Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-03-09

Nicky: Your kind letter, which Krou-
pensky delivered to me two days ago,
has greatly touched me. In these
days, which are, of course, trying
to you, your army and the country,
it is doubly kind of you to give up
SO much time to me, but on the
other hand it being so I felt the
more proud, as I may infer from
this fact that you count upon me
rs your real friend, as you rightly
express it. SO it is. And 1 can as
sure you that nobody follows all
he phases of the war with greater
interest and assiduity than I do.
Your remark about Kouropatl1in
commanding geieral in Asia) was
perfect revelation to me. I am most
astoniShed at his short-Sightedness
in not implicitly obeying your COM
mands. He ought all the more to
have followed your counsels, as you
had been to Japan yourself, and
therefore were q much more compe.
tent judge of the Japs than him.
Your warnings were quite right and
have been fully borne out by the
facts. 1 only. hope to goodness the
general won't jeopardize the final
success of your forces by rashly ex-
posing them to an 'echec' before the
whole of his reserves have Joined
him, which are, as / believe, still
partly on the way. The old proverp
of Napoleon still holds good-Ia vic
toire est avec les gros battailons'
('tVictory is on the side of the big
gest battalions'); one can never be
too strong for the battle; especially
respecting, the artillery; an absolute
superiority must undoubtedly be es-
! tablished to insure victory.
az had an interesting conversation
about the war with the French mill.
tary attache, who, on my remarks
that i thought it most astonishing
that the French as your allies did
not send their feet down to keep
Port Arthur open till your Baltic fleet
had arrived, answered that it was
true, but that they had to reckon
with other powers. After many hints
and illusions L found out-what
! always feared-that the Anglo
French agreement had the one main
effect, viz: to stop the French from
helping you. II va sans dire Git goes
| without saying) that If France had
been under the obligation of helping
you with her fleet or army 1 would.
|
| to harm her; for that would have
been most illogical on the part of the
author of the picture, Yellow Peril.
Does Not Want Mediation
st am sure England will by times
renew her efforts to make proposals
| to you about mediation-it is in fact
the special mission Of Harding as I
know, though you have already so
! strongly repudiated it and which is
most presuming in the extreme on
her part, seeing that the war has
| only just begun-she is afraid for
her money and wants to get Tibet
eheaply; I shall certainly try to dis.
suade Uncle BERTHE (King Edward
VID as soon as L meet him from
harassing you with any more such
! proposals. Should in the course of
events mediation seem advisable to
you it is clear that the first wish
for it must come from you and you
may be sure that shall also always
be at your disposal. I may compli-
ment you on the bravery and gall
lantry of your soldiers and sailors,
who deserve all praise and who have
| fought very well. I have. thought
over your suggestion about the com
mercial treaty and talked the matter
over with the chancellor. We have
no special interest respecting the
| place where the negotiations should
be concluded, but as you kindly offer
to send Witte over here Count Ser
gus Witte, Russian minister Of
tinance) we will welcome his arrival
and the sooner you invest him with
your powers to negotiate the better
| fnJ- t-un
| lected Major Count Lamsdorf my
| personal aide de camp, as military
attache. He is instructed by me to