New-York tribune., 1905-06-21

snsist that he has made no charges" agaihssS
that Mr. Bowen can believe that the telegraiie.
signed by Mr.. Loomis as Acting Secretary % %
State which he calls q protocol really plos ssa
that Mr. Loouais was guilty of abrogating tIie
agreements President Roosevelt and MT. naS
had authorized me to make with the Venezu@eia,, @
government" Mr.. Bowers statement Is showii
to be absolutely untrue by the statement Oh tne
solicitor of the Department of State MI. =.
field. But his own statement bears WITHIN ~, ~
self its own refutation on this point HE SHOWS
in this statement that he at once answered ms ,
cable OF Mr.. Loornis by a cable TO Mr.. Hay, Wuo %
would thus have had his attention speeilctdigg IN ,g
called TO the Izoomis protocol. even IL ne hdu
not known OF it before. and even II he hao psen
so neglectful of his duty as not TO inquire wnae
cables had heen sent In the matter with WHICH
5e was dealing AS a matter OF fact. the Looms
cable in question sent by direction OF MI
Hay. with the assistance OF MI Penhe.a, .ea as
was signed by Mr.. Eoonis simply because
on the day that IL was sent 1t happened ina
Mr. Hay was confined to his house ana couiu y.
not get down 10 the State Department II Is
on fts face an absurdity to suppose that Mr.
Hay, who returned TO his duties In the state
Department within day or two, ana VINO vas was
repeatedly going over this whole Nenezueiah
matter, and cabling Bowen about II ana recelV-
ing ca bles from him IN return. gould nave peeh
ignorant if such cable hae been sen. @ e,'.s pg
allegation on this point is IN reaiity a charse
against Mr.. Hay rather than against Mr.
Loonlis- A.
Mr. Bowen furnished his charges against Mr.
Loomis and some of the documents In reference
thereto TO representatives of New nork ne news US,
paper The names OF the representatives OF the
newspaper to whom he furnished this inrornla-
tion were John Grant Dater and Nichoias bio-
die. Mr.. Dater testifies as foHoWs.
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 in
vitation. confirmed the statements that you Hao
heretofore heard rumored with respect 10 MI
Loonis and his relation 10 the asphail eoA'i
pany.
Mr. Dater-Yes sir. and other matters.
Secretary Taft-That Mr.. Bowen was very 1uil
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 nope
that some day his side of the story would be
printed?
Mr. Dater-Yes, sir
Secretary Taft-Mr Bowen showed You no
letters?
Mr. Dater-No, sir; he showed me no letters
Secretary Taft-Did he show you copy OF
the letter which he sent to me?
Mr. Dater-He did not did not know that
he had communicated with you. understood
1t was with Secretary Hay.
Secretary Taft-Or any OF the documents upon
which he based his claim OF Mr.. Loomis's guilt?
Mr. Dater-I do not think 1 could answer that
directly. 1 would rather not answer
The testimony of Mr.. Biddle is follows:
Secretary Taft-In one of those articles you
wrote appeared a statement concerning letter
the Mercado claim, which was published in THE
Herald
Secretary Taft-Did you get that from Mr..
Bowen?
MI Biddie-I did.
Secretary Taft-You requested it from him. OF
did he hand it to you in the course Of a casual
conversation?
Mr.. Biddle-I spoke to Mr.. Bowen about the
charges in a general way, and he told me ne
would give such information as he had and set
me right on the entire thing. and he would show
me certain letters tnat he had forwarded 10 the
State Department
Secretary Taft-And they included the Mer-
cado Ietter-the letter of Mayors TO Loomis?
Mr.. Bidde-Yes. sir.
Secretary Taft suppose you saw the same
letters that Bowen gave me-one was the Mer-
cado claim: second the Mayors letter. and the
third has slipped my mind There was letter
TO Mr.. Hay written by Bowen,
Mr. Biddle[I saw that at different times.
letters. G4etter Of Air. Bowen to Secretary Taft,
dated April .. 1905, iliclosirg copies of papers
which had been in MIR. Hays hands, as follows:
Telegram TO Mr.. Hay from Mr.. Bowen, dated
February 90. 1905; telegram 10 Mr.. Bowen from
Mr. Hay, dated February "a, 1905; telegram to Mr..
Hay from Mr.. Bowen, dated February %, 1905.
Letter to Mr.. Hay from Mr.. Bowen, dated Feb
ruary IS. 1905 Letter to Mr.. ". w. Russell
from F. B. Loornis, dated August %. 1900 Let
ter TO Mr. Loomis from Mayors, dated July y,
1900
Mr.. Biddle-I have seen all of these, and it
seems TO me there was some additional letter
Secretary Taft-I)id Mr.. Bowen know that you
were correspondent?
MIR. Biddle-Yes. sir; first met Mr. Bowen at
the time Of the blockade in Venezuela and I
obtained information from him at that time He
knew who 1 was, of course and 1 went TO him
rs The Herald" man. told him what I had
heard. and he was frank about giving me fur
ther information
Secretary Taft-Did he express desire. one
way or the other, to have the truth known?
Mr.. Biddle-He told 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
6 rl q Ri IJa
thought the instructions that he was receiving
ITcn the department were very unfortunate, and
last ne 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 toll a great many times
That he could not be quoted. but would like it
II his side could be stated. 1 think that he
was most anxious to have certain facts come
out.
Mr. Bowen himself admits that he showed
these letters and made these statements to the
representatives of the newspapers in question
have already quoted his remark in his state
rEent Of May 20 If the newspaper representa-
Uves were influenced by me / was justified in
uE!hg 10 inhuence them, because Mr.. Loomis
was dishonest while Minister at Caracas" In
ILle same statement he says that Mr.. Loomis's
nlehos asserted that fnStigated the publica-
Ion OF the scandal with which his name is as
sociated- That charge may be true Whether
II is or not the newspaper correspondents who
We're IN Caracas alone know AS the
scandal was generally known throughout the
"hoie community talked with them about it
sient. on the contrary, I urged them to ten the
Tutn the whole truth and nothing but the
.1 ~en. IN ms letter TO me. of June 8, he says:
i had several private interviews with both Mr.
Dater and Mr. Biddle, in regard TO the informa-
non which they were sending to The Herald
. In order TO make my side of the case per-
Iectly clear explained to them confdentially how
M Loomls's record in Caracas and the influence
20 "hlch ne must consequently bend balked me
1ii my WoFk- i felt that / could safely