Mr. Bowen to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, (Mr. Bowen reports his impression that the British and German ministers expect him to deliver to them on board their war ships the answers to their notes to the Venezuelan Government, and states that in the absence of instructions to do so or to cable or write directly to Berlin or London he will cable and write to the Department of State only. Mr. Bowen thinks the Venezuelan Government will address notes to him. If the notes are addressed to the British and German ministers he will deliver them.) Mr. Bowen to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, (Mr. Bowen reports that he has received a note from the Venezuelan Government stating that it believes its differences with Great Britain and Germany can be settled by arbitration and asking Mr. Bowen to be arbitrator representing Venezuela. Mr. Bowen requests an immediate reply. Combined British and German fleets captured to-day all Venezuelan war vessels in the harbor of La Guaira and probably in other ports.) Mr. Bowen to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Caracas, December 10, 1902. (Mr. Bowen reports that he has had an interview with President Castro and secured the release of the consul-general of Germany, the chancellor of the German legation, and several aged Germans. He also requested the release of all the other prisoners, to which request President Castro promised a reply within twenty-four hours. Two hundred and fifty sailors landed at La Guaira, rescued some British subjects, and took them aboard British war vessel. The British residents of Caracas are Mr. Bowen's guests at the legation.) (Mr. Bowen reports that the German legation was attacked by a mob on the night of December 9. Mr. Bowen went at once to the governor and obtained police protection for German and British legations, and a promise that no further attacks would be made by mobs. Mr. Bowen visited the police station and talked with the prisoners, who number 54-44 Germans and 10 British-some of whom were so poor Mr. Bowen relieved their needs. Four are ill, and Mr. Bowen expects to secure their immediate liberation. Bowen understands that all British and Germans in Venezuela have been arrested, and states that he will see President Castro and urge him to release them all at once.) Mr. Bowen to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Caracas, December 10, 1902. (Mr. Bowen reports that he has been informed by President Castro that all Germans and British who were arrested have been released.) Mr. Hay to Mr. Bowen. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 10, 1902. (Mr. Hay states that communications addressed to the British and German representatives should be forwarded to them by Mr. Bowen through the United States consul at La Guaira; that communications addressed directly to Mr. Bowen should be cabled in substance to the Department of State, but that Mr. Bowen may inform the British and German ministers of their purport.) Mr. Hay to Mr. Bowen. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 10, 1902. (Mr. Hay states that if Venezuela proposes arbitration and Great Britain and Germany acquiesce, Mr. Bowen may act as an arbitrator on the part of Venezuela.) Mr. Bowen to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, (Mr. Bowen reports that he has received the following note from the Venezuelan minister for foreign affairs: The Venezuelan Government requests you, as the temporary representative of British and German interests, to propose to Great Britain and Gerinany that the present difficulty that has arisen respecting the manner of settling the claims which have been presented for alleged damages and injuries to British and German subjects during the civil war be submitted to arbitration. Mr. Bowen requests to be advised whether Mr. Hay will forward the above to the Governments at interest, and will advise him promptly when their replies are received.) Mr. Hay to Mr. Bowen. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 11, 1902. (Mr. Hay states that the President approves Mr. Bowen's energetic and judicious proceeding in protecting British and German subjects.) Mr. Bowen to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Caracas, December 12, 1902. (Mr. Bowen states that the President's approval of his course at Caracas up to the present time will serve as a caution to him not to be injudicious nor to relax his efforts to duly support the interests confided to his care.) Mr. Bowen to Mr. Hay. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, (Mr. Bowen reports that the British and Germans at Caracas are very nervous; that he has obtained the keys of the British legation and put it under the care of the secretary of the legation of the United States; that in case of trouble British residents will go to the British legation and the Germans will all go to the United States legation; that the German legation is occupied by the wife of the German chargé d'affaires, who is ill. Mr. Bowen has asked the commander of the Marietta to send an officer to assist him in his work, and has suggested that the Marietta take on board British and Germans who wish to leave Venezuela.) Mr. Hay to Mr. Bowen. [Telegram.-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 12, 1902. (Mr. Hay states that he has telegraphed without comment to London and Berlin the Venezuelan proposal to arbitrate the manner of settling civil war indemnity claims.) No. 137.] Mr. Bowen to Mr. Hay. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith copies of the letters that have passed between the Venezuelan Government and me in regard to my serving as arbitrator for Venezuela. I am, etc., HERBERT W. BOWEN. [Inclosure 1.-Translation.] Mr. Baralt to Mr. Bowen. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MR. MINISTER: The chief of the Government knows that your excellency is acquainted with the latest phase of the difficulty between Venezuela and Germany and Great Britain in regard to the settlement of claims for alleged damages to the subjects of the two latter nations during the civil war. The above-mentioned difficulty, in the opinion of the Venezuelan Government, has no valid foundation, as the precedents on which the Government bases its opinion arise from pure doctrines of law as well as from practical doctrines of indisputable validity. But as it has not been possible to convince the other parties of the justice of Venezuela's attitude, and as the Government desires to avoid, without impairing its decorum or its legal faculties, any conflict with nations it considers as friends and to which it is bound by the ties of civilization, it has deemed it proper to resort to the medium of arbitration, a medium resorted to by modern nations and approved of by the constitution of the Republic. Consequently the chief of the Government, aware of your excellency's personal character and high order of intelligence, has instructed me to request your excellency to serve as arbitrator for the Republic in this question. Your excellency's consent, which I venture to hope will be given as soon as possible, will determine the nature of the proposals which the Government intends to make to the abovementioned nations. Accept, etc., [Inclosure 2.] R. LOPEZ BARALT. 'Mr. Bowen to Doctor Barall. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, MR. MINISTER: In answer to your very courteous letter of the 9th instant, I have the honor to inform you that I cabled the contents thereof to my Government and received the following answer by cable: "If Venezuela proposes arbitration, and Great Britain and Germany acquiesce, you may act as an arbitrator on the part of Venezuela." I can only add that it will give me great pleasure to serve Venezuela in this matter if the opportunity presents itself and the conditions as above stated by my Government are observed. I gladly avail, etc., HERBERT W. BOWEN. [Inclosure 3.-Translation.] Doctor Baralt to Mr. Bowen. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, UNITED STATES OF VENEZUELA, Caracas, December 11, 1902. MR. MINISTER: I had the honor to inform the chief of the nation of your reply to my note of the 9th irstant, in which your excellency not only kindly consents to serve the Republic in the present international embroglio, but also informs us of the good will of the United States in permitting you to be arbitrator on the part of Venezuela in the difficulty that has arisen respecting the manner of settling the claims of Great Britain and Germany for alleged damages and injuries to their subjects during the civil war. The President thanks your excellency sincerely for your friendly attitude, and at the same time desires you to convey to your Government the appreciation of Venezuela of the good will manifested by the United States in this question. Accept, etc., No. 138.] R. LOPEZ Baralt. Mr. Bowen to Mr. Hay. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy of a letter received by me from the minister for foreign affairs in regard to the pending British-German-Venezuelan dispute. I am, etc., HERBERT W. BOWEN. [Inclosure.-Translation.] Mr. Baralt to Mr. Bowen. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MR. MINISTER: The German and British war ships riding at anchor now for some days in the port of La Guaira yesterday committed an act of aggression against Venezuela contrary to the most elementary usages of civilized nations, even in cases of forewarned and announced compulsion. Nothing had occurred previously to justify the supposition that an act of violence was to be consummated, since the diplomatic representatives of both nations had just addressed special notes to the Government regarding a certain matter without fixing any time for the corresponding reply. This reply having been prepared and already dispatched, although it had not yet arrived at its destination, its contents and bearing being consequently unknown, military action of a nature manifestly hostile to Venezuela was taken. After some of the said war ships had seized the national vessels anchored in the roadstead, with the excep tion of one of them, which they could not tow out, and from which they removed all the machinery and effects, the landing of sundry bodies of armed soldiers was effected. Two of the steamers thus suddenly and arbitrarily seized were sunk in the very waters of Venezuela. Such action, unprecedented and lacking any extenuating circumstances even if regarded from the point of view of necessity, is yet more serious and illegal in that it occurred at a time when political relations between Venezuela and Great Britain and Germany were still in force, and when the Government of the republic was occupied in dispatching its reply to the communication that it had just received from the representatives of the United Kingdom and the Empire. The omission of every civilized formula, the neglect of all legal practice, would justify the supposition in this case of a preconcerted violation of what constitute certain international duties or the open determination to depart from the paths estab lished between civilized peoples, even in questions subject to the arbitrament of force. It would seem unnecessary to here enumerate, in order to justify the solemn protest made by the Government of the republic by reason of such unusual action, the rules to be obligatively observed in cases in which any act of compulsion is proposed or attempted against a civilized people, but the Federal Executive deems it absolutely necessary to point out the change that the agents of Great Britain and Germany have wished to effect in the procedure hitherto adopted by well-ordered countries to arrive at a situation in which all regular intercourse is exchanged for the imposition of force. And as among the irregularities mentioned that of the representatives of |