Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / June 7, 1915, edition 1 / Page 3
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Famine Has Wars But In the Men In the Trenches Have Become Weary Of Blood and Clamored For Peace What great force . will end the present European war? Will it be that great scourge, starvation, that walks hand in hand with death, heats down man's re sistance and compels him to sur render to this invisible foe? Will it be the Brotherhood of Man, for which al! peaceful nations are praying, and which comes when men tire of battle and long for peace? Or Will it be some great and decisive victory? History shows that in hopeless conflicts such as the present, the end mostly comes through men tir ing of battle and in the restoration of the great principle?, of the Brotherhood of Man. In the great wars of our own time this generally has been ' the cause of the end of the war among tha actual fighting forces themselves, while poverty and lack of revenue impelled the governments to sue for peace. Notable among the great battles of our own time settled by the fact men were tired of fighting men and keeping up a hopeless conflict in 'hich there was nothing ; to be gained, were: The Russo-Japanese war, Spanish-American . war and the Civil war. Although Japan was the acknowl edged winner of the war with Rus sia the terms of peace decided on at the Portsmouth treaty were very flattering to Russia. That . Japan should accept these terms, military experts declare, shows that it was tiled of war and craved peace. JAPAN' WAS TIRED. M. Witte, the Russian representa tive with Baron Rosen at the peace conference at the time, made a statement to the Japanese repre sentatives that will remain famous and is the key-note to the settle ment of all great wars: "Not a singip kopeck of indemnity shall be Paid,1' he declared positively, and Bot a cent was paid by. Russia. Japan, at that time victor on land to -Manchuria, and conqueror in three great naval battles, accepted th;se terms. "That Japan should concede this greatest of its demands," say milir tan experts, "proved conclusively tnat it was willing to end the war ard to restore peace to its land." in July, 1905 after more than a year 0f fighting. President Theodore Uoosevelt called a meeting between . Russian and Japanese repre sentatives at Portsmouth, ' ' New "jimpsbire. Russia was represent ed by Karon Rosen, the ambassador Decided Many Some Conflicts to the United States, and M. Witte, the principal. Russian liberal states man. Witte's opposition to the war. and his stand on the far-eastern question had led to his retirement from the Czar's cabinet as minister of foreign affairs. Japan was represented by Baron Komura, Japanese minister of for eign affairs and Minister Takahira. The plenipotentiaries of both na-. tions were entrusted with full power to negotiate and conclude a treaty of peace, subject to ratification by both governments. Some delay was caused in the selection of the pleni potentiaries because of Japan's in sistence that the envoys of both powers should be clothed with full power, to conclude peace and to ne gotiate a permanent treaty. This, say the military experts, showed that Japan ; was anxious to end the war. Japan declared firmly that she would not enter on a tentative conference in which she was to de fine her terms and then let Rus sia - decide , whether the conference should proceed with its delibera tions. She insisted that the pleni potentiaries should have full treaty-making powers and that negotia tions should be entered on in a spirit of perfect sincerity. Presi dent Roosevelt assumed the same attitude and nations of the world conceded that Japan's demand was very reasonable considering she was so far the victor in the war. PORTSMOUTH TREATY. After three weeks of negotiations at Portsmouth the Russian and Jap anese plenipotentiaries finally agreed upon a treaty of peace be tween the warring nations on Sep tember 5, 1905. Of the twelve, con ditions laid down by Baron Komura at the beginning, M Witte accepted six, namely : The recognition of the ; Japanese control over Korea, the Russian and Japanese evacuation of Manchuria, the transfer of the Liao- tung leasehold, the restoration of Chinese civil administration in Man churia, the transfer of public prop- " erty at Port Arthur and Dalny without compensation, and-the con cession of Japanese fishing rights oh the coast of Siberia. M. Witte rejected absolutely three Japanese demands: The war indemnity in which he said "not a single kopeck shall be paid;" the transfer of in terned warships" and the limitation oft Russia's naval power to the Pa cific. There were compromises up on the remaining three demands. One of these demands was the transfer by Russia to Japan of the railroad from Port Arthur to Har bin Russia finally conceding four hundred miles of the road north of Port Arthur and retaining for her7 self one hundred and twenty-five miles at the northern end. M. Witte of course, accepted the condition that Russia should retain ; the Manchurian Railroad. Concern ing the Japanese demand for. the cession of the Island -of Sakhalin by Russia to Japan, a partition of the island ;was agreed upon, Russia l ' -if ::; is m it.. :,. ., GERMAN GUARD AND BELGIAN GENDARMES DISCUSSING FOOD SITUATION taking the northern half and Japan the southern part. Russia also agreed to pay for the maintenance of its soldiers while prisoners of Japan. Japan finally withdrew her damand for indemnity and on October 15, 1905, the Czar and the Mikado signed the treaty in their respective capitols. FRUITS OF VICTORY. The result of the war in conse quence of Japan's uniterrupted vic tories on land and sea, was to raise her to a position among the great powers of the world, while Russia's reverses were a severe blow to her. The peace terms aroused dissatis faction in Japan, many thinking she had made too liberal . concessions and had not received the terms to which her great victories entitled her. The world in general conced ed that Russia had "gotten off" easily and that such would not have been the case had not Japan tired of war and longed to restore peace and prosperity to the country. At the end of the peace conference both armies practically disbanded and the war was ended. The Spanish-American war was settled under less attractive terms to the losing power, but the treaty came when both nations tired of battle. Spain ceded many of its in sular possessions (that it had poor ly sustained for years with but lit tle revenue income), to the United States and was not required to pay indemnity. Then the United States found the islands to be small "white elephants" while Spain heaved a sigh of relief on being rid -of the annoyance of attempting to manage' possessions where revolutions were monthly occurrences. The peace proctocol was signed at Washington, D. C, August 12, 1898, between Secretary of State William Rufus Day and M. Cambon French ambassador to the United States, who represented Spain by tender of his good offices. ..; Spain was forced to acknowledge the independence of Cuba, cede Porto Rico and later the Philip pines to the United States. This came at a. time when. Spain, weak ened by war, could no longer have maintained these provinces and longed to get rid of them. Pity for its poorly fed adversaries and for their inability to longer fight caused the American army toj desire peace. The troops then " were undergoing the ravages of disease and this proved a more effectual means of winning peace for Spain than any one other consideration. The Ameri can troops felt war was a fine .thing GIVING RATIONS TO BELGIAN REFUGEES when it is fought in an equal zone, but when it comes to fighting in a land of yellow fever it ceases to be exciting and made one . feel like suing' for peace and allowing Cuba to settle her own affairs. -, The peace protocol was signed in August. 1898, and Spain was paid $20,000,000 for the Philippines. Thus this losing nation was given a sub stantial sum on which to begin its regeneration and was freed of its troublesome insular possessions. our;own civil war. , Our r civil war was ended in an abrupt- manner while the Confed- HOMELESS AND STARVING erate army still had a great power of resistance, but at a time victory seemed just as fajc away as ever and troops on. both sides were tired of fighting. The South paid no indemnity and in . the end the Con federates were restored to their citizenship and were able to go back to their neglected farms and start life anew. The last great struggle of the civil war, preceding Lee's surrend er, started. April 1, 1865. The Union left under Warren and Sheridan were almost defeated at first in the opening of the battle of Petersburg. , Sheridan was driven back from Five Forks to Dinwiddie Courthouse but he finally gained a complete victory over Lee's right, capturing the Con federate artillery and more than o.OOO prisoners. In the evening Grant opened a terrible cannonade all along his lines in front of Petersburg on Lee S' works and the city. At the dawn of the next morning, Sunday, April 2, 1865, he made an assault on Con federate works all along the line from the Appamatox river to Hatch er's run. Longstreet had come from Rich mond to Lee's assistance, but it was too late. The Confederates were driven to their intrenchments with the loss of many prisoners. In all -Lee. lost. 10,000 men. General Am brose Power Hill was killed. That very "Sunday morning Jefferson. Davis while in church received the following telegram from: Lee: "My lines are broken in three places. We can hold Petersburg no longer. Richmond must be evacuated this evening." The Confederate president left church at once without saying a word. Consternation regined in the Con federate capitol that Sunday, after noon when Confederate troops evac uated that city and Petersburg. The president, the cabinet' and the con gress of the Confederacy fled toward Danville, thus putting, an end to the Confederate government. Hundreds of citizens also fled. The next morn ing Richmond was occupied by the Federal troops. The Confederate troops fired the city and exploded their gunboats before . leaving the city. Lee with the army of Northern Virginia, now reduced to 35,000 men. had evacuated Petersburg on the very day of the evacuation of Richmond. He fled westward toward Lynchburg, hoping to join Johnson in North Carolina. Grant hotly pursued him with the Aiiny.of the Potomac and many of the Confed BELGIANS. erate troops were captured on the way.. Lee's retreat was intercept ed by Sheridan near Amelia Court house where Lee's army was furth er reduced by the capture of Gen eral Ewell and his entire corps. RETREAT OF LEE. Lee's retreat then became arapid " flight. The fleeing army abandon ing their wagons, guns and all the equipments of war. Their provis ions had become exhausted and men and horses dropped by the wayside. . Many of the Confederate troops threw away their arms and dis persed to their homes. During this retreat there was daily fighting. - On Sunday morning, April 9, 1865, Lee failed in his last attempt to break through Grant's lines at Ap pamatox Courthouse. Finding escape impossible, Lee met Grant at a farmhouse near the courthouse the same day. He surrendered what remained of the Army of Northern Virginia, . less than 27,000 men. Grant's terms were most magnani mous. He and Lee met as friends, all animosity was forgotten and the troops of both armies cheered each other during the conference. Lee's officers and troops were paroled on condition they would not take up arms against the government again until properly exchanged, while the officers were allowed to keep their horses, baggage and side-arms. The next day Lee issued an affectionate farewell t9 the officers and men who had fought with such constancy by his side and commended their valor, fortitude and devotion. He was tired of war, so were they and so were the victors. The remaining history of the civil war. is soon told. Lee's surrender destroyed the last hope of the Con federacy and gave the men who had fought so long and desperately a longing for peace. About the same time General Johnson surrendered his army of 31,000 men to General Sherman under the same generous terms that Grant had accorded to Lee. Other armies disbanded and with . the brotherhood of man re stored, both sides went back to till their farms and forget there ever had been a war. In the civil war and all other great conflicts the battles raged un til the men tired of fighting and al- ist forgot the principles they re upholding in their longing to return to their families and their homes. Thus is the restoration of the brotherhood of man shown to have been a great factor in three great' wars of our own era. "War," say military experts,". Jasts , as long as the men in the trenches will tolerate it. When there comes forth from those 1 trenches the great rumbling of -dissatisfaction and the desire to end the conflict, leaders realize it is time to think of making peace. Men for get after a long struggle the very ' principles that sent them forth to battle. The hatred with which they took arms passes and they realize that the men they are fighting are as human as they, that victory is an ephemereal thing while defeat means death. It then comes to them that to kill an opponent is murder, thrft the death of another means a fajaily without a head, just as their dHth in the trenches means their I own family without support. It is under these circumstances that men desire peace and with their spirits drooping and their hatred passed, generals know it is time to consider peace plans." ; That poverty is a great factor in war, especially in the present strug gle, is . well known. None of the nationst with the possible exception of Russia, was well provisioned for the present conflict and it came so unexpectedly that there was no time for preparation. Germany now is converving its food supply and 'is making potato bread. Vast amounts of food are being consumed by its prisoners and with a blockade of its ports by the Allies, it faces even tual starvation unless something is dong-. Austria-Hungary is in no beSr condition and even France is ' rf irted facing starvation. Eng lA may have, its food supply cut off by the German blockade and Russia alone "has what seems -an adequate food supply. ,, s - !;.v. M l-'v hh - i ;. . i-i 'rx v'f 3r hitn- fl.l" -1 At Jl-S mm & ?i - f '
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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June 7, 1915, edition 1
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