The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-07
TIT WILL 60 TO THE HAGUE Roosevelt Refuses to Be Arbitcr. POWERS IGNORED BOWEN Therefore President Promptly
 Declines to Serve. Latest Turn of Events . Victory for venesuela--The Blockade to
 Be Raised in a Very Short Time.
POWERS IGNORED BOWEN
Latest Turn of Events . Victory for

Washington. Feb. 6.-President Roose- welt has declined the invitation of the allied powers to arbitrate the question as to whether they shall receive prefer ential treatment in the settlement of their claims against Venezuela over the other creditor nations. He reached this de- Sision shortly before { o'clock this after noon and instructed Secretary Hay to dispatch a note to the British Embassy at once advising the British Ambassador to that effect. The matter. therefore now will be referred to The Hague tribunal. This will result in the imme- diate raising of the blockade.
 The administration. it is stated in an offical quarter. was unwilling to approve the effort of the British Government to eliminate Minister Bowen from the nsgo- tiations and moreover the President could not have accepted the invitation of the allies even had he been so disposed without the consent of the other nego- tiator, Minister Bowen, and this the allies did not obtain or request in their note of invitation to the President.
 Tomorrow preliminaries with reference to the singning of the protocol referring the matter to The Hague will be con sidered.
 Herbert Sent for Bowen.
 Immediately on receipt of Secretary Hays note announcing the Presidents 6 deciination. the British Ambassaror ad- dressed communication to Minister Bowen stating that he was suffering from an attack of grip and would be obliged If Mir. Bowen would call on him. The Venezuelan envoy went at once to the Embassy, where the British Ambas- sador explained that he had been too i'll to call for several days and announced the arrival of his protocol. which he was prepared to submit to MT. Bowen foi signatlre.
 Later the German Minister, Baron Sternberg. called on MT. Bowen and an nounced the arrival of his protocol. To- morrow's program will include prelim. mary preparations for the signing of the pI otocols. It developed tonight that two protocols are to be signed by MT. Bowen with the Italian Ambassador, Signor Mayor des Ranches; two with the Brit ish Ambassador. Sir Michael Herbert, and two with the German Minister, Baron opcC NOh ctcfHDerB. me uEbL prOtOCOl in each case will provide for the reference of the allies contention to preferential treatment to The Hague and the raising of the blockade simultaneously with the signing of the convention.
 Protocols May Differ.
 It Is doubtful whether the initial pro- tocols between Minister Bowen and the three allies will contain the same con- ditions. thought all the negotiators are working to this end. In these protocols the conditions precedent to the raising of the blockade would be clearly stated. namely. that 20 per cent of the customs receipts of the ports of La Guaira and Puerto Cabello are to be set aside by Venezuela for the satisfaction Of her creditors and the question as to wheth- CT the allied powers shall receive pref erential treatment. or as Great Britain terms 1t separate" treatment in the set tlement, shall be referred to The Hague.
 These protocols also will provide that Venezuela shall~pay down to each of the allied powers $500 pounds as an initial cash payment The differences between these protocols. 1t is said. will concern certain details, the nature of which is not yet known even to MT. Bowen. The German protocol will be submitted to him toiuOTIOW Oy tHc ScTtuhH uinibtcf TOT consideration. Afterwards Mir. Bowen will go to the British embassy, in view of the illness of the British ambassador and there will see the protocol which has been drawn up by Lord Lansdowne
 The Italian Ambassador, Slgnor Mayor des Ranches. will bring his protocol to MT. Bowen tomorrow for consideration
 Having arranged for the signature of the first protocol, the negotiators will take up the second protocols which are to cover the manner of adjudicAting the claims of the various creditor powers and the means of the administration of the customs receipts.
 King to Name Arbiter.
 As announced yesterday the claims of each claimant power are to be settled by a commission to consist in each instance of a representative of a creditor govern rent and of Venezuelan, and in case of failure to agree. the King of Spain will appoint an arbiter. The plan agreed upoi for the collection of the payments provided that the Caracas government shall be entrusted with ths administration of the receiuts unless thirty days are .al- lowed to elapse without the prompt pay ment to any one nation of it's share, in which event the Belgian government is empowered to appoint agents to take charge of the customs houses and admin ister the payments until the claims of all the nations are satisfied.
 It was admitted tonight that some days may yet pass before either of the pro- tocols can he signed owing to the minor differences. but negotiations are expected to move more swiftly than in the past.
 In administration and diplomatic cir cles the reference of the question to The Hague is regarded as a victory for Min ister Bowen as Venezuela thereby is en- abled to recover from the distressing ef- feet of the blickade before starting on the payment of her debts. The cumber- some machinery of The Hague. 1t Is ev- pected. will delay matters eonsidera bly and the payment of creditor nations can not begin until the important question of priority payment for the allies Is decided.
 Finding Will Be Delayed.
 The finding of The Hague tribunal may not be handed down for several months. The tribunal also will decide the vital question to South American States as to whether lblockades and bombardments en- title powers to preferential treatment at