New-York tribune., 1905-08-22
A THIRD POWER AT WORK.


The interests Of peacemakng now centred
at Oyster Bay as much at Portsmouth. On
Saturday the President had conference of
his own seeking with the Russian Ambassador
Yesterday he similarly was closeted with a
distinguished japanese 81 ltesman who, though
neither Minister nor a peace envoy, enjoys
the special confidence of the Mlkado and is
terms Of intimacy with the Japanese negOtia
tors at Portsmouth. AS before the conference
was secret, and those who took part in it show
their ability TO guard the secret we'll The gov
ernments at st. Petersburg and Toxic have
however been fully informed of the matter and
their replies. commands. decisions. or what not
may be received and made known to-day at
Portsmouth. There may. of course, be further
delay, but it is not unreasonable to expect that
at to-day's or to-morrows meeting of the en-
vOys the beginning of the end will appear.
Two principal theories of the purport of the
Presidents intervention have been put forward
One is that he is urging the two powers to sub
mt their differences to arbitration at The
Hague or elsewhere. The other is that he is
simply ascertaining from each side what con-
cessions it is willing TO make to the other in
order TO assure peace. The latter, however,
seems an insufficient cause for inviting the rep
resentatives of the powers to Oyster Bay. The
making of concessions is something the ENJOYS
mouth. That Is what they are at Portsmouth
for The arbitration theory supposes the en-
voys TO have failed hopeleSsly in direct negOtia-
tions' thus necessitating the injection of new
factor into the problem. 1t was intimated in
these columns some days ago that arbitration
might be resOrted TO for the settlement of the
two or three points upon which the ENJOYS were
not able to agree. There would be. of course
an fncongrufty in proposing arbitration for the
nf folI +l7o %
proposal the obvious answer would be that
arbitration should have been resorted to before
the war TO make the war unnecessary but
since il then neglected in favor of the ar
bitrament OF the sword. the settlement must
be made by the sword When. however as in
the present case the war has been fought to
logical haltng place. if not a complete finish
and when the great issues for which il was
waged have been substantially won and secured
| there would seem to be no objection TO submit
! ting 10 adjudication some of the minor details
which really not essential to the real is
| sues of the We must remember that it
was to secure japanese interests in COrea and
to restore territorial integrity and the open door
! in China that Japan accepted Russia's gage of
| battle. Those ends have now been secured bv
| the stress of Japanese arms and by the conces.
| sion of the Russian ENJOYS. They do not de-
! pend upon and are not essentially affected by
| the questions of indemnity and ownership of
| SaghaIien.
The propriety of invoking the treaty Of The
! Hague in this matter is not to be questioned
That treaty has for its aim not only the pre-
vention of war, but also the making of peace
after war has actually been declared and
waged Powers strangers to the dispute" it
says, have the right TO offer good Offices or
mediation, even during the course of hGStiHties
The exercise Of this right can never be re-
''garded unfriendy act. The part of the
mediator consists in reconcilng the opposing
''claims"-precisely what now needs 10 he done
Nor is arbitration before the Permanent Tri-
hunal in any way denied to powers actually
at war. international arbitration" says the
treaty. ''has for its object the settlement of
! differences between states" 1t does not specify
the kind of differences. II means of course
any differences which the states are mutually
willing TO submit TO such settlement They NAV
be differences which are being peacefully de-
bated which form the matter of contention
in actual warfare. The first aim is no douht
TO substitute arbitration in advance for war. but
there is nothing TO prevent such substitution at
"a later date. If nations will not arbitrate in
stead Of going TO war, they at least have the
privilege of abandoning at any time for
arbitration
Whether this be the Presidents nlan or
whether he is offering the mediatorial offices of
this country, or yet whether, seems most prob
able from the latest developments he is simply
| impressing upon the contending ENJOYS with all
the rare force of his vigorous and commsndinc
personality, the earnest desire of America and
of the civilized world for peace. and the raa
sons, as they appear TO disinterested and be-
nevolent mind. why, for the welfare of borh the
two belgerents should now conclude y pasca
whatever may be the purport of his representa-
lions TO Baron Rosen and Baron Kaneko tho
President is doing a brave thing, a generous
thing and the right thing. 1t is true that
though he is now interjecting a third power
into the negotiations. he declared al the no
ginning that the negotiations should be betweap
the two belllgereats alone. Through him sncb
dual negotiations were brought about in the
most suspicious manner. But II they failed or