The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-05-11
BONEN'S SMART DIPLOMACY
ALLIED POWERS AGAINST TENE-
 ZUELA FELL INTO TRAP.
Could Have Got Preferential Treatment Without Any Reference Co The Hague -.Bowen Had I've Sets of ofInstruetions and He Presented the Last One First.

-.Bowen Had I've Sets of ofInstruetions
 Washington, May 1o.-How Great Britain. Germany and Italy, for the asking. could have secured from Vene- zuela preferential treatment in the set clement of their claims had they asked in time and thereby been relieved of the necessity of an appeal to The Hague, with its consequent expense and delay, is told in the blue book which Herbert W. Bowen, who acted as Ven ezuela's plenipotentiary in the peace negotiations at Washington, has pre- pared containing the correspondence and cablegrams relating to the Vene- zuelan protocols. It shows that Presi- dent Castro conferred on MT. Bowen two sets of powers one authorizing him to conduct negotiations exclusively with the representatives of the allied powers Great Britain, Germany and Italy and the other granting him full author ity to effect a settlement with the rep resentatives of all nations having claims against Venezuela. Mir. Bowen, on the day of his arrival here, called at the embassies of the allied powers to present his credentials. He presented first his full powers, though expecting that these would be objected to prompt ly, in which event he intended to fall back on the original powers granted him. Instead the Italian and British ambassadors and the German charge accepted without question MT. Bowen's letters empowering him to negotiate with all the creditor nations. In so do- ing they waived at the outset the ques- ton of separate or preferential treat ment for their governments, and this point was not raised until the peace protocols were practically ready for sig nature. -. The blue book begins with President Castro's note of December 9, 1902, ex- pressing his willingness to arbitrate the differences of the allied powers and the Caracas government, and requesting MT. Bowen to represent Venezuela as arbitrator Many cablegrams were ex- changed between Venezuela and the all lies via Washington before they would agree to President Castro's proposition for preliminary negotiations at Wash l ington looking to the raising of the | blockade. The allies stood out for inl- mediate reference to The Hague of. the entire question until Secretary Hay | transmitted to them a cablegram from MT. Bowen at Caracas pointing out the unreasonableness of forcing any 1la- | tion to carry a controversy to The Hague, which is essentially a peace ! tribunal.
 | The book makes public for the first time the text of MT. Bowens note of February 20 to Sir Michael Herbert, the
 British ambassador, which for a time threatened to break off negotiations. It | is as follows:
 q have given due consideration to
 your governments proposition that two-thirds of the 30 per cent. of the
 customs receipts of Laguaira and Puer-
 to Cabello be given to the allied powers,
 and that the remaining third be paid to
 the peace powers. That proposition l
 must decline. I cannot accept even in
 principle that preferential treatment
 can be rightly obtained by blockades
 and bombardments. It would be abso-
 lutely offensive to modern civilization
 to recognize that principle and to incor-
 porate it into the law of nations, as il
 would have to be if the allied powers Continued on Third Page.)