New-York tribune., 1901-04-06

man has been falsely accused and confined. is
common custom. 1t is Castro's way of apollo
gizing. and ample PREPARATION is supposed thus
70 be made 10 the sufferer.
Most interesting is the method Of conduct
ing. or rather inductins a prisoner into one
OF the underground dungeons, or oubliettes In
the days Of the Inquisition they simply dropped
a man through a hole trap. and that was the
end of him. in Caracas to-day. however, the
prisoner is pushed down stone incline. or
chute as described above. somewhat as letter
Is shot into certain post boxes. young man
VINO was recently thrust into a prison cell
through Of these chutes relates how he
paused at the top. and began examining his
coat sleeves. his waistcoat. his hat Il see you
are about 10 mail me he explained 10 the
guards. and l am looking for the postage
stamp"
Another trick for raising money TO which
Castro often resorts is charging innocent bust
ness men with 'conspiring against the govern
| ment.' person comes to Caracas and starts
| an enterprise. II eventually pays. and CastrOs
agents report that and IS making money.
| Then comes the day when the Order Commit
tee waits upon the promoter of the enterprise.
and politely informs him that his business, or
( ms property. has been connscated Why? Con-
spira"y against the government. The merchant.
! however innocent, protests in vain. His prop
ertN is seized. ne is ruined, he has no redress.
GOVERNMENTAL ROBBERY OF FOREIGNERS
Not long ago a German merchant arrived at
Barcelona from Caracas and proceeded 10 col
| lect moneys due on various enterprises in which
]
Castro heard Of the mans success. and gave or
| ders that the money must not be taken out OF
the country. that the collector must leave the
cash with the government The man was seized
| and tortured He was placed a stool in the
| prison yard where the not rays of the sun
beat full upon his bare head, and a soldier
1 stood on each side OF him with a fixed bayo-
net. with orders 10 him through If he
attempted 10 escape. He was told that these
| attentions the part Of the soldiers would
continue until he agreed to give up the money.
After seven hours his suffering had reached such
an acute stage that he announced that he would
! give SlO0no II only they would release hiin
! No. not enough The whole Sl2.WS they must
! have or nothing. In the ninth hour OF his tor
ture he yielded. took the soldiers 10 the place
where he had concealed the money and sur
rendered it. He sailed for Germany on the next
steamer leaving GARAGES.
| month later a German cruiser entered La
| Ciuayra. The captain and twelve sailors pulled
ashore and then rode over the hills to Caracas
| They at once entered Castro's presence ana per
| emptorly demanded not only every penny of the
! So 0na but the punishment of the official who
| had superintended the torture. Without word
| Castro paid the money and ordered the official.
who had only carried the Dictator's orders.
cast into the Rotunda.
| have said. He gave utterance to this sentiment
upon one occasion when General Ayala his Min
lister II Industry. dared protest against the praC-
tice Of antagonizng foreign capital. and sug-
! gested that foreign money and immigration be
encouraged SO as - develop Nenezuela's re-
| sources. I'll annul every concession held by
I foreigner in this country the Dictator is al
! legged to have said. and sell the concessions
! over again.
CONCESSIONS ANNULLED.
In December last he annulle,l all the conces-
| sions Of the various Orinoco conCerns-the Trad
! ing Company the Colonization Company and
the Shipping and Transportation Company, all
American concerns with headquarters in New
! W. III
handed procedure was that the companies had
not carried out the conditions named in their
| contracts.
Previous to this, he had annulled the conces-
sion Of the asphalt company in the STATE Of Ber-
mudez a concession which for ten years or more
! had been yielding his country a large annual
| revenue. He then sold the asphalt property.
| which had been purchased years before in fee
simple from the government Of Venezuela. Piece
| by piece he sold this property 10 others over
| the heads of the owners. The asphalt company
! protested. and carried its into the Nenez-
uelan courts. where it rewarded only with 4
| neEation az justice. The judges acting accord
ing 10 the command Of the Dictator. da red not do
| otherwise Then the asphalt company brought
! its case 70 Washington and placed Il before tho
! United States Government asking for the Sc
! curement OF Its rights. The State Depart
! ment Immediately sent instructions raga riding
the asphalt 10 Minister Loomis in Caracas
These instructions Loomts carried out 10 the
letter and his zeal, il appears. was not appre-
Thus precipitated the present trouble IN
Venezuela. Minister Loomis is now on his way
! TO Washington. called thther. but not recalled
! as has been said, 70 personally acquaint Secre-
/ tary Hay with the situation in the country 70
I which he rs accredited.
II was because Of Castro's unfriendly attitude
not only toward the asphalt people hut toward
! all Americans holding commercial interests in
Venezuela, that United States gunboats were
! sent 10 Venezuelan waters. It was 10 inspect
! the work Of the Orinoco Colonization Cornpany
/ 10 So" II Castro's assertion that tho cor1par,,
! had not carried out the conditions Of its CON
! tract was true. that the SCORPION reren,I,-
steamed up the Orinoco River
Meanwhile. II rs said by excellent authorities
that he entire diplomatic corps in Caracas IS
watching Castro's every move Raprasentati,.ee
of foreign countries there are posting tl,oir go,
ernments daily regarding the state Of affairs
Only a few days ago England notified Castro,s
government that immediate eypla anati,,, -
the killing Of British customs officers AT a IttIa
! lslahd near the coast VAS demanded II seems
mat company Of castro's soldiers landed on
ms Island, and shot two Of the customs scouts
under the very staff flying the flag Of E,nqi.rI
Months ago. moreover. the United States c.,
ernm"nt demanded explanation of ,ba i,,,
prisonment If the American consular a a,ar, -,
/ barcelona Castro has utterly ignored tbis lo
mand thus far, saying, unoficiaIly that the con
sllar agent was a Venezuelan. This is trle h,t
venezuelan or American. he was representing
the Inlted states at the time his incarcera-
ton, and the Stars and Stripes vere o,.ir-
over the house in which he was taken rrie;G,1n,
he was actually on American soil when arrested
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