The San Francisco call., 1905-06-21
Continued From Page 1, Column s

newspaper TO Whom- ne furnished this
information were John Grant Dater and
Nicholas Biddle. Mr. Dater- testified as
| follows:
Testimony of Mr.. -Dater: Secretary
Taft-That you subsequently saw Mr..
Bowen and that in the course of the con-
versation Mr. Bowen, possibly without
your invitation. confirmed the statements
that you had heretofore heard rumored
with respect to Mr.. Loomis' and his rela-
ton to the asphalt company
F." Mr.. Dater-Yes, sir, and other mat
ters.'
Secretary Taft-That Mr. Bowen wa.
very full of the subject?'
Mr.. Dater-Absolutely
Secretary Taft-And talked about it
with a great deal of earnestness?'
Mr.. Dater-He certainly did.
Secretary Taft-And he expressed the
hope that some day his side of the story
would be printed
" Mr.. Dater-Yes, SIR
Secretary Taft-Mr- Bowen showed
you no letters?'
MIR. Dater-No, sir: he showed me no
letters
Secretary Taft-Did he show you a
copy of the letter which he sent to me-?
Mr.. Dater-He did, not. did not
know that he had communicated with
you. l understood it was with Secretary
Hay
Secretary Taft-Or any of the docu-
ments upon which he based his proof of
Mr.. Loomis' guilt?'
Mr. Dater-I do not think / could an
swer that directly. 1 would rather not
answer
TESTIMONY OF BIDDLE.
1.-THE testimony of Mr.. Biddle is as
follows:
Secretary Taft-In one of those ar
tices you wrote appeared a statement
concerning a letter written by Mr.. Loom1s
asserting an interest in the Mercado
claim which was published in the Her
ald?
"@Mr. Biddle-Yes. sir
oecretary Taft-Did you get that from
Mr. Bowen?s
Mr.. Biddle-I did,
Secretary Taft-You requested 1T
from him, or did he hand it to you in the
course of a casual conversations?
j" Mr.. BIddle-I, spoke to Mr.. Bowen
about the charges in a general way and
he told me he would give such informa-
ton as he had and set me right on the
entire thing and he would show me GER
tain letters that he had forwarded to
the State Department
Secretary Taft-And they included
the Mercado letter? The letter of May
ers to Loomis?
Mr.. Biddle-Yes, SIR
Secretary Taft suppose you saw
the same letters that Bowen gave me
one was the Mercado claim. the second,
the Mayers letter. and the third has
slipped my mind. There was letter to
Mr.. Hay, written by Bowen.
:" Mr. Biddie-I saw that at different
times
Secretary Taft--Just run your eye
over these letters. Uetter of Mr. Bowen
to Secretary Taft, dated April 2, 1905, in
closing copies of papers which had been
in Mr.. Hays hands, as follows: Tele-
gram to Mr.. Hay from Mr.. Bowen, dated
February 20, 1905; telegram to Bowen
from Hay, dated February "a, 1905; tele-
gram to Mr.. Hay from Mr.. Bowen, dated
February 25, 1905; letter to Mr.. Hay from
Bowen, dated February 49, 1906: letter to
w. w. Russell from F. B. Loomis, dated
August %. 1900; letter to Mr.. Loomis from
Mayors, dated July 10, 1900)
WAS SHOWN OFFICIAL LETTERS.
Mr. Biddle--I have seen all of these
and it seems to me there were some ad-
ditional letters
Secretary Taft-Did Mr.. Bowen know
you were correspondent?
Mr.. Biddle-Yes, sir. I first met Mr..
Bowen at the time or the blockade in
Venezuela and / obtained information
from him at that time. He knew who
was, of course, and l went to him as
the Herald man. l told him what i had
heard and he was frank about giving me
further information.
Secretary Taft-Did he express a de-
sire, one way or the other, to have the
truth known?
Mr.. Biddle-He told me a great many
times that he thought he was in a very
unfortunate position; that, being the
United States Minister, he could not go
forward and be quoted when anything
occurred, SO as to set himself Alright.
He thought the instructions that he was
receiving from the department were very
unfortunate and that he was getting the
blame for the entire thing
Secretary Taft-And, therefore, that
he would like to have his own side stated
some time?
Mr.. Biddle-He told me great many
times that he could not be quoted, but
would like it If his sidA could be stated.
think that he was most anxious to have
certain facts come out
BOWEN's WEAK DEFENSE.
.Mr. Bowen himself admits that he
showed these letters and made these
statements to the representatives of news
papers in question. 1 have already
QuOlSO HIS ISLidTh III MS statement or
May 20: If the newspaper representatives
were influenced by me l was justified In
trying to influence them. because Mr.
Loomis was dishonest while Minister at
Caracas In the same statement he says
that Mr.. Loonis' friends asserted: That
l instigated the publication Of the scandal
with which his name is associated. That
charge may be true. Whether 1t is or
not, the newspaper correspondents who
are in Caracas alone know. AS the scan
dal was generally known throughout the
whole community. I talked with them
about It, certainly never attempted to
keep them silent On the contrary, urged
them to tell the truth. the whole truth
and nothing but the truth
I'm his Letter to me Of June he says:
I had several private interviews with Mr..
Dater and Mr.. Biddle in regard to in
formation they were sending to the Her
aid. ought to make my side of the case
perfectly clear. I explained to them con-
fldentially how Mr. LOOMS record In
Caracas and the influence to which he
must consequently bend balked me in my
work. felt that I could safely trust
them In all governmental and diplo-
matte circles 1t is customary to trust and