The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-01

people decided last autumn that the lime had come to augment thair fleet stiiI fur- ther. Some wrangling occurred as to the, means by which the new ships should be paid for. out of fresh taxation or loans: but backed up by the popular demand for a great navy. politicians did not long delay in settling their differences: and now 1t has been agreed to raise a loan with which to carry out another big pro- gram, the construction of the ships being spread over period of six years. The scheme has been framed to neutralize the additions which. 1t Is understood, Russia and France will make to their forces in the Far East in the near future The Japanese people have not forgotten Port Arthur, over which the Russian flag flies, and they are determined that they will not again be robbed without making a de- termined stand Moreover, Japan's teem- ing population of unward of 100000 re-
 Quires an outlet. and colonies are among
 the necessities of the near future.
 While the array of ships which have
 been built In less than then years Is i'm.
 pressive. ships without men adequately | trained to answer to the needs of the highly complicated mechanical vessels of | today, and without officers capable of | commanding. thinking and planning. are | mere dangerous toys. Any nation might be proud of the personnel of the Japanese | fleet; officers and men are splendid Du- | ring the visits to Europe of ships flying the brilliant ensign of the Rising Sun. 1t
 has been possible to form some estimate
 of the crews. Mrs. Bishop, the traveller, summed up the race as "vehemently pat- | riotic. civilized, independent, educated, 1 ambitious, free, persevering tenacious, possessing a singular secretiveness and 70 -esx
 sentially the qualities that impress any visitor who spends any considerable time on board any of the Japanese men-of- war, which the officers navigate with such consummate skill They keep their vessels as spotlessly clean as British or American ships of war; than this no high CT praise can be paid. But in the men of the fleet one also notices some remnant of the savage fighting qualities which have made those proud little people the dominant military factor among Far Eastern nations.
 The Japanese are sailors by instinct. They are secured by conscription and do not volunteer for service, as Is the case in England. Japan has a fishing popula- ton of about 2O00, 900 men, and from this section of the community she draws her best seamen. men of intelligence, re- source and sea lore. aud capable of quick ly acquiring sufficiently mechanical skill to enable them to control the complex mechanism of their modern men of war with complete success. They desire no pampering and they can live on the simp- lest food and sleep anywhere; but in their new ships they have more aid and, in some respects. greater comforts than are to be found on many, If not most, British men of war. These sailors of the Far East take things very much as they find them, with a stoical calm. They face danger with much the same spirit with which they take their pleasure; and, in spite of the rapid strides which civiiiza- tion has made in their country,their luxu- ries are few and they are contented and happy.