Omaha daily bee., 1905-08-22
WAITING ON THE CAR
Answer from Nicholas Relative to Proposed
Compromise Expected Today.
hTTlTll0F 0E rIlpnprau ooufrnn
TTITUDE OF EUROPEAN POWERS
British Government Will Not Bring
Pressure to Bear on Japan.
EELING OF PESslWlSs AGAIN PREVAILS
No Intimation that Either Side Will
OOncede Anything,
PRESIDENT AND THE JAPANESE
There IL No Indication that He Has
Communicated with Them, hut
They Say He Understands
Their Attitude.

/
| PORTSMOUTH, n. H, Aug a-The re-
| suit of President Roosevelt's EFFORT TO save
the peace conference from failure remains
In suspense. No direct reply to the presi-
dents proposition communicated by NJ
! Witte yesterday has come from Emperor
! Nicholas today, but other advices received
from st. Petersburg indicate that the en-
peror and his councillors are unshaken in
their determination neither to cede terri
tory nor to pay war tributes
What the president is doing on the Jana
nese side remains as deep a mystery as
ever. Little light is shed upon the visits
Of Baron Kaneko to oyster Bay The Japa-
nese do not even admit that he is their
medium Of communication with the presl-
dent. They 60 no further than TO reiterate
that Mr. Roosevelt understands their posi-
tion and that they have the fullest con-
hdence in him. They show not the slight
est indication that they have in any wise
changed their position or are prepared to
yield more than they we're last Friday
when the plenipotentiaries adjourned until
Tuesday
Conference May He PROLONGED.
II NJ. Wttte does not receive fresh in
structions before O'Clock tomorrow when
the conference is resumed the situation
Will be exactly what IL was before the adj
journment was taken on Friday. II will
be safe to assume that in the absence Of
such reply the conference will be pro-
longed after tomorrow and every delay.
in the opinion Of the presidents friends
means hope, faint though II be. Mr. Roose-
velt's object was described today as being
to ''prolong the negotiations"
There is warrant for the gfa
NJ Witte personally sympathizes with the
presidents proposition no matter how Il
may be regarded by his imperial master
and his advisers. 1t is a mistake to sup
pose that in considering such proposition
the emperor consults a regularly ordained
Throughout the conference he has
been calling in council such advisers as he
deemed wise, some OF his relatives. the
grand dukes, members of the court and
certain chosen ministers. The Grand Duke
Nicholas Nicholavitch, one of the most pow-
erful of his advisers, is known TO be abso-
lutely opposed to yielding an iota beyond
what NJ witte has already conceded. AZ
clude hope of an eIeventnsno,s. -1'
Powers Hanging Back.
The general belief here is that President
Roosevelt, while he has the moral support
of one of the neutral powers, has not re-
ceived the active support he expected.
Englands refusal to urge japan TO moder.
ate its terms has caused disappointment,
although It is fully appreciated that any
attempt to do so might be misunderstood.
There are evidences here that cooperation
by Great Britain would have been resented
by Japan.
Among the Japanese tonight no note OF
hope is sounded. With genuine reluctance
they seem almost resigned to the shipwreck
a oil fHNaf NhafF
position is unchanged and they speak OF re-
newing their war with a snap of their black
eyes which speaks volumes for their conf
dence in the success Of Oyama when the
word is given to advance.
As to sakhaIin.
In article V, the cession OF Sakhalin, the
Japanese claim that they are entitled to
the island as we'll by reason of their
natural rights to it's possession as because
OF it's present occupation by the Japanese
forces. The Russians on the contrary
insist that up to 1850 Japan had never
claimed any right TO Sakhalin and at that
time only twenty-five unmarried Japanese
lived in the south of the island during
the fishing season. Admiral Peoutiatine
opened the eyes of the japanese to the
value of Sakhalin when he went there In
1854 and initiated negotiations for the pos
session of the entire island by Russia. II
was then that Japan in order to make
good its claims tried to colonize the island
and stated that the Aino race which lives
there belonged to the same family as the
original inhabitants of the northern
islands Of Japan.
In 1859 Mouravieff, governor general OF
Amur. tried to persuade Japan to yield
in its claim TO the south part of sakhalin,
but did not succeed as Americans had al
ready began to support the Japanese in
their attitude against Russia. The reports
OF all the Russian consuIs In Sakhalin up
to the year 1870 stated that the Japanese
effort to colonlze the island had failed
because of the rigorous climate. The ne
gotiations between Russia and Japan
started in 1855 and continued for twenty
years ending with the treaty Of 1875, by
which the sovereignty OF Russia over the
whole island was recognized.
| with regard 10 article TX the protocol re-
\ peats the arguments already set forth
several times I'm the press dispatches. The
Japanese claim for reimbursement for the
| expense of the war on the ground that
| they were forced by Russia's aggression
/ to resort to arms for self-preservation and
| having been victorious at all points on
/ sea and land are entitled TO reimbursement.
| Russia, on the contrary, denies absolutely
| that Japan is In a position to dictate such
/ a condition, as Russia does not acknowl-
| edge defeat and appeared at the conference
not imploring mercy. but because OF its love
Of peace and its willingness TO conclude on
| an honorable basis.
/ Claim for Indemnity Unprecedented.
| Russia declares that a claim for in
! demnity under the circumstances Is un-
! precedented and reviews the historical oc.
| casion where indemnity was paid in sup
port Of its contentious Most OF these
precedents have already been made public
| In connection with a recent Associates
Press interview with Mr.. Martens. The
protocol also states that Russia throughout
its history has never paid war indemnity
! not even when Napoleon the Great invaded
the Muscovite empire In 1872 and occupied
| Moscow.
In regard 10 article dhe interned war
ships) Japan insists that the surrender