Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-09
CAR AND AMERICA
Legend of Russian Friendship
for United States.
SPANS SECRET ALLY
CATHERINE II OFFERED Co.'S
SACKS TO KING GEORGE III.
No Sympathy From Muscovite Mon
archy for Great Republic
of the West.

OF the west.
From the New York Journal Of Commerce.
The Russian newspapers find it difficult
to understand why the sympathies of the
world should be on the japanese side of the
pending controversy in the far east, ana
some Moscow editors have expressed TO the
correspondent of the Associated Press their
concern as to the attitude Of the United
States. They profess to be unable TO be-
lieve that the "old friends Of Russia will
give active assistance to Japan, though
they regard the dispatch Of American war
ships to the scene of conflict as decidedly
ominous. One would like to know the tenor
o. the criticism bestowed by these editors
on their "old friends in 1893. The SEMI
official journals of St. Petersburg left no
room to doubt on what side their SYM
pathies were during our war with Spain
The Novosti In particular. said in the last
week of June, when the struggle was near
ing it's crisis. that 1t was full time to END
"a senseless and criminal war;" that
Spain's appeal was sort of capitulaton'
but that America must voluntarily submit
her pretensions to q tribunal of the powers.
1t was added that we could not avoid doing
this, since our position. with TWO long ana
exposed coast lines. was not such as couio
Withstand two or three combined european
fleets.
In November the suggestion was renewed
by the same organ of Russian official opin-
ion that the great powers should proteSt
against the proposed cession OF the fhiip-
pines as several of them were directly IN
terested in the maintenance OF the status
quo. Ample evidence has been found In the
Spanish Red Book that Russia. In the war
of 1898. was a secret ally of Spain. 1t is
ALak - fiv,nc mir
ton of Cerveras fleet did any sentiment
either Of sympathy or congratulation come
to this country from any Russian source;
that the Russian ambassador absented him.
self from Washington during the entire Pc
Rod of hostilities, and was engaged in diplo-
matte consultations In various European
capitals which 1t can safely be presumed
were not dictated by considerations OF
warm friendship for the country to Which
he was accredited.
Lossowsky and His Fleet.
But in spite of these and other demon
strations of its hoIlowness the tradition of
Russian friendship for the United States
survives. Newspapers and public men still
persist in believing that the visit Of the
Russian fleet to New York in 1858 was
timely and valuable evidence of Russian
good will. Count Cassni has even had the
assurance to claim that Alexander II out
Of pure friendship offered to aid you during
your civil war with treasures Of gold and
his feet of ships, with orders to the COM
handing admiral, Lossowsky, instructing
HMM the event of recognition Of the con-
federacy by France and England-to place
his fleet at the disposition of the American
government
The general acceptance Of this particu
larly gauZy story Is all the more singular
in view Of the fact that there is not sim
gle memorandum, letter or dispatch to be
found in the Department of State calcu-
lated to bear out the declaration that such
an offer. either of money or ships was ever
made to the government of the United
States. The intrinsic improbability Of the
thing Is patent. In 1863 the credit of the
and 1t had just lost seventy millions of
roubles in an Intellectual attempt to resume
specie payments. In that year the out
standing paper currency of Russia, almost
wholly unsecured, amounted to nearly 633
millions of roubles.
No Treasures Of Gold"
A country that had foated in 1862 per
cent loan of f15.OO0.OOO sterling at only
9lN, and spent most Of the proceeds in
trying to reduce the volume Of its out
standing paper, was hardly in position to
offer the United States treasures Of gold"
in 1858. Moreover, at the time the Rus
sian feet of half a dozen wooden vessels
arrived in New York harbor the danger or
possibility of the cOnfederacy being recOg-
nized either by France or England had
long since passed. A recent commentator
on this subject, Mr. Ralph NJ. Mckenzie,
makes the point that the true cause of the
dispatch Of the feet was the apprehension
Of another outbreak of nostilities between
Russia on the one side and France and
England on the other over the question of
abrogating the clause of the treaty of
Paris which prohibited Russia from main
tanning an armed navy In the Black sea-
In case of war 1t was intended that the
a ,l.< I~a 20 to froI W. n
stead of being cooped up for destruction
The Russian attitude to the American
cause during the Revolutionary war was
one of resolute aversion. Catherine IL hav-
ing gone so far as to offer to furnish Great
Britain an army of COssacks and TartarS
to crush the revolted colonists In short, as
Caleb Gushing. who evidently did not seri-
ously regard the fleet legend, said In 1875:
Russia can have no ties Of sympathy with
u.s. political, religious or commercial. She
had very close ties to attach her to US until
twenty-five years ago, down to which time
we were her best customers. and almost
her sole channel of supply for the COM
modities of the West Indies. but our pro-
hibitory duties on iron and hemp have cut
of that connection, and our chief COM
mercial relation now Is one of repulsion,
that of rivals in the production Of wheat
for the consumption of Europe. Moreover.
she doubts now, since the extension of her
power in the seas of Japan, whether she did
wisely in ceding ths mainland, and especi-
ally the islands, of Alaska"
Japan Stands for Progress.
1t Is reasonably certain that the wisdom
of this cession has not become more appa-
rent to Russia since the insistence by the
United States on the opening Of two new
treaty ports in Manchuria and In Korea.
Were Russia to come out the victor in a
war with Japan. these ports would never be
opened, since one very obvious result II
1o
cy In Corea and undisguised Russian SOW
ereignty in Manchuria. Japan is not only
fighting the battle of progress and civili-
zation In placing herself athwart the path
Of Russian advance in Asia, but she Is
standing as the champion of commercial
rights in whose maintenance no nation -
so vitality interested as the United States.
Nothing but culpable blindness to our own
interests could explain anything approach
ing to Russian partisanship among the
press and people of the United States in q