AFTER MANY YEARS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11643, 22 August 1905, Page 4

AFTER MANY YEARS.

It is rather curious that Saghalien, the island which first brought J,apan and Russia into conflict in the Far East, should now.^be one of the principle bones of contention in the peace negotiations that are going on between the two countries. The island, as will be seen from the map, clearly belongs, in a geographical ssnse, to t.he Japanese group, from which it is separated only by the La Perouse Strait; but the great Russian Empire-builder, Muravieff, cast covetous eyes on a strip of land which fronted the mouth of the great Amur, and faced the seaboard of his ncwly-acqiiired territory. It was on these coasts that he and his lietitenant, Nevelskey, did some of their most brilliant work of discovery. Till their time Saghalien • had been supposed to be a part of the Continent. Muravieff's wide dreams of dominion in Eastern Asia included a -firm hold on the seaboard, a base for a Russi m navy, and an ice-free harbour, and for these ends the possession of the island -.vis at that time thought necessary. The tipposed strength of China prevented the Russians from striking southwards, as they have done of recent years, and led them on the line of least resistance along the northern confines of Asia to the inhospitable waters of the Gulf of Tartary. In 1853 Nevolskey founded posts on the island; ' and the Japanese disputed the rights of the newcomers. Treaties of delimitation were futile, it being Russia's settled aim to secure not merely a part but- the whole of the island. The diplomatic struggle was long, and led to an extraordinary situation. By the Convention of 1867, which was intended to define the joint ownership of the island, a clause recognised "the common right of Russians and Japanese to occupy unoccupied places all over the island." This strange definition gave rise to what has been called a colonising steeplechase, in which both Powers rushed about the island looking for parts to occupy. In this contest the Japanese had the advantage of a teeming population within a few hours' sail of the island, and in the end would have certainly triumphed over their rivals; but in 1875 the Russians agreed to surrender the Kurile Islands in exchange for the whole of the territory, and the little brown man retired from the comic struggle. It was subsequently discovered that the Russians had no title to the islands they had bartered away, but no doubt the inherent politeness of the Japanese will prevent them recalling this little fact during the present negotiations.