Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury [Connecticut]) 1903-1917, 1908-04-13
VENEZUELA DISPUTE
And The Relations That The As.
phalt Trust Bears 10 The
Proposed Rebellion.

New York, April 13.--''The Sen
ate will not be likely to take action
at this session upon the dispute with
Venezuela" said an American diplo-
mat of worldwide fame to-day. lie
added: 1.-THE wisdom of the pres
ident and Secretary Root, in trans
mitting the papers in the case TO
congress without recommending ac~
ton, is generally recognized. These
documents, and others that have
become accessible, have made the
upper house, at least, very reluc-
tant to encourage any hostile move
against friendly government in be-
half of the asphalt trust. 1t is i'm
possible to overlook the overwhelm-
ing proof that the asphalt trust To-
mented and financed an insurrectlon
against that government, plpnglng
it's people into a civil war that lasted
Is months and cyst 10000 lives. ;"
"How did the trust finance the
Matos rebellion?" the diplomat was
asked. Its officers say that they
made payments of money to Matos
only under duress.'
"Just remember that the trust S
oWn officers have sworn that they
paid 100000 to Matos several
months before he had a gun in the
field" was the reply, "and you Will
easily figure out how much duress
there was about it. When Matos
went to New York and was there an
honored guest of the trusts manag-
ing officials, and they promised to
give him the money, he had not yet
committed an overt act, nor armed
a single man. This fact, systematl-
cally obscured in all the official pa
pers sent to congress, appears with
startling distinctness in the sworn
testimony given by the trusts Off
GERS in the suit brought by the Ven
ezuelan government to recover for
damages sustained during the Matos
rebellion. Yet these are the men
who are now asking the United
States to 60 to war-at least to use
it's power, military and diplomatic,
to coerce that government in Venez-
uela which the trust had been un-
able to overthrow by itself.
81 refer to testimony taken in 1905
before commissioners in the United
States, under process in the action
named above. 1t was brought out In
evidence at these hearings that Bean,
the trusts managing director at
Caracas, had been so imprudently
active in his connection with revolu-
tionary leaders in that city that he
brought upon himself a reprimand
from New York: that Bean gave to
Matos letters of introduction and
dispatches to the trust officials here
and that Matos presented these paper;
to those officials upon his arrival ir
New York in July, 1901; that he was
in conference with them several
times during stay of two or three
weeks. and, with General Andrews
was vice-President Sewall's guest at
Ardsley.
when Matos sailed for Europe in
August, 1901, he had the promise OF
a large sum of money, General An
drews testified, to be paid by the
trust for protection for the company's
property. November is, 1901, the
trust paid to Matos in the manner
previously decided upon. $101,366.67
Nobody ever saw any of his soldiers
near the asphalt trusts property till
the following February, swears the
man who was in charge of that prop
erty on the spot. After Matos re-
ceived the 100000 he bought a
steamer in Scotland. and after fruit
less attempts to fit her out as a ves-
sci of war in English and Dutch
ports, sent her across the western
ocean to Martinique. where he joined
her and hauled down the British flag
from her peak on January ], 1902.
Then there was rebellion; prior tc
that there had been only a conspir-
acy." -