WAR NEWS BY MAIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12726, 1 December 1904, Page 6

WAR NEWS BY MAIL.

LIKELY SEIZURE OF CHURCH : PROPERTY. '"' /• Some sensation liks Dees, caused by per-. sistent rumours that in certain eventualities the Russian Treasury may draw upon Russian Church property in order >to provide funds for the war. It is even rumoured that tlift Holy Synod has already been approached with the suggestion I that churches and monasteries should themselves voluntarily offer some of their valuables to the State. Very huje sums could thus undoubtedly be placed at tht disposal of the Treasury* but it. is equally 'certain that art such tampering would be viewed with widespread dismay, and not least from the religious point of view It is the middle classes and the rsasantry quite as much as the Tsars and the nobility who have enriched the national Church by their pious contributions?'. The bulk of the Church treasure- is in solid gold, silver, bronze, Mosaic work of extraordinary value, and ikons and sacred paintings, hundreds of which are practically priceless and could never be replaced.

GENERAL,, KELLER'S LETTERS TO

HIS WIPE.

One of the most' interesting contributions to the Inst My of the war will be "viie:."! Count Keller's letters to his wife. They contain much important information 'concerning the organisation of the <rmy and the conduct of the : troops. Whole regiments were without uniforms or proper clothes; others had no hoots; the' defteiency of the sanitary arrangements was appalling,. 7 and confusion was genera!. General Keller expressed himself . very strongly concerning the capacity of many of his colleagues. His opinion of Kiuopatkiii was not high, and his views or. several others would not. form pleasant reading for the officers concerned. la General Sr.ssulU.ch, however, his confident* was grea/er, fcnd he professed groat , .v-L miiution ft? the common soldier. Countess Keller 'as been persuaded by friends, and especially by some persons connected with the Government, to postpone her intention of publishing these memoir?',' abroad Until r.fter the war. Their publication at the present moment. would produce i painful ■*ft<&i in Russia ' - .

RUSSIAN WANT OF CONFIDENCE. The following incident is characteristic of Russian official want- of confidence in the immediate prospects of the war. A large supply of tin plates had beer?, ordered from, i and supplied by, an .. Ekuterinoslav firm for the roofing of hospitals and huts for the army at Harbin. They have long been ready, and ought to have been sent off weeks* ago, but, though paid for and labelled, their departure has been suspended indefinitely, as Ute authorities fear that even Harbin* may have to.be abandoned, and its stores left in the hands of the encmv. : l ■ - " FEELING IN RUSSIA.

The reports from ; the- Russian provinces which have been > received in circles in Vienna, where authentic and sober information concerning the condition of Russia is a matter of ' vital interest, concur in showing the state of feeling disclosed 'by the recent disturbances among Russian reservists to be more ".general and more intense than .the European public has yet understood. With every trahiload of poor fellows fcitken from their homes and sent as unwilling sheep to the slaughter for, to them; an incomprehensible cause, this feeling broadens and deepens until it has now well-nigh reached the point at which it is causing the gravest embarrassment to the Russian military authorities. ENORMOUS WAR LOSSES. ■■!' AToldo correspondent of the London Times, writing on :' October 16, says: — " Preliminary reports of the great battle on the Hun indicate that about 60,000 men, the large proportion' of them Russians, have been killed- and wounded since the armies closed in. combat. X ven the Japanese, to whom a great victory is of paramount importance, seem shocked by the slaughter of their enemies. The people are receiving the news of the nation's victory calmly. No shouts of triumph are raised in the streets, and few flags are flying. Many expressions against ..the holding of any demonstration were heard to-day. ; rf :';- . ALL THE REGIMENT. Many picturesque incidents from thebattlefield before Mukden are being related in St. Petersburg. While the battle was at its height a wounded Russian officer and ■ a handful of wounded men reported themselves to the general in command. The general stormed at .-—"How dare you leave your men at such a moment? Back with you at once. Where is your regiment';" "Here, sir." replied the officer. : "What, is 'that all':" the- general exclaimed with horror. '." Yes, sir, that is all."

THE MIND OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER. -~ , ; '

M. Naudeau, the Russian correspondent of the Paris Journal, represents the following to be the state of the unsophisticated mind of the Russian soldier Why did we begin this war if we were not to come 'but of it victorious? Considering that we possess such vast -. tracts of undeveloped territory, why should we have sought to conquer new territory already more thickly populated than our own with people who detest us''" ; •M. Naudeau inquires what answer can be given. How can a peasant from Poland or the Ural be made to understand that it is indispensable to have at: open door on the Pacific? * ■A WINTER CAMPAIGN. Renter's representative had an interview on October 18 with Viscount H.iyashi, the Japanese Minister in London, who, in the course of conversation, with reference to the further progress of operation, said: "There is nothing to prevent lighting from going on continuously, for in some respects the Manchtii'iaii winter is more suitable for operations than the summer. The war will be continued through the winter, for the weather will not interfere with our transport of stores and ammunition. The next point of real Importance to be taken is Tiding, and when, this is accomplished there is nothing to stop our advance to Harbin,"

FRANCE AND MEDIATION. It is no longer the isolated voice of M, de Lanessan in the Sieelo that urges mediation on Russia and Japan. We have now the Comic de St. Maurice writing in the (til Lias a pressing appeal 011 behalf of mediation. Under the title "La Mediation Ncce.ssaire," the Comic de St. Maurice says: — "In Fiance it must be remembered that an ally is soipewhatdike a partner, and that everything that weakens one, also weakens the other. We have, therefore, every interest in seeing an end put to this senseless struggle. Enough Russian blood has flowed to espials the folly of an Alexeieff, the faults of a, corrupt Administration, the weakness of a Tsar as good as he is incapable oi .showing a will of bis own. . Fifty thousand Russians who have been laid low'hi the iields of Manchuria and Port Arthur proudly proclaim that honour is safe. That is- enough to make it possible for Russia to conclude peace with till dignity, even if, ,s seems fair and unavoidable, itshould involve the abandonment of ambitions in the Far East."