Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-16
PEACE PROSPECTS SLIM
RUSSIANS ALLEGED TO HAVE
ABANDONED HOPE.

at Portsmouth. y. H. yesterday afternoon,
after The Stars report closed
NJ Witte the Russian envoy. Is reported
to have given up the fight. He viii talk
with Japan for a day more. or may be two
or three days, but he has made up his mind
that there can be no peace, and he has sent
this word to the cZar.
The japanese are declared to be stolld. un-
communicative and inscrutable They per
sistently demand their pound of flesh They
claim the right of might They do not in
tend to be deprived OF the fruit OF their
victories. .
The peace that looked so possible early in
the week is now not even probable. 1t IL
openly talked Portsmouth now that more
blood must be shed The pride OF Russia
demands further sacrifice from her sons.
NJ. Witte has decreed that he Will give
Japan only what Japan has now. The war
will go on. The peace conference al Ports
mouth might as well never have been called.
M. Witte. who has the settlement of the
whole matter In his own hands, will not bind
Russia TO pay an indemnity as such, ana
Will not Cede the barren and desolate sag
halien Island TO Japan. although Japan may
now hold it by right of conquest.
Points Agreed On.
There is no definite information to what
section > of the conditions Is. There are ten
men in the conference-four plenipotenta
ries and six secretaries. Each of these is
pledged not to reveal single term of the
conditions of Japan and not to make public
any Information concerning any part of the
negotia lions
Notwithstanding this there have been leaks.
1t is definitely known that condition No. l
relates to Korea. Japan demanded a pro-
tectoratc. or more than that-the control of
korea-and Russia aCceded
1t is definitely known that article 4
lated to the evacuation of Manchura by the
troops Of both Russia and Japan, replacing
this great territory under the sphere of
influence of China, but leaving the open
door for both Japan and Russia.
The highest possible authority on the Rus
sian side says that the question of the rail
road. either from Hardin to Port Arthur. or
In general has not yet been debated. The
Information Monday was that 1t had been
decided to transfer to China that portion
of the railroad from Hardin to Port Arthur.
japanese Demands.
A recapitulation of the demands of Japan
shows that Baron Komura makes the fol-
lowing claims, although 1t must be under
stood that there is no pretense in this re-
capitulation of arranging the terms In the
exact alignment presented by Japan:
|. The control of Korea.
-. The evacuation of Manchuria by the
Russian and Japanese troops and the es-
Establishment of the open door
=. A voice in the control of the trans-Si-
berian railroad in Manchuria.
4. The specific control of the railroad from
Hardin to Port Arthur.
8. The control of the portion of the Lao
tunS peninsula coded to Russia under the
lease which gives Japan the control of
Dalny and Port Arthur.
6, The imita tons of the naval power OF
Russia In the. east.
7. Fishery rights along the Amur river.
s. The retention of the interned ships.
y. The making of a free port OF Vladivo-
stok.
10. The retention and use of the public
improvements made by Russia in Port Ar
thur. Hardin and other points.
IL. The establishment of the principle of
an indemnity which shall reimburse Japan
for the cost of the war.
l.. The cesson of Saghalien Island which
is now under the military control of Japan.
An Insurmountable Obstacle
There is no doubt that if Japan would
eliminate the questions of an indemnity and
the cession of Saghalien Island a speedy
peace could be reached. 1t Is on these two
points, when they are reached. that a split
will come The Russians. totally oblivlous
to the fact that they have been whipped,
are here UNFORTUNATELY protesting that they
not the representatives Of a conquered
nation and that they are prepared to fight
for years.
There is good authority for saying that
section > of the conditions, which was pass
ed over with a mote of divergence yester-
day, relates to Sa ghalien Island 1t was
announced before the peace conference be-
gan that Russia would not stand out on
Saghalien If everything else could be ar
ranged satisfactorily.
II IL apparent from the official announce
Inent that this paragraph was passed over,
that there must be long discussion before
any conclusion is reached.
Russia's Game
The Russians are playing a shrewd game.
II Is their intention 10 place on Japan the
onus for the continuance of the war. They
will say to the whole world
we have conceded TO Japan the control
or Korea, which is an empire nearly as
large as Japan itself: we have consented
10 evaCuate Manchuria; we will transfer the
Iiaotung peninsula containing Port Ar
thur and Dalny; We are ready to make a
free port of VladvoStok. and are willing to
turn in the railroad from Hardin to Port
Arthur and in spite of these concessions
Japan. greedy and avaricioUS, demands the
cession of some of our territory and the
payment OF an enormous indemnity.
Russia is anxious to end the war. Rus
sia has no taste for the bloodsiled and hor-
rors of conflict in the far east. We lay our
cor cessions before the world and ask If
We have not done enough inasmuch as the
only foot of Russian territory the Japanese
have stepped on is Saghalin Island. We
protest that we are not conquered nation.
We are able to continue this war indefinite
Iy. We have made liberal concessions. ia
pan demands more than we can give and
retain our national honor and dignity. We
submit that our concessions are liberal and
say to all the world that If the war con-
tinues Japan is responsible
Mean to Fight On.
This displomacy of Russia Is well Illus
trated In the procedure in the conference
rccm. The Russians have been quite will
ing 10 make obvious concessions Most of
their talk has concerned the construction
of the language of the protocol rather than
the subject matter. If they can show. by
the concessions they have already made.
that they have done their share toward
ending the they will go back and fight
on until another peace conference is neces-
sary. when they hope to be in a better po-
Sition than they in
For several days II was the best opinion
that Russian would go to the extent of
paying indemnity IL some other term
could be found for that payment some
manner could be devised by which Rus
STA might save her face" 1t is the
boast of Russians that they have never
paid an indemnity. They have suggested
that they might be willing to buy back the
political rights of Sakhalien Island by the
payment of a large sum of money. or they
could turn in the railroad as representing
much cash.