New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-12-14
NEWS OF TWO CAPITALS.
LONDON.
T,tersst in Fenc~ueIa Ouerskado5eine
Al ELse--4dmirals as BdikfS.

ZIG n 1y-,o,, divorce case and the dull drone of
-. Tards' debate the Education bill Re
-,r- almost on the anniversary of President
y1.ykJgn5's r1lernase respecting the Guiana
boundary i wRs not considered a safe topic
- .tir+v-stx hours but when the evidence was
-,,nn1ied that The Washington government had
Zen consulted and that the Monroe Doctrine
.o, not Involved in the plain question of paying
80 +t,4~a was a public thirst for knowledge
,s.A j..ztifnd the printing OF maps. the cGec-
t-,on 81 ee-os-aphipal lore from handhooks- de-
,n,,r-,s Of caracas and the Spanish Main. ana
.hn editing OF The "reminiscences and varied eN-
,s-iences Of travellers and commercial men in
1-anpzuela The bIuehooks were withheld and
rocra77-Iv the character of the British and
carnan claims could not be discussed with pre-
,,ion The diplomatic exposition opened With
++s necessity Of free Discrimination between the
,s.zure and the destruction OF sunboaJs and the
.-,ep+ior7aI acts OF war. continued
bnn the r,acific blockade WIS reported and the
,,As,ion &C neutral rights raised The
military writer's contributed estimate of the
ephtine force and number of field guns avail
sb. for defence by a country as large as France,
ns described the possible field of operations in
mountain passes and rnrine6 between LA
,;uavra and Caracas
England was in the way of making h fairly
exhaustive study nf the rediscovered country
nrben 1re 77,7o- of Hn>estigators checked by
.ba renor+ that President Castro had sent to
washington rranosa1s for arbitration, and that
6,l7r rrasaic settlement might be substituted
for the dubious experiment of attempting 10
collect had debts 10y scuttiins leaking salleys
and ho-1harding harbor works and cocoanut
Mains Like the release of the foreign prison
ers IL Vas at least hopeful sign OF concil1a-
tion On the part OF President Castro, and juSt-
fed Lord Lansdowne's humorous treatment OF
! IlS~ssS
undue seriousness.
The general results of the rediscovery Of Ven
ezueia are salutary- England, Germany ana the
United States are revealed as acting together
BY preconcerted arrangement in a spirit Of
mutual accommodation and confidence. as they
must always do in matters relating TO the COM
-nercial welfare of the maritime world, whether
IN China or tropical America. European preJu-
dice against the Monroe Doctrine has been in
stantly modified by the direct evidence that 1t
affords no guaranty of protection against the
consequences Of financial immortality and po-
ltcal anarchy. The recognition Of the bearings
Of the Monroe policy, once deride5 as Tagary
Of Yankee braggadocio has been plain in botn
Germany and England, where every responsible
journal accepts as finality the conclusion that
The acquisition of territory by any Euro
mean r,ower 8 prohibited in the Western Herni-
sphere.
Even the book reviewers reflect this view for
fo-dav,s '.AthenRum." in a well digested article
on Beckles Wilson's New America complains
that the authors Canadian prejudice is too ap-
parent when he seems TO argue against the
Monroe Doctrine. and in favor Of European in
terventior IN South America The Athen@um
writer stoutly asserts that there is not the
slightest practical chance OF the United States
allowing European conquest on the American
continent. and that the Washington govern
rnent has ample power TO make good its views,
and would receive British assistance in so do
ing.
The special aspects Of the Venezuela question
promote searching of heart and critical refec-
ton, while the collective interests of maritime
Europe in tropical America are large great
beneft Will be conferred by the force Of exam
pie if q rank instance Of dishonesty in dealing
with foreign creditors be singled out for dis
ciplne and punishment.
The idea Of employing admirals as baiiinS
and collectors and serving processes of distraint
FOR the recovery Of the principal and interest
Of forced loans and other questionable meas
ures Of finance impresses thoughtful writer's
as incongruous The Manchester Guardian"
pert:nentIy remarks that loans TO any unstable
republic will become safe and profitable invest
nenrs If defaults followed by naval bonn
bardment at the expense Of English taxpayers
Every writer having intimate acquaintance
with the methods of the syndicates which have
financed the railways, the public works and
The refunding Of national loans in South Amer
lea and Central America. knows that more
critical method of enforcing the law Of dis
traint for defaults in payments ought to be
adopted than that of seizing antiquated hulks
and pointing ships guns in the direction of a
custom house
The European navies in any event will have
ample employment or the seaboard Of tropical
America If admrals armed in the future
with the functions of collectors Of bad debts
The utility Of the pacific blockade. moreover.
has not been demonstrated by the recent opera
lions at Formosa. Crete and Greece. and the
success Of the expedent in the Of VeneZ-
uels seems TO depend upon the suspension of all
neutral commerce and the starving out of
President Castro by depriving him OF financial
supplies from the customs This viii obviously
require a protracted blockade on the coast
without safe anchorage. Since the money is
wanted in the fulhlment OF contracts a more
anomalous method OF collecting arrearages can
not be imagined than that OF emptying Pres-
cent Castro's treasury and increasing the i'm
poverishment of the nation. For these reasons
and also from the general suspicion that either
1ermany or the United States is making use
o. the British Government and drawing it into
disagreeable and Improbable complication,
,nere VIII be a feeling of satisfaction If the
venezuela question be settled by arbitration
Extremes meet in supporting this view, when
the old Tory Morning Post" after declaring
That the Monroe Doctrine imposes on the United
states the duty Of securing justice for European
bowers in disputes with the minor American re-
publics, plumps boldly for President Roosevelt
as the natural and proper arbitrator. and is
IN touch with the pro-Boer Daily News, which
hnds 1t difficult to believe that President Castro