COUNT DE WITTE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5734, 1 November 1905, Page 7

COUNT DE WITTE.

THE SECOND MAN IN THE EMPIRE,

RESPECTED BY CZAR AND OFFICIALS.

(Per Sonoma at Auckland). ST PETERSBURG. September 28. M. de Witte arrived hero to-day, and was accorded a verv hearty welcome by a large crowd of officials and others. In a b ) iof „speech, replying to an address, JJ. de W'itta showed clearly that he was «eenl.y touched by his reception. When he left here in July, a small delegation attended him to the railway station. There was no public demonstration. To-day there were many officials, der>i> - the early hour of arrival, and five or six hundred enthusiastic people. They collected where M. de Witte would descend from the train, and when he appeared, broke into long and loud cheers, to which ill. de White bowed bis acknowledgments. The spokesman then read the following address, all standing bareheaded:—"Yon havo accomplished your difficult task, and the natron is grateful to you. You havo given credit for your success to the Emperor Nicholas. President Roosevelt the Emperor William of Germany’, and to the .press. You have forgotten only yourself. _We, however, fully appreciate your services to your country. The tree you planted at the Washington homestead at Mount Vernon will serve as a mark of token of union between the two nations. You have done much. Eor ourselves, and for those who are absent, we will once more shout a hearty hurrah." M. de Witte, who was deeply moved, responded as follows:—"I was so little prepared for this kind of reception that I must ask pardon for the incoherence of my words. I have performed niv duty well because I have strictly obeyed his Majesty’s instructions; because circumstances favoured me; because the world is weary of this bloody war; because all classes of American society, from President Roosevelt down, were in sympathy with my and your cause; because I was true to my country and her and your interests." M. de Witte was at once summoned to moot the Emperor on board the Imperial yacht Polar Star. October 2. The position of Chief of the Ministerial Cabinet, the creation of -which is called for by the institution of the Imperial Duma, with right of interpolation, was offered to Count do Witte on Friday by the Emperor, according to general” understanding, Count de Witte to-day declined to confirm the report, but ”it is known that at the Emperor’s request ho has abandoned his plans for going abroad in order to assist in the elaboration of a project for a Cabinet. An official very close to Count de Witte said the announcement of his nomination as Chancellor might bo expected within a month.

Tile Emperor, it is said in Court circles, recognises fully the great service rendered by Count de Witte, and entertains the friendliest sentiments towards him. Count de Witte occupies a commanding position in the Russian official world, which is manifested by the long lines of equipages drawn in front of his residence, and belonging to officials who call to pay their respects to the second Rian in the .Linpiro.