Evening star., 1902-02-01

tirement from the Office of Guzman Blanco.
The attention of German merchants for a
nnmoer OF years had been very closely
fixed upon Venezuela, because of the wealth
of her natural resources and because the
trade in Maracaibo and La Guayra coffee
was thing well worth having. The COM
mercial world Of Germany. having fixed its
eyes upon the Venezuelan trade, put it's
hands there afterward; and now it has
most of the trade in its pocket. After the
merchants came the financers. While Paul
was president the projectors of the railway
company, bearing the same name as the
great cannon-making establishment in Ger
many, approached the Venezuelan govern
ment with proposition for the connection
try. Venezue.a, filled with natural re-
sources and anxiously alive to the necessity
for speedy transportation, welcomed the
proposition gladly.
Four Years. Work.
Within four years the people Of Venezuela
saw In operation between Caracas and Va
lenzia well-equipped modern railway, car
rying passengers and freight at rates which
the public found acceptable, and serving all
the purposes required of modern, first
class, well-planned road. 1t looked as If
German enterprise, German finance and
German thoroughness were real blessings
to the people of Venezuela
What the country at large did not know
was the manner in which the railway con-
cession had been obtained, and the Shylock
terms on which the road had been con-
structed and equipped. With every item of
expense included, the cost of the entire pro-
ject could not have been more than seven
millions of dollars. From the city of Cara
cas-, for distance of eight miles, the coun-
try was mountainous, and it was necessary
that several tunnels be built But beyond
that, all the way to Valencia, the route lay
through coffee plantations and along savan-
nahs, as level a board. All the railway
ha6 70 n rltrf
and run it's trains.
The proposition which the Krupp COM
pany laid before the Venezuelan congress
was that the republic of Venezuela guaran-
tee to pay, irrespective of any returns from
the road-which went into the hands of
the railway promoters-an annual subsidy
of per cent on the capital stock. The stock
was to be issued on the legitimate basis of
the actual cost of construction. The rate
Of subsidy was so high on the one hand,
and was so eagerly coveted by the Germans
on the other, that they made every pos
sible effort to secure the concession.
Different Points of View.
Now a subsidy of per cent, clear, on
an actual investment would have seemed
a Golconda to the modern Spaniard or
Frenchman; trust of magnificent proper
tions to an English investor, and Klon-
dixie to an American. As for the Germans,
they made the astute reflection that per
cent on q Tedi iUNtStmclt Oh seven
dollars was not half as good as per cent
on fifteen million dollars. So they issued
capital stock to the amount of fifteen mil
lions
The republic. for its part, made the ex-
tortionate subsidy a national debt. Crespo
was in power when the Krupp company, in
1892, Immediately upon the completion Of
the road, made the staggering demand for q
payment of 81 ,05o, GEO., in quarterly INSTALL
ments He declared it was plain robbery,
and, at that time, there was some little
talk on the part of the Germans, about
venezuela's reluctance to pay her debts.
The apprehension of what refusal to COM
ply with the terms of the agreement might
induced Crespo to go on with the payments
But, embodied in the national debt as they
were, the surplus in the treasury frequently
fell short All the government had, 1t gave
until the arrearages amounted to the two
million dollars Germany now seeks to COL
lect. The demand for full payment of all
arrears was made eight months ago, when
the country was in the throes of several
revolutions, and President Castro found his
resources fully taxed to repress them
There was absolutely no money adequate
for the payment OF the two million dollars.
But General Castro, like General Crespo,
tien of debts. He endeavored to convince
the Krupp company that Venezuela would
discharge Its Obligations. And. when gov
ernment troops had to be transported in
the course OF the disturbances, he used the
Caracas railway, and paid the stransporta-
ton charges In cash. When the reyolu-
tionists tore up the tracks, he paid the
damages In cash. And he, like Crespo, un-
dertook to pay a. much OF the guarantee
-.,H<~s4~p ronnfffn NJ ho first onv1or-