Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-17
THE EASTERN W AR
EXPERT CONSIDERATION OF THE
RUssIAN-JAPANEsE CONFLICT.

The Star has just closed an arrangement
with Mr. Franklin K. Young of Boston,
who has high reputation as a writer on
war; to handle for 1t daily review of the
Russo-Japanese war.
During the British-Boer war Mr. Young
conducted department of this sort for a
number of papers throughout the country,
and attracted q great deal Of attention in
that line during the conflict Before hos
tilities commenced he pointed out the weak
ness Of British military Establishments and
the incompetency of British generals. After
the fighting was on he daily outlined the
remarkable succession Of Boer victories,
and was able to predict, often weeks In ad-
vance moves on the chess board Of war and
explain their causes.
1t is expected that he will be equally sue
cessful in treating the present subject.
By FRANKLIN X. YOUNG.
Copyrighted 1904)
In comparing the forces ehsaseo IA .iio
pending conflict in the orient ~ ol IN
terest to observe the organization OF the
Russian and of the Japanese miltaFy es-
+.b,isbments The strength of the Japa-
nese army properly consists IN its iniantry.
This is equally true of the RUSSIAN army.
The japanese army, however, mas no spe-
cial cotps of the elite, whef cas- the Rus
sian army contains two corps amoun.f ing to
something like 60 600 infantry, composed or
expert We .erans These are the Gfenaders
of the Russian imperial guard. Th-s guard,
besides it's infantry, is further augmented
by full corps of cuirassiefs, dragoons,
lancerS and hussars. In addition there are
seeral corps known as cossacks of the
guard, composed Of light cavalry. All of
these corps are enlisted for life and are
always maintained in a high state of ef-
ficiency. All these corps are still further
strengthened by an immense train of can
non, known as the artillery of the guard.
These guns are divided into field and horse
battery and are distributed in due proper
ton among the infantry and cavalry.
This famous corps has existed since the
time of Peter the Great. 1t has Suffered
many severe reverses in Russia 8 numerous
wars, most notable being the day Of Aus
terlftZ, when it was almost arnhilated by
Napoleon's Old Guard. Unless the Japanese
should gain decided military advantage
this corps probably will not leave Russia
comparing the right arms of Russia and
Japan, which, of course, means their in
fantry of the line, there is large differ
ence in the size of the men,
Where height and strength are united in
the same man it obviously is of naucb adj
vantage. 1t is a well-known fact that the
coored races. whether brown yellow on.
black, are poor losers The man Of colored
SKIN is quick In his movements, more or
less superficial in his conceptions and IN no
sense stable or consistent in his rnethods.
success animates him. Thus, it is that the
annals of warfare show that TIA Asiatic
Is at his best while he is winnin + S5r thinks
he is On the other hand the saffaunee0
vaior of the white man of the nora is cele-
brated in song and story and he Isl depfcted
IN the annals OF war as the one speciea of
the human race which never knows that II
Is beaten and which is capable in the midst
or overwhelming obstacles Of forcing a
triumphant issue by his uneezaled and
intelligent courage.
Turning to the cavalry, it is clear that the
strength of Russia in this arm OF the serv-
ice as compared with Japan Is simply over
Wneimlng The Russian army provides over
1Go,OOo horsemen, which Is more than the
total number of troops which the mikado
can maintain in the field The Japanese
cavalry can hardly be kept to 5000 men
In active service. Their horses are very in
ferior in size and strength AS a whole. it
hardly can hope to hold its own against the
Cossack frregurars. and the military man
readily sees the difficulty of opposing 1t to
the RUSSIAN mounted regulars In the artil-
lery. While the Japanese again are at dis
advantage here on account of their poor
horses, the men most likely will make up in
manual dexterity what they lack in
strength. 1t takes big. strong men to do
the work OF artillery At the same time,
enough of them with proper drilling. can
be made very efficient. At this moment
land maneuvers seem to be properly next
IN sequence. As the result of these move
ments 1t would seem that there should be
some good fighting all along the line, which
Will give a better opportunity for compar-
ing the qualities of the Opposing armies
than any facts now available