The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1905-07-21
IF TERMS DO NOT SUIT THE
WAR WILL GO ON TO THE
BITTER END.
RUSSIA is NOT YET CRUSHED
TRUE SIGNIFICANCE OF WHAT
is HAPPENING NOT UN-
DERSTOOD.

st. Petersburg, July 19.-M. Witte-
the senior Russian peace plenipoten-
| tiary, received the correspondent OF
the Associated Press at his villa on
Yelagin island yesterday.
After greetings, which were cordial,
the conversation gravitated quickly to
| the high mission with which the Rus
sian statesman is charged and the dis
! position of the foreign press to inter-
pret his appointment as an indication
| that Russia had decided to make
peace at any price.
mo, no" said he, Strengthening up
! in his chair and speaking slowly and
distinctly. as if weighing the value of
each word. "In the first place, | have
! been designated by the emperor as his
| ambassador extraordinary for pour
parleurs with the Japanese plenipoten-
| tiaries to ascertain whether it is pos
, Sible to conclude
A Treaty Of Peace.
My personal views are of secondary
| Importance, but my ideas are in entire
| accord with those of my friend Count
| Lamsdorff.
! In serving my emperor, | have re-
| ceived precise instructions from his
majesty and shall follow them.
| "The ultimate decision remains in
the hands of the emperor, and it is for
| him to decide the deStinies of Russia
| The emperor is the friend of peace
and desires peace, but | very much
fear that the Japanese terms will be
! such that we will be unable to reach
an accord.
"Secondly the world should dsa-
buse it's mind of the idea that Russia
wants peace at any price. There are
two partics in Russia One favOrs the
/ continuation of the war outrance-
this is large and influential party.
+ The other, to which | belong, favors
peace. l
| Avow It Frankly,
because telling the truth has always
been my rule in politics. | was for
peace before hostilties broke out.
When the war began the situation
changed.
| Even though there are these two
parties as to the advisa bility of end
ing the war in the present circum-
stances, both would be united if the
Japanese demands wounded the
amour propre of the Russian people or
jeopardize our future as a nation.
| Il am sure if | report that the con-
ditions of Japan cannot be accepted,
Russia will accept the verdict and the
Russian people will be ready to con-
tinue the war for years if necessary.
! "Thirdly, Russia is not crushed, as
the foreign press has led the world to
believe. The interior situation is.
very serious, I do not deny, but in
Europe and America the true signifi-
canoe of what is happening
Is Not Understood.
| Correspondents come here and talk
! with a few hundred people in st. Pc
tersburg and Moscow, msinterpret
what is happening and fill the world
with false impressions as to Russias
| future.
'Russia is not on the verge of dis
solution as a great power and is not
obliged to accept any conditions Of
fered in spite of the military reverses
! she has sustained.
| I'VE are passing through an inter-
nal crisis which has been marked by
many grave events, and which may
have others still in store, but the
crisis will pass, and in a few years
Russia will again take her place as a
preponderant power in the European
concert"