The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1904-06-17
The Russo-Japanese War.

f1du the peuuluR war III tue Tar EJdsI
come off before our recent short. sharp
conflict with Spain it would have at
tracted but little more attention on this
side of the water than did the war be
tween China and japan 10 years ago,
but to-day it is very different.
Prior to our war with Spain the affairs
of the Orient did not much concern us,
but at the conclusion of that world won
drous conflict our country at a single
bound rose from a position of almost
insignificance in the council of nations
to the very foremost rank as a first class
world power, and this with the acquisi
ton of the Philippines brings us in al
most as intimate relation with the Orient
as with the Occident.
In the pending conflict our people
cannot we'll help taking an almost per-
sonal interest, for we look upon the Japs
as almost the foster-children of our ma
ton and the Japs look up to us with al.
most worshipful love and reverence, and
our interest is greatly intensified by the
wonderful fight the little brown men are
putting up against monumental Russia.
1t was never dreamed that these little
men could show up such wondrous fight
ing qualities, though the writer has be-
lieved from the first that the Japs would
win out, as by virtue of their position
they are relatively much the stronger
The field of active operations is compar-
atively near the Jap base of supplies and
fearfully remote from the Russian base,
and in many other ways the Japs have
great advantage. Firstly, the Japs are
dense unit in support of the war, an
essential to the preservation of their
national existence, while in Russia
very large element of the population is
opposed to the war; secondly, they are
far more intelligent and inventive than
the Russians; and thirdly, their cause is
eminently just.
The Russian occupancy Of Manchuria
is an outrage from every point of view,
and she is only there by the rankest
false pretense and trickery. Taking ad-
vantage of the Boxer uprising in China
10 years ago, she invaded Manchuria
solemnly promising to get out at the
conclusion of those troubles, instead of
which she has violated her treaty pledges
and entered into an elaborate system of
fertilization with the clearly evident
purpose Of permanent occupancy until
finally the Japs are compelled to strike
in pure self defense.
From every just point OF view all fair
minded men must side with the Japs.
Japan has only 1920 square miles of
territory 100000 square miles less than
our single state of Texas) upon which
are 100000 people, about 300 for each
square mile, while Russia has 1900, 600
square miles of territory, more than one
sixth of the entire land area of the globe
and upon which she has less than IL
persons to the square mile and the great
mass of these little better than savages.
Our terrible civil war 40 years ago af-
fords fair standard of comparison in
estimating the chances between the bel
ligerents in this great eastern conflict
The Union states in 1860 had a popula-
ton Of about 23,000,0O0, the active Con
federate states about 100000; in other
words the Union preponderance was
about three to one precisely the same
as between Russia and Japan today
and yet it required 2,77S,304 Union sol.
diers and four years of terrible fighting
to overcome $4,000 Confederate soldiers
simply because the Confederates were
fighting near home and the Union sol
diers away from home. And yet the
most remote battlefield of the civil wal
was not one-fourth as far removed from
the Union base of supplies as all the
battlefields OF the pending war must be
from the Russian base of supplies, and
in our case we had full command of the
sea and every Confederate port and q
dozen first class rail and river ways fol
the transport OF troops and munitions
In the case of Russia she is entirely ex
cluded from all sea routes and has
but one cheap, single track railroad
running through 5000 miles of desolate
country to reach the field of operations
In the light OF the terrible struggle
required for the Union armies to win in
the civil war with the scene of operations
relatively near and the field surrounded
and accessible on all sides, how is it pos
sible for Russia to win in this contest
infinitely worse handicapped than were
the Union armies in our WARP
This talk of danger from the "yellow
peril il the Japs win out in this war Is
the sheerest nonsense. The Japs are
far more civilized than the Russians and
are far better international neighbors
Bully for the little JAP!