The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-22
1 POWER IN TIE ORIENT
Japan the Little Giant If The
Asiatic Continent.

Asiatic Continent.
IRapiA Growth Of the Nation witAiu
Half . DecaAe-HeR Formidable
Army and Navy-Ne Friendly Feel
ing Toward acknowledgements oi
Governnent's Inauence In Korea.
For several years the great powers Of
the world have been expecting an inter-
national crisis in China, in which, perhaps.
all. or nearly all. would be compelled to
show force. Yet when the crisis did come
It was at such an unexpected moment and
from, such an unlocked Tor cause that, not
wfthstanding the fact that European
armies are supposed to be kept rracti-
cally on war footing, not one of them
was ready to at once put an army into
the field to defend or avenge its subjects
and protect its interests. Russia, which
had force only few days distant from
the Chinese frontier. was unprepared In
its commissary department. The only
nation, and one not yet wholly recognized
a. nrst-ciass power, which stood ready
for the emergency, both on land and wa
ter. was Japan. with little more than
. quarter OF . century ago was held to
be almost as dark" as China herself.
The marvellous thing about the readi-
ness Of Japan to take her part In the
general movement Of the world against
China Is the rapid development Of her
naval and military resources In the I'VE
years that have elapsed since she thrashed
China at home and on the seas. Then
she had an army Of 5000 men that gave
SO good an account of itself that the ur-
prepared world FIRST gasped with aston
ishment. and then applauded her heartily.
On tho water Japan proved that her men
were as good sailofS IS soldiers. The Jap.
anese naval and military force at that
time was not large. but It was we'll
equipped, well drilled. and composed Of
fearless and desperate fighters.
Enriched by War With China.
Japan emerged from her conflict with
China in 1895 richer by an indemnity Of
So. SOC. 900. OF this she devoted about
$2s. 10000 to army expansion and more
than $50, 000,0 900 to the navy. Thus she
used China's money to become prepared
to do battle again with her old enemy.
while SO. 900 constitutes war reserve
which is probably being used now.
In the war Of 1S34-95 Japan had only
one small battleship. the Fuse. which Is
now twenty-five years old. has q tonnage
Of $500. is at the bottom of the list in
the fine new navy and makes a sorry ap-
pearance besides-her sister monster first
class battleships Of from 1900 to 1900
tons. In the second class Is the Chinyen.
Of 1900 tons. which was captured from the
Chinese at the battle Of Wei-Hai-Wei and
beside her the Fuse looks small, although
both Of them have the same speed, about
thirteen knots.
AS a matter Of fact. the brunt Of the
fighting at the battle OF Yalu was sus-
tanned by six of the present second
class Japanese cruisers. There are row
nine In the Japanese navy. the Takas-
sage, the Kasagi, and the Chitosi hav-
ing been built since the war. The Jap
anese torpedo fotilla has been greatly
increased. When the complement Is filled
she will have twenty torpedo destroyers.
Of which twelve are built and building
some in England and others in France
and Germany. - t't-ffe .-l
Many Of these are already in Japanese
waters, while others are on their way
uomc Al 1850 Tue JAPANESE navy WdS
small compared to what il Is today. The
In the last five years would
have been remarkable In a nation much
oder in shipbuilding and ship manning
experience. She has in that time ac-
quired four new frst-cfass battleships Of
gross tonnage OF about $4,000 and a
gross complement Of 2.6S1 men, The Full,
L., 450 tons, and the Yashima. 12,l40 tons,
ara. almost exact reproductions Of the
British Royal Sovereign. The Shikishima
and the Asabi are about $4,000 tons each,
ard are the Majestic over again. only
improved. There are besides these two
more battleships OF the type OF the Shiki-
shima now being built in England. the
Hatsuse and one unnamed The Hatsuse
will be delivered to Japan this summer.
Her SeaEoing FiGhting Machines.
OF the new first-class cruisers, four OF
the six are already in Japan. and the 9TH
ers will be there soon. They constitute
a formidable addition to the country's
naval strength. In fact, they are equal
to the combined strength Of the japanese
navy In her late war. They range from
:. 400 to 1876 tons. and are q :riie larger
than the United States steame. Brooklyn.
which Is 6, 215 tons. They are equally good
fighting machines, and have about the
same speed. The Asama at her trials die
20-37 knots with natural and 2z.07 with
forced draft. The Asama carries -four
S-inch guns. the Brooklyn eight s-inch.
against the Brooklyn's twelve s.
inch the japanese cruiser carries fourteen
6-ineh guns. In the matter Of protection
he Asama has the better Of II, for she |
carries belt Of inches Of Harveyixed
steel. while the Brooklyn's belt is only
Inches
The Japanese cruisers are protected IN 1
heir gun positions by six inches Of steel |
This gives them an advantage over the |
Russian Rurik. 10.923 tons, and Rossia |
1880 tons, whose batteries are unpro- |
.ected. The advantage In speed lies with |
he japanese. The Takasago. AGO TONS |
built In England. has a speed Of n knots, |
md an armament Of two S-inch, ten At |
nch, twelve 12-pounders. six 21-1-pounder /
quick fires. and ave torpedo tubes. The
Kasagi, built in Philadelphia, and the
,hitosi, built In San Francisco. are larger /
ind slower, having speed Of q knots. |
Beside these there are in the japanese /
lavy, OF the smaller craft. five third-class |
:ruisers, ten coast-defence ships two hfst-
lass and fifteen second class gunboats,
our despatch boats. and torpedo depot /
hip. There are also several vessels be-
ow the second-clsss cruiser rank now l
building, but they will not be ready for /
ervice this summer. However, the Japan
sc navy now has tonnage OF between