Though there is no further news of. fighting on the
Sha-ho, it must not be assumed that great events are not being planned or in process of being carried out. Remember, there are now no war correspondents with the Japanese forces, and none that are audible with the Russians, and thus we only obtain the official despatches. Of this, however, we may be sure, that the Japanese will not for ever stand idle before the Russian lines. Meantime, according to a telegram from St. Petersburg in Friday's Express," the Russian Government is at last face to face with the greatest crisis of the war," in the shape of the fact that the Siberian Railway is no longer capable of meeting the demands made upon it, and that therefore the army in Manchuria is in danger of starvation. No doubt we have often heard this said before, and yet for a year the railwa,y, alone of things Russian, has done all and more than was expected of it, and has proved the one bright spot in the dismal picture of muddle and make-believe. Still, it is con- ceivable that at last the strain has become too great, and that the much-taxed line is breaking down. There are also ugly stories of mutiny among the troops guarding the line, and of whole sections being destroyed. There have been, we may add, persistent rumours of the recall of General Kuropatkin, but it is surely impossible that these can be true. The Government is not in a position to withdraw the one man in whom the Russian people have still some confidence.
