Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-08
Returning Troops and Pris-
oners to Russia.
A VAST UNDERTAKING
EVACUATION OF MANCHURIA
WILL TAKE EIGHTEEN MONTHS.
Over Forty Steamships Engaged ID
Carry Home the Vanquished
From Japan.
By WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
The treatv Of Portsmouth gives Russia
eighteen months to withdraw her army
from Manchuria. and 1t will require all Oh
that time and perhaps moro to move more
than 10000 troops and equipments ana
their munitions of war, The treaty was
signed in August. but scarcely regiment
has left the province SO far and the TWO
great armies still occupy the entrenchmehts
above and below Nukdcn, under the strlc'-
est discipline, as If it was only tempo
rary truce and not permanent peace that
has been arranged between the two nations
Even If Russia could snip a thousand SOL
diers a day by the Siberian railroad 1t
wotld require four hundred days to sena
the army home; and it is scarcely poSsioie
that the movement can be so rapid as that
If they average five hundred men a day the
Russian authorities will be doing very well.
The Siberian railroad with its single track
has all it can possibly do to bring supplies
to the idle army, and the task OF inalhtdlH-
ing 80 csc men Is enormous
a private letter from NeWchWahS say
that the Russian authorities are trying 10
induce as many of the soldiers as posslpie
to take up land and remain IN siberia, anu n
thousands Of them will doubtless 90 So
Large numbers will remain iii Manchuria
also as inducements and the opportunities
offered there for intelligent settlers are
much greater there than in Russia. 1t is d
part of the policy of the government TO RuS-
sianize Manchuria by settlement, and neu-
tralize the influence of the Japanese, Who
will also remain in large numbers.
The fact that the Russian army remains
In the position it occupied at the time or
the armstice requires the japanese 10
maintain their lines of defense also, anu
their government will be subjected to the
expense of keeping their large army IN
Manchuria through the winter and PROB
ably for two years or more. The Japanese
however. have been gradually withdraWlnS,
and it is the intention to reduce their force
to about 10000 men. There is no posi-
bility of renewal of hostlities and 1t is
believed that number will be sufficient TO
protect the Chinese from plundereTs ana
preserve the dignity of Japan.
Returning Russian Prisoners.
The removal of Russian prisoners of war
from Japan has already begun, and Yoko-
hama newspapers received by the latest
mail report that forty -four steamers, rang
ing from 5000 to 10000 tons burden, carry
Ing the German. English and Japanese
flags, have been chartered by the Russian
government to transport the prisoners from
Japan to the most convenient Russian
ports. When tine latest mail left eleven OF
these steamers were coalng at Nagasaki,
eight at Kobe and five at Yokohama. 1t
Is estimated that they will require an av-
erage OF 2,Vb tons or coal eacn, or oSVJV
tons altogether; which is a good thing for
the coal miners of Japan.
The charters of these vessels allow them
$50 for every officer and $40 for every
non commissioned officer and private, for
transporta ton to the nearest Russian port.
The German steamers will go to the Baltic
and the Others to Odessa. They can carry
an average of LOCO men each, but that Will
accommodate only a little more than half
of the prisoners in Japan, who num-
Der I4,222 sick and WELD including sew
eral women and six babies who were cap
tured at Port Arthur The total number OF
prisoners of war taken at Port Arthur was
al,C4l. including II generals, lieutenant
generals and major generals, and five ad-
mirals. About 5000 of the captured men
were paroled and have already returned to
Rassia-most of them being commissioned
aid commissioned officers. BY the lat
est returns l2S17 Russian prisoners are
still In Japanese hospitals, but many OF
them are convalesCent and are detained
only as matter of convenience. Very few
will be unable to take the voyage home
when the final call is made. for II will re-
quire two trips of the forty-four transports
TO move the entire body. 1t will take at
least forty days to make the voyage from
japanese ports TO Odessa and sixty days to
the Baltic. and the same time for the steam
ers to return, that the last prisoner is
not likely to be shipped until late in the
spring.
The cost OF returning the prisoners will
be more than a million dollars for trans
portation alone. There are about 10000
officers cat 500 each) and G4.C0D priyates cat
$40 EACH. which makes $1,000 IL IS
understood that the japanese will send a
bill TO Russia FOR 2J9Cg10Jo yen (S125O0),-
0Io) for maintaing these prisoners, although
that has not yet been settled.
Slack Russian Ways.
Ii is characteristic Of the Russian man
agement OF the war that the authorities at
ST. Petersburg have been compelled to adj
NIT that they do not know how many
japanese prisoners have been taken, or how
many remain In their hands: or where they
are; or anything about them. Indeed. the
United States embassy at St. Petersburg
has been unable To ascertain anything OF
Importance to guide them in looking after
the release Of these prisoners. either com
batantS or non-combatants. The Japanese
government tell TO a single man lust
how many Russians are in their hands and
where they got them; how long they have
been prisoners, and where they have been
kept. There is a complete and accurate
record of every Individual, from Admiral
Rojestvensky down TO the humblest coal
necessary. under the treaty Of peace, to
calculate the cost of maintaining the cap
uves. and sending them back to their
homes. they Will be able to render an exact
account, down to the very last kopek
The Russians have never furnished the
Japanese government with complete in
formation concerning the prisoners cap
tured by them. either by land or by sea
and the latter has knowledge of only / 427
prisoners including 81 non-combatants
who have been arrested by Russian author
tiles as spies or for giving aid and comfort
to their government in Mauchuri1 Siberia
and elsew here. Among the military prs-
OnerS are seventeen officers OF the army
and two officers of the navy: thirty-four
non-commissioned officers Of the army and
three warrant officers of the navy; forty
nine private soldiers and thirteen sailors
Letters have been received by their
families and friends In Japan from 52S
soldiers and sailors in Russian prisons
who have never been reported as prisoners
by the Russian authorities. 1t is said that
the Russian records are in such confusion
that II will be impossible for them to as
certain how many prisoners they have
taken or what has become of them
Honoring Japan's Dead.
The returns show that the number Of
lin Il