The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-20
THE CASE OF VENEZUELA
 H.-7he Great Asphalt ControUersy
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By Fredric J. Haskin.

Tradition associates pitch with His | Satanic Majesty. Certain 1t Is that as- phait, which is akin to pitch, has been a great disturber from the day 1t be-
 gan to be used as a paving material !. | Asphalt paving scandals and quArrels | are almost as numerous in the United States as are cities with asphalt pave- | ments. But the greatest asphalt con- | troversy on record is that between the | New York and Bermudez Asphalt Com pany and the government of Vene- zuela.
 A multitude of contradictions in plain
 statements of fact, as we'll as a laby-
 rinth of iegaiisms, makes 1t difacult to | procure a brief and succint statement of the merits of the controversy. The | facts that are established beyond cavIl are that the New York and Bermudez | Company once possessed a great de- l posit of asphaltun, lake of pitch, and that this lake is now In the possession | of Castro's government. Immediately preceding the busting of the New York | and Bermudez Company from Its pos session, and indirectly connected with | that custer. the asphalt company gave 1 ti45.o0o toward financing g revolution against Castro's government headed by General Mates.
 The company whose claims against Venezuela were so urgently presented
  ernment is. perhaps. the largest asphalt concern in the ~Srld, doing business through connections with several cor porations. Its rights to the property seized by Castro have their foundation in concession granted twenty-five years ago to Horatio R. Hamilton, an American, by 0uzanan Blanco chen president, and practically dictator, of Venezuea. The Hamilton concession has a history replete with incident and adventure, and its closing chapter is yet to be written.
 Enemies of the New York and Ber- mudez Company. who are not confined to the limits of Venezuela but who are many and powerful in the United States, declare that the Asphalt Trust" Is the wickedest of all soulless corpor- ations. Chief among its sins, according to tn ese enemies, has been the exploita- ton of Venezuela under the Hamilton concession. To quote one of these enc mics: Persons in all stations of life have been caught In It's entangiing meshes, reputations have been blasted, millions of dollars have been lost, thou- sands of lives have been sacrificed and great nations have quarreled because of it." It is hardly necessary to say that prominent among the enemies of the Asphalt Trust" who declalm of the wickedness of that corporation and the virtues of President Castro. are those who are interested in selling the asphalt shipped from the famous lake by the receiver appointed by the high federal court of Venezuela.
 The New York and Bermudez Com pany presents itself as an American industrial organization owning vast in- terests in Venezuela which have been illegally and forcibly conhscated by the unspeakable Castro The other side, right here in the United States. de- clares that the Asphalt Trust" is nt- tempting to use, and Is using. the gov ernment of the United States as cats paw to pull the chestnuts out of the Ire. Charges refiecting upon the integrity of officials of high degree have been made. and every weapon known to insinuation and innuendo has been used by one side or the other.
 The New York and Bermudez Com pany was incorporated in New York in 1885. for the purpose of carrying on industrial work in the state of Ber- mudex, in Venezuela. It immediately acquired the Hamilton concession, which was in the form of a contract entered into in 1888 by the venzuelan government. The transfer of the con- tract from Hamilton to the company