negative side of the Monroe Doctrine which forbade European
interference in America. His second Administration brought to the
forefront of world diplomacy an issue involving this traditional
principle.

The only European possession in South America at this time was
Guiana, fronting on the Atlantic north of Brazil and divided
among France, Holland, and Great Britain. Beyond British Guiana,
the westernmost division, lay Venezuela. Between the two
stretched a vast tract of unoccupied tropical jungle. Somewhere
there must have been a boundary, but where, no man could tell.
The extreme claim of Great Britain would have given her command
of the mouth of the Orinoco, while that of Venezuela would
practically have eliminated British Guiana. Efforts to settle
this long-standing dispute were unavailing. Venezuela had from
time to time suggested arbitration but wished to throw the whole
area into court. Great Britain insisted upon reserving a minimum
territory and would submit to judicial decision only the land
west of what was known as the Schomburgk line of 1840. As early
as 1876 Venezuela appealed to the United States, "the most
powerful and oldest of the Republics of the new continent," for
its "powerful moral support in disputes with European nations."
Several times the United States proffered its good offices to
Great Britain, but to no effect. The satisfactory settlement of
the question grew more difficult as time went on, particularly
after the discovery of gold in the disputed region had given a
new impulse to occupation.

President Cleveland took a serious view of this controversy
because it seemed to involve more than a boundary dispute. To his