12th June.
THE Baltic fleet under Admiral Rozhdiestvensky carried Russia's last hope of turning the tide of the war. The annihilation of that fleet by Admiral Togo has had the expected result, and, og last week's telegrams have foreshadowed, Russin is willing to make peace. We issued yesterday morning an Extra announcing that "in response to President Roosevelt's appeal, the Japanese Government has agreed to appoint Peace Plenipotentiaries." The telegrams we publish this morning give the news at greater length. There was a difficulty in the fact that Russia, though beaten at all points, was still too proud to sue for peace, and Japan, as the victor, had no need to sue. The knot was cut by President Roosevelt, to whom the world should be grateful for his readiness to assume the rule of the "honest broker" as the opportune moment, who, as will be seen, sent to the Inpanese and Russian Governments on Thursday Inst an appeal, urging; them, both for their own sakes, and in the interest of the whole civilised world, to open negotiations for peace. Both Powers have accepted the President's proposals, and the plenipotenflaries will meet ab Washington, Baron Rosen, who is very popular in Japan, representing Russia, Meanwhile an armistice will be arranged Peace will receive the countersign for which she has so long been waiting, and the gates of the Temple of} Janus will be closed.
It has taken the Czar and his bureaucracy a long time to realise the hopelessness of a continuance of the struggle. During the whole sixteen months that the war has lasted, Russia has not had a single success by land or sea. She has lost on land nearly half-a-million men, and on the sea two fleets, so that, except in the Black Sea, she has practically no navy left, and her money loss mounts} held up to considerably over two hundred millions sterling, excluding the cost of replacing her navy. Worst of all, her reputation is gone; the Japanese have pricked, as they promised to do, the Russian bubble; and it will be very many years before Russia can again become the terror to Europe and Asin that she has been in the past. For this alone the civilised world owes deep gratitude to the Japanese.
ud the Russian people. To them Japan has come asa saviour. They never wanted this war, they had nothing to gain by it, and from them was wrung the money squandered by their Government. The success of Japan has given them strength, the strength to draw up our heartiest sympathy with and admiration of Japan. We have never and nt.to the the address doubted of her success in whatever of which we published a summary she undertook, and she has more than on Saturday morning. The tele-justified all our expectations, She grams do not tell us indeed that the was in the right from the first, and news of this address has had any-Providence has again defended the thing to do with the Czar's ultimate right, as the Czar pathetically reconsent to negotiate. But it isan cognised, ultimatum that has had its effect and the reforms in the government of Russia that will date from the war, the ameliorations in the lot of have really the workers is factories and fields Thousands of Japanese have died in been secured by Jo;
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.