Milford chronicle., 1896-06-05
pARK MEN As EIeHTERs.
They Are Good Fighters When Properly
Trained aud Omcered

Trained aud Omoered.
The plain truth is that the natura
fighting power of the Asiatics and Afri
cans is very nearly equal TO that of Eu
ropeans, so nearly equal that whenever
the dark men are even decently organ
lied and armed, or led by a man Of
capacity, the white mems advantage
disappears, and they have to fight with
all the care and generalship, and even
numbers. which they would require in
Europe. 1t is assumed that these
things viii never occur, but the as
sumption is a very large one, and by
no means borne out by past facts. We
all know, and admit, that the neces-
sary change has occurred in japan, and
no European power would now invade
that country without taking all the
precautions It would take if it were
invading a European state. Indeed,
Russia is actually accommodating great
army in Eastern Siberia,-90,0 600 men, it
is said--in fear lest the japanese, if
foe, much pressed, should invade her.
THE Nmeer of Afghanistan is accumu-
.lating European weapons year by year,
anu - eAiAQeAAlN NAANNlu
in such quantities that, should we ever
come into conflict with his successor,
the general in command will have to be
Jas careful as if he were face to face
with European foe. 1t is not Gen.
Roberts who will tell anybody that the
conquest of Afghanistan, supposing
that our democracy decided on that
foolish enterprise, would be an easy
task or military parade. And now in
iAbyssinia a European army has been
ACTUALLY destroyed by an African pow
Ter, whose soldiers, though no doubt Of
the Semitic blood, are most of them
darker than any great tribe of Asiatics.
THE Italians were of the best blood of
Europe. They belonged to an army
trained for 30 years to meet European
ilopponents; they carried weapons of
precision, and they died in proportion
Ito their numbers most unusual in war
fare; yet they were swept in utter rout
out of the hills, and had Menelek but
pursued, as a European general would
! have done, would have been swept out
tot Africa.
! The white powers must in future or.
!ganize their expeditions into Asia OF
Africa more carefully; must avail them
Eselves of science to the uttermost; must
choose the very ablest commanders;
unjust, in fact, make war with as much
iprecaution as if their enemies were
Europeans. They viii not any more
be able to conquer dark men as Mexico
was conquered by Cortes, or Surajah
Dowlah by Give. And, secondly, il
their huge enterprise is to be carried
outfit, that is, they intend to be pre-
dominant in Asia and Africa-and it
is nothing less than this that they are
attempting-th must agree within
the range of that enterprise to pull
together. If they are going to vent
their spites on each other, or satisfy
their jealousies, or CRAFTY their am
billions by secret alliances with the
dark powers, by finding them weap-
ons or providing them with military
the great enterprise in the
end win fail. They will furnish the
very little necessary to enable the dark
men to beat white men on the field OF
battle, and as it is by battle that con
quests are effected, the conquest OF
Africa or Asia will become impossible
Suppose the Hovas had fought on the
slopes Of their high plateau as the
Shoans and Amharas fought, all the
force which France could dispatch to
would never have captured
AntananarivO. Andi tbs more than prob
able that if the Hovas had been hon.
estly led by man like Menelek, and
+ they had been confident in their
weapons, as the Abyssinians were, they
would have anticipated the horrible Z
icene before Adowa, and France, in. /
stead of Italy, would be weeping over l
1efeat by brown power. The dark a
mem have always been willing to fight; I
hey are now slowly learning the con. q
itiOns of success in battle, and, as they s
earn them, are becoming much more [
dangerous foes. European soldiers, f
ord Wolseley included, must get that 4
act fully into their minds and provide h
gainst it, or they will be taught by ex. e
of which that Just acquired d
y Gen. Baratieri may not be the most t
Standardization Spectator. b