New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-10-29
LETTER FROM GEN. PAEz,
p..l,, 10 the Structures Of The Tribune.
VENEZUELA.

@
cr,r1EMEs: In my letter of the 18th inst. to
ION promised to publish vindicaton OF myself
s.or the charges contained in your article OF the
,Atb inst now proceed to fulfil that promise
your article which l have before me, faithfully
translated believe, contains several charges OF
n general nature, extending over a long period oil
,;,e and without specifications. One portion oil
,be charges consists of imputations against the
,,,o,ives of my acts. The difficulty OF a defense
s.on, accusations of such character must be evil
don't to every rejecting mind. But need not
and do not desire, for this reason, to excuse my
.elf from making frank, though concise, defense
AZ nv public acts and character
must begin by thanking you for that portion
Of YOUR article which exonerates me from defend
ing that period of my life which embraces the
War of independence. You say that the sword,
.he presentation of which has given rise to your
are;cle sis not unworthy of being accepted by
sbs CORPORATION of your City, and you add that
sb;a weapon is relic of the time when its
rvearer trneaning myself served his country with
honor and we mag believe aoith sincerity" You
,lso call me, by implication, the Lberator Of my
country, when you say, "But General Paez is not
merely the Liberator Of Venezuela. Time has
long since brought that office to a close" &c. l
sincerely thank you, gentlemen, for the high char
acter with which your article clothes avery event
ful period, which has not always escaped the as
sauts Of my own and my countrys foes. This
neriod, which meets your appreciation, and which,
Of course, am not called upon to defend, begins
with the year 1910, the commencement of our
dc .ryttb
m the 9Th of November, was fortunate enough
TO nut an end to the War of independence Of Co
lombia, having taken by assault the town OF Pu-
erto Cabelo, the last strongpost of the royallsts
in Venezuela. My defense must then cover
space of time commencing with 1924 and ending
with the presentation Of my sword to the honor
able the CORPORATION of Newly ork for even this
act is impugned by your article upon the ground
thns the motive which induced 1t IS not iaodaole
enc.
The substance of the charges brought against
me is contained in the following extracts from
your article "But Gen. Peez is not merely the
Liberator of Venezuela. Time long since brough,
that Office to an end, and since then he has acted
in other functions Of alesS comnaend0blecharacter
"yuhen Gen PaeZ left Venezuela TO come the United
satea il was not Lberator appauded by his fellow
eitizens and by the world He exile who hat
IN hia COUNTRY for his countrys good He was banishe
from Venezuela by the representatives of the people 70
having reasonably attempted to destroy the legltlnat
Sto1eynment Three times he had made that attempts tire
times he was put down. by soldiers fighting for master
who paid them for there is no standing army III FeneZueI
but by the spontaneous rising of the inhabitants He wa
nut down contendng not to overthrow tyranny but
fish his own personal Nominations not in behalf OF democ
might conscate the Republic to his own profit &c &c.
fThough banished from Venezuela, where he and MI
stok an pit would
thought that he has tho support and admiration OF the PEG
ole OF this country for what he was in his youth bu
for what he is now that he here find hackers who
will help him to make triumphant return Tins 10 h'
purpose in this sword presentation In his published letter
RECOMMENDING it, he shrewdy congralulatcs himself tina
he obtained the appreciation of the great people The
United States and of the enlightened City OF New-fork
awe do not believe that the people either of New Yorf
tie country large wish TO be accessories 10 any plot
n N ev have MF been e1 T Pae
Lbera,or they can have any satisfaction ~ paez uT IN
tguer, oter and ussaant of his counrys freedom The!
may admire the beginning of his career but not the dee
stains which suly its subsequent stages"
The above literal extracts from your article cor
tain rs ] understand them, substantially the tire
following grounds of complaint; LIST. That sine
the office of Lberator of my country was ended,
have been acting in fancttons Of a less commend
bic character, an intrguer, rioter and assailan
of my country's freedom. I'd. That since tn
events Of the oath January. 1915 have treason
ably attempted to destroy the legitimate Govern
snent, and have commended not to overthrow ty
fanny but to establish my own personal DONNA
ton; not in behalfof Democracy, but against it
not for free Institutions, but that l might confs
cate the Republic TO my own profit. 3D.. That
now aim TO keep up an agitation IN Venezuela
and am endeavoring to find here hackers who vii
help me to make triumphant return; and thai
this is my purpose in the sword presentation.
The first ground is exceedingly vague and gen
eral containing no specification whatever anC
embraces more than quarter OF century. There
is no other possible way OF answering this charge
and the others than by showing as far rs possible
my political conduct and principles as evinced b.
constant and uninterrupted series OF acts In ia
vor of Liberty and good Government.
The proofs that shall present will be principal
ly drawn from the published history OF Venezue
10 and from public and official documents.
The TWO first years succeeding the conclusion
of the war of Independence were passed IN en-
deavors so consolidate the political principles pro
claimed in our declaration of Independence, anC
in strengthening the union Of the departments
composing the Republic of Colombia. During the
war my conduct had been always approved of by
the Government and thad been my constant policy
to gain over citizens TO the country by treating
our vanquished enemies with humanity. In 1921
Immediately after the memorable battle OF Cara
hobo, was appointed Commandant General o
the Department of Venezuela, by the Liberatol
Simon Bolivar, the President. Five years ICON
tinued efforts ON my part had Quoted the agta
tions of the department under my command The
enemy having been defeated, our citizens were al
lowed freely to express their opinions and to cx
ercise their respective oallings, andthough they
occasionally censured the errors of the admins
tration and the policy of certain laws, order and
respect toward the constituted authorities had
been uniformly maintained. The decree of the
Executive power of the Sis. August, 1924 for q
general enlistment of citizens in the militia from
the age of sixteen to fifty passed in consequence
of threatened renewal of hostilities against the
Republic by the Spanish government became q
source of dissatisfaction and discord. This decree
was issued by General Santander, Vice President
of the Republic, acting as President during
the absence of General Bolivar in Peru
,.;alcrtl,. nttacke h, the a,d