New-York tribune., 1903-02-25
CHINESE MILITARY EFFICIENCY.

A suggestive and somewhat startling answer
to the often asked question as TO the hlilt<iy
potencies of awakening or Chlha was
given not long ago at Wei-Hal-Wei IL VIII DC
remembered that when Great Britain leased
that mort and started to make it a fortified sta
tion y Chinese regiment was organized, under
British officers to serve as an auxiliary to the
British troops there. The British had Deeh
notably successful in transforming other Aliens
into effective soldiers, such as the Slkhs anu
Ghoorkas and Houssas, but this was the hrst
time the experiment had been made Win Chl-
nese There was some doubt of its success
since the Chinese were not regarded as Deiong-
inr TO a true warrior race" but the expert
ment was earnestly made for a time year
ago the regiment was disbanded on account of
the British Governments decision not TO pro-
ceed with the fertilization of the place and not
to maintain garrison there. But the result of
that brief trial of the Chinese as soldiers IS
highly interesting and instructive.
Speaking of the now disbanded regiment an
exDerienced officer of the British army says:
81 am fully convinced that outside some
"parts of Northern India, we can never nave
better native troops judged from any stand
'point AS far as actual hard work is con-
..cerned, would match them against any other
"OrientaIs. AS regards their smartness under
"arms General Gascoigne declared that they
''were the finest native troops he had ever seen
The same officer further declares that the Cni-
nese soldiers were loyal, obedient and stanch
They had, of course no opportunity to show
their mettIe in serious warfare. But all mill
tary men who saw them were convinced that
they would have proved highly effective fight
ers in almost any circumstances. The Chinese
disregard of danger pain and death is well
known This natural trait, added to the quail
ties developed through proper training, would
make them almost ideal soldiers.
That then, is the answer, or at least one an
swer to the question of Chinese military PROV
ess in case of the awakening of that empire
If the masses of the Chinese people should be-
come imbued with the military spirit, and be
organized into such regiments that at Wei
Hai-Wei was, no nation might be able to stand
against them Their overwhelming numbers
would make up for whatever deficiencies they
might suffer FROM and an army of scores of
millions might overwhelm and overcome any
barriers Europe might oppose to it. In such
case the yellow Peril of the German Emperor
would be phantaSm Or exaggeration, but
stern reality. We must remember, however,
that though all Cinnamon may look alike 10 u.s.
there is in fact little real homogeneity in the
empire Not only North and South, but other
parts of the empire, are at variance with each
other. Province is antagonistic to province, and
even village to village. The village is the unit
and among the villages there is little cohesion
Nor is there any assurance that the awaken
ing' of China would unity the nation. On the
contrary, it is probable that in many cases it
would intensity differences and divisions. An
awakened China would not improbably be di-
vided China and thus harmless one. Never
theless, what was learned at Wei-Hai-Wei is
lesson which should not be forgotten.