The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY (WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1904.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2634, 7 September 1904, Page 49

The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY (WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1904 .) THE WEEK.

" Xunquun zllnd mtun, suuii smpieatia diiiu' I—Jdtemu.1 — Jdtemu. "Good nature sad good tense mast ersr join."— Pon.

It was the Duke of Wellington who said. "Nothing exospt a battle; A Week of losb can be half so melan- • Fierce choly as a battle won," - Fighting and even whilst immense in Maacliuria. crowds of Japanese were J parading the streets of Tokio and otiher of their chief cities, making the air ring with shouts of "Banzai!" the thought "of the- cost of their- great victory over Russia could not but" fill them - with a degree of melancholy. It has been a week of 'fierce fighting in Manchuria, and when the full details of- the secies ol . assaults and , repulses, .brilliant charges and- • deadly artillery v ~duels come, to bs pub^ ■ Mshed; the fearful .horrors., of twentieth century warfares-will -be vividly brought ■home to every mind. The. full. meaning of, '.the week's war is illustrated in the thought that over -half a -million, of- men, or considerably more" than -the whole, adult male, , population, of !New Zealand, have -been - engaged in "deadly- conflict, the-pasualties' probably numbering, in *• killed and. -wounded, a. total equal- to the. entire popu-^ lation of Dunedin. The immediate gain, - to the Japanese is the capture of liiac--yang — which, guarded by seventeen armed, forts, was said to be>as impenetrable , as. r Port- Arthur,-— -with its vast "accumulation of stores,-.fiome of' which the Russians set fire to before evacuating the city. -It is' also stated that Mukden is not likely to' be defended, especially -,as-^the railway' _ between Liao-yang and Mukden is - practically in the. hands -of the Japanese,, they, -having possession of. the" hills command-, "ing the line. .The question . n«w r_"What will Kourapatkin do?" for theso long prophesied has .-fallen; leavily upon him. -He cannot retreat directly upon • Harbin, , for the- railway line' is now barred to him; a large ■ portion of his- troops -are-reported Ho be-south- of the Tai-tse River, .which >is" hi flood.; in .addi-r tion.to .which -it is. rumoured that GeneralStakelbarg's army of 25,000 men, consisting of the -First Siberian Army -Corps, is cut off . to the -Tvest -of Liao-yang. ;It is significant that -throughout this -war littkv or. nothing has been saicLas-to the taking! "of -.prisoners." In the words of.^Byron, "War, .-war, is .still the. cry, "War even to, the knife.' " IT-he Japanese; in' preferring, "hari-kari" to -surrender, have set a -stern example -which <thevßussiaus have- not beea . slow to ' follow," for . the disgrace of being, -rtaken^ prisoner -.by, those wh-on>.ib.e has been in the habit - of sneering at as a race of . "half men" is regarded as worse than im--.xaolation. And if Stakelbefg's army, -cooped in a i corner, with the raging river' .in front -of -them, aud the' Japanese troops and artillery pressing them in the rear, refuse to surrender, the ultimate .upshot is too terrible to contemplate, yet -not more terrible than -the hills and" valleys around Idao-yang, -heaped with thousands -of the dead and.dying of "both belligerents. ■•

Dan .General' Eouraptkin, with the bulk of „ - his troops, •' escape northCan Eonra- wards by the -old Mongolian j pattin Escape? road," - and; reaching - Sin-min-tirig, the -f-erminus 6i the Chinese railway, eventually regain ' '.Harbin? If there be -any truth in the Sty Petersburg reports that General LinovitcK, with reinforcements of 30,000 ' Russians; is within two- days' maich of Mukden, and that" the Fifth and- Sixth. 'Army .Corps, with adequate mountain •artillery, will reach - Mukden in. a fortnight, jt is to be expected that .Linovitch wilLdo what he can to cover Eouraptkin's -retreat. " On tb© other hand- KufoM _ will surely do his utmost .to obtain possession of Mukden, to -prevent Klourapatkin .and .Linovitch ffom- . co-operating, and by .'dealing with_ them. defeat and crush • both . Russian - armies. There is eoßsideraDle conti'adic'tion in the accounts- of -'Kourapatfcuris tactics : on the one .hand it:, is reported ' that h-e- recently-, urged- 1 General Stoessel to ■ hold. Poi*t Arthur ' for. another month, when h« woaW-rbTing-half-amillion'men-to "b4s- . rescue --'and on -.tho other -hand I ' it *is sup-J" gested that he 'has. been /deliberately re-J treating ..before* the Japanese forces -in order, to lute .th-eni into the interior, with the, object of crushing -them -between his orai= and Linovitch's army. As both rumours' . 'bear -the St. "Petersburg mark they: -were probably .put abroad in order to. =afford some -crumbs of satisfaction to a .nation already stunned by a -sense of the'.disastsrs which are " attending its .arms. Tar more probable is -the theory promul-' gated by 'Commander .Colqiihoun, the representative of the Times, who *ha& just .returned Irom cruising -in theneighbourhood of. 'Port Arthur, fle pre-; diets .that the Russian .reverse at ."Liao-' yang will -lead tihe Gzar .to sue for peace an Jess than two months, , for heiqxiestions' whether ' Russia >can ,-now feed half a. million men in Manchuria.

'Another important feature in the case is ' " the fact that General'ThtT -Kburapaikin' "in his ehKaintemince deavour to escape from the ot-Chineife' pursuing Japanese - army. Neutrality. - may cross the Liao. River and -enter Chinese territory. Now. although China has declared- her' she will certainly take steps.' to prevent the tide~of 'war from sweeping further, south, than the Great WalL Some while 'bade we were informed that the" picked men of the -Chinese army, under 'General ;Ma, were .being, massed near Shanhaikwan. Although- this was for an ostensibly jeaceful purpose, it .is quite

possiWe -that a -flying Russian force might tail into bad hands in that neighbourhood, and this might, in its turn, cause all sorts of complications. Some while back, Mr Hay, the United States Secretary for Foreign Affairs, .sent a famous Note to the American Ministers at Tokio and St. Petersburg, asking them to express the earnest desire /of the Government of the United States that, "in the course of the military operations which have begun between Russia and Japan, the neutrality of China, and in all practicable ways, her administrative entity, shall bs respected by both parties, and that the area of hostilities shall bs localised and limited as much as possible, so that undue excitement and disturbance of the Chinese .people may b^ prevented, and the least possibl loss to the commerce | and peaceful intercourse of the world may be occasioned." The United States practically secured the approval of the Powers signatory of the protocol of Peking to this Notej a fact which it is important to bear in mind in view of what may possibly follow. Writing in the Nineteenth Century on "International Questions/ and tho Present War," Sir~John MacDonell notes, "A peculiarity of this war, and one which has already produced much perplexity and- confusion, and with far-extending consequences : Usually belligerents fight on belligerents' -soil. If they make war on the', soil' of neutrals, they, in - effect, make war on the Hatter, or give cause for .the latter doing so. The very basis of international law is -the assumption that each nation is master in - its c-wn house, that its territory , is to bs- respected. But in the- present contest this -is ignored; all is confusion ; it is hard to make out who "are belligerents and what, is neutral soil." So that , according to this version, should"Kourapatkin cross the ' Chinese border, it may-- be . regardeU «s an overt act by G-e&lral Ma, and if caught between the 'Chinese in front and the Japanese in the rear., the -very fate may overtake him •which, .according to St. Petersburg, he ■hadiin-storeforCKuroki.

'With tke-'fate of Port -Arthur almost in '-''""■"-•' sight and "with Kourapat-Will-'Eussia kin certainly doomed, it is .Sue for -Peace? peitinent to inquire into the probability of the Czar "suing for peace, ~.f r f or it has to be remembered thaiPalthough- Japan lias clear .and -definite ideas as to the terms she .•\rill ask, 'the asking in the -first place ."will ,have to be done by Russia. The initiation of • a second campaign in Manchuria -will bs out of the question nntil the rainy season is past, the difficulties ■under which last week's operations have ;"bsen carried on being - evident from the statement that in 'one, of the engagements, •"which .preceeded 'the evacuation of Liaoyang' the 'Russian troops -waded through ■'seas of- mad. in" the face of blinding rain. .The fall of- Port -Arthur will mean the release . of- a large army, giving the Japan-, ese .an enormous . numerical- superiority. ;And ■ as .'that authority on Japaaiese* affairs, Mr >*Alfreds Stead, points out in 'the July Fortnightly, besides mere numerical ■.superiority, the "Japanese have the greatest- of-all advantages, that their troopsare a unit, there being no dissensions in rthe ranks.- The Japanese, perhaps, more ,than-auy other-nation of warriors answer •to the /description given by Shakespeare ■when he says : "Let no soldier S.j ; lie that -is truly dedicate to war hath no self .love." And working out the same idea, -Mr Stead writes : '-'The Japanese soldiers are conscripts, it is:.true ! -.but-in this war "they fight -as volunteer's,' with a~ personal -reason for wishing. £b -subdue the Russians. Officers and nien all have a common^ purposs, which is not^smirched by any desire .for self advancement ~or motives of revenge. On the"3lussian side the troops are far ."being -a unit, either, in a race -or desired There are pressed" men from - couutries^vithiri the Russian Empire who hate Russia, more cordially , than ever does : any one outside^— for these countries have 'had a close acquaintance with her. The Jews, tne-FiiuDS, the Poks, the Caucasians — there is a small likelihood of these being, .able) to fight as -Russians wholeheartedly. 1 Amongst the officers, too, there is jealousy, Irom Alexiefi ' and' Kourapatkin downwards* and dissensions' in command- do not aid "the 'army -in the field. Thus, from -the point of morale, the Japanese- -nave everything, the, Russians nothing. In v training and equipment it is the same." - The 'fall of Port Arthur will also release the- Japanese .fleet, which, after a- "wellearned rest and' overhaul, will probably sail northward, for is to bei "invested- and Sakhalin is to bs occupied. By the captuire of Vladivostock Japan hopes to .have something -which Russia will be prepared to pay a substantial inu'emnity to i*egain. ' With regard to Sakhalin, it was the action of Russia in ousting Japan from the possession of this island which "• seared the Japanese mind more deeply with hatred and distrust of Russia than almost any other act. Sakhalin is not a fruitful' land, but its fisheries are very valuable to Japan ; it is, however, largely a question of principle which is involved, and also a desire to complete one more -link in the chain of Japanese -islands lying on the eastern coast of Asia. The importance attached to the restoration of Sakhalin may be gathered tram the statement that a special association, known as the Sakhalin Restoration League, was this year founded in Japan. The terms upon which Japan will probably be willing to make peace with Russia may be summarised a® follows : — (1) The handing back, of Manchuria to China, under international guarantee as an open country ; " (2) the making of the CbiKcse eastern, railway' into an international concern ; (3) the possession of Port- Arthur ,and Dalny, should Japan wish to keep them, failing this" their return to China ; (4) Vladivostock to be returned to Russia in exchange for an indemnity ; (5) the island of Sakhalin to be ceded to Japan ; and (6) Japanese predominance in Korea. It remains to be seen how far Russia will go before she will stoop to sue for peace, and even tfoei^ whether she "'will be con-

cent fa swallow - the affront to her pride contained in such terms, as those we have outlined.

Although the Premier cannot be congratulated upon either the The Xew style or the matter of the Licensing 1 - e ' T Licensing Bill which Bii'j. he has had drafted and presented to Parliament, yet the inteirest excited by this m-easure is remarkable, tbe Land debate being thrown quite in the sl&de. Probably Mr Seddon did not expect m his latest effort to please cither the Temperance or the Liquor party, so that he will be in no wi*e surprised al the storm of criticism — for the most part extremely adverse — which has been let loose upon" this latest legislative freak. We uss the word "freak" advisedly, for the Bill doss not bear the imprec.s of an honest attempt to solve an admittedly difficult, problem ; and therein it has severely disappointed the large class of moderates, wflio, without wishing to proceed to extremes, are desirous of seeing the licensing question placed upon a fair and equitable basis. Ihe new Bill has a p umber of objectionable features, while the careless way in which niany of the clauses are drafted gives' promise of a plentiful crop of legal quibbles and un-d-esirable contretemps, were it to be placed upon the Statute Bc-ok in its present crude form. Of this, however, there is not much danger, the probabilities being that in the attempt to iick it into workable and satisfactory shape the Bill will be lest, and thus another session go by without any amendment of the admittedly scandalous condition of the licensing laws. The sooner "Mr Seddon faces the fact that the people are in no mood to be trifled with upon the liquor question, the better for all concernedt Anyone who reads the signs of the times can easily discern that the people are determined upon core *of two things — either that the liquor traffic shall be kept within reasonable bounds, and those engaged in the traffic be compelled to rigidly conform to the law; or else the present licensed system must go. Any attempt to deprive, the people of their present control of the sale of alcoholic liquor will be sternly resented — -such, for instance, as th-3 elimination of the reduction issue. There are a large body of electors who, whilst they wish to- limit the area of the drink traffic, are not inclined to go so far as to vote for its total prohibition, and to such the reduction issue provided a convenient half-way house. Remove the reduction isstie, and the effect is to thirow the majority into the no-license scale, and probably to bring about a condition o" 1 things in the large centres oi the colony which public opinion is not sufficiently advanced at present to maintain. The proposals for' taking -referendums upon such issues as " No liquor " and "State control" 'are only an otiher "evidence of the fantastic fastiion in which it pleases the Premier so often to approach what, iirom its vital' nature, ought to be F«rio\is attempts at legislation. It is to be re--fretted that the present session of Parliament 'promises to be as rruitless and*-un-profitable from the point of view of practical politics as many others which, under ths same regime, have preceded it.

There is a passage in Mark Rutherford's autobiography which, alCnrious though written nearly a Commentary hundred years ago, is Upon The curiously pertinent to the Land Debate. Land debate now proceeding in the House of Representatives, and as it serves to illustrate how- little the manners of men alter in each succeeding century, we make bold to quote it in full: — "The public outside knew nothing, or very little, of the real House of Commons, aud the- manner in which tißVs was squandered there. In a discussion of any .importance about fifty members, perhaps, would take part, and had made up their minds beforehand to speak. There could not possibly be more ' than^threa or four reasons for or "against the motion, and as the knowledge that what the intending orator had to urge had been urged a dozen timeS before en that very night never deterred him from urging it again, the same ■ arguments, diluted, muddled, and mis-presented, recurred, with the most wearisome iteration. In fact, I doubt whether anybody but the Speaker, and one or two other personsin the- same "position as myself, really felt with proper intensity what the waste of time was, and how profound was the vanity of members und the itch for expoassion; for even the reporters were relieved at stated intervals, and the impression on their minds was net continuous. Anotlier evil result of these attendances at the House was a kind of political scepticism. Over and over again I have seen a Government arraigned for its conduct of affairs. The evidence lay in masses of correspondence which it would have required some days to master, and the verdict, after knowing the facts, ought to have depended upon the application of principles, each of which admitted a contrary principle, for which much might be pleaded. There* were not fifty members in the ' House with the leisure or ability to understand what it was that had actually happened ; and had they understood it they would not have had the wit to see what was the mile which ought to have decided t'lua ease. Yet whether they understood it or not - th^y were obliged to vote, and what was worse, the constituencies a-so had to vote, and so the gravest matters were yet-tied in utter ignorance. No dock labourer could possibly be more entirely empty of all reasons for . action than the members whom I have seen troop to the division bell. There is something deeper than this scepticism, but tbe scepticism is the easiest and ihe most obvious conclusion to an open niind dealing so closely and practically with politics as it was my lot to do at this time of my life. Men must be governed, and when it comes to the question by whom, I, for one, would far sooner in the long run trust the people at large than I would the

few, who, in everything Avhioh relates to government are as little instructed as the many, and more difficult to Tnaove."