New-York tribune., 1902-12-16
TBF "u4TLED FIST N ACTION.

German StrpnuOISneSS seems 10 ne tHhili- i'i
| itself in Venezuela pretty free course 10 ruh'
whether or not ii is 10 be SlorIhed- Al present
if must he confessed the gloritication is some
what dubious There is about as much ground
for depIoring as for commencing what has re
Gently been done by the Emperors agents at
la Guavra and Porto Cabello. We speak OF
the Germans. rather than of the British. be-
cauSa II is evident that the former are taking
the initiative and are going 10 greater eX-
tremes than their allies. Thus. the British GOV
ernlnent explicitly diSclaims responsibility ior
the sinking of captured Venezuelan ships, and
saws that if il was done the Germans huSt
have done it: also the official and popular tone
in London is distinctly more temperate anu
concfiatory than at Berlin. and there are Brit
ish Journals of serious thought and representa-
tive character which are protesting against
Great RritainS being dragged into 4 false po-
sition by the temporary German alliance. Ihere
is no iniustice. then in attributing the violent
deeds of the allies primarily to the mailed
fist of Germany. and especially to the aG-
aressiye eacerneSS of the German navy 10 dlS-
tincuish itself as the German army has hither-
to done. We must remember that while Ger
man soldiers have won the laurelS of victory
in many wars the German navy has never yet
had an opportunity to do so. and it is there
N'NlAA''A
are ready to strain point at any time 10 re-
mind the world that Germany now has 4 navy
as well as army.
The sinking of the Venezuelan ships was de-
scrihed at the time as inexplicable and deplor-
able The explanation now offered at Berlin,
that the vessels were old and unseaworthy,
does not seem altogether convincing The
bombardment of the forts at Porto CabeiIo
must likewise be regarded with surprise anu
regret. There was some prov0cauon. but IL
does not seem 10 .,ave been adequate. or
course the seizure and pillaging of a British
ship and the enforced lowering of the British
flag were highly imp-HDet, although ii GER
tainIy was not in human nature for the NeneZ-
uelans to regard with complacent indifference
the presence at their wharf of ship and n
flag belonging 10 of the powers that were
hIockading their port and trying to coerce their
government. The allied commanders were
iustiiable in demanding reparation and guaran-
tees of good behavior. We are not sure, how
ever. that they should have disregarded the
Venezuelan reply so cavalierly as they did. If
that repIv was not completely satisfactory, it
was 50 in part and it was wholly temperate
and conciliatory in tone. 1t would have been
creditable to the temper and 10 the judgment
of the commanders if they had used a little
more diplomacy and a little less gtnpowder.
However much in the whole controversy Nenez-
uela may be in the wrong. it must be remem-
bered as matter of law and justice that even
the worst offender has rights which should and
indeed must be respected. and it should also
be remembered a matter of policy that wan
ton eyasperaton does not conduce TO the set
tlement of a dispute. 1t is a curiousN incident
of the that the only persons killed by the
bombardment of Porto Cabello were German
resident and his servants. 1t is scarcely TO he
supposed that Germany will add to her de-
mands upon Venezuela a claim for indemnity
for his death. But 1T may not be irrelevant to
wonder what would be the result if citizens Of
some neutral power had suffered loss from the
bombardment and should demand reparation
from the TWO powers. 1t was only the other
day that the King OF Sweden. acting as arbi-
TRAITOR awarded damages to German claimants
because he considered the British and Ameri-
can bombardment of Samoa TO have been un-
iustiiable. Hutdtis mutdndis. suppose that some
arbitrator should say of the incident at Porto
Cabello in King Oscars words: We of
opinion that the military action in question,
wiz the bombardment, cannot be considered
las having been warranted and that therefore
His Britannia Majestys Government and the
German Imperial Government are responsible
! for losses caused by said military action"
We nave Salu Ilat ' NeDeZuela Is IN llle WRONG,
in that she has been careless of the rights of
foreigners and has neglected to fulfil her obliga-
tions to other powers. 1t is desirable that she
should be brought to realization of her dein-
quences and compelled to make amends But
that is not TO be done best by resOrting to her
own style of conduct. In these last few days
there has been an increasing contrast between
the Venezuelan Government and the conduct Of
representatives of the two coercing powers not
altogether to the advantage of the latter The
German Minister at Caracas, for example, was
so much in fear of the savage Venezueians that
he precipitately fed TO a warship, leaving his
sick wife behind to the tender mercies of the
barbarians from whom he was escaping; where
upon, instead of subjecting her TO any of the
woes which her husband had feared for him
self, the Venezuelan President visited her In a
courteous and sympathetic manner and chival-
rously offered her the hospitaities of the Presi-
| Dental mansion. That, we venture to say was
| an incident that will not be pleasantly remem-
| bered by the German Minister or by his gov
| ernment. The speech made by Mr. Castro to
the populace of Caracas reported in this
mornings paper. admirable in tone and
might be contrasted TO its own advantage with
some ant-Senezuelan utterances of European
| statesmen. In such circumstances il would
| not be beneath the dignity of Great Britain and
| germany TO consider even at this late day the
| sorted to arbitration in the Samoan case. she