The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-04

broke his leg. The next day he moved
from the yellow house. the White House
in the wing where the walls. floors and
ceiling are all of steel, the castros eat and
sleep
In 1900 an insurrection was raised by
General Acosta. Castro said: IF ever
my soldiers capture Acosta he shall be
shot" So, last February, when the rev.
olutionist was taken i'm his lair, the die
tator sent an order for his captors to
get Acosta into Caracas before Feb. 20. that
he, Castro. might have the pleasure Of
supervising the execution. Failing this.
the order was to shoot Acosta on the 10Th,
wherever he might be. When came the
18th the prisoner was still 200 miles by horse
from the capital-and Acosta, one Of
the brightest intellects and bravest soldiers
in Venezuela, was made to kneel in the
middle of the road with his back to the
firing squad. and thus carried out an
other sentence pronounced by Castros
thumb.
To appreciate the Importance of the
date OF this occurance it is necessary to
state that Feb. 20 was the day on which
Castro called his Congress together.
changed the constitution TO suit his own
purpose, and declared himself no longer
dictator, but constitution President. The
constitution forbids capital punishment As
dictator Castro might shoot Acostas by the
score and his legal right TO do SO would be
only a matter OF dispute. But once he be-
came the chief executive under the cOnsti-
tuition such an act would be Illegal beyond
question, and Castro. immune dictator,
would be subject TO consequences as Presi-
dent
Castro's own soldiers love him not He
took away our thin uniforms they say,
land dressed US up in cloth uniforms and
caps, like French soldiers. Besides he
seldom pays u.s. So he is glad when We
desert. simply putting new men in our
places" The officers OF CastrQ's army.
however, made no complaint. For every
time the dictator uses the military as the
instrument for making a golden haul the
officers get the drippings. To illustrate:
The soldiers reported that three rich Carac-
as merchants We're boarding gold within
each of these men be taxed $4,000 for the
support OF the government" The mer-
chants refused to pay. Castro turned
having made them prisoners, kept them
tied to stakes facing the sun all day, and
facing an electric light as fiercely bright as
the sun all night. Half blinded and almost
crazed by their sufferings they at last
yielded and paid the tax.
Another case was not quite so profitable
either to Castro or his military STAFF
German merchant arrived in Caracas and
proceeded to collect bills payable 10 the
amount of $4,000 in cash. Castro not only
forbade the German to take the money
out of the country but demanded that il
be paid over for government purposes"
The man was arrested and tortured until
ne uHutTSlOOu tndl IL was MS money or
his life, and so led the soldiers to the place
where the treasure was hidden. a few
weeks later one of the Kaisers cruisers
put in at La Guayra. the captain hurried
over to Caracas and demanded not only
the $1,000, but the punishment of the Of
fcers who had maltreated German sub
ject- Castro, livid of face. Iiquidated on
the spot.
CASTRO'S RIVAL.
William L. scruggs. former United States
minister to Venezuela. recently made the
following statement:
I know comparatively little of Castro,
the present Dictator President of Venezu-
Ella He is new man who has come into
public notice since left there a few years
ago Matos, his antagonist, is a banker
ana a man of wide and varied experience.
he mas been minister many times, and as
nnancier has few equals In Spanish Amer
ica He has never been what may be
termed an active politician, although he
mas held many places of important trust
at various times since 1872, and enjoys the
esteem and confidence of the best people
OF All shades Of political opinion He is a
protner-ln-law of the late Guzman Blanco
and man of fortune"