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Show T .. . Ftr Eastern Vcr - May Da PrclcassS. Those who hoped that the war lu the Far East might terminate soon have had their hopes dashed by the speech made by Count Okuma, the leader of the progressive party of Japan,' to the members of the united clearing-houses of Tokio. ' He warned his people to prepare for a long and costly struggle, the date of. the termination of which it was impossible for him to foretell. . . , The bitter defeats Russia has sustained would be enough one would think, to cause her to seek some .honorable means of arriving at peace, but such is her fanaticism and stubbornness that she is preparing prepar-ing to continue what seems to be almost a hopeless war. ,, -: . ' ' ' ' . Count Okuma in his speech did not attempt to hold out false hopes to his people. He told them that the cost of a war lasting two years would be a billion dollars, or an expense to the people of twenty dollars per capita. He professed full confidence in the ultimate success of the Japanese forces, but warned his people that they must prepare to make sacrifices and to husband their resources. , He declared that there was corruption in the political, po-litical, military and financial . departments of the Bussian Government, and asserted that dissipation among commanding officers was responsible for many of the Japanese victories. He said that the war would probably cost Russia two billion dollars, and that she would be unable to raise loans or increase in-crease taxes, as her limit had been reached. ' His statement appears to be accurate. He has described the conditions about as they exist. Russia Rus-sia is notorious for official corruption, and her finances must be strained, but she is still a powerful nation, and she may succeed in making an alliance that will yet turn the scale in her favor. That, however, how-ever, seems to be her sole chance to win. The Japanese Jap-anese have the best of it so far, and they are likely to retain their advantage. . That such a war should last indefinitely is bad news. It will result in the death of hundreds of thousands of men and will imperil the peace, of the world. It is to be hoped that intervention will be successful and that arbitration between, the warring nations may be brought about ' |