The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-31

ECooououAy Oo Hopou Aot, uo OhtVOs NAS-
appointment for the moment felt by
many Of her triumphant soldiers and
ambitious statesmen can easily DO
understood.
Nevertheless, 1t ID probable that the
future will vindicate the wisdom OF those
Elder Statesmen who, "a unconstitu-
tional but confidential advisers, pre-
vailed on the Mikado to override his
Ministers and make peace at once on the
best terms obtainable. Those four men,
Marquis ITO, Count INoUYE, Count MATsU-
Gaia and Marquis YAAlAoATA, deserve
their sovereign's confidence, for they
brought him safely through tie revo-
luton which destroyed the Shogunate
and gavo the Mikado the temporal
power Of which his forefathers had been
deprived for centuries. BY their thor
ough knowledge Of the past they were
qualified to look into tho future. Three
Of them are thoroughly conversant with
the fiscal resources of Japan, and one
Of them, YAMAGATA, Chief Of the General
Staff, is better acquainted than any one
else with the real condition Of her army.
He knows whether the flower OF the
warrior caste--the children Of the old
samurai-were sacrificed In the dreadful
fighting before Port Arthur, and the
others know whether their country,
already compelled to mortgage specific
sources Of revenue, ought to make
further loans upon suoh terms.
Doubtless the Elder Statesmen also
pointed out to the Mikado that the con-
oessions made by him in order to bring
about . peace were more no minal than
real OF course the Japanese could
have turned to account an indemnity OF
$500 ,ooo, 900, but in no event could they
have secured 1t, provided Russia chose
to oppose to such . demand her ris
inertie. The informed waships, while
they might have been somewhat useful
at the present time to Japan, will be COM
paratively valueless to Russia, because
they will be out Of date long before tho
Car Is able to create new navy. An
agreement ON Russia's part to limit her
naval power In the Far East for term
Of years would be superduous, because
Japan will be invulnerable In the Pacific
so long as tho new treaty just concluded
with England shall endure. .Vladivostok
will never again be q menace, for the
Japanese can blockade it at any hour.
Russia's promise to recognize Japanese
preponderance in Corea will now have
to be fulfilled. because, with the excep-
ton Of Vladivostok's garrison, Russia's
soldiers will be hundreds Of miles away,
instead Of being posted, as they were
In 1908, on the north bank OF the Yalu.
Finally, by acquiring Port Arthur and
by restoring all the rest Of Manchuria to
Chinese jurisdiction, the Japanese have
delivered themselves from the incubus
OF Russian aggression and have irrep-
arably shattered Russia's power In tho
Far East. Henceforth the preponderant
influence at Pekin will be exercised by
the representatives not Of the Gar but
Of the Anglo-Japanese alliance.
By those who are able to look for
ward few decades the immense moral
advantage derivable from the course
advised by the Elder Statesmen cannot
fail to be recognized. Had Japan In
sisted upon subjecting Russia to grave
humiliation and extorting from her a
huge indemnity. soon or late the tide OF
public opinion in all Western countries
might have turned against her. In that
event even the alliance with England,
which is Of vital moment to her, might
have proved shortlived. AS it is, the
Toxic Government, alive to the possible
future consequences OF racial jealousy
and suspicion. has given the Western
world an example Of enlightened modera-
ton. She has shown herself capable OF
the self-conquest which outshineth, as
we have been told, the taking Of a city.
She may find by the peace which she
has made she will have gained more
in the end than she could ever have
secured by war.