The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-21
ST0ESSEL
 ENJITY Russian e glsral Con- demn to Death.
FORMULATION RECOMMENDED
Verdict of Court Proves Unpopular
 With People.
Even stoessers Former Enemie., the sspaaese, Say Thst He Dee.
 not Deserve such Treat-
 meat from Hi. Country.

' 2
 St. Petersburg, Feb. 20.--Lieutenant- General StoesseI was condemned to death this evening by military court + for the surrender of Port Arthur to the Japanese.
 l General Fock, who commanded the Fourth East Siberian Division of Port Arthur. was ordered reprimanded for la disciplinary offense, which was not connected with the surrender, and Gen eral Smirnoff, acting commandant of the fortress and Major General Reisz, 1 chief of stan to General Stoessei, were acquitted Of the charges against them for lack of proof The court recom- mended that the death sentence upon Lieutenant General Stoessei be conn muted to ten years Imprisonment in a l fortress and that he be excluded from | the service.
 General vodar, president of the court. | read the sentence amid tense silence. l By a great effort of self-control. Gen- Ierai Stoessel maintained nSrigid, soI- dier-iike impassivity. General Smirnoff also was seemingly unmoved, but there were tears in the eyes of General Reiss. The sentence of death was pro- nounced upon General Stoessel For surrendering the fortress before all the means of defense had been exhausted; for faiiing to enforce his authority and | for military misdemeanors"
 l Communication of the sentence was asked on the ground that @The Port 1 Arthur. beset by overwhelming forces. defended itself under General stoessel's leadership with unexampied stubborn ness and filled the world with aston l ishment at the heroic courage of it's karrison: that several assaults had been repulsed with tremendous losses on the part of the enemy; that General Stoessel throughout the siege had I li,1aintained the heroic courage of the ] defenders and finally that he had taken bnergetic part in three campaigns. :" DenenHtFatiom Prevented.
 I Before the aeHtenee W4H read meag- uFss were taken to prevent deiilsn- Istrstiop in favor of ateessel by nts4il- I Der of the younger oigaeeks and wit lnessss who were present These later sent dispAtcl 10 the Empress bayin6 1 that they would husnbly bear xssttv fmony that General SkoesaeI was the soui of the defense of Port Arthur, that he had always encouraged and put heart in the garrison ana that in case of war they would wish to serve again under spch hero. They asked l the Empress gracious1y to bespeak 1 from the Emperor full pardon.
 l There was dramatic moment after the reading of the aentence when a de- tachment of soldiers filed Into the hall The spectators. thinking that they were about to seize General EfoesseI, dis | played great excitement, several women fainting. It developed. however, that this was merely a. guard for the dis- posaf of the court General Stoessel, who was accompanied by his son, was the object of a sympathetic denon- stration, friends kissing and shaking him by the hand as he left the court leaning on his son's shoulder.
 A public festival is being organized by the municipality of St. Petersburg ress. sT
 The passing of the sentence of death upon Lieutenant General StoesseI is a harsh and tragic ending to the career of this Russian commander who, three years ago, was acclaimed around the world as the Hero of Port Arthur" The General. who was decorated by Emperor William Of Germany and hon. ored by the Russian army for his gaf- lant defense of the Port Arthur fort ress, has now been tried and found wanting in courage and capability by his own people and sentenced to give up his life to the fetish of army. pres- tige.
 Kind Words from yans.
 Even Stoessel's former enemies. the Japanese. have come forward to say that he does not deserve this treatment at the hands or his country. In his last words before the court. General Stoes- sel, broken in health and fortune. &C., cepted full responsibility for the sur render of Port Arthur and asked for the death sentence if the courts houId de- eide that crimo had been committed. The basis of the indictment upon which Lieutenant General Stoessel, Gen eral Fock, who comFlanded the fourth East Siberian division of Port Arthur. ana Major General Reiss, Chief of Stan 10 General Stoessei. were tried for their lives. was q secret report made by Lieutenant General Snirnoff on the de- fense of Port Arthur. SnIiFnofe was acting commondant of the fortress. Stoessel being commander of the Kwangtung peninsula. Smirnoff cate goricalIy accused StoesseI of cowardtce and incapability and finally of the de- liberate and reasonable hastening of the surrender to save his own life and in defiance of the decisions of two sue cessice councils of war. The report
 was extremely biased. It breathed the most bitter personal enmity and showed that the high officers of the Port Arthur garrison in the darkost days of the siege were almost at one another's throats, General Smirnofe summed up his indictment as follows:
 "A series of unpardonabIe blunders outside the fortress. due to the ignor- apce and lack of military capacty and prowess of GeneSals Stoessel and Fock brought about the investment of the fortress several months earlier than was necessary. and after the invest ment a desire for undeseFvcd glory moved Stoessel to hltefere in the de- tense with unfortunate results. Final ly. at the last period of the siege, StoesseI usurped my authority, with the assistance of Generals Fock and Reiss, and committed treason in surrendering suddenly and prematurely. I regard our defeat at Mukden as direct re- suit of this treason"
 tssneral Smirnoff declared further that the fortress. which was surren- dered to Japanese January 1, 1905 could have held out for six weeks
 A Pitfabie Picture.
 In oposition to ths side of the picture are the statements made by Japanese = erroYo tffA drat fo oSsfar-f A1, -