The San Francisco call., 1905-08-19


ism reigns at Portsmouth Tonight The
prevailing view is that the fate OF the
peace conference is already seaFed :; that
il has ended in failure. and that all that
now remains Is for the plenpotentlaries
10 meet on Tuesday, to whIch cay they
adjourned this afternoon upon completing
The seriatim consideration Of the Jap
alese L. ms. sign the hnal protocol, so
through Jhe conventions and bid each
other farewell. In other words, that the
meeting Tuesday viii be what diplomacy
calls the same u adieu.
But Jhere - still room for hope OF a
compromise. Neither President Roose-
Welt nUr The powers will see the chance
OF peace shipwreckeo without a final et-
Tort and that pressure is being eNesteds
especially at Toxic, 10 induce Japan 10
moderate her terms is beyond question.
just what is being done or is 10 be done
ha- MOI lfaISplreo. King lkdNaru is
understood 10 be now ending a helping
hand and the fnsncieTs of the world
are known 10 be exerting all their in
nuences.
JAPANESE IMPLACABLE.
At Toxic and St. Petersburg the final
issue wIn be oeciued The japanese have
been Impiacable throughout The six days
situugs Ihey have listened and ex-
plained, but they have yielded not an iota.
OF the substance Of their original de-
nanos. Mr.. de WiJte accepted outright
seven OF the twelve japanese conditions,
one IN principle and tour, including the
main issues, indemnity and Saghaien, ne
rejected. The other two. limitation of
naval power and the surrender Of in
termed warships, might have been ar
ranged had there been any prospect Of
agreement on The two points upon which
the divergence seemed irreconcilable.
In the oral discussion OF the terms,
Air. a Witte yielded upon two articles,
bal NstantIaAy the result of the thir-
teen s4tungs OF the plenIpOtenJiaries has
only been 10 emphasize the position taken
by De Mitte in The written reply he pre-
scented last Saturday to the Japanese
terms and now both sides turn toward
home for the last words before the cards
are thrown face downward on the table
neAt tuesday, for the impasse reached
to-day by the plenipotentiaries is recog-
nized 70 be only a diplomatic fiction. If
IL the interim fresh instructions are re-
ceived by either side compromise is yet
possible. But the chances are recognized
IL be slim.
RUSSIANS UNFOLDING.
SO far as the Russian plenipoten-
tlarIes are concerned, there never was
q chance OF their yielding both indem-
nifty ana Saghalien. The cession of
Saghallen without indemnity was, ac-
cOrding to the best inside information,
The extreme limit TO which De Witte
would ever consent TO go, and the EN-
peror has not yet given the word TO
even cOncece that. And tonight sud
denly new factor has been introduced,
which, ln the opinion Of those most
competent TO judge, lessons materially
p the chances that ne might do SO, name
~, the issuance OF his manifesto grant
ing a popular represen ntatiYe BODY 10
AIs subjects.
The bearings of this historical
ar1r Nc ir
upon the issue are easily comprehen-
slble. 1t is bound TO ameliorate the
internal situation in Russia. 1t is the
entering wedge for the realization of
the century-old dream of the Russian
people.
1t viii create enthusiasm at home
said one OF the most prominent mem
bers Of the Russian mission, because
ali thinking men realize that it means
eventually a great change in the COM
position Of the Russian state. II will
be followed by a true Parliament, a
responsible Ministry, a Premier, and
Russia viii become d constitutional
monarchy"
II is pointed out that the manifesto
is timed like what the French call d
coup de foudre," and that it's signif-
cance is TOO plain TO be questioned 1t
was TO have been issued last Satur-
day, when the Russian reply was pre-
sented, but il was held over until the
conclusion Of the oral consideration OF
the japanese terms. Meantime the
terms had been published everywhere
throughout Russia. The press. even
the Liberal press, had replied that Rus
sia could not pay money for the privi-
lege OF getting out of Manchuria. The
Emperor had publicly proclaimed TO his
subjects on July 2S, in reply TO tele-
gram OF the Orenburg clergy:
sfe = IL, --11-r
me, I viii never conclude a peace
humiIiating or unworthy Of great Rus
sia."
The manifesto is Emperor Nicholas an
swer to the japanese demand for the
payment Of d war tribute. The grant of
this broad reform is regarded as virtu-
ally an appeal 10 the Russian people for
support 10 resist 1t.
GRAVITY OF SITUATION.
At Toxic it is impossible to tell what
view will be taken. Peace probably can
be even now secured by the sacrifice of
the indemnity. Vague intimations to-
night come from the Japanese side that
. the demand for the cost of the war
might be moderated, but WItte REPLIES
that he viii pay literally for the main
tenance Of the Russian prisoners in Japan
but mot a kopeck for tribute"
The gravity of the situation from the
japanese point Of view is contained in
the following statement given to the
press:
II cannot say positively because all
things are possible, but I fear that the
meeting on Tuesday viii be the fare
well session OF the Washington confer
ence. Japan has done her utmost for
peace. Russia now knows Japans ire
ducible minimum"
Eitte himself tonight gave not the
slightest encouragement. For publication
he said:
we meet Tuesday only to sign the pro-
tocol." with the accent on the word
''only."
Another bad sign was the change in the
personal attitude Of the plenipotentiarfes
toward each other. During the week
they have been growing more and more
friendly at the luncheon which they take
together at the navy yard. The conver-
sation was lively and even gay at times
To-day they sat together and ate in
silence. All seemed strangely constrained
as II realizing that they could only agree
TO disagree and that the war must
60 on