New-York tribune., 1905-08-04
Mr.. WHITES REAL MIND.


Mr.. Whites first act on reaching America was
TO repudiate some of the sensational interviews
with him which were recently reported by
wireless telegraphy'' For wireless it would
probably be more accurate to say grapevine
or pipe dream" 1t was TO be expected he
would deny them, because it seemed incredible
and impossible that he could have said such
things as were attributed to him. For man
who was invited hither as plenipotentlary,
who had no reassn for coming hither unless as
a plenipotentiary and who was announced by
his government as a plenpotentiary, 10 declare
that he nothing but courier would nave
been an unthinkable piece of tritiing For a
peacemaking plenpotentary 10 declare TO the
world. in advance of meeting the ENJOYS or the
other side being informed of their views,
that he expected their terms TO be inadmissbe
and the negotiations to fail would have been
shirt sleeves diplomacy in eXcelSls, snch as
some very superior cynic might falsely attribute
to a mere American, but which we could never
dream of charging against an accomplished Eu-
ropean statesman Nevertheless ii is agreeable
10 have our incredulity confirmed and vindi-
Gated by the supreme authority of Mr.. Nitte
himself.
1t is quite true that Mr.. Witte says he has
come hither TO ascertain the conditions on which
Japan will make peace, and those terms must
be ascertained. weighed and judged admissible
by Russia before she can proceed to formal
negotiation. That is Il matter of course, and
it is as true of the Japanese as of the Russian
ENJOYS: but that fact does not in the least de-
tract from the plenipotentiary character and
functions of all the four men. The Russians
must know the views of the Japanese, and the
Japanese must know the mind of the Russians
before either can decide whether it is worth
while to proceed with negotiations The essen
tal thing is that the ENJOYS themselves shall be
invested with the largest possible degree of dis
erection to make such decision upon the author
ity of their Instructions and then. provided their
decision is favorable, TO proceed at once with
the treaty making. To cite the most recent
precedent our envoys at Paris in 1898 We're
truly plenipotentiarieS, yet it was not until they
had been in conference with the Spanish ENJOYS
for some time that the success of the negotia-
| tions was assured. and in one instance it was
deemed necessary for them TO apply to Wash
ington for further instructions or authority; or,
to go back to our earliest precedent, JAY, Frank
/ lin and Adams were certainly plenipotentiares,
vet it was for some time uncertain whether n
mutually acceptable basis for negotiation could
| be found, and when the first intmation of Brit
! ish terms made Franklin, the most cOncil-
| iatory of the three, plumply declared. NO, sir.
| If you insist upon that we go back to York
| town"
Mr.. Witte again dwells upon the unusual char
acter or IDe case. III lue bringing OF Tue pleDl-
! potentiaries together without preliminary
derStanding of and agreement upon the terms
| of peace. We do not think that is as unusual
| as he seems TO regard it. 1t would not be diff
| cult to recall cases in which plenipotentiaries
| came together without any more preliminary
| understanding than exists at the present time
| between Russia and Japan. That ii is now,
| however. and that the ENJOYS are left to find
| out each others terms as well as to discuss
| them must be attributed to the very manner i'll
which the whole peacemaking was brought
| about. President Roosevelt, for good and suffi-
cient reasons, did not propose that the United
States should act as an intermediate negotator
| between the two belligerents TO inform each of
| the others terms, but he very explicitly urged
| that the two should come together in direct
negotiations, without the mediation or partici-
patton of any third power. We think that was
a wise suggestion and we believe it will prove
a profitable one. If it does Involve depart
ure from ancient diplomatic usage" it is a de-
sirable departure.
AS for the rest the whole tone of Mr. Whites
greeting TO America is admirable and auspicious
His cordial words for the President and the
references to Japan denote a mind of generous
motives and the vision of a farseeing and iu-
dicious statesman. He can scarcely need the
assurance, which, however, cannot be too
strongly offered, that the American nation re-
ciprocates his amable sentiments to the fullest
extent, and sincerely hopes for his mission the
amplest measure of success.