Show KAISER SAID TO BE CHIEF OBSTACLE TO PEACE plenipotentiaries have no longer any part in negotiations which are transferred to capitals portsmouth N H aug 24 the prospects ot peace seem desperate but they are not hopeless despite the prevailing pessimism there Is still a chance and the forces working for peace are continuing their la bors the president failed twice but he la fighting on the result of ambassador meyers audience at Peter hot yesterday was unsatisfactory but at least it was not a rebuff it left the door open and within n few hours alter the receipt at oyster pay of mr meyers account of his audience the president had sent a new appeal through M watte who received it from mr peirce about 3 this morning the emperor has already lu effect declined thac proposed compromise offered by japan he had refused it because under a disguise japan offered to withdraw an article asking remuneration for the cost of the war on condition that russia repurchase on the military possession of japan tho northern part of sakhalin Sak halin at a fixed price of yen the estimated brals do guerre every message received from Peter hot those that came early today was inflexible upon that point had japan net inserted the aum had that been left for future adjustment would j undoubtedly proved more palatable and the associated press Is in a position to mate that the divergence n the compromise as suggested by the president and offered by japan at the conference which was mentioned in these dispatches last night touched this very point the president did not suggest a price or the fixing of i price and it Is believed although his cannat be affirmed that his latest effort was to secure this consent of he emperor to agree to accept the japanese proposition with the amount subject to further adjustment by an arbitration bit ration board or otherwise according to the japanese M watte has already offered to divide Sak haHn it the purchase repurchase re of sakhalin Sak halin was based upon a purchasable basis the following lines from the authorized statement of the russian position given to the associated press last night should be borne ta mind all that japan does Is to join the question of sakhalin Sak halin with that of a cash payment and to insist upon war costs under the name of purchase money the transaction Is fictitious and the terminology misleading if what Is proposed be in truth a purchase and sale it should be treated as such and therefore should russia decline to buy the territory japan should keep it and conclude peace on the basis of the concessions already made japan it Is believed would make further concessions suggested if emperor nicholas would commit himself to this solution this statement Is based on the words of the japanese authority most competent to speak when asked it it was correct as reported the japanese had said their last word and that all hope was over he replied no we have not declared our proposition of wednesday was our irreducible minimum we are not assuming a threatening attitude that Is not the way to make peace but the plenipotentiaries themselves no longer control on either side the negotiations have passed from their hands to their principals at peterhof Pe and boklo most persistently the report continues to be circulated here that emperor william has been one of the main obstacles to peace that while QS in sympathy with the presidents efforts he Is advising emperor nicholas not to yield the foundation for the belief the fact which appears fully confirmed that M wittes instructions were made more imperative and intransigent upon the question of indemnity and cession of territory after the keisers kaisers kai sers interview with the russian emperor in the gulf of finland beyond this no evidence la offered it Is significant that M witte made it a point to express his disbelief in the report from st petersburg which caused considerable consternation here that count lamsdorff had authorized reuters agent to declare that russia under no circumstances would pay a contribution either direct or indirect or make a cession of territory whatever M witte said he could not imagine that count could have authorized such a statement without informing him wittel st petersburg aug 25 a m with regard to a dispatch that has been received here saying M watte was awaiting instructions the foreign office says it is in dally constant communication muni cation with M witte and that he will be able to go ahead on saturday the latest developments clearly andl cafe that the associated press dispatches declaring that russia will never consent to the payment of indemnity in any form represent dussias Rus sias last word with reference to the principle of monetary compensation and the ex benses of the war the authoritative statement made to the associated press at portsmouth which is in the same tenor was made last evening by a declaration from the official spokesman of aba foreign office which was made almost with the force of a formal that under no circumstances and under no disguises would the principle of the indemnity be admitted and thas decision is accepted by the russian public as final it was declared at the foreign office also that dussias Rus sias sincere desire for peace was manifee ed in the spirit of concession shown by the russian mission on the other disputed points and that if japan wag willing to waive this demand which was consistent neither with the honor nor the dignity of russia there would be no trouble in arranging peace japans insistence of indemnity being the only barrier to the termination of the war the emperors inflexible determination Is regarded as warrantable in the case of a unvanquished nationals nation ls strengthened by the latest dispatches received from gen in which he reports the strength of the russian position and speaks favorably of the spirit and condition of his latest reinforcements and the morale of the entire army reinforcements for the front are reported as steadily arriving the thirteenth corps is now en route and the war ministry Is preparing to dispatch a compromise corps in case negotiations tor peace tall only regular troops and not reservists are now being forwarded and it Is reported that the city of moscow grenadiers grena diers have received marching orders A competent military of an european power who is acquainted thoroughly with the defensive facilities of vladivostok has informed the associated press that the japanese will find that fortress a harder auf to crack than port arthur it they decide to break off negotiations this authority declares that the japanese fleet will not be able to operate cooperate co with the attacking army except in the way of an bombard ment of the sea front as the mine fields and heavy artillery make it out of the question for big ships to run by the fortress and get in touch with tho besiegers on the main land this noticed during a trip through russia from which he has just returned that the southern fortresses were practically denuded of heavy artillery which has been cm placed at the approaches to the fortress at vladivostok vladivostok he says is a years task at least and more expensive than fort arthur N H aug 24 alex andor N special correspondent of the st petersburg sio vo telegraphing to his paper tonight says after the extreme optimism caused by the news of president Roosevel ts act ve intervention a reaction its importance not bo must exaggerated and who ever na character of tho head of the great and energetic american the republic will not doubt tha president once entered into the game will not surrender aa often da 8 0 se h ca am huchet W petersburg and even paris the in which limited and circum ascribed scribed his action were more conciliatory than the intransigent policy which has now been forced upon hm from st petersburg 1 am even tempt ed to suppose that the original instructions would have allowed our rep to enter into negotiations regarding the delicate but vital questions presented now by japan without having to apply to st petersburg the japanese as clever in diplomacy as they are on the battlefield in proposing a compromise upon sakhalin Sak halin made a very able move they practically i argue thus russia will not admit the principle of a war indemnity well we will not speak of it that way russia will not reimburse us toe the cost of the war well we will withdraw that condition russia will not cede territory well we will meet that de sire but russia they add cannot de ny the rights which we have obtained by force of arms to the territory of the island so that no matter what victories might eventually be won in manchuria sakhalin Sak halin bould not be recovered it russia wants sak except by force falln now japan is entitled to tell us to pay her tor it russia answers that in disguise the amount is 1 war indemnity in fixing the sum the japanese add that that s the cost of the island which russia can take or leave to this mr roosevelt adds the questions of honor having been put aside would you not submit to the judgment of impartial persons the question of the price the arbiters could be chosen by the two countries and they could fly the values thus further bloodshed would be averted it Is not possible to understand how russia who always believed in the justice of her cause should answer with a non possum feigning a question of honor where in reality U Is A question of money it Is not to be imagined that the government at st petersburg will be blind in its or that the emperor the author of the hague trl bunal will let pass such an excellent opportunity to add new glory to the idea of arbitration is so dea to him however I 1 must confess I 1 am not optimistic at the supreme moment all of h counsellors coun of the throne are transformed into clerks waiting tor orders and the while responsibility rests on the august man who wears the crown of his ancestors may god advise and aid the czar japan on dussias Rus sias face portsmouth N H aug 24 according to japanese information baroa komura and mr takahara lra are opposed to the waiving of the demand for war expenditures this authority said in the conference the japanese contention was that in conceding the antebellum ante bellum demands of japan russia admitted either that she waa beaten or that her attitude prior to the war was unjustified and in either case japan holds that russia should pay the cost of the war japan feels that dussias Rus sias talk of saving her face la hardly reasonable claiming that her face was lost when she conceded the te hellum demands which conati buted the real casus belli |