The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-08-03
NJ. W|TTEF|NDS US
IN DEEP DARKNESS
We Know Nothing of
Russia's Power.
JAPAN NASMALL POTATO
The Mighty Russian Empire Does moi
Consider Her a RedoubtabIe Foe.
Yet No European Power Could
Have Stood Before Her as
Russia Has.
(By the Associated Press.) }


New York, August 2.-The Kaiser
Wilhelm der Crosse with Sergius
Witte. the senior Russian peace en-
voy, arrived in quarantine this after
noon. M. Witte was in good health.
The ship had a good passage, the sea
being smooth, except on Saturday and
Monday when it was little rough.
On shipboard M. Witte was gener-
ally reticent when the subject of his
mission was mentioned. However, to
an Associated Press correspondent
who accompanied him from Cher
bourg, M. Witte said:
almost everywhere in Europe as
we'll as in America not only Russia
her forces, her resources and her pow
er of resistance are not known, but
the people are even mistaken about
the true results of the war. The Rus
slams have had reverses but this does
not signify that they have lost the
power which was known to the Mus
covite empire before the war; it does
not mean that Russia has become a
neglible quantity nor that the Japa-
nese have acquired by result of the
recent victories such supremacy as
to make the Russian empire consider
them a truly redoubtable enemy"
NJ Witte recognizes Ine good quail
tiles of the Japanese military, naval
and administrative organizations and
does not believe any other European
nation would have been able to resist
Japan as Russia has done.
All the foreign officers of the Euro
pean armies he said who followed the
war We're unanimous in affirming that
the Russian troops both soldiers and
T.fE h. ,fassaI II
bravery but they had to withdraw on
account of a combination of circum-
stances with which their personal Valor
could not contend. On the sea the
Russians found. themselves constantly
i'm inferior conditions. The squadron
of Rojestvensky was sent against
Japan not because the Russians had
much confidence in its success but
because they could not renounce from
a military and moral point of view any
chance, no matter how uncertain, of
obtaining a partial victory.
The Japanese, he declared. have
not made such progress as was gener-
ally believed; in fact they would have
to advance four times as much as
they have done in the last year and a
half to reach Russia proper. in which
case alone they might consider them
selves in a position to impose the con-
ditions of peace.
According to the Russian plenipo-
tentiary. those who do not know Rus
sia well, oppose to these reasons the
spectre of the internal conditions of
the empire imagining all kinds of
cataclymS; but even about this he said
they were mistaken. M. Witte did
not wish to discuss at this time the
events in Russia, affirming, however
that they have not the character nor
the gravity attributed to them. M.
Witte indicated, Notwithstanding these
views, that he does not mean to say
that he will not make every possible
effort towards the conclusion of peace
adding that he is favorable to peace
as a Russian and as a man, having al
ways worked to prevent aWr and un-
derStnding that at present nearly the
entire world desires the end of the
conflict. He repeated that he will hon
estly do all that his conscience may
suggest to bring about if possible an
agreement which mo- be equally salts
factory to the interests of Russia and
Japan After having done this, no
matter what the results may be M.
Witte feels that he will have accom-
plished his duty. He emphatically
denied having said that Japan's peace
terms were intolerable. He also de-
MED positively that he had predicted
that the conference would break up
in a week