• Tbe internal disorder in Russia is spreading fast ;
but the news from St. Petersburg mostly consists of speculations about peace. We have given elsewhere our reasons for believing that the men who really govern Russia are by no means ready to propose peace except upon impossibly favour- able terms, and that they see means of protracting the war while reducing its expense; and we may add here that the readiness of Tokio to suggest easy terms is much too lightly assumed. If we are to believe the remarkable statement ln the Manchester Guardian of March 27th—a statement evidently based on something more than mere rumour— Japanese statesmen of influence would prefer to go on with the war until they have taken Vladivostok. They would then hand over all Manchuria and Vladivostok, with its Hinterland, including the railway, to the Chinese, at a price which would make the indemnity upon-which they will insist somewhat easier to Russia, while that Power would lose, it is hoped for ever, its means of naval action in the North Pacific. The Japanese Government understand the situation in Russia, and indeed throughout Europe, perfectly well, and we need not say that they have thought out the precautions necessary to make Japan secure with the thoroughness which marks their naval and military preparations. Nobody now underrates Japanese valour or skill in arranging a campaign, but there is still an unconscious disposition to belittle her adroitness and determination in the diplomatic field.
