Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1905-01-12
MORE PEACE TALK.

IN sermon preached before the impe-
rial family at Tsarskoe Selo Tuesday, on
the occasion of the religious festival Of
Christmas, drew parallel between the
peace o. the gospel and the peace of the
world. In concluding he addressed the
Emperor as follows
"Your Imperial Majesty, may God
grant that the present war will end soon.
Above all, may God grant that the
angelic message of peace sink deeper aud
deeper into the hearts of men, and that
strife may soon end forever on earth"
In leading editorial yesterday the
Russ, while maintaining that the war
must go on, says:
But the fullest success is only achiev
able if the nation is united" and de.
clared that after all "the question of
peace or war abroad is = minor matter.
What Russia wants is peace at home,
as war at homo is far worse than that in
Msnchuria." Then in the plainest fash
ion the Russ sketches the internal con.
ditions, which. it says, ''are tantamouut
to state of war, producing mortality
among the peasant children equal to that
of the battlefield" concluding with the
statement that the "work of regenera-
ration must begin now; we canuot wait
until the war in the far East is ended"
A dispatch from Paris says that the
declaration was made by Vice Admiral
Doubassod, the Russian member of the
international commission, to inquire into
the North Sea incident, In an interview
to the effect that an honorable peace be-
tween Russia and Japan is likely to be
made, is considered highly significant.
Heretofore the members Of the Rus
sian Embassy and all the other Russian
officials in Paris have resented sugges-
tons of peace as humiiating. There is
reason to believe that these were ex-
pressive of personal views before hearing
from st. Petersburg, whereas Admiral
DOubassof has just arrived from st.
Petersburg after lengthy audience
with Emperor Nicholas following the
fall of Port Arthur. The Admiral is
chief of naval construction. Among
other things he said:
81 am convinced" said Admiral
Doubassoff, ''of the immediate necessity
for the reconstruction Of cur fleet at all
the Russian and foreign shipyards for
the purpose OF securing strength sufi.
cient to command supremacy at sea.
This is absolutely indispensable if we
are to expect victory from the next war
with Japan. The remnant OF our feet
is hardly more than debris, and entirely
unequal to Japan's naval strength"
The Admiral further said it was ueces-
sary to recognize these conditions, how
ever painful they might be to national
self.loye. Therefore," he added, ~
do not hesitate to say that we tend to-
ward not far OF peace. We will leave
the Japanese Port Arthur and the
territory they now occupy 10 nanchuris.
We will set ourselves resoutely at work
to prepare a powerful, invincible navy,
as this peace will be but temporary, and
the next time we shall be amply pre-
pared"
The official view Is that Admiral Dou-
bassofPs statement is expressive of the
growing sentiment within Russia favor
able to peace.
The fall of Port Arthur has produced
a profound sensation in the near East,
especially in the slayonic states of the
Balkan peninsula. The belief in Russian
inyincibility, which had become an
article of faith, has received a severe
shock and even the Russophile press of
Servia and Bulgaria seems to admit that
the issue Of the conflict in the far East
is uncertain. The result is an evident
increase in the somewhat exaggerated
fears of Austrian encroachment on
Macedonia, which have always existed
in Belgrade, and which the Servian
policy has been to propagate in Bulgaria.