The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-24
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 nent American and English papers
 which. while eloquent. studiously mod
 crate and weil-intentioned. are unhap- nilv calculated to mislead the world as to the prospects of peace and the gem eraI character of the Japanese so-calied new proposal with which 1t Is contend ed Russia can close without loss or dignity. The regrettable mistake into
 Journals have undoubtedly fallen is obyiously the result of misleading data ieayened with real, but secondary facts. Thus 1t Is quite true, as
 those papers predicted, that the envoys of Japan came forward at today's sitting with a proposal which
 was new In form but old in substance. lacks the two contentious clauses strip
 ulating that Russia shall surrender to Japan her disarmed warships and limit her naval strength on tho Pacific and that 1t reduces the differences be-
 tween the two powers to the compass of
 what Is in appearance a single ques-
 tion, the sale of Sakhalin. Seemingly therefore Japan has also struck her pen through the most obnoxious clause of all-that which deals with indem- nity, and all that she now asks Russia to do in addition to the terms already agreed upon is to purchase the north ern half of Sakhalin for sum of one billion and two hundred million yen
 (l,200, ,o00, ,000). And this alleged sim plification of terms is supposed to pro- vide Russia with an acceptable basis for a peace treaty. At first sight the offer may perhaps seem new to some, but closer examination will show It
 to be in all essentials indentical with the proposal already rejected by Rus
 nni iv e unfamiliar with war, in love with humanitarian foreign
 to Russia and incompetent to judge of
 Russia's national honor and dignity could descry in those terms the source of a new impulse given to the peace negotiations.
 ted by those who imagined that the pienipotentaries of the Czar. the rep
 resentatives of the Russian nation
 would take the husk for the kernel. the
 shadow for the substance. person
 of average intelligence can see that
 what is new in this proposal is the
 phraseo1ogy in which 1t is couched.
 No New Clement.
 The elimination of the two clauses
 stipuIating that Russia's disarmed war ships be handed over to Japan and her naval strength on the Pacific be re- stricted brings no new element into the transaction. For the withdrawal
 
 put forward with the intention of be- ing waived in the course of negotia- tions is devoid of importance. The disarmed ships In question are Rus sia's by right and to ask that they be handed over to Japan is to demand q breach of the law of nations. Again the limitation of Russia's naval effect iveness on the Pacific is meaningless because she will be unable for a quar- ter or 1t may be half a century to dis pose of warships enough to keep a squadron there equal to Japan's while 1t would be fruitiess to maintain 6 smaller one. Consequently to speak of those things as concessions Is but to play with words. 1t is equally child ish to affirm that Japan forgoes her claim for an indemnity because the new proposal does not actually men, ton it. All that she does is to join the question of sakhalin with that of a cash payment and to insist upon war cost under the name of purchase money.
 The transaction is fictitious and the terminology misleading. If what is proposed to be in truth a purchase and l sale, 1t should be treated as such; and, therefore, should Russia decline to buy | the territory, Japan should keep 1t and conclude peace on the basis of the com sessions already made. Again, if a purely business transaction were indeed intended, the value of the territory of fered would be the basis on which the l two powers would treat. But here even this essential condition is not observed. 1 The price demanded for the northern half of the Island is 1.200,000,000 yen'
 which is the original estimate of the war costs. Possibly Japan may have | fixed that sum with the intention of | whiting 1t down to some extent later on, but Russia, mindful of her national | honor, of her military strength, and of her historic traditions, will not, and | cannot, consent to pay war indem- nity by whatsoever name 1t may De called, nor can she, nor indeed the | world at large. regard Japan's proposal | as a proof of a genuine desire for peace. Question of Dollars and Cents. Japan having obtained all that she needed and longed for as nation now | narrows down the Issue to question | of dollars and cents, yet refuses Tor peace's sake to waive her demand. Rus | sia on the contrary has conceded freely and fully everything she could give consistently with her sense of national honor and dignity. Hence what to Ja- pan is but a matter of money Is to Russia a point of honor. To withdraw | the cash claim is therefore tmmeasur- ably easier to Japan than 1t would be | for Russia to allow 1t. Russia has suf- | -N-N-- of organization, her unpreparedness | and her internal disorders, but she is still 6 mighty and unconquered nation whose people will enthusiastically up- | hold their representatives fin their firm resolve to keep the national escutcheon Immaculate. Whatever else may be affirmed or denied of them. that | ia true. They alone are the judges of what can and cannot be done in Rus sia's name. If. therefore, the efforts of American friends are to be crowned
 with success, if the labors of the con
 ference are not to end in smoke and if the efeusion of blood in the far east | is to be terminated it behooves Japan
 to make a frank declaration that she
 withdraws once for all and without re- serve her demand to have her war costs | paid in any shape or form"
 When shown the above statement a | competent Japanese authority declined
 to make any reply. We are not talk | ing," said he. We are not fighting
 this battle in the newspapers. When all is over we will give our side of | the story to the world"
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