the preparations for the relief of the said division might be
dispensed with. Thereupon Chita not only proposed the immediate
despatch of Chita troops to Vladivostok without waiting for the
withdrawal of the Japanese troops, but urged that Japan should
fix a tine-limit for the complete withdrawal of all her troops.

Japan informed Chita that the withdrawal would be carried out
within a short period after the conclusion of the detailed
arrangements, giving a definite period as desired, and at the
same time she proposed the signing of the agreement drawn up by
Japan.

Whereas Japan thus throughout the negotiations maintained a
sincere and conciliatory attitude, the Chita delegates entirely
ignored the spirit in which she offered concessions and brought
up one demand after another, thereby trying to gain time. Not
only did they refuse to entertain the Japanese proposals, but
declared that they would drop the negotiations and return to
Chita immediately. The only conclusion from this attitude of the
Chita Government is that they lacked a sincere effort to bring
the negotiations to fruition, and the Japanese Government
instructed its delegates to quit Dairen.

The Russian official account is given by _The Times_ immediately below
the above. It is as follows:--

On April 16th the Japanese broke up the Dairen Conference with
the Far Eastern Republic. The Far Eastern Delegation left Dairen.
Agreement was reached between the Japanese and Russian
Delegations on March 30th on all points of the general treaty,
but when the question of military evacuation was reached the
Japanese Delegation proposed a formula permitting continued
Japanese intervention.

Between March 30th and April 15th the Japanese dragged on the
negotiations _re_ military convention, reproaching the Far
Eastern delegates for mistrusting the Japanese Government. The
Russian Delegation declared that the general treaty would be
signed only upon obtaining precise written guarantees of Japanese
military evacuation.

On April 15th the Japanese Delegation presented an ultimatum
demanding a reply from the Far Eastern representatives in half an
hour as to whether they were willing to sign a general agreement
with new Japanese conditions forbidding an increase in the Far
Eastern Nav