The Washington times., 1921-04-06

to see that Russia must In time
have q surplus of agricultural prod
ucts. hence his aim to form . great
railway system to encourage agri-
culture and improve the situation
of the peasant-farmer.
The chapter on 1.-THE Peace Of
Portsmouth" IL important. and con-
tains touches OF unconscious hu-
NOR. There was opinion at the
time that the japanese were In q
state OF financial exhaustion. So
far none of their writer's of mem
oirs has been as frank as Count
Witte on the subject of finance.
He writes of his departure for the
United States and Portsmouth:
4, AT the time of my departure our
We had exhausted all our means
and had lost our credit abroad.
There was not the slightest hope
of floating either a domestic or q
foreign loan. We could continue
the war only by resorting to new
issues of paper money-that is, by
preparing the way for q complete
financial and consequently econom-
ic collapse. As a matter of fact
during the war the amount of pa
per currency had grown from
100000, 900 to 1900. 900, 900 rubles. This
lamentable situation was the re-
suit of Kokovtzevs lack Of ex-
perience, on one hand, and of our
optimism regarding the outcbme OF
the war, on the other"
In the course of the negotiations
at Portsmouth. Count Witte showed
extraordinary talent as a negotiator.
and a noble self-forgetfulness. Near
the end OF the discussions there
came the realization that he would
have to face his country on, his re-
turn, bearing alone responsibility
for a treaty resulting from the war.
but he had the moral courage TO
disregard orders from Russia, ac-
cepting on his authority a COM
promise more favorable to Russia
than that country had any reason
to expect.
PORTSMOUTH TREATY.
The conditions of the peace Of
Portsmouth bore very lightly on
Russia-she paid no indemnity. and
retained her fieet-while Japan re-
nounced all her demands of a nature
to affect the dignity of the Russian
empire. The treaty, SO favorable to
Russia. reflected great credit on
Count Witte, and 1t was therefore a
bitter blow for him to find, on his
return to Russia, how unapprecia-
tive his countrymen were. The EN-
peror conferred upon him the dig
nifty of county. but that was the usual
reward for the negotiator OF a
treaty of peace, and his reception
of Witte was cold. Public opinion
and that of the press waA markedly
hostile.
Sergius Witte was . commanding
hgure in person. as we'll as in the
politics of Russia. OF great height,
with massive shoulders. he was q
tall man in Russia, q land of men
OF high stature. His rugged frame
carried the suggestion of having
been carved out with a broadax.
A malformation of the nose gave
him a certain resemblance to Mich
elangelo. He was grun in deport-
ment, perhaps Intentionally, and his
voice lacked the fneness of Rus
slams belonging to the best classes
Of Moscow and Petrograd but he
never failed to produce an impress
sion OF force and originality.
ISwOLSkY's VIEWS.
In his Memoirs of a Foreign
Minister" recently published by
Doubleday. Page ~ Co., Alexander
1swolsky. though no supporter of
Count Witte. sums up ably what the
latter accomplished toward the
building of Russia. and tells frank
ly what he failed to do. and gives
reasons to account for the failures.
Writes M. Iswolsky:
Count Whites mind always
tvr~ aA ~ - ~
things; his political and economic
conceptions. even the most far
reaching, were not as general
rule inspired by a comprehensive
view of the functions of a state.
nor by the great laws which govern
human society. This explains, in
part. / think. some Of the errors
that he committed, but though
have been struck more than once
by his lack Of superior culture and
certain general fundamental ideas.
j do not go so far as to agree with
NJ Bompard, who asserted that
Count Witte was devoid of the most
elementary knowledge of financial
science.
81 believe 1T would be mere Just
to say that there were certain hours
in his career when. by the audacity
of his conceptions. and by the en-
ergy with which he carried them
out he put himself on a par with
the greatest statesmen Of all times
and all nations; but, at other times,
and. unhappily, on some critical oc-
casions, he was strangely inferior
to himself. This was due rathre to
deficiencies of character than of in
tellect. for In contradistinction to
IL
q man whose moral qualities were
not always up to the standard Of
his mental faculties"