The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-06-02
A WITH CHINA.

In all this talk about Chinese exclu-
sion the possibility of a war with China
has scarcely been considered. 1t IS
easy, nevertheless, to see how this
might occur but far more difficult to
prophesy the result. Suppose--and it
is not at all unlikely-that the enforce
ment OF the Geary law is followed by q
series Of outrages on American resi-
dents Of China, and again suppose that
these insults to our flag are followed by
procedure like that in the Chilinn affair.
The emperor of China would DO asked
to apologize and in all probability would
respond with a laugh. Not excepting
the czar Of Russia, he is said to care less
for other governments and other people
than all the rulers or earth, and he
doesn't care who knows it. In that
case it is clear that Uncle Sam would
have to get off his horse or fight, and to
the mob OF hot blooded laymen who
would yell, ION to Hong Kong" it may
be interesting to study the conditions
Of the fight.
The notion that it would be a May
day picnic would quickly be driven out
Of the popular mind. Among the
twenty-one naval powers of the world.
China ranks as the eighth and will
keep ahead Of the United States il no
changes are made in it's present navy
for at least three years, when all our
warships now building and appropriated
for will be completed. Our govern
ment is said 10 have no ships capable OF
coping successfully with two OF China's
best wal ships, which are thoroughly
equipped with the best armament. She
has five armored steel vessels and
twenty-five unarmored, seventeen with
Krupp guns. These are manned and
oficered by men carefully instructed by
the hest European teachers.
1t would be a pretty stiff fight on the
seas, but think what the odds would be
il we were to send our little army OF
$4,000 over to whip a standing army OF
1900, 900 men. OF course we would have
to call on our people for troops and
might, at the end of six months, gather
a raw army of a half million. On the
other hand, China has something more
than 300,O0O,0OO people who would hurry
away to war at the drop Of the hat. II
is true that in the art of war We are fal
ahead Of Jul plg-tailed brethren, though
it must not be assumed that they are
very far behind the times. European
tactlcians have instructed them ano
they are armed with improved weapons
If war were declared, they would have
no difficulty in quickly supplying thei1
armles with such necessary machinery
as torpedoes and gatling guns, and it is
probable that many European officers
who are always looking for a fight could
be induced to join their forces. The re
sources Of the Chinese government il
the way of funds are something enor
nous. Their treasury is ample to cover
all expenses attached to a long ant
fierce struggle.
Under these conditions which seem t.
have been overlooked in newspaper dis
c~ussions of the Chinese question, we be
lieve that our government would star
the war with a long way the worst of it
1t would certainly be a struggle to las
several years and if we won it would
be at tremendous cost. The great dis
advantage would be in fighting the Chi
nese on their own ground, and it is no
necessary to inform the average eau
casian of the Rocky mountains that
when pressed, a Chinaman will shoy
more fight than the best bull dog eve
raised.