New-York tribune., 1904-08-21
NEWS OF TWO CAPITALS.
AFFAIRS IN LONDON.
What NaUaL Vessels Need-The
Reck Case-Chances of Peace.

been CuSC -SHUbCcS " tuCC.
,sDec,sI to The New-rork Tribune by French cable)
Copyright: 1904: By The Tribune Associaton)
london, Aug. 20.-Naval officers. commenting
,nou the Russian admirars graphic account
~ the great fight. assert that armor
!. less important than high power guns and
,sed and that a victorious feet must al
nsvs be one whose machinery is we'll oiled
ard gun practice certain. They consider
,hat the Russian admiral did all that was pos
s,he in the circumstances. but that his ships
,ere not in condition for fighting and owing
~ the lack Of speed. were easily outmanpuvred.
rbey praise the tactics of the Japanese admiral
IN keeping his big ships out of the Russian
,snee and forcing the fighting with his torpedo
craft and believe that battles in the future
uiIl be fought in the same way. The Admiralty
srperts lay stress the fact that the battle
ships and armored cruisers were not vulnerable
IN armor much as in engines. boilers and
steering gear. Big ships boxes of complex
mechanism which be upset by a chance
shell. Admiral Togo's chief merit is his eau
zion. which enables him to protect his fleet by
a maximum radius of fire.
There are no signs of diplomatic activity
either at the Foreign Office the American
Embassy and it is evident that the protests of
the two governments against the treatment OF
foodstuffs as contraband of war and the sink
ing of neutral ships have been presented inde-
nendently through the ambassadors at St
petersburg Henry White has probably con-
suited Mr.. Balfour. and the Foreign Office knows
what the State Department is doing. but each
government is following its own traditions and
nrecedents in demonstrating forcibly against the
russian procedure. which condemns without
reserve as contraband all foodstufs consigned
under neutral flags to belligerents' ports. The
hest informed men assert that the Russian re-
nIes TO the two governments Will be conciliatory
and that one OF the sequels of the war will be
an International conference called by the State
Department for the settlement OF definition of
contraband, usage of prize courts and rights of
neutral commerce during period OF hostilities.
Adolf Beck is enabling the London Journals
TO tide over the silly season Of midsummer mad
ness without reviewing the timeworn questions
is marriage & faure?' and What shall we
do with our boys?" by declining a treasury Of
fer Of f. 600 in exchange for the written aban-
donnent OF all claims for his unjust conviction
and Imprisonment for anothers crime. He
poses himself to the risk OF having this act of
grace withdrawn, but this is not a serious mat
ter when that shrewd advertiser. Sir Alfred
Harmsworth, guarantees to pay him the same
sum if the officials at Whitehall are guilty of
such Incredible meanness- Sir Alfred Harms
worth is assisting to finance the conscience Of
the law officers Of the crown somewhat Will
lam Waldorf Astor. Alfred Belt, ]. Pierpont
Morgan and other rich men have helped the
ton by subscriptions TO purchase Titions por-
trait Of Ariosto for the National Gallery; but
The Daily Mail" has full returns in advertis-
ing especially when all the journals taking
up the Beck case as though it were English
Dreyfus case, and insisting with shrill emphasis
that there must be a thorough investigation of
the blunders Of the police, the law officers of
the crown'and the home office. by which for
eigner has been the victim for eight years Of
persecution, and then owed the establishment Of
his innocence to an accident
While the Beck fills many columns of the
daily press, the chances Of peace discussed in
the street with increased interest that Rus
sian naval forces are shattered and Port Arthur
exposed 20 q final invincible attack and General
Kuropatkin forced to fight under disastrous con-
oitions when the line Of his retreat is apparently
cut OF. CreduIous fnanciers assume that Japan
will be in a position to dictate terms Of peace,
whether General Kuropatkin surrenders re-
treats, and that the railway in Manchuria will
be occupied until a large war indemnity shall
be paid. More sagacious bankers, with cues
from Berlin and Paris, assert that the magni-
tude OF the Russian disasters will compel the
Car to reject japanese terms, and that the
viii continue until Vladivostok is invested and
captured like Port Arthur. The fnancers TAX
ing this view assume that large Russian loans
viii be issued at Berlin this year, and that Ger
man exchange will fall and gold be withdrawn
from England.
Gold shipments to the United States are not
expected in Presidential year, notwithstanding
the heavy English purchases Of cotton and food
stufs. and an easy money market is predicted
for the remainder of the year. The wheat spec
ulation in America has not yet created much
excitement ia Mark Lane. This is because the
reported shorteg ge of the crop is believed by con-
serVative operators to be exaggerated, and also
because the shipments from India, Argentina
and Russia are likely TO be unusually heavy.
Henry White one OF large group or
friends who gave the Arch bishop Of Canter-
bury hearty send-oT at Euston on his de-
parture for America by the Celtic. The Arch
bishop is accompanied by two chaplains. Vicar
Windsor and the Rev. Hyla Holden. The leader
writer's contrast rather officiously the imprison-
nent OF the Pope in the Vatican with the free
dom with which the prirnate visits Canada and
joins the councils OF the American Episcopal
Church at Boston. Archbishop Davidson does
not make any attempt 70 magnify the functions
! of American primacy but holds virtually the
same temperate views respecting the relations
Of sister churches which Archbishop Temple and
Bishop Doane, of Albany. advocated at the
Lambeth conference The Archbishop's timely
oher TO make peace between the two Scotch
Presbyterian churches may bear fruit after his