The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-28
EetterS tc tbe Gdftcr
The Russo-Japanese War.
or Tha- Advertiser;.

| Editor The Advertiser,
 Judging by the generality of expres- | sion of sympathy for Japan in the war
 now being waged with Russia on Chi nese territory, one is led to the con | clusion that it Is as natural for man | to take sides in controversies in which | he has not particle of interest as 1t | is for him "to indulge in the illusions | of hope"
 Why any one. except possibly ex- | porters of cotton and cotton goods, who | object to the Japs being killed and l thereby lessening the number of the | users of cotton and the grain export | CTS. who object to the Russians being | killed and thereby lessening the mum
 Der of the buyers of grain, should ieei
 any special interest in the war, Is not very clear. tho like most of my coun- 1 trymen I have taken sides in the con test to a like extent, of the expression of sympathy only and 1t Is certainly not on the side of Japan.
 As to this war, 1t seems to me, the | American people might very well oc- cupy the neutral position of the wife | in the fight between her husband and | the bear, who to express her indiffer- | ence as to the result. exclaimed as the | battle waxed hot, "Go. it husband! Go it bear," but 1t is not so, for the sym pathisers with Japan for outnunlber those who side with Russia. This is not so much to be wondered at. how | ever, when we find prominent and | influential journal, like The Advertiser, which is supposed to lead and direct | public opinion, editorially saying in it's l issue of the 18th inst in discussing the war:
 we think 1t both natural and right | that the people of this country should l synpathize with the little brown men | and wish them success. Practically | they are lighting for their rights, If not. [ for their national existence, and that | should appeal to all liberty loving peo' | ple." ..
 ment and say 1t is wholly unsupporteo 1 by the facts What are the facts? Tn | August 1894, Japan deeming herself
 world power" phrase now Synomy- | nous with a nation which mas tne power, coupled with the inclination 10 bounce down on any weaker nation l slaughter it's people and steal it's ter | ritory, on some trihing and f1imsy pre-
 text declared war against the unof-
 lending and peaceably inclined Chinesc' | The expected result happened--the lit | tie brown men after doing to death | some thousands, more or less, of the l poor Chinese. who would really much 1 prefer to Iaunder a, shirt than to shoot
 and the treaty of 1895 was signed; By | this treaty, alike dishonorable to China | and Japan, the former ceded to the
 latter the Liao Tung Peninsula and | the island of Formosa. At this point.
 as we are historically informed, Rus | sia, Germany and France, "eXerted pressure and Japan yielded the Liao-
 Tung Peninsula and in lieu thereof re-
 waged this ruthless and cruel war, for l conquest and not money, we can 1 imagine the pressure which we are told, l was everted was very like the pressure l brought to bear on the Indian by tho 1 white man, with a gun in his hands. to | induce him to take the crow and let
 him have the turkey, but to show that
 he did not take advantage of his posi-
 tion and could be perfectly fair and at 1 the same time generous, he offered if 1 the Indian was not satisfied with the | division he had made of the spells, that
 he would take the turkey and let the l Indian take the crow. We can also
 easily imagine Germany, France. Rus i sia and Great Britain, the last two,
 the great land grabbers of all the coun-
 turies. saying in effect to Japan Yes,
 Japan by your war with China, you
 have demonstrated that you are l world power" but you are only q | brown man world power and it is only
 white man world power that has any
 right to steal land, so you must take ] money instead, which we will make
 China pay you" and to this Japan
 "Sighing l will never consent, consent
 ed.' Then these mighty world powers
 say in effect to China, Tt is absolutely
 necessary that we protect you from
 these brown, stinging wasps--ths
 Japs-your wall will not keep them
 out--there Is an open sea clear to Japan
 and while you may curse them and fear l them, the sea cannot be walled or be
 damned, so to effectually protect you,
 Great Britain will take Wei-hai-weI.
 Germany will take this. France will l take that, while Russia will take Port
 Arthur and to be certain she can hold
 it, she will also occupy Manchuria, one
 of your largest provinces, but remem-
 Der China, all this Is for your good
 and protection" China also sighed but
 consented, for the very good reason
 that she couldn't do anything else.
 Recent events in Manchuria, how l ever, make it questionable if Russia
 can retain all of 1t much longer and
 its weakening hold recalls the remarks
 of friend in reference to our unwise
 holding of the Philippines: we have"
 said he taken the Philippines Bull by
 the horns but the thought sometimes
 occurs whether or not 1t were better
 if we had taken him by the tail instead,
 since we could hold on by the tail just
 us we'll and let go a great deal easier"
 Japan smarting under what she con
 sidered an unfair division of the spells
 of the war with China, conscious of her
 loss of prestige as a world power" in
 that she was compelled to take money
 from China instead of territory, which
 was the object of her war with the
 practically defenceless Chinese, and
 angry to see Russia quietly enjoying
 Manchuria, which she wanted, conclud-
 ed, after years of preparation, to take
 upon herself the burden of driviAg the
 Russians out and thereupon declared
 war upon her, For what purpose: 1 You have said the yaps were practically fighting for their rights, if not for