OCR Text |
Show tor M. Witte, and the answer tells the whole story of the Ports-mouth Ports-mouth contention. If Russia had driven Japan back all along the line and sent her fleet to the bottom she would have had Japan almost al-most as completely at her mercy as Germany had France thirty-odd years ago, and would have exacted the same sort of penalty, minus, probably, the territory. An enormous indemnity would undoubtedly undoubt-edly have been demanded, and probably collected. How could . Japan in such circumstances have resisted? Moreover, such conditions condi-tions would have been imposed as would have kept Japan out of Korea, while Manchuria, it is easy to believe, would have remained in Russia's grasp. For, after Japan's failure, what other power would have attempted to dislodge Russia there by force? .-. But, although Japan had accomplished so much and proved herself so greatly Russia's superior in war, she yet had no such bold on her enemy as warranted her in standing out for the cost of the struggle. The repeated lickings administered to the Russian army and the destruction of the Russian ships had put Japan in possession posses-sion only of the island of Sakhalin of Russian territory. The war had been fought on Chinese soil, and Japan was thousands of miles from the heart of Russia. And not only was the heart of Russia nof Japan's objective, but to go there would cost tens of thousands of lives and countless treasure, . The more the matter is viewed in the light of the actual facts the greater appears Japan's wiedom in closing the case as she did. It required courage in her managing statesmen to take such a stand in the face of what they knew to be popular sentiment at home, but courage, as all the world has seen, is a prime Japanese characteristic. character-istic. . WHAT WOULD RUSSIA HAVE-DONE, K0MURA ASKS. A recent cartoon in the Chicago Tribune represented M. Witte and Baron Komura, with cigars alight, seated opposite each other at a table, says the Washington Star. A smile overspread the Bus-sian's Bus-sian's face, while Baron Komura looked very earnest as he asked . this question ; " And no v, Witte, Just between friendsf'how would Bussia have treated Japan if we had lost every battle and all our navyr r The inquiry is so happily conceived that anybody can answer " Mtn - -iBBMM,MUJOL.l1 |