Minister Bowen to the Secretary of State.
Caracas, February 25, 1905.
My cablegram of the 20th was intended simply to give to you alone information which was agitating all official circles here and which my colleagues had sent by mail to their respective governments. The information was given by two of my colleagues to me in the presence of the military attaché, and was a great surprise to us both; but such exact details were furnished then and subsequently that it would have been useless for me to deny the report.
Although the words “it is reported” were intended to cover entire contents of my cablegram, I should have used the word “alleged” before the word “facts.”