The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1884-11-12
conDows ADVICE TIC THE CHINESE,


Colonel Gordons advice to the Chinese is
briefly to this effect: You have military
organization and discipline whichis suitable
to your people-do not alter it. Only arm
them in large numbers with breech-loaders
which will carry one thousand yards. Bet
Z ter these than a superior class carrying one
K thousand five hundred, and do not manu-.
facture them yourselves. You can buy
them abroad cheaper and better; and they
should be on one system applicable to the
I crhole. Then numbers, in which China has
the advantage over all other nations, viii
tell. HEChinese power" he sums up, lis
in her numbers, in the quick moving of her
troops, the lite baggage they require, and
| .heir few wants." Hence, he concludes,
"China should never engage in pitched
battles; her strength is III her quick move
merits, in, cutting off the trains OF baggage,
and the continuous worrying Of her ene-
mics, and in night attacks not pu<hedhSme.
r. 'ckets, not cannon, in such service, to be
NOV ed with the troops. China should
never attack forts she ought to wait and
starye b, " foes out, and worry them day
and night. These directions, it viii be
seen all hav, reference to defensive opera
tions on land il invaded, and in the calcula-
ton that rapid marching, surprising con-
VOWS and cutting o. f supplies, with the aid
of the heliograph, would enable them to
weary ont their enemy and sicken his troops.
As to the coast defenA ATe, he recommends
that it should be prctect.'d by torpedoes,
sown thickly-eyen at the risk OF occasional
blowing up junk or two-a71d SO scattered
that the enemy can not learn where to look
for them. "Anxiety as to their where
abouts would make people i'll and cross" ne
adds, Sand they should he cheap and hred
by fuse-nl* sxpersive aud complicated
ones-frsd sS sscsricity. China should
buy no moro Si2 suns; they cost money
and are a great deal of trouble to keep IN
order, and the epemy's ships have too thick
sides to be pierced" Again, "CL' ma
should defend her sea-coast by very heavy
mortars; they cost little, are easy to use,
eau be fred from places the enemy cannot
see, and he cannot get safe from a mortar
shot--it falls on the deck, and there il
breaks everything. China can get five hun
dred mcrtars for the same money she. gets
an 1s-ton gun for, an d if she loses them the
loss is little. No enemy could get into q
port which is defended by fifteen hundred
mortars a:nd plenty of torpedoes. So, also,
the Chin ese fleet should consist, on the
principle, of small, quick vessels, with
light dra'1ght and no great weight of armor.
China's strength is in tina creeks, not on the
open sea-. China needs European to help
her to curry out this programme, and it is
cheap as well rs feasible one. If China
cannot do this for herself, thenno one else
can do it for her. But as long as Pekin Is
the seat r,f Government, China can never
afford to 90 to war with any first-class
power 1T is too near the sea. The EN-
peror (queen bee) must be in the centre OF
the hive" Finally, and the sting as well
as the moral of the whole is there, "No
in on-clads or iron gunboats can help China
t Ill she has place to keep them in. But
China can have no place (asylum) to keep
/ them in till she has an army, and China
cannot have an army when Generals keep
two thousand men and draw pay for five
thousand. These generals ought to have
their heads cut of."--Ins Contemporary
Recielo. q