New-York tribune., 1908-07-28
CASTRO on DFCORUM.

Matters seem Ia he coming TO head for cas-
fro contra rnundu5H. and it is probably about as
well that they should. We should be sorry 10
600 rho thrifty Dutch ezpend lot Of powder
and shot i'm trying 10 teach him manners, anu
also 70 sec n lot Of his subjects along the coaSI
made 10 suffer for their misfortune OF belng MS
subjects sill. The question must some time and
somehow be answered. whether he or all the rest
of the world is in the right. And since he has
orer-ised his Guardianship of the national de
cerTIIn- in 50 extraordinary a manner. perhaps
II will be not altogether impertinPnt for some oi
5he -.haritarians'- ha calls tbem-of Europe
II rot of .'the other America. 10 express TO MIN
their notions Of decorum.
The present difficulty seems 10 have arisen
fins, When the bubonic plague broke out at
Ia Guayra and when instead Of taking means
20 stap it. Mr. Castro sent mis- best physician 10
5sil for announcing its existence, Mr.. Reus. the
Dufch Minister at Caracas. reported the Ia'''
and in consequence the neighboring Dutch ISL
snd of curacao established a quarantine against
tha yenazuelan port That made Mr.. Castro an
cry ard he proclaimed an embargo on al com
,,,erca with Curacao He also procured from MS
consul at Wilienlstad in tfrat island, complaint
that the Dutch were encouraging smuggling ana
slibnsterjnc. and demanded that the Dutch gov
er,noent abate those practices. MI Reus re-
nIjed DENYING the correctness or the consul 5
charges Thereupon MI taSTo ptislnptollia
ordered him TO quit the country. Nr Reus WIN
drew from Caracas TO Willemstad. and the peo'
ME of Curacao TO show their feeling in the mat
fer n1obbei the Venezuelan ConsuGs house ana
scr, hin, sc7lttIing back to Venezuela. And now
.bara is talk of Dutch naval demonstration
along the coast
the right of the government 10 get rid OF a
foreign envoy who is offensive or unwelcome 10 IL
is undisputed. The thing has several times peeh
done in our own diplomatic history. The eSiab-
Ishe, usage Of natioDs-excepting, OF course
that IN which Mr. Castro reigns-is 10 request
,l,e recall of such ENJOYS by their own govern
,nents That is what we "barbarans OF the
ofher America" did in the cases Of Yrujo, OF
Poussin. OF Champion and OF SackFile-N est.
Even "a the case Of Jackson the offending minis
ter was not expelled, and appeal for his with
drawal was made 10 his government slmulta-
necrsly with the refusal 10 have further deal
ings with him. Ir some cases il Europe offend
ing ministers have been summarily expelled, but
the causes have always been most grave, such as
conspiracy against the life OF the sovereign or
fhe integrity OF the state. We can recall no case
in which such action has been taken for mere
expression Of opinion or statement of fact in the
course of diplomatic correspondence.
Venezuela. however, appears 10 have differ
pnr and we think unique standard Of decorum
and rule Of procedure. Thirty odd years ago the
Caracas government broke off relations with the
American Minister because il did pot like some
things which he had said In an official note.
AGAIN. in 1895. the French and Belgian ministers
ST caracas were expelled because some OF their
official utterances had reflected upon the honor
sf Venezuela In these cases. we believe the
.oYsrnments Of the expelled diplomats were