Show POLITE NOTE ADDRESSED 0 the venezuelan commission addresses a note nole washington Washing tori jan 20 the jan ian commission has invited the governments of 0 great britain and venezuela en e zu ela evid to submit to it all of the evidence n in their possession to further the work 0 of the commission to be represented before it and all of 0 this wit with 1 i the reservation that such representation es ent a and appearance shall n not t he be deemed an abandonment aashall ot of an any y rights right s or positions heretofore assumed ed itha it has q done this in esste order r that the proceedings ceding a of the comm commission 0 n may no not t be said to be ex parte that the truth may appear and that time may be saved in the inquiry with which the commission Is charged the In atlon goes in the shape of a letter to secretary olney saying that ho he has transmitted a a copy of the commissions views to the two governments concerned these thesa facts came out after the meeting of the commission today although the letter was drawn up and sent to the secretary of state at its last meeting january the full text of the letter Is as follows office of the venezuelan boundary commission washington WashIng tori january vi 15 to the honorable secretary of state D apar ear sir 1 I have the honor bonor to state stale that the he commission appointed by the president of the united states slates to investigate and report upon the ciuc divisional line between the republic ot of venezuela and british guiana has organized by tile the election of lion hon david J brewer as its president president and Is entering upon the immediate late discharge of its duties in so doing it has after careful consideration concluded to address you on the question of securing as far as possible the friendly operation cooperation co azz and aid aid of the two nations which are directly interested terL te sted in the now pending boundary diffee ances it must have suggested itself to you as it has no doubt to the president that this ibis commission authorized to ascertain and report the boundary line between t two we foreign nations bears only it a remote 0 resemblance to tribunals of international character of which we have had several examples in the past they were w c ro constituted by or with the consent of t the he d disputants I 1 S Su tants themselves and were all authorized thor I 1 by the parties immediately concerned on c to pronounce final judgment the questions at issup issue were presented by the advocates of the various arlous interests upon whose diligence and skill the tribunal might safety safely rely for all the data and the arguments essential to the formation of an intelligent judgment their functions f une were ut therefore he confined to tile the ex es I 1 erciso rc it of judicial cial powers and they might f airey a airly tr ly expect to reach a result satisfactory to their own consciences while it commanded the respect ot of those whose interests were directly involved the present commis commission slon neither by tho the mode of 0 Us its appointment nor by the nature of its duties may be said to belong to a tribunal of this character its duty will be discharged it if it shall diligently nt ly and fairly seek to inform the ex executive ece fi of certain ain facts touching a long extent of territory in which the united states has no direct interests whatever mav bo be the conclusions reached no territorial aggrandizement nor material gain in any form can accrue to the united states the sola concern of our government Is tile peaceful ful solution of the controversy Scace between friendly nations eions for the just and honorable settle settlement anent of the till title to disputed territory and the protect protection lol i of the united states against any fresh so acquisition in our hemisphere on the part of any foreign state it has seemed proper to tile the committee under these circumstances to suggest to you the expediency of canine calling the attention ot of the governments of great britain and venezuela to the appointment of tile the comm committee attee and explaining both Us its nature and objects it may be that they will see a way bentli entirely e ly conal consistent tent with their own sense atense ot of international propriety to give tile the committee the aid that it 1 Is no doubt in their power to furnish jn in the way of documentary proof historical nar yative unpublished archives or the like it Is scarcely necessary to say that it if either should deem it appropriate to designate an age agent n t or attorney whose duty it would be to see that no such proofs were omitted or overlooked tile the commission would be grateful tor for such evidence of good w will ill and f tor r the valuable results which would be golikely likely to follow f rom any act of either government in the direction here suggested might be accompanied danied by on an cadre reservation as to her claims and should not be deemed to be an abandonment or impairment of any ally position heretofore expressed in other words and in in the lawyers phrase each be w willing ailing to act the part of an amicus curiae and to throw the light upon lipon difficult and complex ions of fact which should be examined as carefully as the magnitude of tile the subject demands the purposes of the pend pending ing are cei gainly hostile to none nor can it bo be of advantage to an any y that ila t tile the machinery devised by th the gove government wilment of the united states to secure the desired information should fall of its purpose I 1 have hava the honor to remain your obedient servant DAVID J president dei it to ilon hon olney secretary Secre or of state the Secre reply was short a and nd formal merely an acknowledgment of the receipt 0 of the letter and a statement that he had caused copies of it to be sent to the british and venezuelan lan governments it cannot be said that the commission Is confident ot of a favorable tavo rabla response from both parties to the boundary controversy although the courteous terms in which the suggestion Is couched and the wide latitude of reservation permitted each party that may respond in III the open spirit which characterizes acte the invitation leads to tile natural hope that it will be accepted meanwhile the commission will proceed on the original line ot of inquiry which promises to be a slow and dim cult task trusting to the abridgment ot of the proceedings later on by the production of evidence by both parties and the appearance ot of attorneys when the proceedings may at once take on the form of a judicial trial and the attainment of a conclusion be correspondingly hastened meeting took place for the first time in the new quarters ot of the tha commission in the baltimore sun building on B street the first business was the selection of officers and first ot of these chosen was S maiet prevost who has earned a high reputation at the new york bar bai and also in washington mr malet maiet prevost was named as secretary of the commission and will be in dally daily atten attendance dande upon the commission mr whitmore or of it ithaca baca N Y was selected as one of the ahers and walter llou of the district or of columbia was appointed as aa a messenger A few other appointments will bo be made hereafter as the need for further help appears it was ordered that the tha rooms of the commission be kept open every weekday from 9 to 6 5 and any person who has any suggestion to make will be accorded an opportunity to tie be heard tor for at least one of the commission will undertake to be present besides the secretary every friday there ther e wll wil be a meeting of the full committee in order to transact routine business requiring the action of all ru rat abers embers |