St. Paul daily globe., 1892-09-25
Venezuela a Good Country
to Keep Out Of Just
~ Now.
Business Is Almost Entirely
Suspended, and Every
body Broke.
There Is an Occasional Bat
tie, But They Are Not
isf Decisive.

tion looks from the inside, says the New
York World, may be learned from the
following interview with an American
gentleman who returned to New York
yesterday, after residence in Ven
ezuela of year and half. He gave
his name, but at his request it is with
held, because he says he means to go back
there on business after this revolution
quiets down. and if it were known that
he had said anything abut either side it
would not be pleasant. AS sample of
how they do things down in Caracas,
where he has been since before the rev.
olution began, he told what happened
to the editor of Ell Noticlero, the only
paper in town.
1.-The paper had kept perfectly still
about the revolution" he said, ''but one
day short paragraph was printed
something like this; we ere author
lied to state that DR.. Foniboma'-they
are all doctors down there; lawyer
is doctor, civil engineer is doctor
lis the bearer of propositions from the
government tending towards treaty Of
peace, SO long looked for.' That was all
there was to it. Do you know what
happened to the editor for printing that?
They put him and all his printers i'll
Jail, and cleaned out his printing house.
''All the news that Crespo gets out
for the benefit of the revolutiOnists
comes on loose sheets like handbills. If
the government catches any man with
one of them in his possession the fellow
goes to jail. 1t is pretty hard to build
up a,circulation, you see.
HsRut the nawS Cptc arOpnd Mon pn TO
the pulparias, or groceries, and talk,
but if a government man comes along
they begin to talk about the weather
or something of the kind. If a man in
Caracas is suspected of being in Sympa-
thy with the revolutonistS, he can't get
his letters through. A friend of mine
wanted to write to his father in Colom-
bia. had to inclose his letter in an
envelope and send it TO New York, and
it was posted back to Colombia. The
postOffice authorities in Caracas would
have opened it to see what was in it.
and would have torn IL up and thrown
itaway after they had seen it had moth
ing to do with the revolution.
''Falstaff's ragged regiment wasn't in
itiwith the soldiers down there. They
ever saw. I've given them pennies on
the street. They wear linen breeches
and an underShirt and when they come
into town they wrap their blankets
around them TO cover their nakedness.
They carry old tiint-l0ck muskets. There
are few RemingtOnS and Win
chesters, but mighty few. They have
maehetes. A machete is sort of big
butcher knife without point. 1t is
about three inches wide and thirty
inches long, and pretty heavy. They
cut wood and kill snakes and enemies
with machetes. Some few of thdm have
shoes. but the most of them wear a
leather sole with strap across the heel
and toe. The bare heels and toes stick
out.
Business is dead. There are scarcely
any imports, and as there are no reve-
nues for the government except the
customs dues and taxes on carriages,
the government hasn't any money, and
the revOlutiOnistS have less. In Cara
cas- the shops that deal in the daily ne
ceSsitieS of life are open, but in the
country they are all gone. Either the
revolutionists or the government troops
come down on village and skin it.
The country is shaved clean."
'But what becomes of the people in
the villages after foraging eApedl-
tion?''
"rhey die. Oh. it's a fine state of
things. Nobody knows how it is going
to come out. They say the revolution
lists gain victories and the government
people say they gain victories. The
reyOlutionists, who are commanded
treating. are finally drawn into a battle.
Both sides lose men. Then the revolu-
tionists leave the field. Neither side is
strong enough to hold the position,
and what good would 1t do-if it did?
The other fellows wouldn't come there
to fight them. The revolutlonistS take
town and hold it and the general pro-
claims himself governor. He has no legal
standing. But then neither has the
government. The supreme court said
March last that the present govern
ment was unconstitutional, and all its
acts were invalid. The congress was
elected last February, and met to choose
a president, but PalaciO had fixed it up
with the federal council to put in his
man. Most of the congress refused to con-
Palacio put them in jail-all that he
could get hold of. By the way, his
name is Raimundo Palacio Andueza.
Down there. you know. a man takes his
mothers name. One of these congress
men was Rojas Paul,who was president
before Palacio, and helped put him in.
Now he is eXiled, and it would be
good-by with him If he came back.
Crespo was another member of this
congress. So you see this congress
can't meet, and there is nobody
to call an election for new congress,
and it's miXed-up mess all around.
AndueZa. when he skipped, transferred
his alleged authority to his vice presi-
dent, DR.. Villegas, who is an old man
seventy years of age, and he. with Julio
T. I.arria and Gen. Luciano Mendoza, is
trying to run things. l can't guess how
it is going to come out. The govern
ment has the troops, what there are of
them. and the arms, and it may come
out OH top.
n whenever anything is wanted they
make forced loan. just before | left
there was battle with Crespo at Quay
abo and BoQueron, two fortified places
about ten miles out Of Caracas. The
government went to German firm
there and said, we want 1900 blank
ets.' They gave a due bill. which will
not be recognized when peace is estab-
hshed. no matter which side wins. The
supreme court has said that no act of
are. .Supposing the merchant refused
to give up the blankets? Then the
government would take them anyhow.
Isn't that nice?
= at is simply a question of the outs
wanting to get in. The common peo-
pie don't know enough to care which
side wins, and the better classes are
hoping that the thing will be settled
one way or another. Those people
can't govern themselves. There is no
land-holding peasantry, as in France or
America, and nothing to bottom re-
public on. Hence the revolution isn't
like our idea of a people fighting for
their rights. 1t is comic-opera revo-
luton. They have to have them down
there every so often. Colombia is NOW