The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-04-12
CASTRO HURLS DEFIANCE
 AT THE UNITED STATES
WILL MAINTAIN HIS ATTITUDE
 IN ASPHALT CASE.

Will Not Withdraw 1t from Venezuelan
 Courts or Re-Submit the OIcott Case
 to Arbitration Even if the Whole
 American Army and Navy Descend on
 the Country-The Question a Ma
 tionaI Oae. Correspondence of the Aszocfd Press)
 Caracas, Venezuela, April 2.-"Presi- dent Castro will not withdraw the New York and Bermudez Asphalt company case from the Venezuelan courts, and will not re-submit the Olcott case to arbitration if the whole American army and navy come to Venezuela.
 This emphatic statement of General AIejandro Ybarra, the Venezuelan sec retary of foreign affairs, reflects the spirit of the reply which President Cas- tro made to the recent proposal of the American state department for the ar bitration of the Bermudez and Olcott cases.
 It was generally rumored throughout Venezuela that the demand of the Unit ed States was little less than an ultf- matum to General Castro, and the re- ply of the Venezuelan president was awaited with interest. Predictions of intervention following the refusal of Castro to yield were freely made and there was much uneasiness when it was announced that the Venezuelan gov ernment had not only refused the de- mand to arbitrate the case, but had supplemented it's refusal with request that the United States declare whether it has any respect for the sovereignty and the courts of Venezuela. .-.+[
 Nearly two weeks have passed since Castro made his reply, and as no ac- tion has been taken by the United States and no further demands have been made, the last demand of the United States has gone the way of many previous requests for arbitration, and the incident is practically closed as far as it's discussion in Caracas is con- erned.
 The Olcott case, the arbitration of which the United States seeks to have reopened, is also known as the orinoco Steamship company case, and was ar bitrated by a mixed commission in 190S Commissioners Bainridge and Grisanti, representing the United States and Venezuela respectively, disagreed, and the umpire Henry Barge, decided the case, allowing the company s2a.22o on Ia claim of $1,4O1. .56S The greater part of this claim was based on damages al- I.. L. I,r,ita IA Orinoco Shipping and Trading company, an English corporation. owned the bus mess to which the Orinoco Steamship company subsequently, succeeded.
 In the arbitration the point was rais- ed that the English company could not transplant its claims to an American corporation, and thus have them heard before an American tribunal. The urn- pire, MT. Barge, refused to consider the claims which had arisen while the con- pany was owned by British capital. and gave his decision merely on the claims of the corporation while under Amsri- can ownership. -~
 President Castro and his advisers claim that to reopen the case would be an insult to Holland as MT. Barge, who acted as umpire is well known Dutch diplomat. They also hold that as Vene- zuela was denied the right to have the arbitration of the Belgian waterworks reopened none of the other cases settled under the Washington protocols shall be reconsidered.
 It is emphatically denied in the reply of President Castro that there are any claims pending between the United States and Venezuela. He again reiter- ates that the New York and Bermudez Asphalt case now in the Venezuelan courts is a national and not an interna- tional one.
 President Castro and the members of his cabinet take the ground that while the government stands for the general principle of arbitration, it will not have a case wrested from it's courts to be carried before board of arbitration.
 The charges that Venezuela is not paying it's obligations to creditor na- tions under the Washington protocols are denied iby administration officials.