PRICE TWO CENTS.
CAUCUS ONSHIP BILL
Hanna Agrees to Abide byIts Decision.
AVOID A PARTY SPLIT
Caucus Will Also Discuss IsthmianCanal Legislation.
ALLISON WILL STOP FILIBUSTER
If It la Tried on His Appropriation
' Bill He Will Give Way toSubsidy Bill.
From 77i« Journal Bureau, Room AS, FastHuilding, Washington.
Washington, Jan. 17.—Senator , Hanna'sthreat to withdraw the subsidy bill from
consideration in the senate, referred toseveral days ago in these dispatches, wasthe chief reason for calling a senatorialcaucus : to-morrow. Senator Hanna hadbegun to "get his mad up." Even his re- ;
publican colleagues who favor subsidy leg-
islation could not control him in his de-
nunciation :of certain other republicancolleagues who, in his opinion, ought tobe outspoken for the bill, and of democrat-ic members who are openly opposing itagainst what he says is the best interestsof the country. A breach was forming\u25a0which threatened serious damage to re-publican interests, and hence the caucuscall. f
Senator Hanan has agreed to submit thewhole subsidy question to caucus judg-
ment, to abide by the result, provided
discussion is free and fair, and this is all
that either side could ask.Incidentally as long as there is to be
a caucus, various other matters will comebefore U, notably the isthmian canal, butthe subsidy tangle is what caused it to betailed.
Provisionally assuming that he will getthe caucus indorsement . Senator: Allison,chairman of the finance committee, hasannounced that he will permit no filibus-tering on the legislative appropriation billnow about to be reported, g*He • has beendeeply disgusted at the tactics of Petti-grew and his associates concerning the :
army reorganization bill and. he says thatif he even suspicions a filibuster when thelegislative appropriation bill comes up he•will withdraw the bill, which would bringthe subsidy question squarely before thesenate. Senator Allison thinks the subsidyshould be fought fairly and directly andnot over the head of other legislation.
If the caucus indorses Senator Allison'spolicy the minority will be • held respon-sible should its factious delay defeat sev-eral appropriation, bills and make an extrasession necessary. '\u25a0--:-"•' >\u25a0•"\u25a0.-.""'
/':'\u25a0\u25a0*\u25a0'\u25a0"\u25a0 —W. W. . Jermane.
NEBRASKANS CAN'T AGREEDEADLOCK OS CAUCUS RILES
Edward Koaetvater la Charged "WithViolating: the Corrupt
Practices Act.-*1 \u25a0
\u25a0•. - - ,.' * . '\u25a0""— ~ . \u25a0 - '
ttmw York Sun Special SarvJomLincoln, Neb., Jan. 17. —A prolonged
deadlock is the outlook in the Nebraskasenatorial fight. "A committee to preparerules for a senatorial caucus is hopelesslydivided over whether the nominationsshall be made one' at a time or upon thesame ballot, no nomination: to be bindingunless both are Iaccepted on that ballot.This..: Is-a* condition imposed upon thestrong men by the weaker ones, who con-trol enough votes among them to block acaucus. "
The fiercest fight,Is on .^Thompson, the" leading candidate, by a coterie of Lincoln' men. r . .
Edward .Rosewater, one of the candi-dates, was to . have been taken to Omaha Jto answer to a
fcharge of violating the
corrupt practices act, but it was arrangedby telephone that he should appear later.. To-day's vote for United States, sena-tor in the legislature was as -''*follows:Senator*Allen, 57j Gilbert M. \u25a0 Hitchcock,(fuslonist), 57; D. E. Thompson, .32; Cur-rie, 22; Crounse, 10; Hainer, 6; Hinshaw,17; Meikeljohi, 24; Rosewater, 15; Kin-caid, 4; scattering, 12. ;? - -
Little » haii««- in Delaware.Dover, Del., Jan. 12.—The vote on joint
ballot to-day for two United States senatorsshowed but little change.
STATE "U" NEEDSBill* for Nearly $800,000 Are Intro-
duced at Madison.Special to The Journal.
Madison, Wls., Jan. 17.—A bill fixingtheappropriations for the state universitywas Introduced in the assembly this morn-ing by Frost. It asks an increase of $36,---000 in Income, making the total $316,000,and in addition $240,000 for new buildings;$175,000 for a central agricultural college,and $65,000 for equipping the new en-gineering building, machine shop, etc.
In the senate a bill to legalize the prac-ticeof osteopathy in the state was intro-duced by Senator Roeher of Milwaukee.It provides for a state board of five exam-iners o? osteopathic physicians whose cer-tificates shaW be necessary in v order topractice the science. They are not to passa medical examination and the law pro-vides that they shall' not be entitled toprescribe drugs.
BOERS GET AWAYPrisoners at Ceylon Reported to
Have Escaped.
London, Jan. IT.—The Evening Standardsays it hears a number of Boer prisoners
have escaped from Ceylon.
BEEKEEPERS TO MEET AT YAXKTOX.Special to The Journal.
Yankton. S. D., Jan. IT.—The annual con-vention of the South Dakota Beekeepers as-sociation will be held iv Yankton Jan. 25.There will be an afternoon and evening ses-sion. A splendid program has been arranged.This session was advertised for Sioux Falls,but as most of the bee fanciers live nearer to
Yankton the change was made.—Yankton'slocal dramatic company has accepted an of-fer to play "Charley's Aunt" and "BostonDip" at Pierre and expects to present themiv the capital city on Jan. 2-1.
Washington, Jan. IT.—United States ConsulMason at Berlin reports that thirty-two citiesof Germany have more than 100,000 inhabi-tants. Only Crefeld shows a decrease since1595. It is a city of textile industries, whichhave suffered from American competition.
INJURED BY AMERICA.
TWENTY-FIVE DROWNED.fort Louis, Island of Maritlus, Jan. 17.—
The British steamer Kaisari, which sailedfrom Pangoon Nov. 23 for Reunion, has been\u25a0wrecked at Reunion. Twenty-five lost theirUtm.
NO STRINGON THEM
Nelson's Friends Are NotTied Up.
A WASHINGTON WIRE
It Leaves Republicans No Excusefor Skipping the Caucus.
WANT TO AGREE ON A CHAIRMAN
Evans, Clapp and Tawney-Managers
—Cancan Will Mean. :
Business.
Senator Xeluon expects his friends to go
into the Davis senatorial caucus to-morrownight and vote their perferences. He has
taken the republican portion of the legis-
lature at its word when it nominated himfor the full term to succeed himself. He
has no desire to keep his friends from do-ing their duty as republicans in respect tothe other senatorship.
This information was conveyed in briefin a telegram which a seventh districtmember received from the senator.
United States Marshal '-Bill" Grimshaw—Wefederal officeholders are keeping out of thisfight. (The bystanders grin cynically.)
It jiuts at rest ail talk about the sev-enth district members staying away from
"the caucus or demanding a -ecret ballotfor Nelson's protection if they attend.
The telegram has been shown to sev-eral members and its contents are to-daypretty well known by the whole seventhdistrict delegation.
On acocunt of imperative personal rea-sons, such as sickness, some republicanswill not be able to attend the caucus. Someother may stay away on account of timidityand some few who go may decline to voteon a roll call. There is every reason tobelieve that the roll call method of vot-ing will prevail.
"Who for Chairman?An effort to unite upon a chairman by
mutual consent and thus do away with acontest for the position after the caucusconvenes is being made this afternoonby the Clapp, Evans and Tawney mana-gers. All three of these candidates areanxious to choose the chairman in that
| way if possible.
Among those who have been mentionedas good material for the place is ex-Gov-ernor McGill. He is a Clapp man, ofcourse, but no one would question hisfairness. Others who have been men-tioned are Senators Lord and Thompson,Tawney men, and Senator Young, anEvans man.
The Cauf iin Will Settle It.Those who emphatically insist that the
caucus must name the senator are talk-
Senator Ripley Brower, St. Cloud—l wonderif it is true, as the papers say, that I'm thehandsomest senator.
ing to-day of doing business rapidly andseriously. They propose that the prelim-inaries shall be disposed of just as soonas possible and that then the ballotingshall be begun and kept up as rapidly aspossible. They favor a long and late ses-sion, and in the event of a failure to nom-inate the first night, adjournment to Sat-urday night and the resumption of theballoting then.
If adjournment Saturday night finds nonomination made they desire to have theprogram repeated Monday night.
So strong is now the determination tosettle the senatorial succession in cau-cus that many who have been skepticalof such result are beginning to think itpossible, even probable.
A "Hen on" Somewhere,
There have been some secret develop-
THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY IT, 1901.
THE POLITICAL HARE AND THE TORTOISE.Candidate Bryan—Well, how did you come here? I thought I left you at the Kansas City
convention post!
ments in the situation in the last twenty-four hours. All who know of them main-tain silence, but intimate that the storymay be told after^jthe senatorial nomina-tion has been matfe. While there is noway of ascertaining what these develop-ments are, it is noticeable that there ismore cheerful confidence in the Evanscamp to-day than in any of the others.Some of the more sanguine Evans sup-porters even talk of his nomination onthe third ballot, but this is hardly to beexpected by the observer who has tomake his conclusions on surface indica-tions.
There is much vagueness as to the cau-cus arrangements. The members of theJoint committee seem to think as theimeeting is to bs held in the house cham-jber, Speaker Bowling must make the rulesregarding admission. Mr. Dowling says
| that if it is up to him, the public will be
Representative Dr. Babcock of Wadena tellsRepresentative Harden of Leroy thatClapp's candidacy is the only real thing,and Mr. Harden replies that Tawney's can-didacy completely shuts out the rest of thestate from his view.
admitted to the galleries without ticket tothe full extent of the seating capacity andno more, and that none but members, em-ployes and representatives of the pressshall be permitted on the floor. As thegallery has room for hardly more than ahundred people there will be a great rushfor admittance if the open door policy pre-vails. •
Tarns Bixby is "all balled.up" over hissenatorial candidacy. He said this after-noon that be did not know whether hewas a candidate or not. The three housemembers from his own county have agreedto look upon him as a candidate 'and votethat way if : he insists. \u25a0 ; Senator -Dickeystayed out. ",But so far as the other can-didates are concerned, Bixby is as goodas out of it. They are reckoning him "adead one." > . -
New. St. Paul Candidates.There is some little revival of talk ?in
favor of dark hourse candidates from St.Paul. W. B. Dean and Hiram F. Stevensare, mentioned. Mr. Stevens is said to beawaiting a good opening. \lf« the Clappfollowing : should, for any • reason, go •*topieces, Mr. Stevens may \u25a0 come to the-rescue. -\u25a0;
Dough Sends Dough. •»,;-The financial stringency, in ;,the treasury
of *the Liowry campaign committee hasbeen relieved. John ;Dough of/ Bensonyesterday sent the storytelling magnate510 on account. " Mr. .:Lowry}immediatelybought two boxes of cigars, and inow allwho visit his haunts can smoke. : -
Bixby All Balled Up.
Congressman Tawney is greatly en-couraged. A Minneapolis seer of theseventh daughter variety threw a fit theother day and predicted his election. Allthe harrowing particulars have been for-warded *> \Jv. Tawney.
Lowry a Good Mixer.It is agreed on all sides that Mr. Lowry
makes a good campaigner. When the rep-resentative of so much wealth and influ-ence as he has 1 conies out of his privateroom and puts his arm around the neckof the country legislator and draws himinto the inner recesses it is easy to seethe blushes of delight chasing themselvesover the favored one's facial epidermis.
Nevertheless very few unprejudiced ob-servers of tbe situation.can see where Mr.Lowry is going to connect in this contest.The opposition managers know every votehe has in sight and the number they givehim is so small that it would hardly do toprint it. These managers regard him aspurely an opportunist candidate. Hehopes to build up something from thecoming wrecks of other candidates. •
The interviews in the Tribune thismorning favoring Mr. Lowry were ana-lyzed early in the day and attention calledto the fact that five or six of the thirteenpersons quoted are democrats, one is thegeneral manager of Mr. Lowry'e railroad,
another is put down as a shipper, twoare democratic aldermen, and one is not inthe city directory.
Democratic Senatorial ('auciix.
The democratic senatorial caucus willbe held to-morrow noon at the capitol,room 16. Charles A. Towne -will probablybe nominated for the short term and Ru-dolph Schiffman or ex-United States JudgeNelson for the long term.
—Theodore M. Knappen.
Grondahl In Withdrawn.t: -Tarns Bixby is reported to have with-drawn Jens K. Grondahl from the race forstate librarian. It is said that he told thegovernor yesterday that the Red Wing re-publicans- already, had enough patronage.
J. A. Folsom of-i|tSUj^^lift:has; been in*,dorsed 4by the Hetrnepm delegation for ap-~pointment as depaty boiler inspector «atMinneapolis. -.; .
HOPE FOR FREEDOMPrisoners in Paterson Murder Case
Are Very Confident.
THE CLOSING ARGUMENTS TO-DAY
General Opinion la That a VerdictWill Be Reached Before
To-night. \u25a0
Paterson, N. J., Jan. 17.—1t is thoughtthat a verdict will be reached before even-ing in the case of Walter C. McAlister,William A. Death and Andrew J.Campbell,charged with the murder of Jennie Boss-chieter. a mill girl.
The accused men were apparently morehopeful this morning. They seemed tothink that their testimony yesterday hada favorable effect on the jury and thatto-night or to-morrow at the latest wouldsee them at liberty.
Assistant Prosecutor Ralph Shaw, in hisaddress to the jury, said that a killing inthe perpetration o"f a felony constitutedmurder in the first degree.
Judge Francis Scott, for the defense, as-serted the case of the state was not sup-ported by legal proof and that the statecharged an impossible crime. The com-mon law, he declared, was superior to thestatute, which provides murder if deathresults in an attempt to commit a felony.
The testimony of the three accused yes-terday was a good deal less ensationalterday was a good deal less sensationalsmooth and glib, and dovetailed the onewithin the other with"a care and elabora-tion of detail that left few creviceß for theinsertion of wedges. Death.was the leastsuccessful of the three on the stand. Hetold his story in direct examination gliblyenough. They all did that.
It was a story that caused many a headin the courtroom to shake dubiously, both"when it was outlined in the opening of thedefense by Mr. Dunn and told in detail bythe witnesses on the stand. It was all acase of pure disinterested benevolence, itseems, the association of these four menwith Jennie Bosschieter that evening.They acted the part of good Samaritans.Jennie, it appears from their story, hadthe misfortune to become suddenly hope-lessly and helplessly drunk after sittingfor a few minutes in a saloon with Deathand Campbell.
OPPOSES THE GROUT BILLSTOCKMEN'S ASSOCIATION ACTS
Favor* a Law to Compel All Food
Product* to Be Sold for WhatThey Are.
Salt Lake, Utah, Jan. 17.—The NationalLive Stock association to-day adoptedresolutions opposing the Grout oleomar-garine bill. Mr. Harris of lowa said:"What we need is a pure food law."President Springer denounced the Groutbill in the strongest terms. He favoredthe Wadsworth substitute and said everylive stock man would indorse it.
Mr. Wilson of Illinois offered the fol-lowing resolution, which was adopted bya rising vote:
Be It resolved that the National Live Stockassociation will unanimously indorse a purefood law that shall compel all food productsto be sold for exactly what they are.
A resolution was adopted calling atten-tion to the active use of cotton and shoddyin what was put into so-called "woolengoods" and asking legislation to preventfraud in marketing the manufactured ar-ticles as wholly of wool.
Mr. Stickney of Wyoming offered a reso-lution that a petition be sent to Washing-ton for the establishment of an additionalEignal service in the Rocky mountains.
IN A SAD TANGLEParty Leaders Badly Mixed on Re-
'•" apportionment. •
NINE .DISTRICTS .- OR SEVEN?
As a Matter of ';Party Policy, Some
*^'"!*.Favor Two Conirreaameii- •:
Mt-L,a(£e.
*j*fa—: —,-\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0, \u0084,l lr,w.In \u25a0 view ; the acute phase of the sena- >
torial fight there was nothing done .in. theupper house of the Minnesota\u25a0 legislatureto-day towards disposing of .the joint. res-olution for a :committee on reapportion-
ment. \u25a0-.. . \u25a0 -Lieutenant Governor Smith, said thismorning that in making out the senatecommittees under the rules he had nothought other than of complying with theusages. It is a well recognized principle
(that the minority is entitled to represen-tation, and particularly on standing com-mittees, v In. this . instance, the committeewas :of that ; description, and LieutenantGovernor Smith' did not consider; himselfjustified in disregarding the minority.
The concensus of opinion in the upperchamber \u0084 inclines toward;, the carving outof two additional congressional districtsfrom the • seven existing. Some very em-phatic utterances upon this point: haverecently been made. A Hennepin senatorsaid. this ]morning: •. . ;'jjj3j|B|
"Do not mistake the intention of the ma-jority. There has already been a canvassmade upon the subject of reapportionmentand it has been determined with substan-tial accuracy that' more than half the sen-ators will oppose any scheme that lookstoward two congressmen-at-large. Thesame sentiment, so *we understand, obtainsin the house, although I am not free to saythat any considerable number of represen-tatives have been interviewed."
The majority in the senate await someword from Chairman Jones of the com-mittee on rules, before proceeding. Sen-ator Jonei was so occupied this morningthat no opportunity offered for a consul-tation, and he was obliged to defer thesuggestion of any program until to-mor-row.
Some Favor Two at Large.
Notwithstanding the declaration that amajority favor nine congressional dis-tricts, there are senators who have firmly-grounded opinions that more advantageswould be derived by the party if the pres-ent districts remained undisturbed, andthe state convention was left to nominatetwo congressmen.
It is not even intimated that LieutenantGovernor Smith acted with this faction\u25a0when he assigned two democrats to thecommittee on reapportionment. If thepresiding officer of the senate possessesone characteristic more marked than an-other, it is his love of fairness. There isnothing in this state of facts howeverwhich precludes the opponents of a con-gressional reapportionment from undertak-ing to use the lieutenant governor's ap-pointments in an effort for the furtheranceof their own ends. It is not improbablethat the opoprtunity will present itself.
There must be some skilful steeringdone if the parliamentary shoals are to beaifclded by the republican majority. Toleave the house resolution on the tablewill mean a discourtesy, to say the least,towar s the co-ordinate branch. To ap-point anew committee is not only an in-direct means of arriving at an end. butmay possibly give offense to the membersof the existing committee. Furthermore,there would be an imputation that thelieutenant governor had not exhibited po-litical astuteness in giving preferment totwo democrats. If the resolution is takenoff the table and the present senate com-mittee acts, the minority, in the opinionof many, will have been accorded a recog-nition to which it Is not in any sense en-titled. Wh»n J. D. Jones, the presentchairman of the committee on rules inthe senate, was speaker of the house,there was occasion for making a commit-tee on reapportionment. Mr. Jones, in hisselection of material, disregarded the mi-nority absolutely. This fact was cited as aprecedent this morning.
OPENED BY CROWN PRINCE
PreTa.ll in Norway.Normal Business CondillonH Aig-aiii
.. Stockholm,. .Sweden; Jan. 17.—CrownPrince IOscar, for the first -time, Ito-dayopened the i rigsdag )in ? his jcapacity :r: asregent. :He 'made' a good impression withthe] new army proposals. "
The bank ;of * Norway ? has 'ilowered itsrate of :discount fro 6% to « per cent \u25a0 in"dicating that ;jßorntal "\u25a0• business conditionsagain- prevail.
10 PAGES-FIVE OCLOCK.
TOWNE TOBE HEARD
Formal Address Next Weekin the Senate.
HIS GREATEST EFFORT
Minnesota Delegation Confers onArmy Appointments.
SOCIAL FUNCTIONS GIVEN UP
While the Presidents Health HaaImproved He Is Savins His
Strength for Work.
From Th« Journal Bureau. Room. 48, PottBuilding, Washington.Washington.Jan. 17.—Senator Towns has
finally concluded to make a formal ad-dress in the senate. It will corns latenext week unless the Minnesota legisla-
ture should elect Davis' successor morequickly than is anticipated, and thus dis-place him. The address will fill at leastan hour, and will cover the whole rangeof larger politics in which the UnitedStates is now interested. It will be care-fully written out in advance, and it willbe perhaps the most ambitious oratoricaleffort in Towne's career thus far.
The Minnesota volunteer officers whoare to remain in the reorganized armywill be decided on by the delegation inthe next ten days. Under the provisionsof the act now under consideration in thesenate, the officers now in the volunteerservice are to be given preference in fill-ing vacancies In the larger army. Vol-unteer line officers who want to stay andare indorsed, can get commissions to thegrades of first and second lieutenants. Inthe staff departments they can go as highas captain.
Senator Nelson and the members of thehouse have had frequent informal con-ferences lately with a view to decidingupon the list to be mad*e up. Nothing
has been settled, however. Should theshort-term senator be elected next Tues-day, he will be consulted regarding theseappointments. If not, Senator Towne willbe asked to join in the indorsement of theother members of the delegation.
Minnesota will get about twenty ap-pointments. There are few applicants forarmy commissions in South Dakota. An-ton J. Urich of Lead City has been in-dorsed for a second lieutenancy and Rev.J. D. Scaggs of the same place is gen-erally indorsed for a chaplancy. Repre-sentative Burke said to-day that he hadhopes of landing both men.
President and Mrs. McKinley will re-mit a part, at least, of their official socialduties this winter, although not ail, asreported in some quarters. The reception
on the 23d has been definitely given up,and notice to that effect will be made pub-
lic. It is also probable that the dinnersby members of the cabinet to the president
will be dropped for the season. The presi-dent may give one or two dinners a littlelater, in part to take the place of these,and to dispel the impression that social
festivities have been entirely abandoned.The probabilities are that this will be thequietest season in the official world sincethat of 1^93, when on acocunt of the deathof Mrs. Harrison, there was little enter-taining in administration circles.
The president is still confined to "theprivate part" of the White House and willremain there for the rest of this week,although he is rapidly improving in healthand gaining in strength. In addition tothe routine work before him, he must pre-pare his inaugural address, as well as de-cide, with the passage of the army bill,upon a large number of military promo-tions and transfers. In these circum-stances the lessening of the social pressureIs felt to be wise. The members of thecabinet are all so busy in the closingmonths of an administration that they areheartily in favor of this quieter program.
Representative McCleary has spent agood deal of time lately trying to find outthe probable fate of the Grout bill. Hehad a conference to-day with severalmembers of the senate agricultural com-mittee and he is satisfied the bill will befavorably reported as soon as the testi-mony taken at the hearing can be pub-lished. Friends of the bill are quite sureit is possible to pass the bill this session.
It is evident that the advocates of re-funding the legacy taxes under the warrevenue act that were taken from religious,educational and charitable institutionsmust organize more effectively if they gettheir worthy project through. SenatorAldrich, in whose committee the war rev-enue act now rests, insists that it shouldgo to the committee on claims, in whichcase diligent efforts will be necessary, asthat is a slow moving body at either endof the capitol. Straflge as it may seem,there is some opposition to the idea, onemember of the ways and means committeeeven opposing the repeal, saying thesewere rich institutions and ought to pay.
The probabilities are that some westernmember, in whose district there are insti-tutions adversely affected, probably Taw-ney of Minnesota, will be asked to intro-duce ia the house a new bill to go to thecommittee on claims and then all inter-ested institutions will apply pressure upontheir representatives.
Pillsbury academy at Owatonna, Minn.,has $25,000 of its $250,000 legacy from thelate George Pillsbury at stake in this leg-islation.
—W. W. Jermane.
Washington Small Talk.
Additional rural free delivery service hasbeen ordered established at Livingston, Grantcounty. Wis., Feb. 1, with J. A. Warn© ascarrier.
Senator Nelson to-day made a favorable re-port on his amendment to the sundry civilappropriation bill to make the salaries ofsuperintendents of life-saving districts on thegreat lakes $2,500 a year each, an increase of$500.
Representative Morris has settled the trou-ble in the Anoka postofflce so far as he isable by filing a recommendation for the ap-pointment of I. A. Catle as postmaster. Theappointment is not to take effect, however,until some time in February, whea Postmis-tress Ryan's commission expires.
:;; Postmasters »were appointed \u25a0; to-day as fol-lows: - Minnesota — ;< Meeker <\u25a0 county,C. H. Duckerlng; Neblsh,' Beltrami county,C. A. Woods. •\u25a0* \u25a0 >lowa-^Hoskins, Woodburycounty, J. A. Smith;; Kames, ;Plymouth ; coun-ty, C. W. Harrison.*;; Montana —Radersburg,'Broadwater ; county, W. E. Spangler. -\u25a0: NorthDakota—Starkweather. Ramsey county, A. M.
Wisconsin—-Beaumont, Racine coua-ty, W. L. Cocroft; iSwing, Oeoato couuty, J.A. Kaafmaun.
Mow YorkSun SpmclmS Smrvlom
Ships Are Ready.
Castro's Scheme.
I'antro'n Rise to Power.
Trouble Over Aapbalt.
THE MINNEAPOLIS JOURN^gT)CLASH WITH
VENEZUELA
UNITED STATES DEFIED
Steamers Seized for Use AgainstAmerican Company.
C»u»e« ol the Present Difficulty—Caatro'N Rise to Power-Need*
the Money.
Washington, Jan. 17.—Just as the statedepartment suspected the purpose of theVenezuelan government in seizing twosteamers of the Oronoco Shipping andLoading company was to use them in oper-ations against the New York & Bermudezcompany, an American corporation whichhas refused to obey the order of the au-thorities of the republic to vacate its aa-phalt bed possessions in the department ofSucre. Information has reached the statedepartment that the government waß at-tempting to get possession of the arms ofthe New York & Bermudez company underthe prepense of using them against revolu-tionists.
As the United States has informed Vene-zuela that the use of force to dispossessthe company will not be tolerated, orwords to that effect, the action of theadministration at Caracas is a direct defi-ance of this government and hostilities be-tween the two countries may result.
Orders have been telegraphed by Secre-tary Long to Lieutenant Commander Na-than Sargent, commanding the gunboatScorpion at. La Guayra, to proceed to Gu-anoco, the port nearest to the asphalt
beds held by the New York & Bermudescompany. The naval authorities say thata strong squadron can be concentrated inVenezulan waters at short notice and thatthe battleships Kearsarge and Massachus-setts, now at Mobile, will be ordered tothe scene of the trouble whenever thestate department says the word.
The instruction to Lieutenant Comman-der Sargent are to avoid bloodshed and th»destruction of property by bombardment"as far as possible," and the natural in-ference Is that the officials' expect a clashto occur. It was admitted that marinesand blue jackets might be landed at Gua-noco to protect the interests of the NewYork & Bermudez company, but it couldnot be learned- that authority had beengiven to Lieutenant* Commander Sargent
to adopt 6uch a radical course as that. Atany rate that this* government means busi-ness is evident.
There is no feeling here that the dis-regard shown by the Venezuelan govern-
ment for the expressed wishes of theUnited States comes from any hatred ofAmerica and American citizens. As amatter of fact, the people of Venezuelaare believed to have a very friendly feel-ing for this country and its citizens, prin-cipally on account of the stand taken by
President Cleveland in the boundary dis-pute with Great Britain. The* presentattitude of the Venezuelan authorities isattributed to desires in which the peoplehaye no share and with which they haveno sympathy.
General Castro, the president of therepublic, is bent on attaining the endhe desires without regard for the cost.He secured his present high office by forceof arms. Since he has been president hahas shown a disregard for the rights ofnations, which is likely to involve himIn serious trouble and perhaps result lahis overthrow. Already an uprising ap-pears to be imminent, and Castro evident-ly expects the light of-his life, otherwisehe would not resort to such a desperateaim as seizing two steamers sailing underBritish registers.
Castro first became known as the un-successful candidate for election as gov-ernor of one of the Venezuelan states. Heorganized a force of armed men andmarched against the capital of the state,determined to oust his successful com-petitor.
At that time General Hernandez, thenoted revolutionist, was in revolt. H#wanted to be president. It is said 'thatAndrade, the chief executive of Vene-zuela, made a bargain with Castro that ifCastro would net use his forces againstthe federal troops, Andrade would notsend any soldiers to help the provincialgovernment, whose place Castro covetlt.
But when Castro overthrew the go\ •eminent, he moved his forces towaiCaracas. He refused to Join issue witiHernandez, and proceeded alone. An-drade, suspecting that Castro was notsatisfied with mere provincial honors andaspired to the presidency, sent his troop*to meet the insurgents. Castro defeatedthese troops, marched Into Caracas andproclaimed himself president. Andradefled into exile.
When Castro assumed the reins of gov-ernment he found the country in a badplight. The treasury had been depletedby war and for private purposes. As-phalt beds in the departments of Sucr*were valuable. They were being exploitedby the New York and Bermudez companyunder a concession granted in 1883. Cas-tro declared these concessions forfeited,but the Venezuela supreme court decidedthat the executive had no authority todo this, as it was a matter for judicial de-termination.
Then Castro declared that the Bermudezcompany (as it is popularly known) had noright to the territory it occupied. Th»company's, concession was described in theofficial papers as beginning twenty kilo-metres from a certain point, and the com-pany in tracing the twenty kilometres, fol-lowed a meandering path through a forest.Castro said the line should be straight,thus placing the concession beyond' theasphalt lake district.
Then be sold the right to exploit oneof the lakes to Warner, & Quintan ofSyracuse, N. V., and ordered the Bermudezcompany
%(to quit. The Bermudez companydeclined to vacate and appealed to theAmerican government for protection. Thestate department instructed MinisterLoomis at Caracas to insist that no actionshould be taken until it had been passedon by the Venezuelan courts. A protestagainst the contemplated action was madeby the state department but no answer byreturned by Venezuela.
When toe state department learned fromMinister Looruis that the Venezuelan au-tßßritie^oßd seized two steamers of tv«
Situation Is Considered to BeVery Serious.
CASTRO BLAMEDFOR THE TROUBLE
miw If*7
