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Show "2s7ot One Kopeck" Is Russia's lil Reply on the Matter of Indemnity. ROOSEVELT'S PLAN IS 1 H INDIGNANTLY REFUSED ! Now Up to the Czar to Make or 11 Mar Peace Conference at Portsmouth. PORTSMOUTH. N. H., Aug. 23. Tho iH Japanese plenipotentiaries, at the conclu- 'H slon of tho afternoon session today of il the peaco conference, threw tho cards HiH upon tho. table. It was tho dramatic mo- il mont the moment to which all the pre- !H vlous proceedings of tho conference had jH led. Tho protocols Involving agreement upon eight of the twelve conditions orlg- 'H lr.ally presented by Japan had been 'H signed. One side or the other must make jH a-movo or the plenipotentiaries had reached tho parting of tho ways. ' Moment Is Dramatic. if Tho adversaries faced each other across 'H tho table. Of course, it was well under-stood under-stood what would happen, but that, In a way, only mado It more dramatic. 'H Figuratively, President Roosovelt sud- H denly entered tho conference room. M. Wltto sat silent, and tho move in tho great diplomatic game passed to Japan. ' IH Hfiron Komura in a few words explained that Japan, in her great desire for peace, was ready to mako certain "modifica-Hons" "modifica-Hons" of tho original articles, in the hopo 'jl that Russia would, see it possible to ac- H cent them. 'H Roosevelt's Suggestions. 'J He then presented to M. Witte the com-promise com-promise proposition which President Roosovclt had suggested. It was con-creto con-creto and specific, and it followed tho 'lfl lines outlined in these dispatches. It of- il ff-red to withdraw artlclo i), providing for -H the payment by Russia of Japan's bill 'H for the cost of the war, on condition that Russia would accept article 5. which Srovldes for the cession of the island of akhalln, so modified as to include nn ' arrangement for the repurchase by Rus-nla Rus-nla of the northern half of the island for 1.200.COO.0OO yen.. In addition it offered to withdraw en-tlroly en-tlroly articles 11. and 12 (surrender of tho Interned warships and limitation upon Russia's sea power In the ,far East). It was President Roosevelt's compro- .H mlso and M. Witte knew Its contents e-well e-well as Baron Komurn, Tho question of IB whether ho had been "bluffing" was put tH tr tho test. Declared It a Sham. Without a moment's hesitation M. Wltto fl explained that tho modification proposed IB was merely a sham, a change of phrase- ology. a diplomatic attempt to "dorer la tM pilule" and ask Russia to pay war tribute lfl under another name. He could not ac- liH He told Baron Komura Russia wanted peace. Sho had given the proofs In ac-ceptlng ac-ceptlng every artlclo involving the Issues ,M upon which the war was fought, but sho 'M could fight, and money for tribute sho would not pay, not a kopeck. He askeel Baron Komura to withdraw all demands IH for tribute-- Adjourned to Saturday. And so the plenipotentiaries separated. to moot again on Saturday, ostensibly to permit M. Wltto to place in writing, as IH the rules of tho conference require, his IH teply to the Japanese compromise propo- JH sltion. In reality tho adjournment over the two days was to give each side an IH opportunity to consult its Government for the last time iM Tho outlook Is black. Many believe it MM was never so black as tonight. Tho Jap- areso are not talking. Indeed, tonight ;B they appear to bo mere taciturn and moro jB rosoluto than ever. HftJJ Negotiations May End. jH Tho only possible lino of further Japa-ncso Japa-ncso concession Is considered to lie In tho diminution of tho amount of the purchase moncv demanded for the north half, of .jB Sakhalin. The decision rests, therefore. IB as It has from tho first, with Russia. Un-less Un-less tho Emperor agrees to yield between -now and Saturday, the end is likely to ccme on that day. And tho Indications JH from Pclorhof, Instead of raising the chances, indicate oven a firmer dctcrml- -nation to yield neither territory, nor In-domnlty, In-domnlty, sugar-coated though tho latter iHfl may be. Littlo Hopo Is Let, Tho long Instruction received last even- ' fMH lng. whllo not a reply to tho communl-. cntlori of President Uoosovelt given to M. HfEV Wltto at the navy-yard yesterday after- noon, was of a charactor to almost com- HhV plotolv destroy tho hopo that It will bo possible for M. Wltto to satisfy tho Japa- I neso demands. (J M. Wltto himself has been quoted as sajing that ho would not, if ordered to do so by tho Emperor, sign a treaty involv-lng involv-lng tho payment of a kopcok. But it must bo borne in mind that M. Wltto. in tho negotiations, is not a free agent. Ho HBJJ represents his Emperor. If ho were ab-solutely ab-solutely free, this conference would not fall. Ho would mako peace. Ho sympa- thlzes with tho solution offered by tho President, but his hands arc tied, and, i unless ho receives an Imperial command, IH ho cannot move. IH It Rests With the Czar. JM Black as th3 prospects appear tonight, I IH however tho failure of the negotiations ' IB Is not curtain. The Russian camp Is pes- slmlsllc to a man. but they all know tho quick and startling changes of front that IB sometimes occur at Pcterhof. And thero IB aro factors In the situation which might olfoot ono of those sudden nnd lnexpll- cable changes In tho Emporor's attitude B which havo frcquontly astonished Rus- , Private advices from St. Petersburg say j that sentiment there. In Moscow and in f other large centers favors accoptanco of IH tho compromise. This may mean much. But the real hope still rests with Prcsi-dent Prcsi-dent Roosovclt He Is resourceful. Ho has mado another move. Ho has sent Jm Embassador Meyer direct to tho Empe-ror. Empe-ror. and they wero togethore according to advices received here, for thrco hours today. , Kaiser Is Responsible. Mr. Roosevelt himself tonight may : know moro about how the Emperor feels H than M. Witte. and be ab o to act upon tho information conveyed to hlir i b his Embassador. Tho report is Industriot sis circulated haro that h.niperor William w I tm responsible for the nttltudo of Emperor Nlcho as T and everything Is traced back to tho mectlne of the Emperors on board i tL! nnrollern In the Finnish gulf. In jl suMOTt'S? this t s positively stated that , SVtnJ- ttin lntervlow M. Wltte's lnstruc-ffins lnstruc-ffins wero 'made Stronger and moro un- V Tho" following authorttntlvc statement of tho ltusslan position with regard o tM tho Phase of tho negotiations created by 11 lo proscntallon of tho Jnpnneso coinpro- f ulso today Is made to tlio Associated J Press: i "Statements have appeared In proml- i nent American and English papers. ! which, while eloquent, studiously mod- '! trntc, and woll-lnientloned. arc unhappily :alculatud to mislead tho world as to the i prospociH of peace and the general char- ' acter of Japan's no-called new proposal, which It Is contended Russia can close without loss of dignity. Tho rogrcttnblo mistake Into which tho representatives of thoso Journals havo undoubtedly fallen 13 obviously tho result of misleading data, leavened with real but secondary facts. Only Now in Form. "Thus It la quite true, as thoso papers predicted, that tho envoys of .lapan camo forward at today's sitting with a proposal pro-posal which was new In form but old In substance, It Is equally truo that that proposal lacks the two contentious clauses stipulating that Russia shall surrender sur-render to Japan her disarmed warships nd limit her naval strength on tho Pa-slllc, Pa-slllc, and that It reduces tho differences between tho two powers to tho compass of what Is In nppearanco a single question, ques-tion, tho snlo of Sakhalin. "Seemingly, therefore, Japan has nlso struck her pen through the most obnoxious obnox-ious clauso of all that which deals with Indemnity and all that she now asks Russia to do. In addition to tho terms already al-ready agreed upon. Is to purohaso tho northern half of Sakhalin for a sum of one billion two hundred million yen (51.20O.CCO.0CO), and this alleged simpllll-catlon simpllll-catlon of torma Is supposed to provldo Russia with an nccepinblo basis for a pence treaty. Identical "With First. "At first eight tho offer may perhaps seem now to somo, but a closer examination examina-tion will show It to bo In all essentials Identical with the proposal already rejected re-jected by Russia's plenipotentiaries. Only a person unfamiliar with war. In lovo with humnnltarlanlsm, foreign to Rut3sla and Incompetent to Judge of Russia's Rus-sia's national honor and dignity, could decry In thoso terms tho source of a new Impulse given to the penco negotiations. But a grievous mistake was 'committed by thoso who Imagined that tho plenipotentiaries plenipo-tentiaries pf tho Czar, tho representatives representa-tives of tho Russian nation, would tako the husk for the kernel, tho shadow for tho substance. A person of nvcrago Intelligence In-telligence can seo that what Is new In this proposal Is tho phraseology In which It 13 couched. Devoid of Importance. "Tho elimination of tho two clauses stipulating that Russia's disarmed' wnr-' wnr-' ships be handed over to Japan and her naval strength on the Pacific bo restricted re-stricted bring In no now element Into the transaction. For tho withdrawal of these claims, which were obvlouslv nut forward with the Intention of "being walv.cd In tho course of tho negotiations, Is devoid of Importance. Tho disarmed ships In question nro Russia's both by right nnd to ask they bo -handed over to Japan Is to demand a breach of tho law of nations. Impotence Admitted. "Again, tho limitation of Russia's naval effectiveness on tho Pacific Is meaningless, meaning-less, because she will be unablo for a quarter or It may be a half century to dispose of warships onough to keep a squadron thcro equal to Japan's, whilo It would bo fruitless to maintain a smaller one. Consequently, to spook of thoso things as concessions Is but to plav with words. It Is equally childish to nf-11 nf-11 rm that Japun foregoes her claim for nn Indemnity because tho new proposal docs not actually mention it. All that she does Is to Join the question of Sak- Inaun wun mat ot a cash payment and to Insist upon war costs under the name oC purchase money. Tho transaction Is- fictitious fic-titious and the terminology misleading. Not Piirchnse and Sale. "If what Is proposed be in truth a purchase pur-chase and sale, It should bo treated ns such, and therefore, should Russia decline de-cline to buy the territory, Japan should Keep It and conclude pcaco on the basis of the concessions already made. Again If a purely business transaction wcro Inched In-ched Intended, the value of tho tcrrltorv offored would bo tho basis on which the two parties would treat. But here oven IhlB essential condition Is not observed Tho prlco demanded for tho northern half of tho Island Is ,200.00),f00 yen, which Is the original estimate of tho war costs Possibly Japan may havo fixed that sum with tho Intention of whittling It down to some extent later on, but Russia, mindful mind-ful of her national honor, of her military strength and of her historical traditions will not and cannot consent to pay a war Indemnity, by whatsoever name It may be called, nor can she, nor, Indeed, tho world at large, regard Japan's proposal as a proof a genlune deslro for peace. Imputes Mercenary Motive. "Japan, having obtained all that sho needed and longoJ for ns a nation, now narrows down tho lssuo to a question of dollars and cents, yet refuses for peace's sake to walvo her, demands. Russia, on tho contrary, has conceded freely nnd fully everything sho could glvo consistently consist-ently with her sense of national honor nnd dignity. Hence, what to Japan is but a matter of money Is to Russia a point of honor. To withdraw tho cash claim Is, therefore, Immeasurably easier to Japan than It would be for Russia to allow It. Mighty and Unconquered. "Russia has suffered reverses owing to her own lack of organization, her unpro-parcdness unpro-parcdness and her Internal disorders, but she Is still a mighty and unconquered nation, na-tion, whoso people still enthusiastically uphold their representatives In tho firm resolve to keep tho national escutcheon Immaculate, whatever else may be affirmed af-firmed or donled of thorn, that Is true. They alono aro tho Judges of what can and cannot be .done In Russia's name. Japan Must Yield. "If, therefore, tho efforts of American friends are to be crowned with success, If tho labors of tho conference aro not to end in .smoke, and If the effusion of blood .In the far East Is to bo terminated, It behooves Japan to mako a frojik declaration decla-ration that sho withdraw, onco for all and without reserve, her demand to havo her war costs paid In any shape or form. Therefore, desplto tho positive and omphalic om-phalic declaration of tho well-meaning but mistaken Journalists alluded to above peace Is not and cannot bo assured until Japan unreservedly withdraws her claim to havo tho cost of tho campaign refunded re-funded to RusBla." Japs Aro Not Talking-. When shown tho above statement a competent Japanese authority declined, to ' mako any roply. "Wo aro not talking," sold ho. "Wo arc not fighting this battlo in tho newspapers. news-papers. When all Is ovor we will glvo our ' sldo of the story to tho world." I From an authoritative Japanese source the Associated Press is Informed that tho proposition to divide tho Island of Sak-I Sak-I nalln camo originally from the Russian |
