The San Francisco call., 1904-02-20
MUTTERINGs OF A TEMPEST.

authentic and persistent reports from the capitals
| of Europe to give authority to the statement
by far the disqueting aspect OF the IN the
East is the attitude which Russia has assumed toward
Great Britain the Tibetan question. From St. Pc
tersburg and Berlin dispatches averring that the
Gar is ready to repuse English aggression in Tibet at
the point of the bayone if driven this extreme neces
sy that he has already obtained ascendency in the
Forbidden Country of such character to make fur
ther advance against the part OF the British nothing
but act of In Short the tenor OF these semi
official utterances from ST. Petersburg be inspired by
actual the councils of the Gar it IS evident
that Adam Zad than willing to grapples
with the lion.
That being true it is manifest that Russas scheme is
nothing else than preciptate general war such as
the Crmea, wherein all of the interested
IN the Far Eastern question will be dragged by the IN
of their respective spheres of sovereignty To
invite war with England would be to put to the final
arbitrament all of the tangled knot of diplomatic
deavors about the East since China opened
to the powers Russia we'll that if she threw
down the gauntlet to England Germany and certainly
France would not bide the coalition between Edwards
empire and of the Mikado which would follow. Al
most equally certain she that reagnmen of the
powers along general battle line in Asia would eventu
ally involve the interests of the United States and de
nand that country take part in the great quarrel
At first glance it may the height of foolhardin
that Russia suffering from the dagger thrusts of
beneath the stolid of the Sav there al
ways cunning work which lets CLEAN through the
eyes until the time is ripe for the trap to be sprung
A general in which of the powers be-
sides herself and Japan involved would be of in
cacuabe benefit to the empire OF Nicholas. Russia IS
weak on the sea- far weaker than the critics prophe
sled before Japan had the opportunity do with
of her vessels in weeks war, but then Russia is
not power fatally vulnerable to the
rior force of a naval armament.
general war; which would bring her into alliance
with either France Germany, possibly BOTH would
throw her way armies and armies to overrun
Asia like the myrmidons ancient Troy Russia could
be swept off the and yet she would have her thou
sands upon thousands of soldiers, augmented by the
forces of her allies swamp the combined forces of
Japan and England In the final grapple lack OF sea
power would for naught with Russia since she
has colonies and of her possessions directly
open to assault from the those along the ice
bound Siberian coast 1t would be the preponderance
of armies which would decide the issue
Though the Cars Government present to
be suffering heavily from the attacks of the Japs and
shows a remarkable weakness, both in strategy and
fighting ability conservative students of world politics
see in that nothing than repetition of the
OF affairs the opening of the Crimean Behind
the Muscovites suggshness and apparent clumsiness
at the war game must look catch the first steely
CLINT OF strife terrible the of Napoleon which
he may be conuring up in that cold calculating brain.