The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-04-30
the JAPANESE STRATEGY.

by an expert opinion ThlS pape
quoted the corroborativ views of
member of the general staff of tn
I United States Army sometime ago am
: now finds similar expression in tn
: war letters of the London Times Til
London writer is the same militae,
man whose forecast of what happenet
: to the naval Russians at Port Arthur
and ChemuIpo has given him wide
fame. He says. ct would be fatal
mistake for Japan to carry the cam
paign into the enemy's country. Hav-
ing become master of the sea, of Corea,
and of Port Arthur, Japan should, I
think. rest upon her arms. In my
opinion. if she attempts TO push on
toward Hardin, the difficulty of MAIN
| tanning communication with her base
OF supplies and the decreased utility
of her navy, might so lessen her
strength that disaster would follow
Even if the japanese were successful
in occupying Hardin, the Russian army
need only establish a new base a few
B. =
hundred miles westward on the Sibe-
rian neutrality-suspicious. as far west as
Lake Baikal-and when its strength
had sufficiently augmented to outmatch
the japanese army at Hardin, advance
upon that position, when the Japanese
would be compelled to retreat from
Hardin as did Napoleon from Mos
cow"
The Argonaut. which quotes the
Times writer's comment. thinks it in
teresting but does not agree with the |
conclusion. 1t says: There are many
arguments which may be urged against !
rhe view he takes. It may be asked for
example, If, in case Japan stood pat |
on her mastery of Ccrea, the Russians
would not merely delay conflict until |
they were able to place on the banks |
of the Yalu an overwhelming force
Whatever the defects of the transit
berian railway, given time it can trans
port to Manchuria an indefinite num-
Der of men. 1t will not be necessary
for it to transport all the provisions
the troops will require. Manchuria is
a rich country. and if, during the sum-
mer. the Russians hold it, while the
japanese remain inactive in Corea,
there is no reason to suppose that
Manchuria's production of wheat and
'odder will fall short OF many millions
# bushels of wheat and many hundred /
tons of fodder. Japan. on
he other hand, is poor country, and :
he can not maintain costly war for l
ong Russia has today fewer troops
n the Far East than she will have at
ny time later. Why is it not Japan's
ne to force the fighting while her b
pponents are numerically not fari
uperior-if any-to her own forces?"
The Argonaut lacks precise informa-
ion. Manchuria is not rich country I ii
1 the agricultural sense. It's soil be- a
an to wear out hundreds of years ago !.
nd is only kept going by intensifying 4
rotesses. A village of three or four a
uAlQIEu RtOQ1C Illus lNO WlChcI NctlS 4 r
bout the size of 5000 gallon-water .
.nks, enough to store it's winter sup
lies of rniIIet, beans and corn. There
very little rice If Russia should
npress these crops as fast as they
re raised, the swarnling inhabitants
'ould go hungry and make trouble,
- of |
enerally speaking the Cars army
ust depend upon supplies by rail; and
is said that the Siberian line can
l1y carry enough food to supply the
ants of 100000 men, That is the
nit of it's capacity and is the reason
by doubIe-trackage is proposed.
AS to the capacity of Japan TO carry
4 a long war that is a matter OF
lance and not of food All the Japa-
ese soldiers really need in the field
compressed rice, dried fish and tea
Id limited amount of forage. There
enough food of this kind available
the Empire to supply all it's in
abitants, no matter where military
vies may be stationed The latter
e fed at home and can be fed in
orea so long as the Japanese COM
and the sea.
AS to finances a dollar viii go fur
Ter in Japan than it will in Russia
, intense is the patriotism that the
ldiers are willing to fight for nothing,
need be, and the farmers sell their
ares at cost. Japan holds that it
in. on the present scale of outlay.
yht for two years without foreign
an. A cutting down of expenditure
the way we have suggested, would
ztend the limit. AS for loans, the
resent domestic one was subscribed
veral times over; and Japan's credit
broad is probably as good as Rus