly and
perpetually maintained.
ARTICLE
II
The
Contracting Parties agree that in all matters relating to commerce and
navigation any privilege, favour, or immunity whatever which either Contracting
Party has actually granted, or may hereafter grant, to the subjects or citizens
of any other State, shall be extended immediately to the subjects or citizens
of the other Contracting Party, it being their intention that the trade and
navigation of each country shall be placed in all respects by the other on the
footing of the most favoured nation.
ARTICLE
III
The
produce and manufactures of, as well as all goods coming from, the dominions
and possessions of Her Britannic Majesty which are imported from whatsoever
place into Venezuela, and the produce and manufactures of, as well as goods
coming from, Venezuela which are imported from whatsoever place into the
dominions and possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, whether intended for
consumption, warehousing, re-exportation, or transit, shall he treated in the
same manner as, and in particular shall be subjected to no higher or other
duties, whether general, municipal, or local, than the produce, manufactures,
and goods, whencesoever arriving, of any third country the most favoured in
this respect. No other or higher duties shall be levied in Venezuela on the
exportation of any goods to the dominions and possessions of Her Britannic
Majesty, or in the dominions and possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, on the
exportation of any goods to Venezuela than may be levied on the exportation of
the like goods to any third country the most favoured in this respect.
Neither
of the Contracting Parties shall establish a prohibition of importation,
exportation, or transit against the other which shall not, under like
circumstances, be applicable to any third country the most favoured in this
respect.
In
like manner, in all that relates to local dues, customs, formalities,
brokerage, patterns, or samples introduced by commercial travellers, and all
other matters connected with trade, British subjects in Venezuela, and
Venezuelan citizens in the dominions and possessions of Her Britannic Majesty,
shall enjoy most-favoured-nation treatment.
ARTICLE
IV
British
ships and their cargoes shall, in the United States of Venezuela, and
Venezuelan vessels and their cargoes shall, in the dominions and possessions of
Her Britannic Majesty, from whatever place arriving, and whatever may be the
place of origin or destination of their cargoes, be treated in every respect as
national ships and their cargoes.
The
preceding stipulation applies to local treatment, dues, and charges in the
ports, basins, docks, roadsteads, and harbours of the two countries, pilotage,
and generally to all matters connected with navigation.
Every
favour or exemption in these respects, or any other privilege in matters of
navigation which either of the Contracting Parties shall grant to a third
Power, shall be extended immediately to the other party; but it includes
neither the internal navigation of rivers nor the coasting trade nor special
arrangements with regard to local trade entered into by Venezuela with
neighbouring countries with respect to trade across the land frontier.
The
vessels of the two Contracting Parties shall be at liberty to touch
consecutively at two or more ports of the other, open to foreign commerce, for
such purposes and under such requirements as have been specified and
established by the respective laws.
All
vessels which, according to British law, are to be deemed British vessels, and
all vessels which, according to the law of the United States of Venezuela, are
to be deemed Venezuelan vessels, shall, for the purposes of this Treaty, be
respectively deemed British or Venezuelan vessels.
ARTICLE
V
The
subjects or citizens of each of the contracting Parties shall have in the
dominions and possessions of the other the same rights as natives, or as
subjects or citizens of the most favoured nation, in regard to patents for
inventions, trade-marks, and designs, upon fulfilment of the formalities
prescribed by law.
ARTICLE
VI
The
subjects or citizens of each of the Contracting Parties, who reside permanently
or temporarily in the dominions and possessions of the other, shall be at full
liberty to exercise civil rights, and therefore to acquire, possess, and
dispose of every description of property, movable and immovable. They
may acquire and transmit the same to others, whether by purchase, sale, donation,
exchange, marriage, testament, succession ab intestato, and in any other
manner, under the same conditions as natives of the country. Their heirs may
succeed to and take possession of it, either in person or by procurators, in
the same manner and in the same legal forms as natives of the country.
In
none of these respects shall they pay upon the value of such property any other
or higher impost, duty, or charge than is payable by natives of the country. In
every case the subjects or citizens of the Contracting Parties shall be
permitted to export their property, or the proceeds thereof if sold, freely and
without being subjected on such exportation to pay any duty different from that
to which natives of the country are liable under similar circumstances.
ARTICLE
VII
The
dwellings, manufactories, warehouses, and shops of subjects or citizens of each
of the Contracting Parties in the dominions and possessions of the other, and
all premises appertaining thereto destined for purposes of residence or commerce,
shall be respected.
It
shall not be allowable to proceed to make a search of, or a domiciliary visit
to, such dwellings and premises, or to examine or inspect books, papers, or
accounts, except under the conditions and with the forms prescribed by the laws
for natives of the country.
The
subjects or citizens of each of the two Contracting Parties in the dominions
and possessions of the other shall have free access to the Courts of Justice
for the prosecution and defence of their rights, without other conditions,
restrictions, or taxes beyond those imposed on native subjects or citizens, and
shall, like them, be at liberty to employ, in all causes, their advocates,
attorneys, or agents from among the persons admitted to the exercise of those
professions according to the laws of the country.
ARTICLE
VIII
The
subjects of each of the Contracting Parties in the dominions and possessions of
the other shall be exempted from billeting, and from all compulsory military
service whatever, whether in the army, navy, national guard, or militia. They
shall likewise be exempted from all contributions, whether pecuniary or in
kind, imposed as a compensation for billeting and for personal service, and,
finally, from forced loans and military exactions or requisitions of any kind.
ARTICLE
IX
The
subjects or citizens of either of the two Contracting Parties residing in the
dominions and possessions of the other shall enjoy, in regard to their houses,
persons, and properties, the protection of the Government in as full and ample
a manner as native subjects or citizens.
In
like manner the subjects or citizens of each Contracting Party shall enjoy, in
the dominions and possessions of the other, full liberty of conscience, and
shall not be molested on account of their religious belief; and such of those
subjects or citizens as may die in the territories of the other party shall be
buried in the public cemeteries, or in places appointed for the purpose, with
suitable decorum and respect.
The
subjects of Her Britannic Majesty residing within the territories of the
Republic of the United States of Venezuela shall be at liberty to exercise in
private and in their own dwellings, or within the dwellings or offices of Her
Britannic Majesty's Consuls or Vice-Consuls, or in any public edifice set apart
for the purpose, their religious rites, services and worship, and to assemble
therein for that purpose without hindrance or molestation.
ARTICLE
X
Each
of the Contracting Parties may appoint Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls,
Pro-Consuls, and Consular Agents to reside respectively in towns or ports in
the dominions and possessions of the other Power. Such Consular officers,
however, shall not enter upon their functions until after they shall have been
approved and admitted in the usual form by the Government to which they are
sent. They shall exercise whatever functions, and enjoy whatever privileges,
exemptions, and immunities are, or may hereafter be, granted there to Consular
officers of the most favoured nation.
ARTICLE
XI
In
the event of any subject or citizen of either of the two Contracting Parties
dying without will or testament in the dominions and possessions of the other
Contracting Party, the Consul-General, Consul, or Vice-Consul of the nation to
which the deceased may belong, or, in his absence, the Representative of such
Consular officer, shall, so far as the laws of each country will permit, take
charge of the property which the deceased may have left, for the benefit of his
lawful heirs and creditors, until an executor or administrator be named by the
said Consul-General, Consul, or Vice-Consul, or his Representative.
ARTICLE
XII
The
Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents of each of the
Contracting Parties residing in the dominions and possessions of the other
shall receive from the local authorities such assistance as can by law be given
to them for the recovery of deserters from the vessels of their respective
countries.
ARTICLE
XIII
Any
ship of war or merchant-vessel of either of the Contracting Parties which may
be compelled, by stress of weather or by accident, to take shelter in a port of
the other, shall be at liberty to refit therein, to procure all necessary
stores, and to continue their voyage, without paying any dues other than such
as would be payable in a similar case by a national vessel.
In
case, however, the master of a merchant-vessel should be under the necessity of
disposing of a part of his merchandise in order to defray his expenses, he
shall be bound to conform to the Regulations and Tariffs of the place to which
he may have come.
If
any ship of war or merchant-vessel of one of the Contracting Parties should run
aground or be wrecked within the territory of the other, such ship or vessel,
and all parts thereof, and all furniture and appurtenances belonging thereunto,
and all goods and merchandise saved therefrom, including any which may have
been cast out of the ship, or the proceeds thereof if sold, as well as all
papers found on board such stranded or wrecked ship or vessel, shall be given
up to the owners or their agents when claimed by them. If there are no such
owners or agents on the spot, then the same shall be delivered to the British
or Venezuelan Consul-General, Consul, Vice-Consul, or Consular Agent in whose
district the wreck or stranding may have taken place, upon their being claimed
by him within the period fixed by the laws of the country; and such Consuls,
owners, or agents shall pay only the expenses incurred in the preservation of the
property, together with the salvage or other expenses which would have been
payable in the like case of a wreck of a national vessel.
The
goods and merchandise saved from the wreck shall be exempt from all duties of
customs unless cleared for consumption, in which case they shall pay the same
rate of duty as if they had been imported in a national vessel.
In
the case either of a vessel being driven in by stress of weather, run aground,
or wrecked, the respective Consuls-General, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents
shall, if the owner or master or other agent of the owner is not present, or is
present and requires it, be authorized to interpose in order to afford the
necessary assistance to their fellow-countrymen.
ARTICLE
XIV
For
the better security of commerce between the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty
and the citizens of the Republic of the United States of Venezuela, it is
agreed that if at any time any interruption of friendly intercourse or any
rupture should unfortunately take place between the two Contracting Parties,
the subjects or citizens of either of the said Contracting Parties who may be
established in the dominions or territories of the other, in the exercise of
any trade or special employment, shall have the privilege of remaining and continuing
such trade or employment therein, without any manner of interruption, in full
enjoyment of their liberty and property, so long as they behave peacefully and
commit no offence against the laws; and their goods, property, and effects, of
whatever description they may be, whether in their own custody or intrusted to
individuals or to the State, shall not be liable to seizure or sequestration,
or to any other charges or demands than those which may be made upon the like
goods, property, and effects belonging to native subjects or citizens. Should
they, however, prefer to leave the country, they shall be allowed to make
arrangements for the safe keeping of their goods, property, and effects, or to
dispose of them, and to liquidate their accounts; and a safe-conduct shall be
given them to embark, at the ports which they shall themselves select.
ARTICLE
XV
If,
as it is to be deprecated, there shall arise between the United States of
Venezuela and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland any differences which
cannot be adjusted by the usual means of friendly negotiation, the two
Contracting Parties agree to submit the decision of all such differences to the
arbitration of a third Power, or of several Powers, in amity with both, without
resorting to war, and that the result of such arbitration shall be binding upon
both Governments.
The
arbitrating Power or Powers shall be selected by the two Governments by common
consent, failing which each of the parties shall nominate an arbitrating Power,
and the Arbitrators thus appointed shall be requested to select another Power
to act as Umpire.
The
procedure of the arbitration shall in each case be determined by the
Contracting Parties, failing which the arbitrating Power or Powers shall be
themselves (entitled to) determine it beforehand.
ARTICLE
XVI
The
stipulations of the present Treaty shall be applicable to all the Colonies and
foreign possessions of Her Britannic Majesty, so far as the laws permit,
excepting to those hereinafter named, that is to say, except to: ¾
The
Dominion of Canada,
Newfoundland,
New
South Wales,
Victoria,
South
Australia,
Western
Australia,
Tasmania,
Queensland,
New
Zealand,
The
Cape,
Natal.
Provided
always that the stipulations of the present Treaty shall be made applicable to any
of the above-named Colonies or foreign possessions on whose behalf notice to
that effect shall have been given by Her Britannic Majesty's Representative in
the United States of Venezuela to the Venezuelan Minister for Foreign Affairs
within two years from the date of the exchange of ratifications of the present
Treaty.
ARTICLE
XVII
The
present Treaty shall continue in force during ten years, counted from the day
of the exchange of the ratifications, and in case neither of the two
Contracting Parties shall have given notice twelve months before the expiration
of the said period of ten years of their intention of terminating the present
Treaty, it shall remain in force until the expiration of one year from the day
on which either of the Contracting Parties shall have given such notice.
ARTICLE
XVIII
The
present Treaty shall be ratified by his Excellency the President of the
Republic of Venezuela and by Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and
Ireland, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in London as soon as
possible.
In
witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have
affixed thereto the seals of their arms.
Done
in London on the _____ day of __________, in the year of our Lord _________.
605.
EARL GRANVILLE TO GENERAL GUZMAN BLANCO
(Translation
¾ Original: French)
Foreign
Office, June 18, 1885.
M.
le Ministre,
I
have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 8th instant,
forwarding the draft of a new Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation between
Great Britain and Venezuela, to replace the Treaties of 1825 and 1834, founded
on the text of the Treaty recently concluded between Great Britain and
Paraguay, and on correspondence which has passed between us.
I
have the honour to submit, for your consideration, copies of this document in
print, in order to avoid any misapprehension; and I beg to offer the following
observations with respect to them. The words inserted in italics in
Articles II, VI, and XVIII appear to have been inadvertently omitted in the
copy inclosed in your note. The clause in italics at the end of the Article XV
would seem to render that Article more explicit, and to be useful for this
purpose. India should be included in the list of British Colonies and foreign
possessions in Article XVI. It was omitted in the text of the Treaty with
Paraguay as signed, but this error has been rectified. in the exchange of
ratifications.
I
trust that the text of the proposed Treaty as printed, with the several
corrections now specified, will meet with your concurrence, and that you will
be so good as to signify your consent to them at your earliest convenience, in
order that the draft of the proposed Treaty may be referred to the Departments
of Her Majesty's Government concerned.
(Signed)
GRANVILLE
*****
Inclosure:
DRAFT TREATY BETWEEN GREET BRITAIN AND
VENEZUELA
The
Government of the United States of Venezuela, and the Government of Her Majesty
the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, being desirous of
putting an end to the differences which have arisen respecting the meaning of
certain stipulations in the Treaty between the Republic of Colombia and Great
Britain on the 18th April, 1825, which Treaty was adopted and confirmed by the
Treaty between Venezuela and Great Britain signed on the 29th October, 1834,
have appointed as their respective Plenipotentiaries, to wit, the Government of
the United States of Venezuela,
And
the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland,
Who,
after having communicated to each other their full powers, and found them in
good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles: ¾
ARTICLE
I