were marched into the woods under a strong guard. Sometimes those who tied us up were more merciful than others, and did not strain the rope so tight, but frequently the agony was dreadful beyond expression.

"A chain of sentries surrounded us, and used to kick and thrash us as they pleased. They had orders to shoot or bayonet any who tried to escape. A request but for a little water was often answered by a severe flogging.

"There we lay exposed to the burning sun, to the rain and storm, and almost maddened by the biting and crawling of the thousand insect plagues of the tropics, with very little food, and that only the offal of the beasts killed for the troops. We got no salt and no tobacco, which was the greatest privation of all.

"The prisoners were of all nationalities and of all grades and positions, but with the heat, wear, and tear, the rain and wind, they were soon all alike nearly naked. And our guards used to offer us pieces of bread or a few spikes of maize for our clothes, and, suffering from hunger as we did, we were glad to purchase a day's life at the price of a coat or a shirt. Amongst them were many women, some of them belonging to the best families in the country; some quite old and gray-headed, others young and pretty, especially Dolores Recalde, a very tall and beautiful girl, and Josefa Requelme, a handsome woman, with very fine eyes. They suffered much, poor creatures, though they had little A-shaped straw huts to shelter them, as did some few of the other prisoners of the highest class; and used to weep piteously over their miserable fate.

"The torture is as follows, and this is how I suffered it: I sat on the ground with my knees up; my legs were first tied tightly together, and then my hands behind me with the palms outward. A musket was then fastened under my knees; six more of them, tied together in a bundle, were then put on my shoulders, and they were looped together with hide ropes at one end; they then made a running loop on the other side from the lower musket to the other, and two soldiers hauling on the end of it forced my face down to my knees and secured it so.

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'The effect was as follows: First the feet went to sleep, then a tingling commenced in the toes, gradually extending to the knees, and the same in the hands and arms, and increased until the agony was unbearable. My tongue swelled up, and I thought that my jaws would have been displaced; I lost all feeling in one side of my face for a fortnight afterwards. The suffering was dreadful; I should certainly have confessed if I had had anything to confess, and I have no doubt many would acknowledge or invent anything to escape bearing the horrible agony of this torment. I remained two hours as I have described, and I considered myself fortunate in escaping then, for many were put in the uruguayana twice, and others six times, and with eight muskets on the nape of the neck.

"Señora Martinez was tortured six times in this horrible way, besides being flogged and beaten with sticks until she had not an inch of skin free from wounds."

As intimated in the foregoing statements and extracts, the testimony of Bliss, Masterman, Dr. William Stewart, and many others can be found in the "Paraguayan Investigation, 1870." See also the Hon. Charles A. Washburn's valuable work, "The History of Paraguay."

VI

During this reign of terror what did our beloved superstition, the Monroe Doctrine, accomplish toward the amelioration of conditions? What part did the United States take in protecting the interests of its own citizens, or those of other civilized persons, in Paraguay ?

What did the United States achieve in the defence of civilization itself?

Members of its legation were thrown into prison and tortured, without cause, its flag was insulted, outrages were heaped upon its minister; and what did the United States do?

It is not pleasant to tell what it did; for that infinitesimal creature, that human microbe, the little American, was in activity. He was in command of the South Atlantic squadron, in the person of S. W. Godon; he was a Rear Admiral of the navy in the person of C. H. Davis; he was Commander in the navy in the persons of Francis M. Ramsay and W. A. Kirkland; later he was United States Minister in the person of General McMahon; and there were others, among whom let us not forget the minority members of the Congressional Investigating Committee.

The little American seemed to play into the hands of Lopez, to suspect any one whom Lopez desired to torture to death, to regard as a criminal any one whom Lopez disliked.

The attempt was made to injure Minister Washburn's influence, to harass him in his official and personal relations, to discredit him as much as possible at home and abroad.

When the demon Lopez and his attendant fiends extorted from Bliss and Masterman, in their agony, alleged confessions, implicating Mr. Washburn, themselves, and others, in conspiracies - all such alleged confessions being absolutely false, wrung from Bliss and Masterman by torture the little American professed to believe these "confessions," and sought to humiliate, to the extent of his miserable authority and power, the victims of these unspeakable outrages.

And after the Committee on Foreign Affairs had concluded its investigation of the case, that same minute being, the little American, was astir with his minority report.

"Mr. Wood, on behalf of Mr. Swann, submitted the following resolutions for the minority of the Committee on Foreign Affairs:

"Resolved, That the forcible arrest and detention of Messrs. Bliss and Masterman, while under the protection of the American flag, was an outrage which demanded prompt reparation.

"2. That Mr. Washburn, in submitting to the insult of President Lopez in his refusal to grant passports to Messrs. Bliss and Masterman, and in separating himself from them in the streets of Asuncion, and leaving them in the

hands and at the mercy of the Paraguayan authorities, caused a serious compromise of the American flag, and could not be justified upon any consideration of personal safety; and that Minister Washburn, in justice to his position and in honor of his flag, ought not to have accepted his passport until permitted to withdraw with every member of his legation.

"3. That in the hostile or unfriendly attitude assumed by Minister Washburn toward Lopez and the Paraguayan government in his relations and intercourse with the President of that Republic, and in associating Bliss and Masterman with his legation (one a British subject, suspected by Lopez of a conspiracy with his enemies and the enemies of his country - both adventurers and of doubtful reputation) Minister Washburn committed a grave act of imprudence, which resulted in most, if not all, of the complications attending his residence in Paraguay.

"4. That Admirals Godon and Davis, in command of the South Atlantic squadron, have committed no act to subject them to the censure of this government or the investigation of a court-martial, said officers having, to the best of their judgment and understanding, complied with the instructions of the Navy Department and received its approval.

"5. That no legislation is required on the part of Congress, growing out of the facts stated in this record and the correspondence now on file in the State and Navy Departments.

"6. That this Committee be discharged from the further consideration of the subject."

So solicitous for the honor of the flag are these gentlemen of the minority! Had they been in Asuncion, there would they have remained for Lopez to shoot down. Of such wonderful stern stuff is the little American when there is no danger in sight! In fact, however, this minority should have known that had Minister Washburn conducted himself in any such inane manner as they have above outlined, he would doubtless have been murdered by Lopez; and that not only the position of Bliss and Masterman would not have become more secure, but the chances of their execution would have been considerably enhanced.

But the especial animus of the minority report is found in the third resolve an attack upon gentlemen shown by the evidence to be quite as high-principled as any member of the Committee on Foreign Relations; and these strictures are seen to have been doubly despicable in view of the almost inconceivable outrages already endured by the men assailed.

Let us turn back with relief to the majority report. Surely, after this, some redress was exacted; some good came at last from these trenchant, ringing resolves? Not an iota. The government of the United States continued to trudge stolidly along its beaten path, to maintain its traditional do-nothing policy, its policy of affording absolutely no protection whatever, either before or after the fact, to its citizens in those lands of Cimmerian darkness.

That "gem of purest ray serene," the Monroe Doctrine, gleamed on, as lustrous as ever; our dainty and modest "Sister," Paraguay, had not been rudely accosted by any of the rapacious monarchies of Europe. As for the innocent and helpless men, women, and children who had been tortured and slaughtered by Lopez - who cares for them!

CHAPTER XVIII

THE BLOCKADE OF VENEZUELAN PORTS, 1903

OST Americans think that the blockade of Venezuela, instituted in 1903 by England, Germany, and Italy, was an unjustifiable infringement of the Monroe Doctrine, and an assault upon a weak and innocent nation for the purpose of compelling it to pay debts of doubtful validity, which "accrued under absolute freedom of contract"; and, furthermore, that the creditors, having taken their risks knowingly, were hardly within the pale of our sympathies.

At the beginning of that blockade not only was the average American "yellow" newspaper ready for war against the allies, but even the most responsible journals and the weightiest magazines were greatly aroused. A correspondent who wanted to abuse the allies was welcome to all the space he wished, but one who sought to show the true status of affairs was generally denied the opportunity.

I was a member of the latter category, and usually my communications were declined without thanks.

In the spring of 1903 one of my articles, "Is the Monroe Doctrine a Bar to Civilization ?"-"By an American business man," was published by the "North American Review"; but as a whole the attempts by myself and others conversant with the facts to place the truth before the American people through the press were futile. It seems a practical impossibility to get into an American newspaper such facts and arguments upon the Monroe Doctrine as do not correspond to the previously conceived notions of the editors or to the "policy" of the paper.

During the episode of the blockade not one American newspaper or magazine, so far as I am aware, defended the allies, or expressed any sympathy for the hundreds of Englishmen, Germans, Italians, and other civilized men who had been murdered, imprisoned, or robbed by the Venezuelans.

Even our most distinguished orators and writers were unreservedly hostile to the allies; and President Roosevelt was criticised as if he had shown an excess of forbearance toward them. In a typical article in the "North American Review" for March, 1903, "A Jeffersonian Democrat" says: