The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1904-06-06

"a Russian. writing In Inc New
York Sun, declares that while the
japanese goes to war for love OF his
country. the Russian has no country.
nothing to fight for. no conscience. no
love-" He speaks OF the way the Rus
sian soldier, whom he calls "a poor.
doomed cur" Is starved. robbed. beat
en- and otherwise mistreated. and pre-
diets that the Japanese win be victori-
Gus. and declares that Russia should
be taught a lesson. for Its own good.
This is significant language. coming
from a Russian who evidently knows
what he is saying and states facts as
they really exist No one can doubt
the truth OF his statements as to the
condition of the Russians. for the his
tory Of the people and the Government
substantiates all he says. An absolute
monarchy at the head, rich and pow
erful mobiles who have almost unlim-
tied power over the lives and persons
Of the common people, and q citizen
ship made up of combination of pow
erty, british ignorance and savage cru
city that n the Russia of today. Even
the soldiers in the field fare little bet
ter than the peasantry at home. For
the most part the officers are cruel ana
tyrannical and the privates little better
than brutes, who receive the treatment
Of brutes and act accordingly.
Such a people, under such rule, san
not make good soldiers. They light
when forced to 1t, just as animals do
when forced into the ring. II they re-
fuse to fight they are punished or killed
by their own officers. When they nrc
ready TO embark for the scene Of war
| they have to be driven on to the ves-
sells or the cars, land waea ccnf-cntei
by the japanese they fight because they
cannot help themselves and for no other
reason. Such soldiers are little better
than beasts, and we can hardy blame
them.
The Japanese are radically different.
We once thought that perhaps their
fighting qualities sprang from the ia
talism so common to Oriental peoples
who go to their death because they
look on 1t as a decree of fate against
which rebellion Is useless and futile.
We do not think SO now, because we
have had opportunity to learn more
of them, and have reached the conclu-
sion that they are as genuinely patri-
otto as any people on earth. To a nat
ural bravery they add an almost idol :
atrous love of country, and they are
ready to fight and die for their country
because 1t is theirs.
And not the least of the strong points
of the Japanese is their intelligence.
They are not only intelligent, but cd
ucated. Little as we might think of
1t they are as far above the Russians
In education as they are in patriotism,
and 1t Is the combination of the two,
aided by natural fearlessness and alert
ness that make them more than a
match for their present enemies.
No one may forete1l the outcome of
this struggle. In point of numbers
Russia has a vast advantage. She
could lose as many men as Japan can
raise and still have large armies. But
the intelligence. intrepidity and adapt
ability of the Japanese form a eombi-
nation which goes long way towards
offsetting Russia's advantage in num-
bers, and the intense patriotism OF the
people adds much more to their chances
OF success. 1t would not be a safe bet
| that Russia will win.
i