Gruppe Vc. Amerika. Geographical Results of the Venezuela-British By Marcus Baker (Washington), (Nachmittags-Sitzung vom 2. Oktober, Abthig. A.) The boundary between Venezuela and British Guiana has never been determined. In the middle of the last century the Netherlands held what is now British Guiana and Spain held what is now Venezuela. Between Spain and Holland there was, about the middle of the last century, some mild wrangling, over the boundary; but it died out leaving the question of frontiers unsettled. In 1814 Great Britain succeeded the Dutch in ownership of what is now British Guiana and in 1817 Venezuela achieved her independence from Spain. Between these two countries then, - successor Great Britain the question of frontiers arose anew and reached an acute stage in 1841. Since that date the controversy has always been more or less inflamed. The final acute stage seems to have been reached in 1895. During that year the United States conducted a diplomatic correspondence with Great Britain for the purpose of bringing about by friendly arbitration, a settlement, of the long standing dispute. The outcome was a refusal to submit the question to an unrestricted arbitration. Thereupon President Cleveland sent to the Congress of the United States a short message rehearsing the relations of the United States to the dispute and recommending the creation of a commission by the United States charged with the duty of investigating and reporting upon the true divisional line between Venezuela and British Guiana. This commission was at once created and consisted of Hon. David J. Brewer, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Richard J. Alvey, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals, District of Columbia, Mr. I. R. Coudert of the New York bar, Hon. Andrew D. White, now Ambassador of the United States in Berlin, and Dr. D. C. Gilman, President of Johns Hopkins University. This Commission was in existence for somewhat more than a year. Meanwhile Great Britain and Venezuela reached an agreement to submit the dispute to arbitration, and in consequence the Commission above mentioned felt itself absolved from the need of pronouncing judgment. It prepared and printed a short account of its work and with it the various reports prepared by its order and under its direction. The outcome was 9 volumes of which four were the work of the Commission and five consist of papers submitted to it. Volume one contains the report of the Commission and papers by Justin Winsor, J. F. Jamison and Geo. L. Burr, especially the latter whose historical research for the Commission was most diligent, acute, and valuable. The second volume consists almost wholly of extracts from the Dutch Archives, made by Prof. Burr. The third volume is devoted almost wholly to the Geography of the disputed region and contains papers by S. Mallet-Prevost, Secretary of the Commission, Prof. Burr and Marcus Baker. The fourth volume is an atlas of 76 maps, for the most part, reproductions of old or rare ones. Fifteen are new ones made for the U. S. Commission while quite a number are reproductions of old manuscript maps never before published. The remaining 5 volumes were submitted to the Commission, 2 by Great Britain, and 3 by Venezuela. By the Treaty of Arbitration between Venezuela and Great Britain signed at Washington in February 1897 it was agreed that each side should prepare, print, and deliver to the other side: and 4th, that the parties should then meet in Paris and deliver oral arguments before the Tribunal of Arbitration. These oral arguments also were stenographically reported and printed. They constitute. of XI folio volumes called Proceedings. The Case of Venezuela consists of 3 volumes, 120, and an atlas. The atlas is in large part a reproduction of that produced by the U. S Commission. The Case of Great Britain consists of 8 volumes fol. and a large atlas. VII. Int. Geogr.-Kongr. Thl. II. 45 The Counter Case of Venezuela consists of 3 volumes, 12o, and an atlas. The Counter Case of Great Britain consists of 2 volumes folio and a portfolio containing 6 maps. The Printed Argument of Venezuela consists of 2 volumes comprising about 800 pages. The Printed Argument of Great Britain consists of 1 volume comprising about 60 pages. The oral arguments, delivered by four counsel for Venezuela and three for Great Britain during June, July, August and September 1899, make eleven volumes called Proceedings. Great Britain also prepared and presented to the Tribunal and counsel a volume entitled Index to the Cases, Counter Cases and Arguments and a Historical Synopsis of the principal events in Guiana, a large thin folio. During the progress of the hearing various leaflets and pamphlets were printed for the Use of the Tribunal. Also a protocol was printed for each day. The direct outcome of the dispute, in the matter of printed books, may be thus summarized: Gruppe Vc. Amerika. The Geographic Work of the U. S. Geological Survey. By Charles D. Walcott (Washington), Director of the Survey. (Nachmittags-Sitzung vom 2. Oktober, Abthlg. A.) Prior to the organization of the U. S. Geological Survey, in 1879, but little of the area of the country had been surveyed, except by reconnaissance methods and for the preparation of maps upon small scales. The work which had been done may be briefly summarized. The United States Coast Survey, which has been in active operation since 1832, had mapped nearly all of the coast line in great detail, including a narrow strip of topography from a fourth of a mile to a mile or two in width along the immediate coast. The same organization had extended triangulation into the interior in many directions, the principal item of this work being the transcontinental belt of triangulation, which at that time was nearly completed across the continent. In the Rocky Mountain Region considerable areas had been surveyed by four different organizations, known popularly as the Hayden, Powell, Wheeler, and King Surveys, two of them under the Interior Department and two under the War Department. The maps prepared from these surveys were upon the scale of four miles to an inch. The greater part of the lands owned by the general government had at that time been subdivided into tracts suitable for disposal. This work involves the running of lines a mile apart in each. direction, subdividing the land into mile square sections. The crude maps prepared from these surveys were used in the preparation of state maps, and upon such scales as twelve or fifteen miles to an inch they showed the drainage of the country with a close approach to accuracy. Besides the surveys above noted, the government had carried out numerous explorations, most of them by Army officers, especially of the country west of the Missouri River. In the older eastern states, in which there was no public land, the only information available for the preparation of maps consisted of private surveys of roads, railroads, and canals, and such military surveys as were made during the late civil war. As will be seen, this country was, in the year 1879, far behind European countries in a knowledge of its surface. This defect it has been labouring during the past fifteen years to correct. During the first three years of the present Geological Survey some excellent topographic maps were made of mining areas in Colorado and Nevada, but it was not until 1882 that the work was undertaken with the view of making a topographic map of the entire country, as it was necessary to have a topographic map as a base for the geologic map. The work has been prosecuted continuously, with increasing means, up to the present time. The map here presented shows the extent and location of the areas surveyed up to te close of 1896. To this may be added the statement that out of the total area of the United States, excluding Alaska (3,026,500 square miles), an area estimated at 759,525 square miles, or about one-fourth the area of the country, excluding Alaska, has been mapped. The plans for the work were thoroughly considered, and adapted to the controlling conditions. Recognizing the fact that it is the first step which costs, and that the requisite amount for an elaborate survey could not be obtained from Congress at the outset, owing to the great expense involved, a plan was formulated in such way as to obtain the best map possible from the means which it was thought would be allowed by Congress. It this view the work was limited strictly to the production of a map, making no provision for greater accuracy in any of the operations involved than was required for the immediate purpose. The scales employed in the early work were small, 1:250,000 for the greater part of the country, enlarging the scale to : 125,000 in the more thickly settled and important regions. Subsequently, as the work progressed, the scales were enlarged, the most important portions of the country being mapped upon the scale of 1:62,500, which is very nearly one mile to an inch, while the area over which the scale of 1: 125,000 applied was greatly enlarged, and the scale of 1: 250,000 was, after an experience of four or five years, abandoned. The presentation of relief was, from the beginning, effected by |