Page:A handbook of modern Japan (IA handbookofmodern01clem).pdf/402

318 be lured away from her own strategic position to a battlefield of Russia's choosing. The Japanese fleet, under the indomitable Togo, was watching and waiting in the waters between Japan and Korea; and, as all things come to those who wait, to the Japanese came finally the Russian fleet, steering boldly through the Tsushima channel for Vladivostok. May 27 and 28 (the latter the birthday of the Empress of Japan) are the red-letter dates of the great naval battle, which resulted in the practical annihilation of the Baltic fleet, with tremendous loss to the Russians and only slight damage to the Japanese. The Battle of the Sea of Japan, as it is officially designated, was the decisive conflict of the war; and it deserves also to rank among the decisive battles of the world's history. If Togo had been defeated, the communications of the immense Japanese army in Manchuria would have been severed, and Japan itself would have been at the mercy of the depredations of the Russian fleet. But the destruction of the latter was so complete, that it is not strange that Russia was willing at last to listen to the tactful intervention of President Roosevelt. Peace commissioners were appointed by both combatants to meet in some suitable place in the United States about August 1. The Japanese representatives were Baron Komura, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Takahira, Minister to the United States; and the Russian representatives were Count Sergius Witte, President of the Imperial Committee of Ministers, and Baron Rosen, Minister to the United States.

Accordingly, avoiding the heat of Washington, the peace envoys convened at Portsmouth, N. H., on August 9, after paying their respects to President Roosevelt. The Japanese presented the following twelve articles for the consideration of their opponents: