The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-12-10
FINAL STAGE IN
STOESSEL TRIAL
Russian General Accused of
Surrendering Port Arthur Be-
fore ExhauSting Resources.
DEATH SENTENCE IF GUILTY
OTHER OFFICERS BEFORE
RT-MARTIAL.
DEATH SENTENCE IF GUILTY

st. Petersburg. Dec. s.-The final stage
Of the ccurtmartial of Lieutenant General
Stoessel will begin in this city tomorrow.
There have been protracted delays in TAX
ing the testimony in the far east, but nov
this material is in order and proceedings
will go ahead rapidly.
General Stoessel is accused of having
surrendered the fortress of Port Arthur
before he had exhausted all the resources
Of defense. The punishment for this. un-
der the Russian code. is death. He is TO
be tried also on the charge of lacking
Initiative and with having exceeded his
powers. General Fook and General Reiss
are cO-defendants with him. The first is
accused Of having conspifed in the sur
render of the fortress and the second
with having executed the order of sur
render. General .SmTnOff. General Stoes-
sells most bitter enemy, is to, be tried
on minor count. The court viii be com
posed of nine generals. under the presi-
dency OF Vice Admiral DOubassoff II
will include Generals kuropatkin, Bilder-
ling. Myleff and others. General Garsky
viii he judge advocate. General Stosssel
will be defended by Deputy SyrtlanOff and
Colonel Veiiamoff The trial is exciting
the most intense interest in army cir
c1es.
In PitiabIe Plight.
General Stoessel is in a pitiable state
OF excitement over the final hearing of
his case. and the doctors are apprehen-
sive of the effect upon the veteran Of
strokes since the fall OF the fortress.
The general told the representative of
the Associated Press that he was glad
the trial. after its many delays was at
last coming to a close. He expects to be
fully rehabilitated
The indictments against Generals Stoes-
sci. Reiss, Fook and SmirnOff are full of
of side-hghts on the final stages of the
siege IF the fortress and on the confu-
sion which existed in the direction of
the defense owing to the ambiguous Po-
sit g ra1 Crg1fr Non mall
this general held the chief command of
the fortress. but actually he was supple
mented by General Stoesse who was 1T
tie more than the mouthpiece of General
Fook.
Disobeyed Orders.
Before communication with Port Arthur
was finally cut off General Kuropatkin
both telegraphed and wrote to General
the command of the fortress TO General
SmrnOff and Tejoin the Manchurian
army. General StOessel did not follow
these instructions. On the contrary, he
remained at Port Arthur and arrogated
to himself the supreme authority.
General Fook is considered to be respon-
sible for the evacuation of vitality import
ant forts between Dec. is and Jan. !,
and the evidence on this point is incontro-
vertible.
Suffered Awful Losses.
The indictments give a terribly graphic
description Of the straits to which the
defending forces were reduced by shell
and rifle fire, mines and hand grenadeS.
The losses were enormous. On one po-
sition alone the casualties exceeded 100
in a single day. and at another point
detachment OF 900 men. Nevertheless
neither General Gorbatowsky nor General
Smirnoff admitted the possibility of volun-
tarily evacuating the defenses and they
both bitterly upbraided General Fook
when they heard of his order to do so.
The last military council before the
capitulation was held at Port Arthur on
the evening Of Dec. 90
The council voted ls to in favor Of
holding out to the last extremity Gen
eral Stoessel took no active part I'm the
discussion. but General Reiss. who recited
a number of reasons for surrenderng, un-
doubtedly spoke on Stoessel's behalf
stoesseI's Surrender.
The most sensational part of the in
dictments relate to the immediate cir
cumstances of the capitulatiOn. On Jan.
], the day after the evacuation of the
Eagles Nest and other points, General
Stoessel sent Lieutenant Malchenkow
with letter to General Nogf, proposing
10 enter into negOtia tons for the surren-
der of the fortress. Generals Reiss and
+ Ook appear to have been the only su-
periOr officers cOgnizant OF General StOes-
sells intention to capitulate. The news of
the dispatch of this letter. when it came
out three hours later, caused great in
digDation among the generals and ad-
mFDls. Some of them protested by tele-
erdBn TO Admiral AltAlciI ana General
Kuropatkn. Admiral Wren denounced
General Reiss as a traitor. The same day
General Stoessei sent his much-com-
mented telegram to the emperor, begin
ming with the words:
Great sovereign. forgive us. We have
done everything within human limits.
Judge us, but judge us mercifully."
General Reiss was given full power by
General StOessel in the final negotiations.
StOessel did not bid farewell to the troops
when they marched out of the fortress
after the surrender. He retained for his
own use ten OF the eighteen carts placed
by the victors al the disposal OF the Rus
sian women in Port Arthur. His only So
Hcitude. witnesses have affirmed, was for
his own baggage.
Duty of the Court.
1t will be the duty of the courtmartial
TO determine whether the capitulation of
Port Arthur on Jan. ! was justified &C
coFding TO Russian military codes and
ethics. There were probably some Il. 900