The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-14

A nation that engages in war should be
strong at every point. A chain is no
stronger than its weakest link. and a ma
ton whose war equipment has one weak or
vulnerable point is fatally weak. 1t is
believed Russia has two weak points. These
are not her naval or land forces. for in both
OF these she is strong enough to cope with
almost any power. Her army and navy
have not been tested in recent years, but
there is reason to believe they are equal to
any demands that may be made on them.
Her weak points are her finances and her
facilities for army transportation.
War is an enormously costly business, and
in modern times even short war is very
costly to those engaged in it. The Crimean
war of 1886 cost SIS. Co., the Franco
German war OF 1901 cost 81 $50 900, 0O0 and
the Russo-Turkish war of 1S76-77 cost $780,
100000 The Boer war in South Africa,
though not long one. cost Great Britain
81 900, 0.Oo0. Such figures these might well
appall almost any government contemplate
ing war, and Russia above almost any
other. Her people are, for the most part,
poor her sources of revenue are few, her
chief source of wealth is exports wrung
from the toll of slovenly and half-no-
madic population, and she has a national
debt that compeis her to pay in interest
charges to foreign bondholders s14O,O 10000 a
year. Her public debt is. in round figures.
81, 49,. 10000. or nearly four times that of
the United States. which is forty times as
able to carry a debt Russia borrows money
every year TO pay the interest on her ma
tional debt. True. she has a gold reserve
behind her paper currency. but she would
hardly dare TO draw on that for war pJir-
poses-could not, in fact, without causing a
suspension OF specie payments and a finan-
cial crash throughout the empire.
Russia's other weak point is her lack of
transportation facilities for large army
and supplies. In the event of war with
Japan these would have to be sent TO the
seat of war by the branch of the Transsibe-
rian Railway which crosses Manchuria to
Dalny, at the southern extremity of Man
churia. on the Koreaa bay side The
Transsiberian Railway is a great engineer
ing work and we'll equipped for ordinary
travel and traffic but foreign experts say
1t would be utterly inadequate as a line OF
military communication. An English army
officer who has had TO do with army trans
portation and who recently passed over this
road reported il to consist OF a single track
lightly constructed. poorly equipped with
rolling stock, and utterly unreliable for
army transportation purposes. Moreover
IL is liable 10 be destroyed soon as hos
tilties begin. China and the Manchurians
are unfriendly to Russia. and the country
is said to be swarming with Japanese spies
ready TO dynamite the railroad track al
different places IL war begins
Russia's weakness in these two points
would put her at a great disadvantage in
the event of war. and may account for the
anxiety she has shown TO carry on heI
aggressive policy without a clash with
Japan. No civilized nation i'm the world-ii
Russia can be called civilized-is I'm as poor
condition to go to she, and IL is
not unlikely that If IL comes 10 the point
she will back down and out before doing so
She Will make big bluff till the last min.
ute. in the hope OF profiting by some diplo-
matte loophole, TO gain an advantage that