The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-22
ABATEMENT z FROM BOWEN Replies to Presidents Let
 ter of Dismissal. FORMER MINISTER MAD Says Scandal Constitutes a
 National Disgrace. He Refers to Alleged Attempt to Re move Him from Caracas by
 Means of an oner of
 Promotion.

| toudy lnd0C PuOliC a tonS StdIShSht HI reply to President Roosevelts letter dismissing him from the diplomatic service as a result of the investiga- tion made by Secretary Taft in the controversy between Mir. Bowen and Francis B. Loomis. First Assistant Secretary of State.
 MT. Bowen declares that "the ven- ezuelan scandal constitutes national disgrace" He asserts that ''the Loomis scandal pervaded Caracas and constantly grew worse and worse" Mir. Bowen says that shortly after he called the matter to the attention of the Department of State he received cable offer from Washington of diplo- matic promotion that would remove him from Caracas.
 T admit" he declared, that I re, garded the offer as an attempt to bribe me, yelled under the offer of higher position and inspired by MT. Loomis. I make no doubt that in the 1 course of the recent inquiry 1t has been sufficiently plain that did not think Mir. Loomis an honest man and that did not believe his conduct as Minis ter to Venezuela had been honorable"
 Mir. Bowen says that the recent de- partmental inquiry should not prevent an "open. impartial, fearless and thor ough Investigation into all the facts"
 Suppression of truth will never es- tabiish It." he added. "Tolerance of evil will never crush 1t. No office, however high. should shelter wrong doer."
 Found Rumors of LoOmis,
 When he went to Venezuela in 1901 as successor to Mir. Loomis. Mir. Bow en declares he found current rumors seriously affecting the honor, and inc tegrity of his predecessor. both as a man and as representative of the United States government
 Mir Bowen says that feeling sense of pride in representing the United l states, those rtniors were a source of toEniEing the rumors, Mir. Bowen says; E. sMr. Loornis, while minister, was | reported 10 have used his public posi- ton to fill his private purse by obtain ing interests in concessions and in va- rious claims against tho venezuclan government. He was commonly thought also to have been in the pay of the Bermudez Asphalt Company and to have made use of his own oficial position to give color to the belief that the United States government was es- peciaiiy favorable to the side of that company in It's controversy with the Venezuelan authorities had no means of refuting these scandalous statements. Their substantial truth
 
 leagues as well as by the general pub lie at Caracas"
 Referring to the documents left by his predecessor in the Legation at Car acas and forwarded by MT. Bowen to the State Department, the letter says:
 T cannot better express my own feelings in regard to their contents than In the words of the Secretary of State who in his letter acknowledg- ing their receipt said: I have been greatly surprised and pained in read ing the documents you sent me-"
 Mir. Bowen tells of sending to the State Department information of the report current in Caracas that an in- eliminating. check to Mir. Loomis and letter from his to the governmental custodian of the asphalt property promising that the United States would not intervene In Venezuela were in the hands of one of President Castro's friends"
 Declined Promotion.
 Shortly afterwards" he continues. T received a cable from the State De- partment offering me what was intend ed to be my stepping stone to an Am bassajorship. Itseemed to me that under the circumstances my duty to the Uni ted States demanded that I should stay, for the present at least, in Car acas and declined the offer. person ally advantageous as 1t was to myself.
 Currently with the report in Cara cas that President Castro had posses sion of documents directly incrimi-- hating the first assistant Secretary of State, President Castro despatched a general agent to Washington. Con- currently with my refusal to leave my post at Caracas there began to ap- pear from washington such false and misleading statements in our papers as Bowen has asked to be recalled: He wants to sever diplomatic relations with Venezuela; He advises that a naval demonstration be made in Vene- zuelan waters: He is at swords point with Castro
 False reports of this sort are or dinarily contradicted by the Depart ment of State. In this instance they were not. Any one at all familiar with diplomatic negotiations with Ven- ezuela will understand without further explanation the manifold embarass- ments of such a situation
 After referring to the appearance of Loomis's charges In several papers, Mr. Bowen says:
 gro say that I instigated these charges Is the product of heated imagination.
 Tt was right after this that I was summoned by the State Department to
 
 was made into Mir. Loomiss conduct in Venezuela and was dismissed from the diplomatic service.
 Denies Responsibility. "Yet I am not responsible for Mir. 1.oonais.s rnsavory reputation In Cara ] aas nor for the circulation of scandal os,s renorts about him. He established bJs reputation himself while living thora as American minister from 1897 | to April, 1901. and the statements charging him with dishonesty and dis | S'nnorable conduct were made with sneh detail of circumstance that mere denial by me was useless. What was ! needed was not their denial. but their dtsnroof. I admit that after I found | sn February, 1904. in the legation | archives the documents that I trans mitted to the State Department in Washin gton l S.lieved MT. Loomis to he a dishonest man. admit that af- i fer I received no explanation of these ] documents and no further inyestiga-