The semi-weekly messenger., 1905-09-01

we pay not a k0pek OF indemnity.
he replied as he turned at the laniing
half way up the stairs. I'VE get half
OF Sakhalin. That Is the agreement
in a nut shell.
tNitte Overcome by the Demonstration.
The Associated Press correspondent
accompanied VI. Witte to his room He
had been quite overcome by the great
ovation he had received and the in
tense strain he had been under. de
threw himself into his arm chair and
after a few minutes TO pull himself
together" he began 10 speak, slowly.
and Observation-Disclosures as IL he were
talking to himself:
..It seems incredible" he said, u 10
not believe any other man in my placa
would have dared TO hope for the pos
sibility Of peace on the conditions 10
which we have just agreed. From all
sides. from President Roosevelt down
TO nv own friends in Russia, ! re-
ceived to the last moment, even This
morning, urgent representations tnat
something should be paid to Japan
At this point NJ Witte, who was still
laboring under excitement almost lost
control of himself. He paused mo-
ment Then he went on:
The japanese wanted to take our
interned ships, and have not consent
ed The Japanese wanted TO limit our
naval power in the far east, and have
not consented. The Japanese wanted
war indemnity or reimbursement or
the cost of the war; aye! demanded 1t,
and | have not consented The Japan
ese wanted the Chinese eastern raj
way south of Harbin but | gave them
only the railroad in the possession OF
their troops south Of Changtufu. The
Jauanese wanted the Island of Sakna-
lin and | refused it, agreeing, however,
at the last moment to cede the south
ern half and then only because L vas
commanded by my sovereign to yieid
and obeyed Not only do We not pay SO
much as a kopek, but we obtain half
of Sakhalin, now in their possession.
At this mornings meeting | present
ed my written proposition, which was
the Russian ultimatum. It was ac-
cepted by the japanese. | was amaz-
ed. Until l was in the conference
room | did not think what would nap
pen. | could not anticipate sucn q
great and happy issue. 1t was psy-
GEOLOGICAL crisis. | had made up NY
mind not to strike out a letter OF the
ultimatum | submitted. So far as
was concerned it was ended. But
could not tell how it would work on
the Japanese mind. 1t was complete
victory for u.s.
Vanderlip's Visit Explained.
NJ. Witte, continuing his conversa-
tiOn. said that he would like to ex-
plain the visit of Mr.. Vanderllp last
night in order to prevent false state
ments and misrepresentation regard
ing it.
>"Mr. Vanderbilt" he said, came to,
see me not only to speak OF the sltua-
ton in general. but also of money mat
ters and of the possibility of Russia
floating loan in the United States.
told him two things If Russia must
continue the war there is at the COM
mand Of the treasury a reserve fund
of one million roubles in gold, which
I accumulated when Twas minister OF
finance That fund is to protect paper
issues, but could be used and we would
not be obliged to borrow at unaccepta-
BILE rates. If | made peace, [ told h'm
from every source, IN America,
in France, in Germany and in England
would come flood of offers of money.
Therefore if peace comes it would 6e-
come a question of whether Mr.. Van
derlip's offers were preferable to
others
TO Draft the Ire tty This Week.
The work of drafting the treaty will
probably be completed by the end of
this week. 1t is explained that it will
not be a difficult task, as the treaty,
except for phraseology is included in
the minutes of the meeting. Mr.. De-
Martens has asked Mr. Dennison to do
the work in his room at the hotel.
The Associated Press is authorized
late tonight to declare that there are
not and will not be any secret clauses
in the treaty.
Al Ovation Accorded.
The great japanese demonstration
Gid not begin until after s O'Clock in
the evening, as the Japanese plenipo-
tentiaries and their official secretaries
remained at the navy yard during the
afternoon. When it came it was even
more remarkable than that for the
Russians. for all present appreciated
what sacrifices the heroic little nation
had made for peace. The crowd
awaiting them as they dashed up in an
automobile, was even larger than that
which greeted NJ Witte. The cheer
ing came in vdlleys. Again and again
the crowd hurrahed and waved their
hats. AS the car came under the porte
cochere, both plenipotentiaries gravely
lifted their hats and held them in their
hands as they passed through the line
of cheering people to the elevator.
Baron Komura and Mr. Takahira
looked straight ahead and seemed al
most embarrassed by the ovation.
Even the ringing cheers from all sides
did not move them.
Neither plenipotentiary stopped to
shake hands, but, accompanied by Mr..
Sato went Immediately to their rooms.
I'll be back in a moment" said
Mr.. Sato, as the elevator took him to
the second floor where he deposited
in Baron Komura's room the precious
records Of the days proceedings. When
Mr.. Sato entered the lobby a few min
utes later with the official announce