The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-15
VIEW AT TOXIC IS
 STILL PESSIMISTIC.

VIEW f iONIO 10
 STILL PEsSIMISTIc.
 Washington, January 14-Nr. Takahira. the Japanese minister here, today called on Secretary Hay and informed him that the Japanese reply to the last Russian note had been delivered this morning. The reply amounts to a denial of all the i'm portant Russian propositions, and Japan's counter proposals, 1t is said. are of a na- ture that almost certainly will make them unacceptable to Russia
 Therefore, pessimistic view of the fu- ture is taken at Tokio. On the other hand, advices that come to the state de- pertinent from Paris, St. Petersburg and Berlin are all of pacific character
 Ambassador Porter at Paris cables that pressure is to be brought to bear on the would-be belligerents, and particularly on Japan, by at least two of the great neu- tra! powers. to avert open hostilities.
 The czar Is also reported to be desirous of preventing war.
 Taking these two conflicting sets of ad- vices into consideration, the official opin- Ion here Is that Japan will not yield to another such pressure
 The Japanese minister has supplied the
 
 Japanese note. Count Cassini. the Rus sian ambassador on his part. has &C., quainted the state department verbally as Is his custom with the nature of the Rus sian note, so that the department Is fully Informed. but as both these communica- tions have been made in confidence the officials do not feel they should make them public In whole or in part
 It is stated, however, that there has been no substantial change in the Japanese proposition. nor in the Russian counter proposal since they were so lucidly set out by the Associated Press in it's semi- official dispatch from Pekln last week EXPECTATION OF HosTlLITIEs
 IS GREATLY INCREASED.
 Pelin, January 14-The expectation of hostllties is greatly increased in diplo- matlc circles here. The German mlnis- ter now regards war as a probability, al- though not despairing of settlement at the eleventh hour. Heretofore he had considered war as being only possibility. One legation has received a dispatch from Tol0io saying that Foreign Minister Komura. January II, represented to the diplomats that he expected peace to be maintained.
 The appointment of Wu Ting Fang to be junior vice president of the foreign of flee was the result of an audience to which the dowager empress today sum- moned Wu Ting Fang They discussed foreign affairs and particularly the pros poets of war. The dowager asked for Wu Ting Fang's views on China's best policy.
 The appointment will please most of the legations, as 1t enables them to deal with a diplomat trained in foreign methods. speaking English and able to grasp the questions presented to him. Wu Ting Fang who has held an exceedingly gloomy view of the governments weakness since his return to Pekin, now has position in which he can exert influence for re- form although rank and age generally outweigh ability in the Chinese govern ment councils.
 Chan Chi Tung. the join minister of ed ucation and viceroy of Nankin. Is re- turning to Southern China after long stay in Pekin. His last act was to recom- mend the abolition of classical examina- tions as a test for obtaining officers when the new schools teaching foreign branches have proved their efficiency.
 While the reform is one of the most needed the majority of the schools, par ticularly the Pekin university, which was reorganized under Japanese instructors, have turned out to be failures on account of the opposition of the conservative of ficials.
 Brig. Gen. II. T. Allen, U. s. A., chief of the Philippine constabulary. has ar rived here from Manila. He was formerly military attachee at St. Petersburg. and will join the Russian army as an ob- server in the event of war
 GEAR WILL TRY TO
 MAINTAIN PEACE.
 St. Petersburg. January 14-'I desire and intend to do all in my power to main