The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-22
THE CASE OF VENEZUELA
 IV-- -Whot About Senor Castro?
By Fredric J. Haskin.
WWRwM wMwmmNMHW MHMmHmHMMMHMTuHM MHa

M84ih M8iHSih4 44l h4 h4E h . h zAh nsM 3A@A
 Any able bodied Revolutionary Gen. eral who speaks Spanish and will guar antee to initiate one Cipriano Castro into the Down and Out Club will hear something to his advantage by address sing the Foreign once of any nation on earth except Venezuela All the nations want Castro overthroWn- Several of them are willing to do IL, but the United States has choice as- sortment of Doctrines, spelled with plg Ds. which effectualiy prevent outside interference. Therefore. the only nope seems to be a revolution.
 The Monroe Doctrine estops any Eu- ropean nation from seizing a foot or Venezuelan territory. But the particu- lar Doctrine which protects Castro Is the Drago or Calvo Doctrine. This doc- urine was bred in the Latin countries somewhere South O. the Rio Grande- It declares that European nations shall not be permitted to collect debts of prf- vate individuals from anz American na- ton by force. To this doctrine. Elihu sent and approval of the United States when he was swing around the cir cle in South American. The "Constable doctrine. less sharply defined, that the Unted States ought to collect debts which 1t prevents European nations from collecting, has had the frienoAy support of Mir. Roosevelt.
 Five years ago. when three big Eu- ropean nations were blockading tho ports of Venezuela. the United States stepped in and brought about an agree ment to submit all questions to aroi- tration. In that crtsis. Castro leaned heavily upon the powerful arms Of the GrinEoes. As soon as the trouble was over. he was as insolent to the United States as to any other country. The United States will not abandon its Mon roe Doctrine. 1t probably will insist upon the Drago Doctrine. 1t has not yet adopted the Constable" Doctrine as Q settled policy. but. it's attitude toward all of these Doctrines gives efectual aid and assfstanc to Castro. But, my how the government at Washington would like to see some homegrown revolutionary general snite this Castro. hip and thigh. and get him out of the way without messing up and soiiing any of our nice Doctrinesi
 In the days before Castro ruled in Caracas. a Venezuelan revolution was a kid-Rlove affair, They had fifty full grown revolutions in seventy years and everybody thrtved. But Castro has not played the game according to Hoyle- When any aspiring military genius or- ganizes a revolution against Castro he uGS 10 uknAs anu u8nt AthAAs " SS ~@S'- Castro has put every such movement down.
 Castro appeals to the patriotic souls of his followers. He calls his regime ''the restorative government" He likens himself to the great LAberator Simon Bolivar. He says that Bolivar drove out the Spaniards and made Venezuela a free government, but that in later years foreign corporations and fn UanaztIAlQ uvifh more men. more money, and stronger force than the Spaniards had, and that these foreigners imposed a yoke upon the Venezuelan people more burden some than had the Spanish monarchy. Says Castro: T shall drive them out, and not rest content until the economic life as well as the political adninistra- tion of the country Is in native hands. How noble that would sound if a Pres ident of the United States said It. How coarse and brutal 1t sounds in the mouth of a President of Venezuela
 Castro has a strong following In his own army which believes in him and his patriotism He does not rob the soldiers, as so many of his predeces- sors did, and while he undoubtedly pays close attention to feathering his own nest, he does 1t judiciously and generally at the expense of foreign ers-but not always. For instance, there was CastrO's tariff reform The tariff on wheat flour was so high tnat flour sold in Venezuela for $16 bar rel. This was an outrage. Therefore, Castro practically prohibited the im- portation of flour, provided for the free admission of wheat from the United States, built a National Flour Mill, gave it the exclusive monopoly for the whole country. took most of it's capital stock himself, and began to grind wheat. Now he sells flour in Venezuela for $16 a barrel, which is true tariff reform in the interest Of Venezuelan industry.
 Castro first appeared on the scene in Venezuelan politics in 1898 as a Senator from the State of Fl Gachira- an Adean province He made but lit- tie impression as a statesman The fact that he preferred going barefoot to wearing shoes, was remarked In Caracas and it is likely that the Flu ropeanized wits of the capital poked fun at him. He returned to his native mountains full of hatred for the men of the Parisian school who then ruled the country. For years the people of his Andean country had been robbed by corrupt tax gatherers. and the peo- ple themselves attempted to evade any payment of taxes There was raid by the tax officials and Castro raised the standard of revolt. That was in 1899 He started from the mountains with less than hundred men intent upon overthrowing the government of President Andrade, which was sup ported by former President Crespo.
 He gathered supporters on the march, but even when he met and de- feated the administration forces at Valencia. he had less than a thousand followers. From that day to this he has ruled the country absolutely. Leg islatures and courts mean nothing to him except as they are useful as tools to carry out his wishes. He recognizes a supreme court by ap- pointing barbers and mule-drtvers to the wool-sack. They don't know any law, but they do know how to obey orders and that is what '"rhe Gen eral" expects. There is some sort Of vague legal provision for elections in Venezuela, but the electoral laws are a dead letter. Castro will continue to rule until he dies. is overthrown by revolution. or Is deposed by a for eign force.
 Successful as he has been in defend ing his position and in subduing all internal opposition, Castro's pet scheme for a federation of South American States is no nearer realiza- ton than when he first dreamed It. The great Bolivar held Venezuela and the New Granadan States together in a sort of fashion from the time of the liberation until his death, but then his federation went all to pieces. Cas- tro's ambition to be second and greater Bolivar Is foredoomed. His invasion of Colombian territory was a miserable fiasco. and ever since he has added to flames of Colombia's hat red of him by hampering the com