The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-09-02

tiOns Nowadays it is popularly called
 "Rosen's coup" although in former years the deed was attributed to the
 baron's then chief, M, de Struve, envoy during the '7Os at Tokio and later for many years Russia's representative at l Washington. Baron Rosen, as young i officer of the guards at St. Petersburg was reputed to be rather wild and eX- ftrayagant, and was sent as acting at tache and acting secretary to De StruVe as a sort of wing-clipping training. But no sooner did the young officer ap- pear in ToBio than he adopted course
 toward the Japanese that not only sur Iprised the diplomatic colony, but asio
 ran adversely to its own idea of things.
 In those days it was considered the
 proper thing to slight and cary oneself lcontemptuously toward the Japs. Not
 so did the baron, who soon became such close friends with the high officers Of the Oriental land that his influence grew to be the most important asset M.
 de Struve had in the country he was accredited to. De Struve himself and lperhaps Rosen, too, were considered
 among the most frivolous of men, | lnaments and balls and routs. One fine morning, however, the other foreign en- lYoys were peremptOrily notified by their home government that the Rus
 sians had induced the Japanese to an-
 jectly surrender the whole Island of
 Sakhalin to them in exchange for the
 practncally unowned Kuriles. Such an
 opening of eyes has scarcely ever been
 witnessed in a diplomatic colony since.
 But surprised or not surprised, Rus
 sia had at last obtained what she set her cap for at the, beginning, and
 quickly began her work of colonization,
 The island was converted into a penal
 settlement. It has popularly, been
 called "the most terrible in the world,
 a barren rock of woe. where once to lhave been sent was to have left all hope lof good decent things in this life be-
 hind. In fact the penal colonies in
 Sakhalin were in many ways more ter trible than the majority of those in Si-
 beria, where exile. for the most part,
 consists of enflrced emigration from
 European Russia. In Sakhalin there 1 was( first of all, the severe, uncompen-
 sating climate to be endured. There Twas no opportunity to forget troubles lin the expressing care forget troubles
 in the expressing care of the soil. Fish
 ling was not a trade for prisoners.
 There was Iitgle to do but go through
 the dull, hard routine of convict life.
 In Siberia exiles often startled life over
 again, and many cases are known of
 successful men, banished from their
 homes, renewing their success and be-
 coming powerful in the land where they
 are practically prisoners. Not so In Sakhalin, for of all official-ridden pri- ] sons that was the worst In the world,
 There were four principal Russian 7 settlements on the island at the begin
 ming of the present war, namely Alex landrovsk, the seat of administration:
 IRykovskoie, Korsakovsk and Muravte- Ivoslzi. According to the enumeration l, iof January, 1902, 5,663 tard-labor con-
 IVicts 9,SS5 released convicts and exiles and S.712 exiled peasants were confined . lon the island. Besides these there ' were 1753 wives, and, as a year book } gives it, ''six husbands" the wives and Husbands having followed the exiles lwith 10,472 children. Of free settlers . there were at that time 1,344. ss } When the war broke out the seat of ' Operations was far to the south of this
 barren but invaluable island of pun - lishment Finally, however, 1t became - Itself an objective point of Japanese 2 military strategy and was captured. Japanese troops landed at a village . lcalled Morce, between .Chipwan and . Korsakovsk, on the night of July t last, and met with little resistance, a . the Russian force on the island was in-
 significant Two battleships, thirty 9 Isix torpedoboats and ten transports, 5 bulging with troops covered the his toric landing, In the meantime the t Russians and blown up their coast de- S fense guns and the principal govern q lment building at Korsakovsk, so - that the Japs got little more than the I same old barrenness, pluse few thou # sands conYicts. That made little diff f ference however, for 1t was the actual d land itself that they were bound to gei
 and so retrieve the shortsighted policy }, of the governors that had let the prize e slip from them back in 1875.
 h The cauture of Sakhalin, although a far less spectacular and bloody than y HOrC ATInuTy was III HidIlY ways IlOIt
 significant, inasmuch as it was the f1rs J. piece of Russian territory occupied by e the Japanese forces. It was said al l- the time by political wiseaceres. that J. Japan needed the island for no otheI t reason that later on she would make i IS secession to her one of the condition O l. peace.
 of The final disposition of sakhalin is ; it subject of worldwide interest and i'm l. portance. Should it remain Russian le | there is little likelihood that it's re n sources would be worked for decades d o come; should 1t become a part O T. the Japanese empire it would afford z l. 3reeding place and training ground fo E race of warriors such as perhaps ha ever been seen since the days 0 le panish powers.-New York Sun.
 1t EXTENSIVE TOY FOR BOY,