Once in a generation the intimate and vital secrets of a great nation
may be made public through one of the little circle of men to whom
they are entrusted; but rarely, if ever, till the men are dead, and
the times are entirely changed. Beginning next month, McCLURE'S
MAGAZINE will present to the reading world a striking exception to
this rule. It will print for the first time a frank and startling
official revelation of the present political plans and purposes of
Russia--the great nation whose guarded and secret movements have been
the concern of modern European civilization for two centuries.
[Illustration: GENERAL ALEXEI NICHOLAEVITCH KUROPATKIN]
General Kuropatkin--Minister of War and later Commander-in-Chief
of the Russian forces in the great and disastrous Manchurian
campaign--became a target for abuse at the close of the Russo-Japanese
War. He returned to St. Petersburg and constructed, from the
official material accessible to him, an elaborate history of the
war, and a detailed statement of the condition, purposes, and
development of the Russian Empire. Documents and dispatches endorsed
"Strictly Confidential," matters involving the highest officials,
information obviously intended for no eyes but those of the
innermost government circles, are laid forth with the utmost abandon
in this work. No sooner had it been completed, than it was
confiscated by the government. Its manuscript has never been allowed
to pass out of the custody of the Czar's closest advisers.
An authentic copy of this came into the hands of McCLURE'S MAGAZINE
this spring; it is not essential and obviously would not be wise to
state just how. George Kennan, the well-known student of Russian
affairs, now has it in his possession and is engaged in translating
and arranging material taken from it for magazine publication. A
series of five or six articles, constructed from Kuropatkin's 600,000
words, will be issued in McCLURE'S, beginning next month. These will
contain astonishing revelations concerning matters of great
international importance, and accusations that are audacious to the
point of recklessness.