The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-06
THE ALLIES INITIATED BY
 THE ATTITUDE OF BOWEN

what they have secured here and will consent to have The Hague arbitrate the one auesticn of preferential treatment. The drafting of protocol will, 1t Is ex- pected, occupy some time, but 1t is the understanding that upon the submission of the matter either to the President or to The Hague, the blockade is to be raised at once.
 It developed that during a call of Count Quadt, the Secretary of the German em- bassy. upon Mir. Bowen this morning. the latter stated to him his willingness 10 make to Germany and Italy a cash payment of $500 pounds sterling or $27O00 each. This was done because of MT. Bowen's action in the early part of the negotiations in conced- ing to Great Britain similar amount fors satisfaction of the alleged indignities which the British government claimed tis citizens have scuffered in Venezuela. This amount was named by the British Am bassador.
 It was intimated today that France might now come forward and ask for the same cash payment for herself as that given the allies.
 Various intimau ms have leaked out here regarding certain details of the plans proposed by MT. Bowen and already ac- cepted by the allies for the settlement of their claims against Venezuela after the vexed question of preferential treatment shall have been decided.
 The Associated Press Is enabled to state in its entirety the plan agreed upon Af- ter the preferential question has been set- tied the adjudication of the claims of each of the creditor nations Is to be taken up by separate commission, one for each claimant power These commissions will each insist on representative of the creditor nation and a representative for Venezuela. In case of disagreement the King of Spain is in each instance to appoint an arbiter It is expected that each claimant power will appoint It's en- voy al Caracas to represent 1t on its com mission and President Castro will dele gate either the Venezuelan Minister for Foreign Affairs or some other official of the Foreign Office as Venezuela's repre- sentative
 Where the services of an arbiter are needed. the King of Spain in all proba- biitly will select for this mission the Spanish Minister to Caracas, who is rec ognized as an. able diplomat.
 After the commercial claims are adjust ed they are to be collected by the Vene- zuelan officials from the customs receipts of the two ports. Porto Cabello and La Guaira. 30 per cent. being the amount which Mir. Bowen and the allies have agreed shall be set aside for this purpose In the event that the Caracas government permits thirty days at any time during the settlement of the claims to pass with out prompt and full payments to any nation. the plan provides that the Bel gian government shall then step in and take charge of the administration of the let tv,f1 fa iv,C, fatx t,.~, for the foreigners. This Idea was sug- gested to Mr. Bowen by the fact that the Belgians are now in entire charge of the administration of customs receipts of Persia. where MT. Bowen was min ister before his appointment to Vene- zuela-
 An official of the Washington govern ment upon learning tonight of the inten- tion of the allies to appeal to President Roosevelt as arbitrator for them in the matter of preferential treatment, made the significant point that If the allies appeal to the President without first con- sulting MT. Bowen and gaining his con- sent, Venezuela will feel that her rights are being trampled on and unless her permission is gained, will certainly not consent to the powers naming the arbi- trator of this vital question. In the event that the matters go to The Hague the allies will only be accepting the proposition made by Mir. Bowen in his ultimatum addressed to the British Am bassador last Monday.
 Baron Sternberg had a conference with MT. Bowen at a late hour tonight He went to Mir. Bowen's hotel from the White House where he had attended the Congressional reception and the two re- mained in consultation for half an hour Neither one would make a statement at the conclusion of the conference.