The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-06-22
BOWEN HITS BACK %G~ Replies Vigorously to Presi- dents Action in Dismiss ing Him From DipIo-
 matic Service.
AN ATTEMPT TO BRIBE HIM
OFFER OF 4 HIGHER DIPLO-
 M4TIC POSITION

Made to Him Shortly After He Had
 Brought the Loomis Scandal to the
 Attention of tie State Department
 Denies That He Tried to Steal In-
 forInation-Made Use of Confidential
 Agents Only and the Government on
 at Least Two Occasions Provided Him
 With Money to Procure Secret Infor-
 mation-Considers Loomis Dishonest.
 New York, June 21.-Herbert w.. Bowen, formerly minister to Venezuela, to-day made public a long statement in reply to President Roosevelt's letter disinissing him from the diplomatic ser vice as a result of the investigation made by Secretary Taft, in the contro- yersy between MT. Bowen and Francis B. Loonlis, first assistant secretary of state : s-%..e...x.ls,. <
 MT. Bowen declares the Venezuelan scandal constitutes a national dis grace.' He asserts that "the Loomis scandal pervaded Caracas and con- stantIy .greW worse and worse MT. Bowen says that shortly after he. call- ed the matter to the attention of the department of state, he received a cable offer from Washington of diplomatic promotion that would remove him from Caracas. sz NJ .s .s. ...Ss..s.
 T admit he declares, that I regard ed the offer as an attempt to bribe me, yelled under the offer Of a higher posi- ton and inspired by MT. Loonlis I make no doubt that in the course of the recent inquiry it has been sufficient " plain that I did not think MT Loomis an honest man and that I did not be- 5 lieye his conduct as minister to Vene- zueIa had been honorable.
 MT. Bowen says the state depart < mental inquiry should not prevent 'an open, impartial fearless and thorough investigation into all tn efacts.' IA
 Suppression of truth will never es- \ tablish it., he adds. Tolerance of evil will never crush it. No office, however < high. should shelter a Wrongdoer.'
 When he went to Venezuela in 1901 as successor to MT. Loomis, MT. Bowen declares he found current rumors ser iously affecting the honor and integrity of his predecessor both as a, man and as representative of the United States government. MT. Bowen says that feeling a sense of pride in representing the United States these rumors were a source of continual modification to him. Epitomizing the rumors, MT. Bowen says:
 s.Mr Ioomis while minister was re- ported to have used his public position to fill his private purse by obtaining in- terests in concessions and in various claims against the Venezuelan govern 1aer1t. He was commonly thought also to have been in the pay of the Bermu- deg Asphalt company and to have made use of his own official position to give color to the belief that the United States was especially 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 was assured by my diplomatic col- leagues as well as by the general public at Caracas
 Referring to the documents left by his predecessor in the legation at Cara cas and forwarded by MT. Bowen to the state department, the latter says:
 T cannot better express my own feel- inss in regard to their contents than in the words of the secretary of state, whom in his letter acknowledging their receipt said: T have been greatly stlr- prised and pained in reading the docu- 1nents you sent me. :"
 MT. Bowen tells of sending to the state department information of the re- port current in Caracas ''that an in- crinisating check to MT. Loor1is and a letter from him to the governmental custodian of the asphalt property prom isiag that the United States would not intervene in Venezuela, were in the hands of one of President Castro's friends" egsy ~ -..
 nShortly afterward,' he continues, TT received a cable fronnathe state depart nae1lt offering to me a post that was intended to be my stepping stone to an anbassadorship. It seemed to me that in the circumstances my duty to the United States demanded that should stay, for the present at least, in Cara cas, and I declined the offer, personally advantageous as it was to myself.
 Currently with the report in Caracas that President Castro has possession of documents directly discriminating the first assistant secretary of state, Pres ident Castro dispatched a special agent to Washington. Concurrently with my refusal to leave my post at Caracas there began to appear from Washing ton such false and misleading state ments in our papers as, "Bowen has asked to be recalled; he wants to sev- CT diplomatic relations with Venezuela; he advises that a naval demonstration be made in Venezuelan waters; he is at swords points with Castro False reports of this sort are ordinarily con-
 lcontinued on Fifth Page,l