The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-11
FATE OF KUROPAT-
 KIN'S GREAT ARMY
tcontinusd from Page One,
commenced the retreat. That is all.
 Peace Discussed.


 commenced the retreat. That is all." Peace Discussed.
 Every one now is discussing peace,
 which many of the staunchest advo- cates of war now declare to be inevita- ble. It openly is bruited that Rojest- venskys fleet has been recalled and is
 now on the way homeward. The ad-
 miralty when asked if the report were true said: we don't know; call again tomorrow" and declined to com
 ment on the significance of the cancel
 lation of the purchase of coliiers or the
 direction of Rojestvensky's voyage from Madagascar.
 It can be said, however, that no over
 lures for peace have yet been made.
 and none is likely to be made for a few days until the extent of tte disaster has
 developed. Aside from peace, defeat
 may bring other consequences in its train. That an enormous impetus has been given to the reform movement is plain even to the most reactionary con- servatives, but the immediate result
 chiefly dreaded is the effect on internal disorders, not only in the capital, but
 also. since St. Petersburg is not Russia, Ito the millions of peasants In the vast agricultural regions, among whom the spirit of revolt Is now incubating and already has matched ,pillage and arson
 in a few districts. It Is believed, how ever that the Government is able to
 nip these uprisings in the bud and pre-
 vent radicals in the cities from bring ing off anything more than demonstra-
 tions. Talk of the revolution aside
 from the peaceful revolution which has been under way in the last six months
 is secuted in all well-informed quar-
 ters.
 Outwardly, St. Petersburg takes the
 defeat unconcernedly. A stranger in the streets woud never know that ar- mics defending the honor and prestige
 of Russia had just sustained a crush | ing reverse. There were no crowds last night, no demonstrations. no
 change from the ordinary street life. Newsboys were hawking extras on the
 streets-mere dodgers with three lines of General Kuropatkin's dispatch sur
 sounded by wide margins of blank pa- per; but there was nothing to indicate that the extras were more important than those in which for a year General Kuropatkin's dispatches have been is- sued. The Government made no at-
 tempt, to palliate the shock or explain the significance of the retreat but sim
 ply sent the dispatch, when 1t was is- sued by the general stan late in the evening, direct to the papers with au- thOrtZatlOn 10 print AL cluDs ana Tn private houses, however, tho situation was discussed and rediscussed. conJec- ture added to fact. and the invariable query was What further?"
 One circle of Liberals on receiving the news. called for wine and solemnly pledged New Russia"
 But generally. the defeat cuts deeply and is keenly felt. especially by fami- lies represented in the endangered army. The spirit of unpatriotic exul- tation will do the Liberals no good at this time, as the defeat which one Rus
 sian correspondent describes as
 slaughter. not battle" entails the sac rifice of so many thousand Russian lives that the people fear to count up their loss. It is realized that in the fighting before Mukden was evacuated the death roll of the battle of the Shakhe must have been far exceeded, and the streets of St. Petersburg, where
 every third woman wears crepe, will present a sembre sight when the cas-
 ualty lists arrive.