The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1878-03-20

they destroyed the commercial portion of
a Russian frontier town, and caused the
Gar to sink his feet within the waters of
the bay of Sebastopol, whence un-
harmed they were afterwards raised by
the ingenuity of American mechanism.
And this was all the impression that Eng
land as a war power, with all her allies,
could then make on the Russian Empire
And right glad was England to be let
out of her dilemma when the treaty of
Paris was signed, trding that Crimean
| War.
Since 1916 England's other wars have
been with unmilitary peoples. Her
"opium war" with China, in 1924, was
ingloriously conducted, even as mill
tary enterprise, for it is well known that
her attack upon Canton was saved from
disaster only by the volunteer interven-
ton of an American, whereby the Brit
ish frigate was rescued from certain de-
struction by the Chinese gunboats and
land forces. Her war for the suppression
of the Indian Sepoy mutiny was entirely
against native forces, poorly commanded
and feebly armed. The conflict was
more slaughter than battle.
England's next war with the far off
Abyssinians, in 1868, was conducted
with uncommon energy and most unu-
sual appliances of military device. The
transportation of batteries Of artillery on
the backs of elephants shipped for that
purpose from Bombay, and of supplies
and munitions of war upon camels and
dromedaries, over regions where roads
were unknown and where mountain
deserts prevailed, passing troops and their
arms over precipices by ropes to attack
the fastnesses of the natives, were won
derful instances Of Anglo-Saxon ingenu-
ity, pluck and endurance. But when
the enemy's capital of Magdala was
reached, behold there was no enemy
there. They had surrendered all and
fled. There was no battle; only mill
tary march of most singular and sue
cessful character. And such was the
British conquest of Abyssinia
Since that, England has had little
brush with the pirates of Borneo, with
the convicts of New Zealand, and more
recently with the savages of Dahomey,
and just now with the Kafiirs and Hot
tentots of the African Cape of Good
Hope. She was able to overcome each
in succession. And such only has been
England's experience in war for sixty-five
years past. Her conceit of her own ON
impotence as a war power can therefore
scarcely be wondered at Untried during
the present generation, except as against
these ignoble savages, she feels herself
irresistible.
But is England really so formidable as
a war power as she fancies herself to be?
Money she has; and money has been
called "the snews of war; And yet
money is not all of the essentials of war.
A review of the history of European
warfare does not present, with the excep-
ton of Waterloo, any fattering exhibit
of British success. Her military at
tempts on this continent have been sig
nally unsuccessful and disastrous. All
the possessions on the European conti-
nent once held by her sovereigns have
been lost to her crown; every one of
them.
England's navy is her strong arm. But
as against Russia that arm can not reach.
1t may defend, but it can not punish nor
pursue. We are informed that she has
an army of $4,000 troops. Of these
$4,000 are ready for the field, and can
speedily be landed on the banks of the
Dardanelles. But what would the whole
army of $4,000 signify when there,
while Russia has more than twice that
number of seasoned soldiers already
south of the Danube? Russia could
double her force, and put three
quarters of million of men
into European Turkey. She may not
have so much money, but she
has far more men than England can pos
sibly command. England's draft upon
India for troops would be worthless.
Her British troops in India she can not
spare. Her native Hindoos would be
useless in such a war. She boasts that
she can raise an army Of four hundred
thousand men by volunteers and regu-
lars. This is doubtful But granting
that it can lie done; then she has to meet
an antagonist of twice that force.
In view of all that England can claim
as a war power, and in view of what she
must certainly meet if she declares war
against Russia, we are entirely sure that
she will enter upon most hazardous
game, at which she may lose more than
she can possibly gain by the conflict. An
alliance with other Powers is her only
hope for final success in the trial of con-
clusions on that battlefield of the Orient.
SHIP TIMBER FROM THE PACIFIC-Among
the arrivals at this port yesterday was the
ship Brown Brothers of Boston from Port