The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1902-01-14

Few people in this country realize
the magnitude of the ambition of Pres
ident Castro of Venezuela, an ambition
In which he is supported by his W
party in the country of which he is
the chief executive and by a large and
active party in Colombia and Ecuador.
1t is nothing less hal the re-erecting
of the old republic of Colombia formed
by Simon Bolivar, the Liberator, which
consisted of the countries now known
as Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia.
That accomplished, it would be a logi-
cal step in the advancement of his am
lbition to seek to add to the recon
strHcted nation Peru and Bolivia, as
Bolivar sought to do, and in which he
almost succeeded, being for a consider
able time not only president of Colon
bia, but the arbiter of the affairs of
those two nations. This would mean
the formation, In place of five weak.
discordant, b%elligerent and turbulent
countries, of a nation with a popula-
.tion of between thirteen and fourteen
millions and an area nearly as large as
that of the United States, exclusive of
Alaska.
1t would be larger than the Russian
empire in Europe, larger by about
1000, 900 square miles than the German
and Austrian empire or the republic of
France, and nearly two-thirds the size
Of Europe. In population 1t would be
equal to European Turkey, the king
doms of Servia and Roumania and tho
nrtnNfpoIff cP Dr1narfa kaLon farafho,
Its boundaries would be almost coin
'cident with the territory reigned over
by the Incas and their tributary princes
at the height of the power of the an
cient Peruvian empire. 1t would have
a coast line of $500 miles, of which
5000 are on the Atlantic and the Carib-
bean sea and the remainder on the Pa
loifc. Venezuela alone has a coast line
Of 1000 miles, with thirty-two natural
nation would be the third power on
the Western continent in point of area
and population, the United States be-
ing the first and Brazil the second.
The natural resources, as yet devel-
oped hardly at all, of the lands COM
prised within the boundaries of the
contemplated republic are immense and
varied and under a stable government
the nation would be one which would
afford opportunities for the working
out of the best destinies of the Latin
race in the Western World, and would
be a power strong enough to defy for
eign aggression from any European
quarter whatsoever. The projected
Psn-American railway would run
through the heart of this nation, and,
with its branch lines, would connect
with the Pacific ocean on the west
and the Caribbean sea on the north,
thus Fastening the material and social
development Of the country and vastly
Increasing It's commercial Importance.
1t will be seen that It is with no
mean ambition that President Castro
IN credited. At present the agitation
for a union of the separated nations
foes not amount to a sentiment within
the domain of practical politics, except
In Venezuela, Colos bia and Ecuador.
In Colombia and on the borders Of
Venezuela and Ecuador actual fighting
Is going IN for the accomplishment of
the scheme Of reunion. The Liberal
parties in these three countries are
united in az attempt to bring the
scheme Of union to an accomplished
fact, and President Castro has made
himself the head of the movement.
Read In the light OF the knowledge
of this movement for unincatlon. the
seemingly confused state Of affairs in
Colombia and Venezuela becomes more
comprehensive. For a long time we
have been reading dispatches from
South America telling of InvasionS OF