The Cairo bulletin., 1905-08-19
Pessimism Reigns at Portsmouth.
Opinion is that Conference
Has Failed
POWERS ARE AT WORK
TO INDUCE JAPAN TO MODERATE
HER TERMS = INDICATIONS
ARE, HOWEVER. THAT
SHE WILL STAND
PAT,


night The prevailing view is that The
fate OF the peace conference Is already
sealed; that 1t has ended in failure
and that all that now remains is for
the jlenipotentiaries to meet Tuesday
TO which day they adjourned this
afternoon upon completing the seria
tim consideration of the Japanese
terms, sign the final protocol, go
through the conventions and bid each
other farewell In other words. thar
the meeting Tuesday viii be what III,
plomacy calls the "seance a. adies.r
stlil Room for Hope.
But there Is still room for hope nf
compromise. Neither President Roose.
welt nor the powers viii see the chance
of peace shipwrecked without final ef-
forts anh that pressure is being ex-
erted, especially atTokio. TO induce
Japan to moderate her terms Is beyond
question. Just what Is being done or
Is to be done, has not transpired.
King Edward is understood to be now
lending a helping hand and financiars
Ct The world are known to be exerting
all their intiuences.
All Toxic and St. Petersburg tho
final issue will be decided. The Jap
anese have been implacable through.
out the SIX days sittings. They have
listened and explained but they have
yielded not an iota of the substance
of their original demands. Witte ac.
cepted outright seven of the twelve
llalasAnesa conditions, one in principle
fand fotiT Including main issues, I'M
damnity and Sakhalin, he rejected.
Would Agree to TWO More.
/ The other two, Limitation of naval
power and surrender OK interned war
lshIps might have been arranged had
There been any prospect of agreement
on the two points upon which tiiverg.
ence seemed irreconcilable. In the oral
discussion CT the terms, Witte yielded
upon two articles but substantially
the result OF the thirteen sittings
has only been to emphasize the post
ton taken by White In the written re-.
ply he presented last Saturday to the
Japanese terms.
And now both sides turn to home
for the last word before the cards
are thrown face upward upon the
table next Tuesday. If in the interim
either side, compromise is yet pos
sibie.
Chances Slim For Peace.
| fha ahannos ar1 ,.nas.a..s ...S..t
be slim. So far as the Russian pleni
potentiaries are concerned there
Eneyer was chance Of their yielding
both indemnity and sakhalin. Cession
-Iof Sakhalin without indemnity was,
according to best inside information.
the extreme limit to which Witte
would ever consent to 90 and the EN-.
peror has not yet given the word even
to concede that.
Tonight suddenly new factor has
been introduced which in the opinion
of these most competent to Judge
lessons materially the chances that he
might do so, namely. the issuance of
his manifesto granting a popular rep
resentatiye body to his subjects. The
bearings Of this historic document
"as Witte described II few days ago
upon the issue arc easily comprehen,
sible. II is bound 70 ameliorate the
internal situation in Russia III Is the
entering wedge for the realization OF
the century old dream or the Rus
sian people
:
The manifesto Is Emperor Nicholas
answer to the Japanese demand for
payment of war tribute The grant of
this broad reform is regarded as ylr-
tually an appeal to the Russian peo-
pie for support TO resist t.
\ Japs Might Knock or a Little.
\ Az Toxic II Is impossible to tell
what view will be taken Peace prob.
ably car be even now secured by sac.
rifice OF the indemnity. Vague init.
nations tonight come from the Japan.
ese side that "the demand for the cost
S OF the war might be moderated. but
Whites reply is that he will pay lib-
orally for the maintenance of Rus.
6 sian prisoners In Japan. but, mot a
I copeck for tribute"
!. The gravity Of the situation from
: the japanese point o. y:ew is con.
I tanned in the following authoritative
8 statement gwen to the Associated
. Press
Il cannot say positively because all
things are possible, but fear the
Injecting Tuesday win he the farewell
session Of the Washington conference.
Japan has done her utmost for peace.
j Russia now knows Japan's irreducible
/ minimum" trtq
|. Wltte himself tonight gave not the
4 slightest encouragemenr Tonight the
\ situation can be summed llp Ia d sin.
\ gle sentence-p prompt and hcrcic ac.
\ tion By outside influence alone can