RUSSIA'S RIGHT IN MANCHURIA.
By D. W. Stevens
[D. W. Stevens, Counselor to the Japanese Legation at Washington, in Leslie's Monthly for April.] THERE are, of course, two standpoints from which Russia's motives and actions in the Far East may be judged. She has constructed railways through fertile regions, hitherto inaccessible; built fine towns, mills and factories where before nothing of the kind existed, and established orderly government where formerly misrule prevailed. In doing these things she has made enormous expenditures, thereby creating important interests which she has now a valid right to protect. Considering the methods by which Russia gained a hold on Manchuria and the means she has taken to strengthen and perpetuate it; considering, also, the ulterior object her actions have plainly shown she has all the time had in view, this argument, let me say with all due respect, puts the cart before the horse. It is the same as if, having obtained your permission to erect a building on your land for our joint use and benefit, and, having built a far more elaborate structure than was originally planned, I claimed exclusive ownership and control, not only of the building and the land on which it stood, but also of your adjoining property, because I had spent a great deal of money in the enterprise, and had succeeded in constructing a very fine building indeed. The justice of such a claim, as between individuals, could hardly be admitted, and yet it differs in no degree in principle from the claim set up on Russia's behalf in the extension of railway enterprises in Manchuria.