The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 16, 1905, Page 11

THE SAN TFRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. 1 4 Kory's glve = € t was, as ew idea. DEMANDING AN CPEN DeoOR. SHINGION KRIBGHOR MR KONUIRA stlll more bitter, to quote his own re- strained language: “The insulting formal- ifies required as preliminaries ‘to the treaty by the ministers of the Emperor left me no alternative save that of ter- minating & protracted correspondence singularly marked by duplicity and pre- varication on the part of the official ser- vants of the Emperor.” Though many times rebuffed, Mr. Rob- erts succeeded, and without loss of dig- nity, for he refused to appear with bare feet before the monarchs of Bangkok, as’ was the court custom, and in March, 1833, he signed the first treaty ever negotiated between the American Government and an, Asiatic power. It can be seen to-day, I ! RUSO - TURKITH When the Pea¥eck reached Canfon the Chine: ensely incensed at the appea w kind of foreign the pot amchor “to create ered the Viceray of the Chig ship must return from whence In Annam his experiences were werc SETTLING THE RESULTS OF THE - WAR 1876 believe, In the archives of the State De- partment and béars on one hand the seal of Siam, the lotus flower, and on the other a seal comaining the eagle and ten stars, which Mr. Roberts. used inm the wcourse of his. diplomatic " explorations. YTowever, before the King would consent to exchanging ratifications it was an- SENATE READING ROOM CQONGREST IONAL LIBRARY PHOTO THE BY WANDY nounced that he must be cajoled with rich presents, which were named and specified. Among them five pairs of stone statues of men and women clothed in the cos- tumes of the United States were re- quisitionéd. Rough hewn pleces of stone, faintly suggestive of the garb of our country men and women in the days of Andrew Jackson, stang to-day in a court- yard of one of the royal wats in Bangkok, and they are, I doubt not, souvenirs of Mr. Roberts’ visit and evidences of the painstaking way in which he did his work. With Muscat Mr. Roberts was pleased and it seems a pify that such a fine people should Lave disappeared from tue face of the earth. Of this delect- able court he writes: “Here was to be seen no abasing, grovelling or crouch- _ing, or knocking of heads or boots off, but all was manly and every one stood on his feet.” On returning to China, to have an- other go at the Viceroy who had or- dered him begone In such an energetic manner, Mr. Roberis was stricken with the plague and died and was buried in Macoa, and some . cars ago I saw his humble grave there and read his mod- est” epitaph, which says that “under OTENTIARIES WILI PEACT MEET’ instructions from his government he negotiated treaties of amity and com- merce with the kingdoms of Siam and 0. Muscat.” Truly he was the pioneer of our diplomacy in the Far East, and the memory of men like him should be recalled, if but for a moment, before we enter upon the conference in Wash- ington, where next month the greatest power of Asia will raise the cry of Asia for the Asiatics” in a conference which will greatly resemble an,inter- tional tribunal of justice. The choice of Washington as the place of the conference which may re- sult in peace or in a greater and more extensive war is due to the fact that the principals in the struggle could not agree between themselves upon any other neutral point. Russia at the first ‘word of mediation was for The Hague or the capital of any other of the lesser European Stater Her choice was mo- tived, of course, by reasons of conveni- ence and by the hope of arousing on the Eurepean continent an anti-Asiatic feeling, which has throughout the great struggle flared up. fitfully, if at ail. No explanation has ever béen offered of “Ja) e choice of Chefu, but ‘to ainted with the recent career " M NELIDGFF of the island empire.it is not far to seek. In 1865 Chefu,, the little seaport on the Gulf of Pechili, was the scene of Japan's greatest discomfiture. Naturally it was chosen 2s the place wheré her. magnificent successes on both land and } sea ave’ to be translated into protocols and con-ecrated by treaty. : In April, 18%, when China was van- quished - 2nd the victorjous - Japapese armics were threatening Peking, Russla demanded of the victor the cessation of hostilitles and the retrocession of all her conqueéred territory on-tke Aslatie main- lard. Russia’s demand was supported by was a rather unseaworthy capture from the Chinese in the battle of the Yalu. Still Japan hesitated; the cup of humilia- tion was too bitter for the victors of Pingyang to swallow, and while they hesitated and offered every inducement to England, the island empire at the other end of the world, to go to thelr a: t- arce one afternoon In April the great Russian fleet of twenty-three ships, with their war paint on, anchored off Chefu and prepared for action. In those days there was greater entlfusiasm ' for the fignt In the Russian navy than has been shown in the recent epcounters. Two young midskipmen who had been put on shore suffering from raging fevers swam out from the hospital and insisted upon being allowed to fight. Inside the harbor were a dozen Jupanese transports and as many cruisers. On the following day at noon the time allowed by Russia for con- sideration of her hard terms expired, and at 11 o'clock the Japanese yitlded with the characteristic Japanese smile which covers such a multitude of feelings. The battle was off, and the. Russian admiral, Tyrtoff, hauled dowh his flag. After turn- ing over the command to the recently celebrated viceroy of the Russian East, Admiral Alexefeff, Tyrtoff went home and shortly died of a broken heart, It was said. He had been known, and I believe with right, as the father of the Rus sian navy. His career had begun as a mechanic in the navy yard at Kronstadt, and he had risen, unlike many of his brother officers, to his exalted rank by sheer merit. Tyr- toff hauled down his flag ‘and died with a broken heart, while the Japanese smiled and set to work building the bat- tleships and training the men who won with such consummate ease ten years later-at the great naval batfle off Tshu- shima. - In those days the affront had been s¢ direct, the humiliation so open, that even the boat coolfes of the Chinese seaport would not carry a Japanese oifi- _cer's baggage, but the Japanese smiled, worked and waited. Every man, woman and child in the empire knows why Japanese Government wished to formu- late {ts doubtless hard terms of peace Lae from the little consulate on the hill at Chefu, which was the scene of their bit- ter humiliation. In 18% the Japanese showed themselves to be good losers, and the, outcome of the conference in Wash- ington may be to reveal them in the role of good and not too grasping victers, which in nations, as well as in Individ- uals, is still more rare. ’ Of the. plenipotentfaries to the confer- ence in ‘'Washington, ‘which will assemble early'in’ August, in the reading-seom of the Senate In the Congressional Library, it ‘is'said, thé State Department itself not offering a suite of rooms sufficiently spaclous, the Marquis Ito, should he head the Japanese mission, Is undoubtedly the best known to fame. This is by no means the first visit of the Marquie to the United States, and despite his advancing “yedrs, lét us hope it will not be the Iast. It is difficult to give a sketch of tne life of’ this eminent statesman, because his career,’is identical with the wonderful renovation of Japan, which the last forty years have witnessed. However, some ofgthe salient features of his life may be mentloned, In so far as they will shed light upon his probable action when once the peace conference has a bled. The Marquis comes of gentfé stock, but by no means -of the nobility. Severa: years before the restoration of the Mi- kado, which wag the result of a bloody civil war that ended in 1863, young Ito, accompanied by Count Inouye and sev- eral- other young men who have since helped to make the history of thelr coun- try, escaped from Japan and the police of the Tycoon, Who were determined that the great island kingdom should not come in contact with the outside world, and so become enlightened. ESCAPED IN OPEN BOAT. These enterprising young men made their escape from their native prison in an open béat, and fortunately for them and for their fellow countrymen were picked up on the second day of their adventurous voyage by an Eng- lish sailing vessel. They all knew a little Dutch, which through the trad- ing post that Holland maintained so long at Nagasaki wes the only Eu- ropean language of which the Japanese had* any knowledge. Their Dutch helped them a little with the English captain, and - In a " luckless moment Count. Mouye cudgelled out a word of English, which was unfortunate in its results for him, though the ocoasion of a joke over which the now gray haired statesmen have a_hearty laugh when- ever they meet. Mouye said to the caps THE WAR. France and by Germany, and Japan's new ally, England, wa3 not very forward at this juncture with the proffer of any as- sistance except good advice. Still Japan hesitated. “If we only had two battle- ships we would decline to accept such dic- tatorial terms,” agreed the statesmen of Tokio, but ‘they only had cne and that ‘h‘?l TREATY OF mxm:}gxa: 'mmfi"?"flm{l SRR tain: “I want navigation,” meaning to say he wanted to travel. The captain, {hinking -he wanted’ to.learn naviga- tlon, immediately put him - to_ . work swabbing the decks, which wa# im tite days of which we write an indispensa- imigary to.the mariner's art.” e stirring days of the restora- HE GREAT CONFERENCE BROUGHT ABOUT == :BY PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT TO END == THE EASTERN WAR AND THE STATESMEN WHO WILL - REPRESENT JAPAN AND RUSSIA - ior voung Ito came to the front, and when, In 1872, Japan sent its first Em- bassy abroad under the leadership of Prince Iwakura he went as Vice Em- bassador, and as he spoke English he was the spokesman and voice of the mission.. Washington was, of course, the first capital visited, and there, by vote of Congress, the members of the Embagsy were declared the guests of the United States, and they were wel- comed by Mr. Blaine in an-eloquent ad- dress and by “Walt” Whitman in & poem which was prophetic. Sluce those days the Marquis has been Prime Min- ister three or ur times and negotiated a number of the mest Important for- eign treaties. In only one he falled, and that s not his. fault, for whe, in those days, could hope to evercome the obduracy: of tk Chinese? But 'that w Il many years age, and to-day the ideas of which Mar 1uls Ito was the apestle have penetrated to the most distant parts of China, and with his programme of Asia for the Asiatic S n, as he says it is, of any menace to the Western World. Should he appear in Washington in name the Marquis Ito will only represent Japam, but behind him stand th intold mile lions of China and bet, of Abnam Siam, and of Cambedia Marquis Ito is associated Mr. Ke- mura, the clever young Minister of Fop- eign Affairs in Japan, who conduct the Manchurian negotiations which lpd up to the war in a manner se_satisfactory to bhis Empercr. Mr.'Komura is a Harvard man, like Mr. Ku who represented Japan at St. Petersburg up to the out- break of the war, and th both speak English with a strong Beston accent. Mr. Takahira, the third plenipoteritiary, is 3o well known as efficient guardian of Japanese interests in Washington for the last three years equire no further mention here. The latest news from Toklo would seesm to dicate that Marquis Ito may not ate tend the conference in person, but Hmit his activity to inspiring the Japanese Foreign Uffice from his beautiful villa on the sea at Ciso, that most charming. spot on the Japanese Riviera, where the now venerable Japanese statésman loves 10O retire from the burden of the state af- faits which he has borne so many years It the Marquis Ito should not come to Washington, as now seems probable, tje Russians will be In a measure to biame in not having appointed a man with whom he could, according o the Japam- ese etiquette, confer without condescen- as to sion on uis part. The Russian plenipo- tentiaries are only men of the rank which Marquis Ito has ecreated and commissioned scores of times in his life But should Russia send an envoy of the rank or Wiite to the conference there can be no doubt that Marquis Ito would be there to meet him. The fact that the war on the Russian side has been so luckless will probably disinciine the sian Government to name ‘a military plenipotentiary, and so, of course, in accordance with the eti- quette which governs such occasions, the Japanese cannot be represented by Field Marshal Yamagata or any of the other military men who have been nominated by the Japanese press for the brilllant but obérous pest of emvoy. It is a pity that our chance of deceiv~ ing Yamagata is so slight, for he'is a wonderful man and in bhis person illus- trates the wonderful story of Japanese military development. When he entered the army Japanese soldiers wore armor and “false faces,” carried two sworgs and drilled in the “infuriated tiger” dr the “enraged elephant” formations, but in 1900, on the China rellef expedition, he commanded the Japanese contingent, which was regarded by all the officers of the allied armies as the most modern and up-to-date military force which up to that time the world had ever seen. Mr. Komura, who in default of Marquis Ito, his master and patron, may head the Japanese mission, is one of the mos: remarkable of the younger men im Japan. In appearance he i¥ lnsignificane personified, welghs about seventy-five pounds and has been iikened by these who loved him not to a mosquito, one of the bad kind. For the last ten years Mr. Komura. though I should say he is barely 45, has been the favorite ageme and “man on the spot” the Japanese “great medal men,’ or elder statesmen, such as Ito and Incuye He on his spuzs in Korea in 18%, when of Japanese diplomacy was so discrodited by General Miura's connection with the murder of the Korean Queen. I saw him often in Seoul, and could not but admire the sturdy spirit he showed in facing & situation which he Inherited from his diseredited and discreditable predecessor. In 1900 Mr. Komura went to Peking and participated in the, peace eonference there as a result of the Boxer rebellion and the expedition of the allies. ‘Dufifig his stay in Peking he won the confidence of the Chinese and laid the foundation of. that unpu Jished but effective alliance’ be- tween Japan and China, which has beem of such incalculable assistance to the island empire in her war with Russia. NAMES A GUARANTEE. The nomes of the Russian plenipaten- tiaries give the best guarantee that Rus- sia fully appreciates the gravity of the situation from whieh the conference i ‘Washington offers her most honorabie de- liverance. M. de Nelidoff; the announced head of the mission, is a protege of the late M. de Giers, who has rendered his country invaluable services in Pergia and in Tvrkey and in France. Indeed, wher- ever the Interests of Russia would seem to huve been in jeopardy, there the court- Iy M. de Nelidoff bas been sent. He has, I believe, never lived in the Far East, and under these circumstances his selec- tion shows that Russia appreclates the world wide importance of the conference 4and a disposition net te localize the de- Hberations, which may have far-reaching consequences. ’y On the other hand, the second member of the Russian mission, Baron de Rosea, has local knowledge both of Ameriea, where he served for eight years at the Wasbhington Embassy, and as Consul General in New York, and of Japan, where as Secretary of Légation and Min- ister he lived many years. At the out- break of hostilities it was confldently announced in Europe that De Rosen had owed. himself to be misled and ‘that his d‘plumatic career was at aa end. Now, however, the truth is apparent, as all who bave had a chance to appre- ciate the first rate abilities of Baren de Rosen suspected from the first. His dis- peteches were filled with warnings and undeniable facts as to the warlike prep- arations of the Japanese, but they fell om deaf cars. Throughout bhis intercourse with the will Japanese Baron de Rosen never their respect and admiration. prove an Immensely useful second in the negotlations which are to be inaugurated, it not completed,‘ol: :fllm during roachi ys. R Ebe third member of the Russian: mis- slon is Professor Martens, a famous lNeist_and writer on International and also a member of the Hague tribunal. Professor Martens is considered to have & greater closet knowledge of the archives of diplomacy than any other lividg mas.