power indispensable to the equipment of a judge the power to think was absent. Memorization of a mass of precedents will not produce judicial efficiency. Because a man of doubtful intellectual powers decided a case before him thus and so (and decided it wrong!), shall a new injustice be committed in the case at hand by an unreasoning compliance with the earlier decision as a precedent? Judges must have far more than merely a useful enlargement of the faculty of memory; they must have the thinking power fully developed, the ability to apprehend a case in toto and in all its details and then to analyze the heart out of it. For every case has a “heart,” a vital issue on which it hinges, and which, if completely grasped by the judge, will lead on to the truth and to justice. A superior court judge should possess the intellectual ability necessary to solve ninety per cent of all the problems in differential and integral calculus, and kindred subjects. One can master the higher mathematics if he has the power to think. If he lacks that power, he is not fit to be a judge. XIII. ARBITRATIONS OF EUROPEAN NATIONS WITH The United States is not the only nation that has had troubles in dealing with the countries to the south of us. From Moore's "International Arbitrations," Vol. V, pp. 4856 et seq., has been arranged the following list of arbitrations between Latin-American countries and European powers. These arbitrations have arisen from injuries to the persons and property of citizens of various countries of Europe, committed by governments and revolutionary cabals throughout Latin America. A convention between Peru and Japan has been included. Those interested in the amounts claimed, in the special circumstances from which the arbitrations variously arose, and in the results thereof, should pursue their researches among the official records of the respective governments. CHAPTER XXII THE ORINOCO STEAMSHIP COMPANY CASE HE Orinoco Steamship Company (R. Morgan Olcott, President, 17 Battery Place, New York City), its entire capital stock owned by American citizens, was incorporated under the laws of New Jersey on February 7, 1902, for the purpose of acquiring all the assets of the Orinoco Shipping and Trading Company, Limited, an English corporation, mostly American-owned, however, which had been carrying on the business of a common carrier in Venezuelan and adjacent waters. It appears that the Orinoco Steamship Company and its predecessors in interest had invested about one million dollars in this enterprise. Among the assets acquired by the Steamship Company from its predecessor in interest were certain holdings of real estate in Venezuela and other South American countries, several steamboats and other steam craft in service on the river Orinoco and in the Venezuelan coastwise trade, certain concessions from the government of Venezuela for navigation purposes, and claims against said government for about half a million of dollars. The Orinoco Shipping and Trading Company, Limited, had acquired, on December 12, 1898, all the shares of the Compañía General Venezolana de Navegación. Furthermore, it had purchased outright all the ships, assets, book accounts, claims, etc., of the Orinoco Red Star Line. The Compañía General had been operating under a concession celebrated January 17, 1894, between the duly authorized Minister of the Interior of Venezuela, and E. Peter Ganteaume, attorney for Ellis Grell, and approved by the National Congress by legislative decree of June 8, 1894. This concession, or contract, had been transferred to Manuel A. Sanchez, and by him to the said Compañía. It was to remain in force for fifteen years from date of approbation. The concession provided that Grell should establish navigation on the Orinoco River, and between Ciudad Bolívar and Maracaibo, touching at intermediate ports; that the government would grant a monthly subsidy of 4000 bolivars (about $800); that troops, mails, etc., should be transported under certain designated conditions; and that "the officers and crews of the steamers . . . and all other employees ... shall be exempt from military service except in cases of international war." It contained the usual clause providing that con troversies should be decided by the local courts and should not "be considered as a motive for raising international reclamations.” Article 12 provided as follows: "While the government fixes definitely the transshipment ports for merchandise from abroad, and while they are making the necessary installations, the steamers of this line shall be allowed to call at the ports of Curaçao and Trinidad, and any one of the steamers leaving Trinidad may also navigate by the channels of the Macareo and Pedernales of the river Orinoco in conformity with the formalities which by special resolution may be imposed by the minister of finance in order to prevent contraband and to safeguard fiscal interests; to all which conditions the contractor agrees beforehand." At the date of the concession the law as to the navigation of the several mouths of the Orinoco, according to executive decree (Law No. 5605) issued on July 1, 1893, by General Joaquin Crespo, then in possession of the executive power of the United States of Venezuela, was as follows: "ART. 1. Vessels engaged in foreign trade with Ciudad Bolívar shall be allowed to proceed only by way of the Boca Grande of the river Orinoco; the Macareo and Pedernales channels being reserved for the coastal service, navigation by the other channels of the said river being absolutely prohibited. "ART. 2. In order that the commerce of Ciudad Bolívar shall suffer no interruption, permission is hereby granted only to those lines of steamers actually engaged in carrying on traffic by the Macareo and Pedernales channels; and in consideration of the maritime conditions of the steamers which compose the lines which do not permit of their navigating by the Boca Grande, this permission shall continue in force until the 31st of December next, a period which the government considers sufficient to enable the proprietors of the said lines to modify their vessels so as to fit them for the navigation in conformity with the dispositions contained in this decree. "ART. 3. The maritime custom-house of Pedernales is hereby suppressed, and the operations of cabotage shall be superintended by a subcustoms depot under the supervision of the customs of Ciudad Bolívar. "ART. 4. The subcustoms depot of Manoa is transferred to the Puerto de Sacupana, which shall likewise be dependent upon the Aduana of Ciudad Bolívar. "ART. 5. The ministers of the interior, of finance, and of war and marine shall be charged with the execution of this decree.” This executive decree was subsequently ratified and confirmed by the National Congress of Venezuela, and later its validity and binding force were judicially recognized and declared by the High Federal Court of Venezuela, on August 14, 1894. (See annual memorial of the High Federal Court to the Congress of Venezuela, 1895, re George F. Carpenter and the Macareo Concession.) The concessionaire construed the concession in the light of this law as giving him and his successors in interest the exclusive privilege of navigating the Macareo and Pedernales channels for purposes of for eign and Venezuelan coastwise commerce; and they continued to exercise this monopoly for some years. A few words as to the careers of the Orinoco Shipping and Trading Company, Limited, and the Orinoco Steamship Company will show how extremely dangerous it is for a business man to risk the slightest investment in Venezuela, or indeed in any Latin-American country except Mexico, upon the good faith of the local government. An extensive line of steamboats and two deep-sea vessels had been installed by the predecessors of the Orinoco Steamship Company, for the Orinoco River service, and also for service to Curaçao, Trinidad, La Guaira, and other ports. Eventually, however, one revolution after another interfered with their operations, and severely injured the enterprise. At one time revolutionists in the upper Orinoco seized several of the boats, maltreating the crews, while the so-called "government" took the remainder in the vicinity of Ciudad Bolívar. Adding insult to injury, the government pretended to claim that the Steamship Company was aiding the revolutionists that "stock" lie so often employed at the convenience of the ruling Dictator — and, as proof of this contention, cited the fact that the revolutionists were holding certain of the boats. Two of the boats, the Nutrias and the Vencedor, one of them a deep-sea vessel, designed for the Maracaibo run, -were seized by the government and destroyed. The other sea-going ship becoming disabled, necessitating repairs, rendered it impossible for the company to continue its Maracaibo itinerary. When Castro came into power, the claims of the Orinoco Shipping Company against the government of Venezuela aggregated $554,550.51. These claims were "for services rendered in transporting government officials, troops, and freights, and for use and detention of and damages to the company's property and steamers, including the wrongful seizure and destruction of steamships Nutrias and Vencedor," and they included all items to May 10, 1900. Vouchers of these claims in detail had been filed with the government of Venezuela and the American legation in Caracas, and ample proofs given as to their validity. The items of services rendered were computed upon the regular schedules of the company as approved by the government, while the value of the steamers was given as based upon actual cost, and the use of boats by the government at the regular price ordinarily charged under charter for such boats. The accuracy and justness of these claims seem to be indisputable. I When Cipriano Castro came into power and had those claims presented to him and viewed the record of diplomatic correspondence in relation to them, he had an interview with Mr. Richard Morgan Ol |