The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-01-15

| arate interests and ambitions of their
own. II they do, then they discover.
| with n suddenness painful especially in
Its after-effects. that circumstances alter
| cases.
| When Castro was first making his
mark as II rising young orator in dira-
cas- parliamentary circles, President Pa
lacio WAS the great center of power In
| Venezuela. Ills term OF office is still
remembered gratefully. as tho golden
age" OF the country; but Palacio lacked
in a conspicuous degree a quality which
| Castro as conspicuously possesses; he
had no fighting power And 30, some
| fourteen years ago, he fell as SO many
South American Presidents have fallen,
and President crespo reigned In his
stead
| Castro had been too closely connected
with the Palacio regime to be able to
remain safely in Caracas under Palacio's
successful rival. He therefore bctook
himself swiftly and prudently to the
mountains and the forests, and presently
arrived safely at his remote plantation
| OF San Antonio. 80 close to the Colom-
bian border that he could skip across the
| frontier II things became too hot for him.
At San Antonio. In the shadow OF the
| Andes, lie remained for six or seven
years, taking care OF his plantation, and
apparently setting his political career
behind him.
The Hour and the Man.
Then came the great opportunity
Men began to whisper against President
| Andrade. and Senior Castro soon became
a center OF whisperers. In his home
| State of Los Andes. with n population
OF some three hundred thousand, he was
looked on as the natural leader. and
people began to gather round him. as the
iron filings gather to the magnet.
He began to enroll the hardy mountain
GERS in an irregular force. drilling them
| and training them on his own plantation;
| for the theory of war had always been
a passion with him, and he had an Innate
genius for military action. which carried
| him far ahead Of the professional SOL
| diers OF his country. He finally got his
| little army OF Andinos ready. and every
| man OF them wore in his hat badge:
| From San Antonio to Caracas. tho
| Venezuelan equivalent OF pixies Peak or
! Bust or, to take more classical
, parallel. the ION to Paris of the Prus-
| sian armies.
This was in the year 1899. Just ten years
after Castro's first forensic .triumphs,
| and in the intervening ten years the par
| liamentary orator had hardened and be-
| come the general. Thus Castro started
| on his thous6nd-mile march. to unseat
| Andrade and capture the capital, Caracas.
| It would be OF absorbing interest to
| narrate the long months of fighting
among the mountains drought the vast
| forests and along the Orinoco plains;
there were thrilling adventures. narrow
| hazards, deeds OF daring, hardships, hours
of desperation. The rank and file on both
sides were Indios, aboriginal redskins.
who make up the bulk OF the population
| in Venezuela, as in Mexico. or half
castles. with thin veneer OF Spanish
| culture But the mon on Castro's side
were hardy mountainous, while Andrade
| had to depend on the weaker Indians OF
| the plains, and the valor and energy of
| the mountaineers carried the day.
In October. 1901, Cipriano Castro had
completely triumphed. and a general cleo
| ton shortly declared him President OF the
"Estados Unidos de Venezuela Under
| the Constitution. the President held office
| for two years only; but Castro had not
been many weeks at the helm before
| loyal, and obedient Congress decreed that
! he should hold his high post for six
years. his term Of office expiring only
in the end of February. 1908. Thus did
President Castro climb the pathto power.
and seat himself firmly on n South Amer
lean throne. For In everything but name
! plar, Porfirio Diaz, of Mexico.
At Miraflores.
During the first four years of his presi-
dency. Cipriano Castro has had to face
two Imminent dangers. The first was
the Matos rebellion, which at one time
bid fair to become successful revolu-
ton. The second was the joint blockade
by England. Germany and Italy. which
at one time promised to become an inter-
national imbroglio of the first order. The
Matos rebellion seems to have grown out
of causes strictly economic. great
admirer of General Castro once wrote of
him that in his youth Castro studied two
things, political economy and the art of
war. We have seen how he used his
knowledge OF the former; for If his in
ternal policy was the natural result OF his
studies In the latter ono would like to
know which primer Of the dismal science
he used. whether ADAM Smith or John
Stuart Mill or some of the lesser fry
To be perfectly frank, one is inclined
to say that Castro's views of economics
were drawn, not from England or CONT
mental Europe, but from an empire as
much more venerable than they as an
oak is more venerable than a sanling.
In fact. Castro took his economic theory
from the Middle Kingdom, the land of
Mandarins and jade; and his great cen
trail idea is the principle Of Squeeze
He firmly grasped the thought that the
commerce and industry of nation ex-
listed primarily to enrich the government,
and that, In Venezuela, the government
was no'other than Ciprano Castro And,
with his old-time energy and concentra-
ton, he. put this principle into practice
The result was an accumulation of treas
llre, said to be we'll and thriftily invested;
and on the part of commercial and indus
| trial Venezuela, much heart-b burning and
murmuring. Here is one of the stories
| they tell. in illustration of President
Castro's economic theory:
One Of the staple industries OF his coun-
| try is the rearing Of vast herds of CATTLE
on the boundless llanos along the Orlnoco,
! the equivalent of our pgairies. The herds
are driven to the coast, and shipped to
1 Jamaica. to Trinidad, and other ports OF
! the palm-decKed Indies. General Castro
at once perceived that here was prop
erty. and portable property at that, and
] ha cat hia aconomic }theory tn work Ja