Evening star., 1900-08-09
JAPAN WAS READY
HER CHINESE WAR AND EXPERT
ENCE BROUGHT MONEY.
Army and Navy Up to Modern
Standard-HOme De-
veIOpment.

veIopment.
| There is perhaps no country in the world
| which has been more misrepresented by the
foreigner to the foreigner than has Japan,
| the land of the rising sun. and the reasons
for this are very obvious. Japan is at
once the most difficult country to analyze
accurately and the most easy to write
about specifically. Such is the opinion OF
Ransome Carroll in his book on Japan in
Transition and continuing. the writer says:
| Japan appears to exercise some mys-
terious influence, which not only attracts
the pen of the amateur, but which seems
to have the effect of drawing the profess
| sional writer out of his legitimate element.
lone of the most glaring and oft-repeated
of popular fallacies about Japan is that
which asserts that everything In that coun-
| try is little. Undoubtedly the average
! stature of the Japanese is somewhat less
| than that of Europeans and Americans.
and their houses and utensils strike US
as being somewhat smaller than our own
Most of the earlier writers noticed ana
| noted that fact. and others took IL up,
| until il became point of honor among
scribes never to mention anything japanese
| without coupling ii with a belittllng adJec-
| tive of some sort.
| The spirit which tempts people to under
rate the size of everything that is japanese
has betrayed more than one foreign writer
| into describing even the japanese rai!Ways
| as being built on the microscopic principle
| and the trains being composed OF little
| toy engines and carriages: but when we
| come down to plain, unvarnished fact We
| have to admit that the railway gauge OF
| Japan is three feet six inches. which is
| nearly three inches wider than that OF
| about half the railways in India, in which
| full-grown Europeans travel comfortably.
and that the Inhabitants of Ceylon are clam
| oring to have their gauge reduced to that
Of the narrow Indian gauge Thus 1t is
plain that there Is nothing much In the
| above belttfing argument.
/ 'At the present, day. however. We are
bound to admit that their army, navy.
mercantile marine. railway systems. public
| buildings educational, political, financial,
| commercial and industrial organizations.
| their aspirations and their dongs must all
be accounted large when compared with
kindred institutions in the average Euro
pean country of today
| A Crisis Was Expected.
| Another writer on the same subject says:
| For several years the great powers OF
| the world have been expecting an interna-
| tional 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 unlooked-for cause that. notwith-
| standing the fact that European armies
| are supposed to be kept practically on a
| war footing. not one of them was ready to
| at once put army into the field to de-
| fend avenge Its subjects and protect ITS
| interests Russia. which had a force only
| a few days distant from the Chinese IRON
| tier, was unprepared In Its commissary de-
partment. The only nation. and one not
yet wholly recognized as ftrst-class power,
1 which stod ready for the emergency, both
on land and water. was Japan. which a lit
| tie more than a quarter of century ago
| was held to be almost as dark as China
| herself
| he
| 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 five years that
have elapsed since she thrashed China at
| home and on the seas. Then she had an
| army of % 900 men that gave good an
| account of itself that the unprepared word
| first gasped with astonishment and then ap-
plauded her heartily. On the water Japan
proved that her men were as good sailors
as soldiers. The Japanese naval and mill
| it was we'll equipped well drilled and was
| composed of fearless and desperate fight
ers.
Experience and Indemnity.
Japan emerged from her conflict with
China in 1895 richer by an indemnity of
| $S2 100000. OF this she devoted about
SO 100000 to army expansion and more
| than Sc, O,OOOO 600 to the navy. Thus she
used China's money to become prepared
| to do battle again with her old enemy.
| while 100000 600 constitutes a war reserve,
| which is probably being used now. In the
| war of 1Ss4-5 Japan had only one real bat.
| tie ship. the Fuse. which Is now twenty
| two years old, has a tonnage of 3.700, is at
the bottom of the list in the fine new navy
| and presents a sorry appearance beside
| her sister monster frst-cless battle ships
( Of from 1900 to 1900 tons. In the sec
| ond-class is the Chinyen, Of 7,4OO tons,
which was captured from the Chinese at
| the battle of Wei-Hai-Wei, and beside her
| the Fuso looks small, although both of
4 them have the same speed. about thirteen
knots. There are now in the Japanese
navy nine first-class cruisers. three having
| been built since the war. while the Japan
ese torpedo fotilla has been largely in
creased. 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.
Many Already AAoat.
Many of these are already in Japanese
| waters, while others are on their way home.
| The development in the last ive years
would have been remarkable In a nation
much older in shipbuilding and ship man
| ming experience. She has In that time ac-
| quired four new first-class battle ships Of
gross complement OF 2.8S1 men. The Full
| II. 40 tons. and the Yashima, 12,14O TONS
are almost exact reproductions Of the
British Royal Sovereign. The Shikishima
and the Asau are about 1000 tons each
and are the Majestic over again, only Inn
proved. There are besides these two more
| battle ships Of the type Of the Shikishima