voys then went to Portsmouth and set about their important work. The President needed all of his tact and influence to prevent the Conference from breaking up. By despatches to Japan and to Russia he was, as Bishop wrote, its "guiding and controlling force." Late in August the crisis occurred and it arose from the Japanese demand for an indemnity and the cession of the island of Saghalien. The President suggested, sending the suggestion at the same time to the Kaiser and the Mikado, that Russia should pay no indemnity whatever and should receive back the north half of Saghalien "for which it is to pay to Japan whatever amount a mixed commission may determine." This suggestion brought about the terms of peace. Japan with paramount wisdom accepted the suggestion. "The Emperor," so came the word to Roosevelt, "after presiding at a Cabinet Council, decided to withdraw the demand of money payment for the cost of war entirely, if Russia recognize the occupation of Saghalien Island by Japan, because the Emperor regards humanity and civilization far more than his nation's welfare." "An agreement was reached on August 29, 1905, on the terms laid down by the President and on September 5, 1905, a treaty of peace embodying them was signed." 2 The President received praise from all sides. Baron Kaneko wrote to him: "Your advice to us was very powerful and convincing by which the peace of Asia was secured. Both Russia and Japan owe to you this happy conclusion." The Kaiser, the King of England, the 1 Bishop, i. 412 et ante. 2 Ibid., 412. Czar and the Mikado expressed their approval gracefully. On September 6 the President wrote to the Mikado a letter in which, in giving him high praise, he reflected also his own ideas. "I express," he wrote, "as strongly as I can, my sense of the magnanimity, and above all of the cool-headed, far-sighted wisdom, you have shown in making peace as you did. . . . During the last eighteen months your generals and admirals, your soldiers and sailors, have won imperishable renown for Nippon. .. You have crowned triumphant war by a peace in which every great object for which you fought is secured, and in so doing you have given to the world a signal and most striking example of how it is possible for a victorious nation to achieve victory over others without losing command over itself. . . . A continuance of the war, no matter how damaging to Japan's opponent, would also have been necessarily of damage to Japan far beyond what could have been offset by any resulting benefit. The greatness of a people, like the greatness of a man, is often attended quite as clearly by moderation and wisdom in using a triumph as by the triumph itself." 2 Roosevelt was modest in regard to his part in the transaction. He wrote to his daughter: "I am credited with being extremely long-headed. As a matter of fact I took the position I finally did not of my own volition but because events so shaped themselves that I would have felt as if I were flinching from a plain duty if I had acted otherwise." Thus he wrote to Whitelaw Reid, our Ambassador in London, "The Kaiser stood by me like a trump"; but I got only "indirect assistance" from the English Government.3 1 Bishop, i. 412 et ante. Bishop, i. 415. Bishop, i. 415. ... Roosevelt's ideas of nations and of men are always valuable. He wrote to Sir George O. Trevelyan on September 12: "I am bound to say that the Japs have impressed me most favorably, not only during these three months but during the four years I have been President. They have always told me the truth. .. I cannot say that I liked Witte, for I thought his bragging and bluster not only foolish but shockingly vulgar when compared with the gentlemanly self-respecting self-restraint of the Japanese." 1 Witte was much impressed with the great prosperity, wealth and industries of this country; the "barbaric strength" was what appealed to him. Why all this talk about corruption? he inquired. I ask what is this corruption and they tell me that Murphy, the boss of New York, helps great financiers and then accepts presents from them.. Why shouldn't he? he asked. Witte, in Roosevelt's opinion, was thoroughly selfish; everything for himself, the country second; while the Japanese were patriotic, so much so that they desired to withdraw that part of the correspondence in which they had made overtures for peace. This request Roosevelt denied and then they were surprised that he was going to make no mention of the matter in his message.2 Witte said of Roosevelt: "When one speaks with President Roosevelt he charms through the elevation of his thoughts. . . . He has an ideal and strives for higher aims than a commonplace existence presents.” Rosen wrote that Roosevelt "had the moral courage to undertake the delicate and risky task of mediation"; 1 Bishop, 418. In this account, I have been assisted by my conversation with the President on Nov. 16, 1905. he brought about "the Portsmouth Conference and the subsequent termination of the war by a peace of justice and conciliation." Martens, who was an adviser of the Russians, wrote, "The man who had been represented to us as impetuous to the point of rudeness displayed a gentleness, a kindness and a tactfulness mixed with self-control that only a truly great man can command." 1 For his services Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize amounting to $36,734.79.2 The negotiations were conducted entirely by the President. He did not have the aid of his official Secretary of State, John Hay, who was in Nauheim, Germany, seeking a restoration of his health that never came, as on July 1, 1905, he passed away. Roosevelt paid a sincere tribute to the memory of his friend and showed an attachment to the refined gentleman from the West.3 He had, so Roosevelt wrote to Senator Lodge, a "great career in political life" and has "also left a deep mark in literature"; to Senator Beveridge, "Hay was a really great man." Hay wrote in his diary seventeen days before he died: "I say to myself that I should not rebel at the thought of my life ending at this time. . . . I have had many blessings, domestic happiness being the greatest of 1 Bishop, i. 419 et seq.; see also Impressions of Theodore Roosevelt, Abbott, 131. 2 For the disposition of the money see Bishop, i. 422; also Albert Shaw, Review of Reviews, 151, 152. The Brooklyn Times says under the cartoon, "Teddy the Good' in a new rôle. It is a very laudable purpose but would anybody but Theodore Roosevelt ever think of dedicating a Christmas windfall of $40,000 for such a purpose?" [The cause of industrial peace.] 3 It used to be said that Hay was a Western man with Eastern culture, Roosevelt an Eastern man with Western principles. all.... I have had success beyond all the dreams of my boyhood. My name is printed in the journals of the world without descriptive qualification, which may, I suppose, be called fame. By mere length of service I shall occupy a modest place in the history of my time. . . . I know death is the common lot and what is universal ought not to be deemed a misfortune; and yet instead of confronting it with dignity and philosophy, I cling instinctively to life and the things of life as eagerly as if I had not had my chance at happiness and gained nearly all the great prizes." 1 1 Roosevelt appointed to the vacant position, Elihu Root. "I wished Root," he wrote to Senator Beveridge, as Secretary of State partly because I am extremely fond of him and prize his companionship as well as his advice, but primarily because I think that in all the country he is the best man for the position, and that no minister of foreign affairs in any other country at this moment in any way compares with him." To Senator Lodge he wrote, "I hesitated a little between Root and Taft, for Taft, as you know, is very close to me." 2 These expressions exhibit Roosevelt as a rare judge of men and how deeply he prized the counsel of his official advisers. With Root and Taft to be called on for advice, he felt that he could not go far wrong; they were both good lawyers and men of affairs. An opinion prevails among diplomatists that President Roosevelt averted a war between France and Germany in 1905. The story is told in a modest letter of the Pres 1 Life of Hay, Thayer, ii. 408. |