The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY (WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1905.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2686, 6 September 1905, Page 51

The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY (WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1905.) THE WEEK.

A History, making Week.

"Sood nature aad gooa icase must ever jom.' — Vopx. | The past week has been a history-making one, having seen the conclusion of peace between Russia and . Japan and the announesment of the renewal of-'the alliance between Great Britain and Japan .upon a broader and more comprehensive basis. These two events have a close relation the one to the other, for there can be little doubt that the knowledge — doubtless possessed by the peace plenipotentiaiies — that a new treaty of alliance had been signed by Lord Lansdowne and Viscount Haya&hi (the Japanese Minister in London) was the factor which turned the scales in favour of peace. Thus, while to America belongs the credit of instituting the negotiations which led up to the Peace Conference at Portsmouth, Great Britain is entitled*-

. The Russian Hero of tin Honr."

to claim the finaL stroke of diplomacy which prevented these negotiations from ending in an. apparently insuperable deadlock. But the Mikado and his statesmen have, above all, earned the commendation *nd deserve the congratulations of the civilised world in exercising that meed Df moderation and self-restraint which alone mads peace possible. According to rII accepted canons of warfare, Japan was entitled to demand from Russia an adequate reimbursement of the enormous expense entailed- upon her by the recent war, but in waiving that rightful claim and thus restoring peace to the world she has laid the foundation of a sure future and earned " a foremost place amongst the Great •Powers. The ancient tradition of the Samurai which forbade fighting for gold 'has been kept well in view by the "Elder Statesmen," , of whom Marquis Ito is the acknowledged spokesman ; and, although . bhe terms -of the ' treaty may be unpalatable to a section of the Japanese people and may give cause for the Russian press to temporarily exult, • yet the net gain to Japan can in no wise be gainsayed. Released from the strain of the war, there is now nothing to hinder Japan from making "that rapid;' progress in the development of thY internal resources of her -lEmpire ' which the' marvellous^ record of the past few years assuredly foreshadows-; whilst tihe renewal of 'the -Anglo- Japanese - Alliance is the best' guarantee" for the •permanent -settlement of ; affairs in the Far. ■ East which- could possibly .be arrived at.Hussia, on the other hand,, has much, ta-VJo^t-O'set her hoese in order.- Crippled financially; with a' wrecked nayy, a ' dis-* Effected army, and a' people on the eve of revolt, Russia has emragh to occupy her attention -for some years to come without indulging in any wild dreams of conquest. Mr Asquith is right in designating the conclusion of peace as an. almost unparalleled victory of reason over passion ; it,, constitutes a' twentieth century .triumph for the .employment of- arbitration . in.the settlement of international disputes, and it wijl. not be surprising should the - Russo-Japanese* war Igo down to as the last of the great wars. When" Great Britain,' Prance, Germany, * and 'America, unite in acclaiming the-cbnclusion of peace" between Japan and Russia, it is: surely a harbinger -'at the coming of that millennium when war shall, cease to be recognised "as compatible with the ethics I of_a civilised people. ' From- the Russian standpoint M..de Witte •remains fne hero- of-.* the . hour. It must have -been -a proud for that statesman when he -was able to cable to. the Czar : * Japan agrees to" -. your demand- concerning* tKe Tconditions of- peace " ; , and •in many .respects he may be regarded" as the saviour,^of country. Tfia^hope4ias heen -expressed/ that -M. de.j Witte *wilL return to -.office as Pjriine. Minister.- of ; the .Russian JEmpire and 'b'eV emp6w«Eed;->td H - frame an- enlightened- ..constitution for that country;' but, seeing -that the -Czaf r 'ia'; surrounded by a coterie -who --view" Eteß "Witte with^ disfavour, this is. almost 1 - too much to expect.- A: glance at tthe^ career of this Russian-, of; Butch descent is of interest the" present ' junciJtire.' " jßefore !the war' broke out no" one knew better" 'than Sergius de Witte ihow unprepared, both in a military and , financial sense, 'Russia was for battle, and, together with Count Lamsdorff, Prince Khilkov, Baron Rosen and others he 'strongly, opposed histilities with Japan, or, indeed,-with any other nation. He realised that- the policy pursued "by Viceroy -AlexiefE- and Minister of the Interiorz-Plehve would; force Japan 'into a declaration . of war ' Though he promoted the building of ' the trans-Si-berian railway, the aggression attendant upon the creation of a Russian viceroyalty in the . Far East met with M. -de Witte's expressed disapproval -and ultimately caused his downfall two years n£o as Minister of Finance, a position which he had reached step by .step from . " that of a railway porter. He has always Been a -sturdy opposer of Russian re- ' dictionaries. -In .1901 he ; defeated for a time the Russification >f- the, Finnish army. Later, when the Russian Govern- • . ment proclaimed a state o£ siege at Kiev, Kharkov,' and other,, university town'Sj^and - it' was^prdposed to- piit-Stl" Petersburg also under martial law, Sergius de Witte converted the Council to his' way of thinking, and decided -the Government to make -copoessiotis -to the students, and to set aside^ "military regulations, by which hundreds of students had been drafted,,into . the army to serve as privates. During his" many years* term of office M.- de Witte -accomplished what no othev Russian Finance Minister had before done — he unified and simplified His Government's finances,- bringing order and credit out of apparently hopeless chaos. By the attention he paid to manufacturing and mining progress he not , only built up • Russia's industrial reputation, but also built up -a new element in society, which nntii then had consisted principally of peasants and princes. 'Finally, M. de vV'ittc succeeded in- abolishing all private liquor shops in Russia, instituting instead a Government monopoly of vodka or Russian w whisky'," and establishing Governmental stations fp'r : its "sale.- At ths age of fifty- " - six "Sergius" 'de^Witte'represents not only ■ a keen'-intellect^and administrative .--•genius, 'Viii^ also' a- ripe'^experience. Such a man 'vdeservtes "welt of .his country, and mora". t'Ban x * any. .other pf his compeers he seems%tted to undertake the important and responsilffe- task oi the regeneration of Russia. It -remains -to be seen whether the Czar -and ' his- Advisers will entrust !him with" the, work. "the drafting of the Peace Treaty has been entrusted to Professor 'de Maartens and M. Dennison, representing respectively Russia and Japan. Professor de Maartens is probably the- greatest of Russian jurists, if not one -of the world's greatest authorities on . International law. He is a Privy Councillor, of Russia, a Dermanent member of the

The Financial Outlook, ~~

Council for the Ministry of Foreign : Affairs, and Emeritus Professor Interna- . "tionai Law at the University of St. Petersl burg. Professor de Maartens was in 1902 i the recipient of the Noebel Peace Prize, which he so well earned by his notable service as an arbitrator m nearly all the great international arbitrations of recent i years. He acted in this capacity in the ; famous Venezuelan dispute, as well as in the "Pious Fund" case at The Hague > between the United States and Mexico. As a delegate to The Hague Peace Con- , ference he took a prominent part in the work of that body, and last year he was made head of the Russian Commission , of Contraband of War. In 1901 Professor de Maartens's great work in the cause of peace and his eminent qualities as a jurist received further recognition when the University of Yale conferred upon him "her Doctorate of Laws on the occasion of the bicentenary of that seat of learning. It will thus be seen that from the legal standpoint Russia has fortified hersen strongly in engaging the services of Professor de Maartens, and it is largely owing to his comprehensive grasp of the subject that the framing of the treaty has been so speedily, completed. It has now been - signed, but . the exact terms are not to "be announced until the. treaty has been ratified. t , . _________ 'Now that -.peace has been definitely concluded it is interesting to consider what effect the cessation of hostilities is i . . calculated to have upon -the financial position of the world, and whether business is likely to receive a general impetus. For a long time depression has reigned supreme on the London Stock Exchange, the monetary, burden of ; the South- African War having had ,fa!rreaching effects upon the financial position : : m England. To the inability of the in- ! j vesting public to absorb the. new issues I of stocks which were the direct legacy I of -that war may be attributed' the want ,of enterprise. on the part of business men ; throughout the British Empire. The war between Russia and Japan accentuated the position, foi whilst the South African. "War only affected England, the war in the Far East caused depression and nervousness, in* all 'the 'great financial centres ! of theworli, such as has been rarely experienced* in our time. Russia's huge in"debtedness. to France and the constant fear of European complications have caused '.grave anxieties, at thnes almost amounting to panics. The consequence has been seen in a hoarding of money on the part of wouldbs investors. The happy outcome ,of President Roosevelt's overtures ion -peace negotiations promises to lift the : veil of depression which for the past eighteen months has hung over the coni- - njercial and 1 , financial world. With the treaty nowj signed, the world wiljl - be -ready to let its- money hoards, flow . freely into -channels of enterprise, and _tbiflgs\i_ifej lively to improve at a rapid j^afce.v -The. Russo-Japanese -peace is bound -to —ark. a new era'- in -the world!s history, jrnot only" politically speaking, but ecoVjiomically- and financially as well, and -.Japan wilL j become ar prominent factor in tie world. The facility with . which she will obtain money from abroad will enable foer to develop a country the importance of' whose -resources is as. ye* quite unknown, whilst under Japan's auspices there is a reasonable hope of China being opened oip'tofhe-trade^ the world. New industries -will soon find employment for men arid 1 money, and we shall witness a revival of .that .spirit of enterprise so essential to the Ajwqrld's welfare/ Such .a revival is' sure lib benefit all the pro-ducing-countries .-in 'the world; but whilst in Europe, and eveft irr Australia and New Zealand-, that improvement will be gradual, the United States will probably be the first to participate in the coining economic boom. ' America's premier position is owing to the abundance of her crops and the richness of her coalfields, as well as to the magnitude of her coal and iron industries. Cool foresight and clever •management on the part of those giants i . of finance with which Wall street abounds i have brought New York to its present position, and will- be a prominent feature in enabling her to forge' ahead. The reports of the proceedings of Parlia1 ment during the past week do not- make very inspiring -reading. The House managed to render itself extremely ridiculous ; , over' an alleged breach of privilege incident, in which -Mr Rutherford ' and Dr Gibb were chiefly concerned, and owing to the Premier espousing Mr Rutherford's cause Parliament got into a tangle, from which, -it was rescued ;by the graceful and time-honoured device of moving the previous question. But although Parliament did not succeed in - haling the reverend head of St. John's "Church, Wellington, to durance vile," yet from present appearances/it would seem that the three Christchurch civil servants who have figured so prominently in connection with the mysterious voucher case are to be made to pay the penalty of their rashness, 1 although the Aiature of that penalty does not yet appear. The Auditor-general's report has entirely exculpated Captain Seddon from all suspicion of having received the alleged payment of £70 or thereabouts for reorganising defence stores, but on the other Hand no explanation ; is forthcoming of the persistent fashion in which three Christ church civil servants continue to declare that they saw and handled the mysterious voucher. - Under ' these circumstances it might have been I supposed that Mr Seddon would have I accepted Mr Taylor's motion asking for the fullest further inquiry into the business, but with that spirit of opposition which has throughout dominated the Premier in regard to the whole incident the discussion on the Auditor-General _ report has been postponed sine die. Nothing but the most searching inquiry possible will remove the uncomfortable impression held by many people throughout the colony that there is more in the business than \

appears on the surface, and wherever and at whosoever's door the solution of the mystery lies, it is to be toped for the credit of all concerned that a satisfactory solution will shortly Be forthcoming. .Nor i.s the voucher incident the only unsatisfactory iteni in the political world — the Governmental attitude on the Land Question could scarcely be more unsatisfactory. The Premier's opening of the debate now proceeding was one of his weakest efforts, for which he was promptly taken to task by the Leader of the Opposition, and there is no indication of the discussion issuing in any practical addition to the legislation on the land tenure. The Shops | and Offices Bill has got into a hopeless j muddle, and altogether the present session of Parliament, even should it be prolonged right up to the eve of the general election*, promises to be one of the most fruitless on record. Indeed, it is difficult to see how the present Government can, without some substantial re-organisation, hold together in the face of the storms which meet its onward progress and the reefs which lie in its course. It has ever to be remembered, however, that the Premier is a man of infinite resource, and an opportunist, of the first water, and where he is concerned it is never safe to prophesy' until the numbers go up.

The . Mysterious Toucher' • and Other Incidents.

Professp? T>«~Ba,«rfens: