Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-06

unattackable by the armies and navies Of
the world
Castro is suffering from a case of
chronic spleen. He made an order in
June that all goods usually transshipped
at Curacao should be transshipped at
Puerto Cabello. which had the effect of
dlsorganizing trade at Curacao. The fail
ure of the cruiser Gelderland to salute on
re-entering the port of La Guaira and
the stoning of Consul Lopez in Curacao
are incidents which have keyed up Cas-
tro to the maximum pressure
The Temps of Paris declares that Pres
1dent Castro is a collector Of international
CONNECTS. That ugly monkey of the An
des has effected a rupture with Colombia.
france; England, Spain. the United States
and others, and he would have been in
difficulty with Spitzberg had he been in
relations herewith
castro. among many other idiosyncra-
sizes. imaeines that he has great military
genius. He causes himself to be spoken
of among his intimates as the Lit
tie Corporal" In Venezuela it isl
not necessary to be soldier to
aspire to the highest military rank.
The truth is. both Europe and the
United States by their patience and in
dulgence of the man have encouraged him
In his ridiculous pretensons.
some months ago the pest broke out in
the Venezuelan ports. The Dutch author
tiles naturally established a quarantine
against all vessels from Venezuela. Cas-
tro replied by interdicting all commerce
with Curacao. An unfortunate error of
translation in the correspondence aug
mented the wrath Of the dictator.
x y
The breach between Curacao and Ca
racas eliminated recently by reason of
an incident which was
Minister reported to the State De-
ru, partment July % by the
American vice consul in
the following cabegram:
The government Of Venezuela has sent
passports to the Dutch minister on ac-
| count OF letter written by him and pub
lished In the bulletin Of the Commercial
Association Of Amsterdam. which severe
ly criticised commercial and political con-
ditions in Venezuela
The accident of publication constitutes
certainly an infraction of diplomatic ETH
Quette. That much confessed, 1t is none
the less true that the form and brutal
| manner of the expulsion of NJ de Reus
by the Caracas government would pro-
woke resentment at The Hague.
The occasion to settle all old scores
with Castro now seems imminent. Here
tofore each and every great power with
held Its hands lest ii be charged that
1t had directed it's force against a weak
and defenseless nation. Now here is
| situation devoutly to be wished for: Cura-
Gao and Caracas are face to face!
The United States, barring the condi-
ton precedent that there shall not be
question of territorial occupation, will
extend, has already extended, its cordial
sympathies to Holland. which has been told
in diplomatic language to give Castro
castigation which may take him off the
diplomatic stage and out Of our presence
for good and all. The question at this
moment at The Hague is the manner in
which this should be done, by a peaceful
blockade or by bombardment, or both?
A word about Queen Wihelmina and
her country just here is apropos. not only
because of the role which
Wilhelmina's Holland will play as the
quasi mandatory of Eu-
rope against Venezuela,
but because the queen celebrated on the
list instant her twenty-eighth birthday and
the tenth anniversary of her accession to
the throne.
Marie Pauline Helene Wilhelmina is the
daughter of King William Ill and Queen
Emma, under whom she reigned during
her minority and until she assumed the
crown in 1895. The queen is remembered
with affectionate esteem by all liberty-lOv-
ing peoples as we'll as by the Dutch. Queen
Wilhelmina endeared herself to the Dutch
people during the Anglo-Boer war by send
ing the cruiser Gelderland to escort the
exiled and fugitive President Kruger to
refuge in Holland. The queen married in
1901 Prince Henry of Mecklenburg
SchWerin.
Holland played an important role in the
seventeenth century, when. at the con-
gress of Munster. the united provinces
entered into the concert of European
states. This was the period of Hollands
grandeur obtained by her hardy navi-
gators; her merchant and colonial COM
panies; her statesmen. who caused her
flag to be respected; her artists, who pro-
claimed her genius. Finally her dis
tinguished sailors Tromp and de Ruyter
obliged Louis XIV to conclude the peace
| of Nimegue in 1878. The peace of Utrecht
in 1713 marked the apogee of Hollands
power. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapele
terminated the reign of the stathouderat,
William I having Joined the coalition
against France, Pichegru invaded Hol-
land. The Republic of Batavia was pro-
claimed in 1895. the kingdom of Holland
in 1906 and annexed to France in 1910
In 1915 Belgium and Holland were re-
united In single state. but the events Of
1880 caused their separation. William III
died in 1890 leaving the crown to his
daughter, the present Queen Wilhelmina
The Netherlands government. 1t is re-
ported. has requested certain interested
powers to join her in her prospective
action against Venezuela. There are rea-
sons why France particularly would de-
sire to punish Castro for the indignity
offered to her representative. Also there
is the matter of the more recent con-
domination of the French Cable Company
by the Venezuelan courts to pay 5000
600 damages for alleged completely in the
Matos revolution Of 1903.
A cablegram from Caracas declares that
the Venezuelan courts will add to this
already very large sum
france other damages not yet
Tn+aras+ed assessed. 1t further adds:
THE trial has been even
more startling than that against the New
York and Bermudez Asphalt Company,
which also resulted in a five-million dol
lar fine. because it has reached far be-
yond the high officials Of the cable COM
pany in Paris
If the insinuation contained in the ca
blegram against former French minister
and a vice consul, who committed suicide
in Paris rather than face the disgrace of
exposure, should be unwarranted France
may yet join Holland in her proposed
action against Venezuela.
Meanwhile cablegram from The
Hague dated September 3 reports that
the Netherlands cruiser Friesland Left |
Holland that day for Caracas
Curacao. Caracas and Castro arc non,
names that claim the worlds brief at
tention, the honor of which. added tn
some probable pyrotechnics. thrills with
Drfda the nnfafbOD, -~-- |