New-York tribune., 1905-08-17
AppR0ACHING THE CRISIS.

,-o.io.iors at Portsmouth. we are told. are
roocbing a delicate and critical stage
M. g q matter of course In almost every
.rao+v of peace. or in the proposals for one'
there are some practically snoh-cohten'luuo ..
items upon which agreement Is reaulS
reached There are also some contentious
,,oms over which comes the tug of war
When. as is customary, the items are taken up
one nj a time. the non-contentious ones are dls-
nosed of first That order has apparently been
followed at Portsmouth About half the Japa-
nese proposals have been considered and ac-
cepted by the Russians. These are the ones
whose acceptance was a foregone CONCLUSION
Now the ENJOYS are coming TO the contentious
items. over which earnest difference of opinion
exists concerning which some imperial IN
structions may have been given, and which
form the real crux of the controversy. 1t may
be that each of the remaining items Will re-
ouire more time for settlement than all the
half dozen that have gone before
Assuming the most intelligent conJectures 10
be correct concerning the purport of the vari-
Gus items we observe that the non-contentious
ones. which have been promptly settled, are
chiefly identical with the issues which were
involved in the -belum controversy and
negotiations. That is TO say, the ENJOYS nave
in few days agreed upon settlement or the
questions which led 10 the war, and which in
l903-04 were debated for many months in vain
Had Count Lamsdorf, or perhaps we should
say Admiral Alexieff, been as concilatory in
19O3-O4 as Mr.. Witte and Baron Rosen now
are. and had they taken the just and reason
able ground which these gentlemen are now
taking there would have been no war. After
wear and a half of slaughter and unparalleled
disasters, Russia is conceding Japan's de
mands the very demands which two years
ago she refused 10 concede, even at the cost OF
a war. She is agreeing 10 recognize Japan's
special interests in Corea, to evacuate Man
churia and restore il TO China the fulfilment OF
her own long broken promise, and TO respect
hereafter the territorial integrity and the open
doors of the Chinese Empire. 1t will also be
observed that the remaining questions. the con-
tentious ones. over which the crisis of the con-
ference is about TO occur are those which did
not arise nor exist before the war, but which
are outgrowths of the war itself. Such are
the questions Of Saghalien. of indemnity and
Of the disposal Of the interned ships. Had it
not been for the former issues the war would
not have occurred; and had II not been for the
war these latter issues would not have arisen.
We have spoken of the impending crisis
That may sound to like a portentous
word. 1t is not necessarily omnous of evil
In almost every prolonged controversy there
is crisis-that is 10 say, decisive turning
point. But the crisis does not always. nor
even generally. result in evil. The crisis of a
disease is often the beginning of the patients
recovery In this case we sincerely hope and
are emboldened TO believe that the crisis will
be a turning more surely toward peace and will
pass into an indubitable assurance of peace
making. We can discern no reason for chang
Ing the belief that the ENJOYS on both sides
came 10 America for the purpose of making
peace. ana or doing SO. of course by reaching
an agreement. not only on the points on which
mere was really no dispute, but also on those
wNlch We're most gravely controversial The
lact that they have now reached the moro
serious part of their negotiations does NOT mean
mat that purpose is TO be abandoned or is to
be defeated. ~