last, the British ship "Queen", while on her voyage from Grenada to Trinidad, was overhauled by a Venezuelan gun-boat on the high seas off Carupano, stripped of her sails and deprived of papers, and finally confiscated on a bare suspicion of having carried a cargo of arms to Venezuela, the crew being put on shore and left destitute. No efforts had been spared by His Majesty's Minister at Carácas in each of the earlier cases to obtain an amicable settlement, but in none of them had satisfactory explanations been forthcoming. On the occurrence of the still more flagrant interference with the Queen", it was felt that a continuance of such conduct could not be tolerated, and His Majesty's Minister at Caracas was instructed on the 8th August to record a formal protest against the action of the Venezuelan Government, and to intimate clearly to the President and Minister for Foreign Affairs, that unless explicit assurances were received that such incidents should not recur, and unless full compensation were promptly paid to the injured parties wherever shown to the satisfaction of His Majesty's Government to be justly due, His Majesty's Government would take such steps as might be necessary to exact the reparation which they were entitled to demand in these cases, as well as on account of the claims of the British Railway Companies, and for any loss arising out of the conduct of the Venezuelan Consul at Trinidad. || With reference to the two later points, it may be mentioned that there are several British Railway Companies in Venezuela which have large claims against the Government in respect of services rendered, damage done to property by Government troops, and in some instances for default of guarantee or loss by depreciation of Government Bonds; while with regard to M. Figueredo, the Venezuelan Consul at Trinidad, it may be stated that his conduct has given rise to the gravest complaints on the part of the Trinidad Government, both on account of the irregularities in the discharge of his Consular functions, and his assumption of unwarranted authority by the collection of customs duties for Venezuela within the British Colony of Trinidad. || The reply of the Venezuelan Government to the formal protest of His Majesty's Minister practically ignores the remonstrances of His Majesty's Government, while it makes no allusion whatever to the threat that they may be compelled to take steps to obtain reparation for the wrongs complained of. The reply is based on the decision come to by the Venezuelan Government to postpone any reply to all representations on the part of His Majesty's Government from the time of the injuries caused by the „Ban Righ“, so long as the situation created by the dispatch of that vessel from this country continued. || In connection with the already well known case of the ,,Ban Righ", it may be explained that the vessel was detained for some time under surveillance in British waters, and was only allowed to leave the Port of London in January last after examination of her papers and cargo, on receipt of an assurance from the Colombian Representative at this Court that the vessel was intended for the service of his Government, and after ascertaining that no state of war existed between Colombia and Venezuela. || His Majesty's Government had in these circumstances no further ground for detaining the vessel, and the fullest explanations were afforded to the Venezuelan Government on the subject. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the Venezuelan reply, His Majesty's Government are compelled to consider what steps may be necessary to enforce their demands, but before proceeding to ulterior measures they propose to intimate their regret at the manner in which their representations have been received, and to state that they are unable to admit that the serious causes of complaint put forward can be disposed of by a refusal to discuss them, and that if such a refusal is persisted in, it will become their duty to consider what steps they should take in view of such refusal for the protection of British interests. His Majesty's Government are, however, unwilling to exclude at once all possibility of proceeding with negotiations, and they are therefore ready to consider any further communication which the Venezuelan Government may be prepared to make. || As the German Government have expressed their willingness to unite with His Majesty's Government in putting pressure upon Venezuela, they may perhaps think it expedient to associate themselves with His Majesty's Government in this preliminary step, and in such case they may be disposed to instruct their Representative at Carácas to inform the Venezuelan Government that the Imperial Government are aware of the communications which have passed between this country and Venezuela, and that the British and German Governments have determined to act together in pressing the claims of their subjects upon the attention of Venezuela. Foreign Office, October 22, 1902. Nr. 12885. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Das Ausw. Amt an die Ad miralität. Antwort auf Nr. 12883. Empfiehlt Wegnahme der venezolanischen Kanonenboote. Foreign Office, October 22, 1902. (Extract.) || I am directed by the Marquess of Lansdowne to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th instant inclosing copy of a letter from the Commander-in-chief on the North American and West Indies Station relative to the measures which are in his opinion necessary to carry out the proposed naval demonstration off the coast of Venezuela. || The alternative courses suggested by Sir A. Douglas have been carefully considered, and as the establishment of a blockade appears open to some objection, his Lordship is disposed to think that it will be found most convenient, in the event of the Venezuelan Government remaining obdurate, to adopt the suggestion of seizing all the Venezuelan gun-boats until the British demands are complied with. Nr. 12886. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Der Minister des Ausw. an den Botschafter in Washington. Soll dem Staatssekretär Hay die Beziehungen zu Venezuela darlegen. Foreign Office, November 11, 1902. (Telegraphic.) || I should wish your Excellency to obtain an interview with Mr. Hay at an early date, and to make a communication to him in the following terms: His Majesty's Government have, within the last two years, had grave cause to complain of unjustifiable interference on the part of the Venezuelan Government with the liberty and property of British subjects. Every effort was made, but without result, to obtain an amicable settlement. In June last a British ship was overhauled on the high seas, and eventually confiscated, on a bare suspicion of having carried arms to Venezuela. | It was felt that a continuance of such conduct could not be tolerated, and His Majesty's Minister at Caracas was instructed to record a formal protest, and to intimate clearly to the President and Minister for Foreign Affairs that unless explicit assurances were received that such incidents should not recur, and unless full compensation were promptly paid wherever shown to be justly due, His Majesty's Government would take such steps as might be necessary to exact the reparation which they were intitled to demand in these cases, as in others where endeavours to obtain redress had proved of no avail. || The reply was wholly unsatisfactory, and practically ignored the remonstrances of His Majesty's Government. In view of the nature of this reply, His Majesty's Government are compelled to consider what course it may be necessary to pursue in order to enforce their demands. But, before proceeding to ulterior measures, they have decided to intimate their regret at the manner in wich their representations have been received, and to state that the serious complaints put forward cannot be disposed of by a refusal to discuss them. If such a refusal is persisted in, it will become their duty to consider what steps they should take for the protection of British interests. They are, however, unwilling to exclude at once all possibility of proceeding with negotiations, and are therefore ready to consider any further communication which the Venezuelan Government may be prepared to make. Nr. 12887. GROSSBRITANNIEN. - Der Minister des Ausw. an den Gesandten in Caracas. Energische Note an Venezuela. Foreign Office, November 11, 1902. (Telegraphic.) || Make a communication in the following terms to the Venezuelan Government in the form of a note: - || His Majesty's Government regret the unsatisfactory character of the reply to the representations contained in your note of the 30th July. They are unable to admit that the serious causes of complaint put forward can be met by a refusal to discuss them. || If such a refusal is persisted in, it will become the duty of His Majesty's Government to consider what steps they should take for the protection of British interests. || They are, however, unwilling to exclude at once all possibility of proceeding with negotiations, and they are, therefore, ready to consider any further communication which the Government of the Republic may be prepared to make. Nr. 12888. GROSSBRITANNIEN. Der Minister des Ausw. an die Botschaft in Berlin. Unterredung mit dem deutschen Botschafter über gemeinsames Vorgehen gegen Venezuela. Foreign Office, November 11, 1902. (Extract.) || The German Ambassador informed me this evening that the German Government were prepared to join with us in addressing a final warning to the Venezuelan Government, and I communicated to him the substance of my telegram to Mr. Haggard of this day's date. I had thought it better not to delay making this intimation, wich was, as he would observe, couched in general terms, but I undertook to telegraph at once to Mr. Haggard, desiring him to put himself in communication with his German colleague. || With regard to measures of coercion, the German Government were prepared to accede to our suggestion that the first step should be the seizure of the Venezuelan gun-boats, and they proposed that we should instruct our naval authorities in those waters to concert a plan for carrying out this project. As to the joint execution of measures of coercion, the German Government recognized that there was a sharp distinction between the character of the British and German first-line" claims; nevertheless, the two claims ought to stand or fall together, and we ought to exclude the possibility of a settlement between Venezuela and one of the two Powers without an equally satisfactory settlement in the case of the other. Each Government ought, therefore, to come to an understanding before it embarked upon a project of coercion that neither Government should be at liberty to recede except by mutual agreement; and before common action was initiated, we ought to come to a distinct agreement to this effect. || I told Count Metternich that it seemed to me only reasonable that if we agreed to act together in applying coercion, we should also agree that each should support the other's demands, and should not desist from doing so except by agreement. Nr. 12889. DEUTSCHES REICH. Der Botschafter in London an den englischen Minister des Ausw. Denkschrift über die Ansprüche Deutschlands an Venezuela (Translation.) || In the first class of claims Germany demands the settlement of her claims arising out of the Venezuelan civil war of 1898-1900, amounting approximately to 1700 000 bolivares (francs). England, in the first instance, puts forward claims on account of the illegal removal and destruction of English merchant-ships. || In the event of the two Powers having recourse to coercive measures, they would both make further demands. Germany would demand the settlement of her claims arising out of the present Venezuelan civil war, amounting at the present time to approximately 3000 000 bolivares, and also the guaranteeing of the claims of the German creditors, especially those of the Disconto Gesellschaft, amounting to approximately 41 000 000 bolivares. England would likewise assert the demands of her subjects, especially the claims of the English railways in Venezuela on account of damage to their lines, and failure to meet deferred liabilities. || These claims of the second class would be combined according to their several natures by the adoption of the joint proposals (recently agreed upon by the Disconto Gesellschaft and the several groups of English creditors interested) for the settlement of the Venezuelan Loans of 1881 and 1896. These proposals, which were communicated with the statement of the Disconto |