PROGRESS OF THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1696, 31 August 1904, Page 2

PROGRESS OF THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR

'SHANGHAI.. - .The'' desperate attempt of the Russians -ity sacijre command of the» sea,' and to consequently cripple the communications ;af the Japanese armies in. : Manchuria, failed last week. One. result is the further weakening of Russian sea- power at the seat of war. The main body of the Russian Port Arthur squadron found re-fuge-again at Port Arthur, sailed next day with the intention of again trying ;.to cut- its way . through; in obedience'to Hie Czar's orders to get out at any price, ,-declined to face the big fleet under Togo’s orders,-; returned to its anchorage, and lies there making what repairs it can. The ships that got away at the first sortie' are accounted for—at various

• ports—the N'ovik stranded, the Czarevitch ' and her consorts disarmed at Kiaochau h - and one thousand of their men interned for the balance of the war, and the cruiser Askold, with the destroyer GrosOvoi,. at ’ Shanghai. ' The Vladivostock v 'Squadron fared, worse,‘ getting. bach, ser--dajnagedj with the loss fof the big. ; V cruiser Rurik, built ,in 1894*. Great - things 'were .expected of her- as a fight- .- ing ship. .; British .critics said that her •;! „A-in broadside guns were too many,, too Crowded,'and .liable to. tremendous ... age in action in consequence. This ap- ;-. O pdarS to 'have been a just estimate. , < ' y A THE SITUATION AT SHANGHAI; > The best point in the situation is that • /-it is- the ohly point that remains un- ; A settled, while the road to- settlement has been marked by wliat happened in the German port. At the same time, the situ- . ation is unprecedented. China, the only T - Power that, has the right to do anything, .'T; has Aot the power to enforce her right ~»n the spot just at present, against the flat denial of the Russian belligerent to - ; take any other view than its; own.-of its duty. The Russian claims that the right time to enforce the neutral rule of "go or disarm” is after the. ships havebeen made ready for fighting again. . That would, be a breach of neutrality too gross to.be tolerated for a moment. The '• international squadrons are on the spot to prevent breaches of neutrality, and aJapanese/belligerent is there, anxio.us to force the Russian, to obey neutrality, on V; pain ofA/-being * sent ■to . the bottom. The 'safety of the position lies in the improbability of either belligerent ', ~ attempting anything against the neutrali,.;:.ty law, in .the presence, of international forces powerful enough to blow them out ,; of the: water.. The law has been laid down and obeyed at the German port. • It Is a precedent for the Askold, and Gro"sovoi- in precisely similar circumstances: . There is nothing to make it conceiv- ' able that the representatives of the neu- . tral Powers will allow any other solution whatever. In fact the latest news, is practically to the .effect that a'settlement ' mas been effected, onthe Kiaochau lines of j "go or disarm”; ; only that the Russians . have ele'ete'd to. go,. and three days have • been given them to get ready, a period A;!;iot long- enough to enable them to in-' 5-. ■ orease' their fighting' strength. The Am- ' .Omrican . Admiral' seems to have taken a very; decided stand in the matter. If things

; < work out' as. ‘the .Askold and ' "Grosovoi will on' Wednesday or Thursday have, to figlit for their lives with a.Japan- . ese squadron now waiting for them out- '• side. •• :■ : > '• . .V r-M V; , ' PORT ARTHUR. ; , ' / ‘ . ; , According to: the Russian General in ’; command, the Japanese forces have not ' ’ yet got, within six miles of the city, his -own men, 23,000. strong, holding a line :• twelve miles long. The facts' which are are that the Japanese summoned the garrison to surrender, and that they are keeping up a. very serious bombardment. The besiegers would hardly , have summoned the garrison to surrender if they had not been in full possession of a commanding position, and without being in such a position they could hardly have bombarded the place in the manner they did. Tire most interesting fact about Port Arthur just now is that General Kouropatkin last year visited the place and publicly-declared that it had been made inaccessible to all enemies, no matter whence they might come. y ■ THE SITUATION INLAND. " From the dismissal of General Stackelbergp- whose - attempt to relieve 'Port ‘ Arthur the other day was such a disastrous failure, it, iff plain that , the Russian - Commander-in-Chief is determined on •enforcing uprto-date methods of fighting. Stackelberg lost the battle of Telesze V because he adopted an antiquated formation which caused him tc be surround- ‘ ed and beaten so badly that but tor a :V. fortunate chance, his army would have been forced to surrender. The accounts of the actions that preceded Telesze led - . to the conclusion that the Russian defeats’were largely due to similar weakness of. disposition., vrom that the con-clusion-was natural that the same cause •A; continuing would produce the same effect?, until some tremendous disaster should fall upon the Russian . arms. When the other day it was announced, after the evacuation of Haicheng by the Russian right, Kuroki had interposed between their left and Mukden, while f A third Japanese army, newly landed at Newchwang was. advancing rapidly on .A the . west of the railway line, it seemed - as if; the predicted disastrous moment 'had got very near. Since then the turning of che Russian left has not been con- / - firmed, and that, coupled with the dismissal of Stackelberg for bad tactics, together: with the detailed accounts ot the v : ;v • jfghting of;: the Russians between Kaa-'•.:'':':pmg-ald:tohfiehg, seems to,show. that - Kouropatkin .has compelled his generals to adopt more up-to-date tactics. The Russian army held Kaipipg until the , enemy ‘ r : brought up his full strength, .; nd then ' they retreated -leisurely, /keeping • ;back : • the enemy with their- artillery.;, -The * tactics were repeated >, .day,..alter ■ ? ; : day until' the Russian army . found itself in better ■ concentration afterleaving Haicheng, and comparatively free from the molestation of the pursuing enemy; certainly in a far better oondi-

tion than Stackelberg’s army was when it got back to touch. In estimating the probabilities of this campaign inland. A has to be remembered that .Kouiopaikin is admittedly one of the foremost soldiers in Europe. GERMAN AND BRITISH COMMERCE. ; a great outcry has been made about the different treatment 'accorded, to British and German merchantmen by the Russian cruisers, and some timid persons have permitted themselves to foresee the ruin of the British carrying trade in Ear., Eastern -/waters actually begun. The- Sydney "Daily Telegraph” has the following sensible remarks on the subject;—lf that sort of thing .was to be systematically carried on, then British commerce would have to be protected, by force if necessary. It lias been modified recently,- however. The British Government entered its protest promptly and. firmly—a protest which' the King lias restated lii proroguing Parliament—and wisely waited'to see what happened. Tins morning's reports indicate. that restraint has not been incompatible with the enforcement of respect and rights, and that calm lepresentation ;has achieved what; underl j ngoistic- counsel,, might have been Obtained at a very terrible and Unnecessary price.! It.is probable, indeed, that, as “The Times” has suggested, British steamers were prematurely withdrawn from thje Par Eastern tra'de., The Germans; who have been .taking the opposite 'course of putting more steamers on to that route, and are now offering insurance at less than half the premium demanded in Great Britain, perhaps nad the -benefit of information which came from. Russia as an act of special friendliness, but it is equally likely -that they simply estimated the cnancos better than did the British shipowners.