The times., 1898-10-02
CHINESE PEcULIARIT1Es.
To Become Il Soldier in That COun-
try Is to Lose Caste.
(From the London Globe. }

(From the London Globe)
! Major A +. ]. Cavendish, late military
attache with the Chinese army says that
in many respects the army of China pre-
! sents a curious example of the unfittest.
| In the broad outlines its scheme is sim
| pie and suited to the country; neverthe-
| less, with the characteristic Chinese love
of detail, in its minutiae it is exceeding
! ~ complex. Owing to an equally charac-
! teristic want of eXactitude, although re-
| turns as rendered by separate account
/; ants are often beautifully worked out to
! the thousandth part of a tael, yet in a
combination of these returns nothing bal
! ances. Every province has its separate
army"
The writer gives an interesting account
| Of these forces, and, proceeding TO general
remarks, says: Much of the utter ineffi-
cheney of China's rmy Is explained by the
native saying: DO not use good steel to
make nail. nor take good man to make
a soldier" which is most thoroughly act
+ ed up 10.
On almost every occasion in 1S94-95 the
Chinese troops refused to stand up to the
despised Japanese. Small wonder when
of tho hundreds of thousands who since
1862 have been drilled" with foreign
weapons, not one in $4,000 has been taught
their proper use. Musketry and artillery
practice is limited generally to handling
the weapons, and instruction in the use
of rifles and field guns is not thought ne
cessary: nay, it is opposed.
In January, 1895, several thousands OF
men had been collected at Shanhai-Kuan,
under Gen. Wu-ta-cheng, to re-enforce
the army of Manchuria. New rifles and
fled guns had been served out and the
force was 10 move early In February; yet
on January 20 the men fired their rifles
for the first time, and barely l per cent
, of hits on a target 200 yards distant en-
l. Nrv- f1~r
/ how to load them or set fuse and
when at length was fired with the
aid of the foreigners present the am
munition was so defective that although
the gun was laid for 1900 yards the shell
only travelled $50 Yet these men were
sent north to fight at Tien-chaung- tia
without further training, instruction by a
foreigner having been haughtily refused
To be a soldier Is TO lose caste In China;
TO imbibe foreign notions is worse still,
and incurs the hatred and suspicion of
the civilians, who in reality govern the
army and navy, so much so that TO be a
graduate Of the foreign schools is an al
most certain bar to promotion. In the
military and other schools established by
Sir Robert Hart and the viceroys at Pc
kin and elsewhere the students have to
be bribed to attend, so as 10 compensate
them for the social disadvantages of for
tural contempt for foreigners ingrained
in the Chinese nation we have potent
causes for the willful laziness and igno-
rance of officers, which is truly appalling
Alas, that they should add cewardice as
we'll
general near there being ordered TO
keep a sharp lookout for the Japanese
whose landing was hourly expected did
so by asking the railway station master
TO send two coolies to the coast to look
for the enemy. His was the plan of arm
ing his men with bags Of pepper TO be
thrown in the faces of the japanese, who
while engaged in sneezing would all be
slain by the Chinese spearmen.
1t seems libel on the human race to
say that out of the manhood of three
hundred millions of Chinese a body of
good soldiers cannot be made and with
the example of the army which has been
evolved from the Egyptian feliaheen it
may be premature 10 call il impossible
But China herself cannot do il: the very
best human material and the most elabo-
rate instructions would be wasted under
the existing native official. who steadily
resists all reform in his mal-administra-
ton. Nevertheless the dociIe soldiers and
sailors of China have never yet had a
chance of showing under proper manage
Should they under European tutelage
ever prove themselves in any numbers
TO be of real military value. the yellow
terror may not be a mere fgment of the
superheated brain.