Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-06


ieged interview sent by wireless" corre-
spondent on board the Kaiser Wilhelm der
Grosse, who put these words in M de
Whites mouth: II am afraid the negotia-
IONS Will be ended within a week as the
Japanese conditions will be SO intolerab BILE
as not to admit Of discussion
m. Witte mas shown how well he APP
prectated the compliment of the interest
manifested in him as the principal Rus
sian envoy by preparing In advance q
n no.eLa nomiiy on the blessings of peace.
coupled with a most significant declara-
ton. It Is important to print once more
the following extracts:
need hardly point out that It Is nv
aroent desire that the two chivalrous foes
OF battle may have found in each others
sterling qualities motives powerful
enough to cultivate that acquaintance
ship.
Meanwhile. however, the terms offered
must nrst be ascertained. weighed and
Judged admissible by Russia before she
cal proceed to formal negotiations Hith-
erto. as you are aware. 1t was customary
IN cases like this to settle all such pre-
iiminaries before the meeting OF the pleni-
potentiaries whose task it was to come to
a maj agreement on the matters under
discussion Now the very fact that his
majesty, the car, consented to take a
course involving departure from this an
cient and diplomatic usage and to appoint
a mission to learn the nature of our
brave enemy's terms is an eloquent token
of the friendly feeling which he and his
subjects continue to cherish toward the
people of the United States"
The declaration is evidence of master in
statecraft. While 1t is nominaliy adj
dressed to the American
1ossioie people. for a fact it is meant
Alliance. specially for the Japanese
members of the peace con-
gress. and is nothing more nor less than a
proposal of alliance with Japan.
Is this the handwriting on the wall?
Will the peace of Washington include in
the alliance of Russia and Japan the en-
tente cordiale" of France and England
a combination inspired by President
Roosevelt? Did the Emperor of Germany
have such a combination his mind
when he set out recently in the Hohenzol-
Tern to meet the car, not at the Iatter's
request, as reported, but at the urgent
desire of the kaiser? A Russo-Japanese
alliance, it must be recalled, has always
been in the minds Of both of the Russian
ENJOYS. If it shall be cemented by an
entente cordiale" between France and
England cry may be heard from the
Hohenzollern: "A man overboard!'
Coming events cast their shadows be-
fore" Il is said, and this seems true at this
moment in the extraordinary interest which
centers in the chief Russian envoy. The
manner OF M. w lite selection mas Dpcn
ascribed to various reasons. but that of lie
Temps, Paris, appears to be the correct YER
sion.
When Nicholas II decided to apply affirm
atipely to the proposition of Mr.. Roosevelt
his first idea was to send diplomat by pro-
fession, and Nj. Nelidow was chosen. The
emperor. being subsequently convinced of
the necessity for specialist in questions of
the orient, designated NJ. White. NJ. Neli-
dow was obliged to retire because of Ill
health The emperor thereupon proposed
NJ. Mouravief. The relations of the latter
with M. Witte were anything but agreeable
and NJ. Mouravief under plea of i'll health
was likewise excused. While the plea
sincere it does not explain entirely the mo-
tives of the withdrawal of NJ Mouravief.
which may be ascribed in great part to po-
litical reasons
In the month of February 1894, NJ Moura-
vief. then minister of justice, presided in his
quality chief arbiter of The Hague tri-
bunal to regulate Venezuelan indemnity.
After the sentence the president delivered
a speech in which he spoke of arbitration,
concluding thus: The an
MoufaV1ei cient adage. Sc Wis pacem
Impossible. para belum.' does not seem
to have lost r>uch of it's
force. One hoped for peace with all the
force of the soul; one worked with ardor
and conviction. and nevertheless one is not
free from hostile provocation and unexpect-
ed attacks. One desires warmly the preser-
vation of peace, and one is obliged to accept
a war of legitimate defense.
I'm this painful conflict of the heart and
OF duty there remains a supreme consola-
ton. a sincere and absolute faith in a Just
Providence of people and of battle, which
will decide between the right and ambitious
pretensions: between quiet resolution, in
vincble frmness. and warlike dash and
blind. passionate ardor. But when the
tempest, having brought together in bloody
hand-to-hand struggles the two currents,
European and Asiatic, will have passed
everything passes here below!-then, and we
believe it religiously, then will be dissipated
the clouds which have obscured our horizon,
and the refreshing calm will cause to shine
with still greater luster the benefits of pa
cific Development
The Japanese government took this unex-
pected sally with Ill humor. and It's minister
to The Hague. M. Nobougata Mtsuhashi.
addressed the minister of foreign affairs of
the Netherlands. president of the council OF
administration of the court, the following
prOtestation:
is not the place to attack the acts, motives
or good name of one of the powers which
signed the convention of The Hague the
10Th of July, 1899. the imperial government
OF Japan, with the object of defending its
honor and dignity, and at the same time to
prevent that an incorrect and abusive use
may not be made of that high court, pro-
tests formally and theoretically against the
unfavorable observations against Japan ut
tered in the meeting OF February % by the
president of the tribunal of arbitration con-
stituted by the protocol of Washington May
{, 1903
When this situation was recalled 10 the
attention of Emperor Nicholas he saw how
difficult would be the task o. NJ Mourayief
and thus the mission was confined to M
White and NJ. Rosen, than whom by rea-
son of their past association or -bellum