The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-02-17

than the recruits fioclted to join the army. From every quarter they came- In lew days the governor received message that Castro was coming. He laughed again.
 Castro had whipped him before the echo of his laughter died away, and the few soldiers of the province of Los Andes had deserted to the ranks of the reVolu- ton before sundown. The march toward Caracas began in earnest
 The news of Castro's army-it was fast becoming the real thing by this time sped ahead until 1t reached Valencia, the second city of the country, and Caracas, where Andrade heard it and following the provincial governors example laughed Did not Andrade have a fine army of fine soldiers to protect himY And were there not half a dozen out posts to annihilate the obstreperous noun taineer? Impossible. everybody said, for Castro to get within fifty miles of the eoastl
 Even as the new army approached Va leneia the nation at large continued to laugh. The first serious consideration 1t gave the revolution. In fact, was when Castro routed the force sent out to meet him from that city. Yet after he had actually taken possessioG of the town the people of Caracas felt little anxiety in spite of the fact that the Valencia garri- son. beaten, had joined the revolters. It was regarded as certain that the capitals guard, an army of thousands, far better equipped than the rebels and with years of training, would prove Castro's undo ing.
 Arriving in front of Caracas, the would-be President lost no time in begin ming to fight. But he did not have a chance to do much of 1t. Before the bat tie was well under way the government forces deserted. giving him complete control This fact, like many another incident of his career, was most oppor- tune for Castro's mule had fallen on him at the start of the battle, breaking ms leg and at the very moment of the de- lection in Andrades guard the rebel chief was directing his war operations from a litter.
 1t was about this time that Andrade, who had remained, still smiling In the palace, heard of what was happening He became solemn, but he wasted no time trying to recover the day. With less than 200 men he chose dieretion rather than valor. slipped out of the back door, ran to the water front, and fled to sea on the navy" By the time he had reached Port-of- Spain, Island of Trinidad, Cas- tro had marched into Caracas, taken possession of the government, declared himself dictator, appointed cabinet. be- gan to reorganize the army, sent word to the foreign nations of the earth that he was on top, and had become absolute ruler, boss of all he surveyed.
 Of course, everybody began to prophecy the dictator's fall. It was only matter of time men said, when he would follow the rest of Venezuela.s Presidents. Opin- ion was divided only as to which one would be his example-Blanco, who had stolen enough money to live and die in Paris, after fleeing from the country, Crespo. who had been shot in battle, or Andrade, who had been driven out by a younger man.
 When it was reported that Castro was sending boxes of money to France they said he was following Blanco's lead. When Matos almost won revolution In 1902 they said Crespo's fate was likely to be Castros Many times since then It was rumored a fleeting revolt was gain ing headway enough to frtghten him out of the republic.
 But all the prophets have been wrong. The nearest any of them came to the truth was in the case of Mates. That gentleman, with the title of general, like all the other uprisers of South Amer lea, gathered a big army.
 It was this army that the American Asphalt company was accused of back ing Success seemed certain. Castro, when the enemy approached, had but 70OO or 5000 men, against more than 2O,OO. Unlike Andrade, however, he stood his ground Leading his soldiers out to meet Mates, he won the famous battle of La Victoria after two days of fierce fighting.
 Though the dictator announced that It was time for Venezuela to be governed constitutionally (this was about two years after he captured Caracas), and despite the laws he authorized, his rule con- tinued just as it had begun. Except Tor occasional reproofs from foreign govern ments, after some extraordinary outrage, his course was unchecked. He has thrown men into jail, Venezuelans and foreign ers for no cause save that they refused to give up money flor the support of the government" He has caused rivals to disappear" after casting them into the fetid prison known as '"The Black Hole of Caracas" He has bought judges or his so-called courts of justice" or thrown them Into jail for trying to ad- minister the laws he helped to establish.
 While ostensibly yielding to demands made by foreign powers in behalf or thelr subjects every now and then the Vene- zuelan despot has in reality broken inter national laws and infringed upon inter national courtesy hundreds of times with out being officially detected. The notable protest of Germany over the case of a German merchant whom Castros soldiers tortured into giving up $2O,OO0 was prob ably attributable to the large amount. As 1t was, German warship went to Caracas, and Castro was forced both to pay back the money and to punish the i officers who had done the torturing by. his own orders. He yielded with bad grace but, as in other instances Of the kind he had judgment enough to retreat from a wrong position at the last mo- ment
 | After boasting--he Is always boasting- that he had legal power to annul Vene- zuelan concessions to foreigners. Castro finally put into practice his theory by selling for S40OO0 a concession claimed by the American Asphalt company. known as the Asphalt trust. This was the cause of the "asphalt controversy" about which American newspaper readers have heard more than about any of Castro 8 performances.
 America, of course, came to the front | to protect her citizens. It was agreed 1 that the Venezuelan courts should inter 1 bret the laws on the question at issue. l There seemed to be vain impression l that Castro respected the courts But, | to the amazement of us in the United | States, the South American president | simply manipulated justice by d4scharg- ing an attorney general. who wanted to
 act honestly and appointing new at torney general who was willing to think | according to orders.
 l Later, after settling the asphalt mat | ter to his satisfaction in this way, he ac- ! tually threw an honest judge into prison | for daring to suggest thak conditions in l the country's jails were not as they
 should be and for threatening to expose | the hidden scandals relating to prisoners | cast into cells without trial
 l The dictator is a stange mixture Of
 polish, uncouthness. diplomacy, irritabil- l a.. oonoajt profaI,lv the ronceit Ia