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ANGLO-RUSSIAN RELATIONS.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
It is, of course, impossible to carry the prin- ciple into action between States, which are (Daily Press, 8th March.)
far too few in number to permit us to pick, Honesty and a scrupulous adherence to and choose. There is not, however, any promises once made, even if a momentary occasion to make agreements with such a loss be the seeming result, constitute with State, which, while binding on the one side, nations, as with individuals, the wisest and
on the other are looked upon as merely most economical policy in the long run. momentary conveniences to be kept or broken With Russin both have been conspicuously as may at the instant seem to offer the absent, and though in diplomacy it has not greater advantage commercial or political. | been considered good form to draw the: The nation that conscientiously fulfils its attention of the other Government to sins engagement is here at a serious disadvantage against the ninth commandment, there has when it undertakes to enter into negotiations. been a general feeling that the time was not In addition to her propensity, too, for de- far distant when Russia would begin to pudiation Russia has another equally bad feel in her own person the ill effects of her custom of interpreting all agreements accord- recent policy of bad faith. To the outsidering to her own point of view. A characteristic it seemed strange that any nation gifted example of this has recently been enacted at with a particle of self-respect should have | Shanghai, where, in spite of an agreement for permitted itself to be made the mouthpiece | respecting the neutrality of China, Russia for such astounding falsehoods as Russia has been keeping in Chinese waters an arm- has thought it compatible with her dignity |ed cruiser with a full crew, and refused to recently to give utterance to. We may give any engagement that she will not be instance the continual and perfect y gratui- | used for the purpose of levying war till tous lies about the evacuation of Manchuria. the Japanese, fired with continual protests Three times in the most solemn manner did and promises, threatened to come up the Bussin engage herself to the world at large river and sink her as she lay in front of tho to leave Manchuria on a specific date; three Foreign Settlements. times did she, in the face of these engage ments, make no scruple to remain, as if no- thing had happened that the most fastidious could take exception to. Three times, too, the other nations of the world looked on with the most supreme indifference; as if lying were so much the custom with each and all that all, like the crowd in the parable, shrank from being the first to throw a stone at her. We have been led into this train of thought by a recent utterance of Lord LANSDOWNE in the House of Lords, Rus- sia, in the very act of making her last silly brag that, if England persevered in her advance in Tibet, she would "make it hot for her, was caught out by Japan in Russia's own stronghold, and made to dis- play before the world how false had been all her boastings and how little her tall talk coincided with her internal rottenness. Never had been a more complete exposé of
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With the same
*
[March 12, 1904.
we to
No sensible
is
In
King's letter is correct, what are deduce from it? His Majesty is reported to have written to the Taar, assuring him that, despite the agitation of the Press and the man in the street, the neutrality of Great Britain in the present war between Russia and Japan will be maintained." There is really nothing new in this. Great Britain has already declared through the mouths of responsible Ministers that she will remain strictly neutral. mau has accused her of departing from this attitude. There is no call for her to do so while the other nations of the world refrain from interfering in the struggle now pro- ceeding in North-eastern Asia. Her posi- tion has been described as one of "keeping There is no suggestion of an the ring." abandonment of this position, except in so far as the Auglo-Japanese treaty Where that treaty is inay necessitate it. concerned a Br.tish Minister, speaking on behalf of the Government, has declared that Great Britain will act up to the very letter But while our Ġovern- of the agreement. ment's attitude is this, it cannot be denied that the sympathy of practically the whole country is absolutely with Japan. The breath, apparently unable to distinguish British Press is almost solid in its support
the man in the street the incompatibility of her actions with her of our ally, and professions, she complained of Japan having ready to cheer Japan and demonstrate in sent to Woosung à cruiser to watch her her favour on all possible occasions.
Russia there can be no doubt that consider- operations, it is very evident, and should be perfectly clear to our Foreign Office, that able attention has been paid to this move- in such a case any arrangement which binds ment in the Press and the public of Great Alarm has been excited, aud it the one party, while it practically leaves the Britain. other unfettered, only multiplies the points seemis more than probible that King of friction; and so far from tending to pro- | EDWARD's letter to the Tsar was prompted mot : friendly relations, only aggravates the¦ by a desire to reassure the Russian monarch present incompatabilities. In cases like that the demonstrations of popular feeling, the present, where the incompatibility of the in England must not be taken to indicate views of the two natious is so great, it may that the country was preparing to rush into very well be a moot point whether the farce hostilities with Russia. The letter may have of diplomatic relations had not better be been intended also as a rebuke to the home abandoned between London and S. Peters Press --that part of it which is most bitterly burg. A means of communication which anti-Russian, chiefly, it seems, the Daily only leads to sach insulting passages as Telegraph and Daily Mail of London-and have recently marked our intercourse cân- to the inan in the street and, it may be nt in any way have a tendency to makejtor added, in the music hall. To attach more a system of deliberate deception and false-peace or for a befter understanding. Our weight to it would be wrong. That mistake will doubtless he made, however, and the hood, and the rest of the nations were fairly way would actually be clearer, and bur laughing in their sleeves at the curious cou- capacity for setting to rights difficulties King's letter will be twisted into an indica trast betw.en Russia, as she had secined casier, wore all our business with S. Peters- tion of a change of attitude on the part of only the week before, and Russia as she burg to be conducted through a consular Great Britain. There is no such change. was exhibited in her naked unloveliness agent. In such a case we should per
er- | Britain wishes to see peace, as she has wish- at the moment. It might have been fectly comprehend the position in eached all along. expected that under the conditions Lord case, which under our present system reports about offers of mediation, based LANSDOWNE, if he condescended
seems to be an impossibility. At all events, make any reply whatever, would have the time has come for droppi diplonlatic replied to the effect, that if the British speech, and reverting to such plain lan. Commissioner found any emissary of guage that Russia canot plead any mis- Russia at Lhassa engaged in any secret understanding of its intent. To clothe our intrigue, he had instructions to act sum- thought in periphrastic language, is in marily, in accordance with international such cases unkind both to Russia and four- laws. Instead of this we find our Foreign selves, inasmuch as it leaves the gate open Office going through the farce of offering to further talk and so proportionately to enter into an arrangement with Russia, increases the friction of a badly geared actually condoning the insult, and impliedly intercourse, acknowledging that Russia had some business to be there at all. It is not indeed going too far to say that these foolish and uncalled for attempts to arrest the progress of Russia have never had but one effect; and that is, in convincing her that we have been actu- ated in all by but one motive - and that is a craven fear that after all the vapourings of Russia are something to be afraid of.
to
Far better, and in the loug rua more dignified, if we had plucked up heart of grace, even at the risk of being hard hit, and not left it for Japan to boast that of all the nations she was the first, and unassisted, to prick tle overblown bubble that had carried consternation through the whole civilised world. In private life we naturally refuse to hold intercourse with a man who habitually disregards his word,
KING EDWARD AND THE TSAR.
į
on
There is a revival of the
what we do not know. The 08- tasiatische Lloyd of Shanghai says that the story about Britain trying to mediate now between Russia and Japan is con- firmed by well-informed Russian quarters as fully correct; but, further says our German contemporary, even taking no unreasonable demands account of the
and
is it
of Japan, Russia has flatly rejected any mediation at this time. Really neither present, country desires mediation at
Britain not likely that will take the risk of being snubbed by pressing the offer of her services. We shall (Daily Press, 7th March.)
continue to remain neutral, unless forced to REUTER'S telegram of the 4thfinstant, refer-act otherwise, and if our neutrality is more ring to certain correspondence between benevolent toward Japan than Russia that King EDWARD and the Tsar, is perhaps is the fruit of Russia's policy in the past. rather likely to have too much importance With regard to the question what effect the attached to it. In the first place, it is not lapse of time will have on our position it is probable that the actual text of King idle at present to speculate. As has been EDWARD's letter has been made public, and said repeatedly in these columns, we could not afford to seo Russia paramount in any outline of its contents therefore nust be tentative only; that is to say, liable to North-East Asia, which is what the crushing
In interpreting any of Japan by her would men. misrepresentation.
Apart from official document, the exact wording of our duties to our ally, we have our own which is unknown, the bias of the one who interests in China to cous.der, and they are is interpreting must inevitably cause a threatened with absolute ruin if Russia certain amount of distortion. However, continues to advance and drive's all com- supposing that REUTER's summary of the 'petitors away.
ཝམཱསཱབྷཱཝཱཧཱ༔ དྷ ཧཏྠ ནིཏྟཾཟ)
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