The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-04-03
BULKY BUT NOT STRONG.

be conceded, but the hatred is tenn
pered with a prudence which apparent
ly puts the day of collision, If it ever
Is to come, very far off. This prudence,
due to a conscious weakness, has been
shown in the relations of Russia with
a much smaller state than Britain; for
when the Car wanted to coerce Japan
at the moment of her triumph over
China, he felt called upon TO ask the
Kaiser and the Government of France
to come to his aid so the Japanese
might be properly impressed.
Russia is vast indeed. geographically,
but bulk does not make greatness. The
mere bulk of China kept the nations in
awe for a century. General Gordon
warned Europe about ''rousing the
drowsy Chinese giant" and Lord
Wolsely spoke of the "somber menace
OF the uncouth barbarian OF the Mon
gol Empire. Just before the Japan
/ China war Emperor William painted
an allegorical picture representing all
Europe called to arms against the poor
Chinaman, whose placid. peaceful face
the imperial magician had transformed
| into a hideous effigy of war. Yet with
in a few months Japan had smashed
the prestige of China as one of her sa-
mural might have broken a tea bowl
with his mailed fist. Despite China's
four hundred millions, her last fatal
stand was made at Wei-hai-Wei against
an army but 10000 strong, which car
ried all its artillery on the backs of
mules. Even that little force was
enough to show how puerile was the
threat of Chinas anger. What Japan
did was to differentiate bulk from
strength, and that is what must also be
/ done in the case of Russia before we
can arrive at fair estimate of her
power to do mischief among the ma
| lions.
! What makes an aggressive, warlike
| power? What are the qualities and
possessions needed by it, aside from the
ayarice or ambition which is the
handspring of aggression? Military
adaptability is one thing, but the mod
ern Russians have never possessed this
in any very marked degree. Their
wars with Napoleon gave them no dis
tinction save for that prudence which
led them to take refuge behind a
dreadful winter. In defending the Cri-
mea they did strenuous work for a
/ 2 h,tf
lapse of war which greater Russia,
judged by bulk alone, ought to have
been able to continue indefinitely.
When war came between Russia and
Turkey in 1917 the Turks wore them
selves out whipping the Russians; and
in the opinion of military experts, If
they had enjoyed the benefits of a
modern organization and commissariat
they would have won the ultimate vic
tory. Russia was, however, beaten in
another fashion. On approaching Con-
stantinople, she found the British
lion in the path and her spirit of con-
quest oozed and dribbled away. One
might have thought the bear a sheep
from the way the British rebuff was
taken.
Next to military adaptability-a
thing which implies patriotism, public
spirit, love of conquest and desire for
| the public good, qualities as unknown
/ to the Russian mOujik as they are to
/ the Chinese coolie-we have to con-
/ ali fin al
| ton cannot make expensive wars, and
/ Russia is too poor TO even care for her
| own starving peasants. She is so i'm
/ poverished that when it came % the
point of paying for new artillery she
/ tried the unique experiment of a disar-
/ mament conference. Without money
/ to put great armies and a big navy on
war footing; with few strategic rail
roads; with a public service honey
combed with corruption and a people
permeated with the essence Of Nihilism,
Russia is in most respects another sort
/ Of China-imposing to look at with
al. but as unsubstantial as a shell.
If the time is to come when battle
/ lines are drawn against the Slav, It
/ promises to be far distant. The Slav
Is alone in Europe with his ideas of
medieval power and, despite the un-
natural alliance with France, he is
without a friend that would stand the
I test of self-interest. Opposed to him
is the spirit of the age, end this he
knows he cannot combat, and therefore
! seeks TO circumvent by his Oriental
craft. But he never can triumph in
the task. The civilized world is against
him, and he must either become a
part of that world or be crowded back
TO the solitudes whence he emerged.