The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-12-24

Chinese campaign would take advantage
of lull in the firing to extract a fan
| from their CATERS and fan themselves.
But while not ignoring the underlying
truth of Falstaffs defniiion of the quail
fications of a good recruit il is necessary
! TO point out that size and weignL in the
! individual are not necessarily synonyms
/ for strength and that, even when strength
! is possessed by one OF these Goliaths, tbs
degree CT skill and brain-poxer essential
| TO its successful application is very often
/ lacking; and now that the Spanish-Aner-
, lean and South African wars have proved
/ the paramount Importance of initiative
and intelligence in the man behind the
/ gun, 1 think il is not unfair to conclude
/ that, other things equal, the army and
navy possessing The more self-reliant and
better educated units viii win.
Kipling AYERS that blackguards and gen.
tlemen make the best soldiers. Such
rule may apply TO the heterogeneous COM
munities of the Occi6ent, but it cannot be
extended to Japan, whsre the two arms of
the service are composed of men the ma
Jority of whom are inspired By sentiments
Of awe and devotion to the Emperor to
which Europe can furnish no adequate
parallel, ard where, too, the unwritten
tenets of Bushido C.mil.tary-knight-
ways'O are still. cherished amid the vor-
tex Of iconocl2stc zeal which has followed
the downfall of feudaism.
l have no hesitation, then, in affirming
that Japanese mora.s can be second to
none in the world. But l have referred
above to the physical factor The sh;b-
boleth of Japanese diminutvensss has
been so obstin2tcly perpetUated by writer's
Ike Pierre Lott and Matthew Arnold that
should one attempt TO qualify these sweep
ing congratulations, one runs The risk Of
being denounced as hereto. and of being
treated as a literary Ishmaeiite. But the
truth is that a foreigner measuring five
feet six inches in his stockings fees de-
cidedly small at Yokosuka or Hiroshima
No docbt the average stature is below
these figures. but in the crack regiments
FIVE feet seven, eight and nine inches are
common heights, and, what is far more
important than height. the japanese sail
or or soldier inpresses one as OF sturdier
build than the Enslish or American-to
select types most familiar to ordinary
readers.
In colloquial parlance, the Japanese
Tommy Atkins and Jacey are built from
the ground up Their chests, necks, and
calves are frequently too big for Their
clothes, and. withal, the Japanese sailor
and soldier look. and have shown them
selves to be, as hard as nails.
| have heard it said that though the
Japanese army and navy might be ex-
pected to fight wen, if successful from
the start, a lew initial reverses would in
Guce a panic. Yet the Japanese. from al
most the earliest historical epoch, have
been a military race. and the entire rec
ord or national achievement in the do
main of politics, literature, ethics. and
art may almost be summed up as a rec
ORD Of the doings of the military caste.
But if the contention that japanese troops
lack moral stamina fails s,gnaIly when
judged in the light of Meiji days. its
untenable character is still more glaring-
ly exposed when the facts of recent years
are taken into consideration. The China
was of 1915 may possibly be deemed in
conclusive testimony, in view of Chinese
cowarice; but at least in the North China /
of 1900 the international forces
were all subjected 10 the same conditions. |
and the emphatic ard universal verdict /
of experts is that the Jaranese were sec
ord TO none and superior to most
No more than in 1894 or in 1901 will they /
enter upon their next war unprepared. /
For minutiae the japanese has talent I
amounting to genius. and no detail. how
ever apparently insignificant. is likely to /
be overlooked.
Compare the men. compare the officers I
of the prospective belliGerents. On the /
Russian side find the former dun, I
ignorant. dirty, and indifferent; I
treated like dogs. and probably amen 1
able to no other treatment; the latter no.
corrupt as a class. On the Jap
anese side we find the men, despite strict I
discipline. bright. alert, clean and neat in
the persons, keenly interested in their
calling. and ready and eager to fight to
the last gap for Dia Nippon; the officers
equipped I'm every branch of military and
naval science and, for the most part,
above suspicion of dishonest practices
London Mail.