The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-02-24

to to opened on lyme l. Both conditions will
FUTURE OF CHINA AND JAPAN.
The Former Will BE the Prey of Other
NatiOns-Jnpan's Sea Power.
New York Sun.
The news of the purpose of Japan to en-
large her naval resources adds interest to
recent paper by Iieut.-Col. +. G. Bar
row. in the United Service Magazine, on
Japan as military power He finds five
war in the Orient. OF these the first is the
exposure of 1.-The great Chinese impos-
ture" and of the weakness and corrup-
ton of the empire. He calls China 1.-The
rich man of Asia" as Turkey is the sick
man of Europe, who excites not dread. but
cCpidity. ttl fi if
His view is rather different from the
one taken by Lord Wellesley, but Colonel
Barrow holds 1t to be plain that the mil
future scramble for Asiatic empire:
What India was during the decadence
of the MOgulS in the eighteenth and nine
teenth centuries, that inevitably must be
! the fate of China with the downfall of the
Manchu dynasty in the century now COM
mencng. At first prey to rival nations,
may be repeated on the banks of the
YangTse and the Mekong, but the ulti-
the horoscope Of the world. The climax Of
| those rivalries must be that China becomes
| a stupendous dependency of whatever pow
er definitely acquires the mastery of Asia.
| Meme meme, tekel upharsin.'
What adds to the interest in Colonel
Barrow's prediction is that before the late
war between China and Japan he gagged
accurately the general results Of such a
contest. taking very low view of China's
military capacities and a high view of those
| OF Japan. And now ne points out that
| there exists in China the same causes and
elements that brought about in India the
substitution Of foreign for native rule:
Str do IN
racy similar to that of Aurangzib and his
| successors; neutrality-suspicious. vice roy
respects resembling the loose relation of the
| feudal states of India TO the central author
| ity: official class as corrupt, ignorant
and al any inasn sSaa
1 or discipline, such as Give and Wellesley so
easily destroyed; and a people without pa
hi sI bidder dd While on the other side we
| have in the coast ports reproduction of
the Indian factories, in the commercial ri
valries and political jealousies of foreign
nations all the elements Of intrigue and in
| reference with internal affairs, such the
| European Adventures of the eighteenth
! advantage: and finally. in the necessities of
commerce, the same incentives to political
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENT which the East India Com
| pany found il so hopeless to resist"
The greatest result of the war being the
| change Of attitude Of Europe toward China,
| the next in Importance must be considered
|
| power and as a military factor in the
| worlds affairs. Still, Colonel Barrow points
| out that neither the real fighting qualities
| of the Japanese soldiers nor the command
| severely tested. The reason is that the re-
| sistance offered to them by the Chinese was
poyed AGAINST 'h them Sc chdke
| tables show that during the Port Arthur
| campaign, from the 4th to the I'D of Octo-
| Der. one OF the strongest forts of the world
was captured and a Chinese army made use
| less with an aggregate loss OF 45 japanese
| killed and $50 wounded. With resistance so
| very feeble, neither the military capacity OF
Marshal Oyama nor the valor of his troops
| can be fully known. though absolutely
| brilliant success was achieved.
/ Yet Ii is clear that the Japanese soldier
has discipline, perseverance and great er-
| durance; that he has thorough devotion to
duty. courage. and patriotism finally. that
| as Japan can mobolize about 100000 such
troops for her field army, independent OF
| her garrison reserves. she becomes a mill
tary factor of the first Importance in the
| far East. Our own consul at Chinkiang, Mr.
Jones. has referred TO opinions, in report
| TO Secretary Olney, that Japan has the best
organized army in the world. Colonel Bar
soldiers thus far only with the Sepoys OF
the Punjab and Bengal armies, yet calls
Japans an army .'splendidly organized and
trained" and capable Of doing as good work
as any in Asia If properly led.
Nevertheless. Japan's ability to use hel
army on the mainland depends on her com.
her navy, or procure naval alliance in or
der TO make her a really powerful influence
in settling the future of eastern Asia. Hel
armies were moved cautiously until after
China's navy was overthrow, off the mouth
OF the Yalu. and again, when Russia in.
sisted upon an. evacuation or the Lao Tune
peninsula, Japan had to YIELD because Rus
STA was powerful on the sea.
The third result of the war is Japan's
paramount interest In Corea and allied to il
is a fourth. in Colonel Barrows's opinion
namely. the permanent antagonism between
Russia and Japan. The fifth he finds in the
acquisition by Japa of Formosa. These has
relations of Russia and England, respective
ly, toward Japan. Perhaps, in these mat
more influenced by his desires as an Eng
lishman than IL was on the question
of the contest between China and Japan
He thinks that Russia will try 10 ejec
Japan from Corea. and will accomplish tina
end at an opportune moment, with the did
Of France, unless Japan can previousl,
form naval alliance. yapan's hold upor
Corea will menace Russia's possession o.
railway terminus port, which Colone
thur rather than Port Lazareff or Much
wang. Besides. japanese sentiment ha
been mortally, affronted by the part Rus
STA has played. Hence, If there be one fac
tor in Eastern politics, in his opinion, VI
which British diplomacy can count. an
by which it should profit, it Is the antag
onism of Russia and japan.
In Formosa the Japanese cannot be con
sdered any more a menace 40 Hong Konl
than the Germans are to Margate. espe
cially while they have not the command o
the sea Japan, with its youthful ener
gy," will rapidly develop Formosa, Great
ing harbors, constructing RAILWAYS an,
opening mines and forests; and the Brit
ish merchant should, with Hong Kong onl,
| TWEEN ty-four hours away by steam, see ne
| opportunities for himself there. instead q
lamenting the loss OF a restricted marke
which he considered as his own. Colone
Barrow, I'm short. strongly urges British
| Tor lv-fts a
and the Mikados military forces may con
troll the Cestinies of the far East. Blu
does he not jump at the conclusion that IN
artagonism between Russia and Japan 1
| inexcrable, and might not the former, aft
er a time. surpass England in offers for
Japanese alliance