The Savannah morning news., 1904-01-13

ably in evidence when there is fighting
to be done.
The military unit, it is true, has been
drilled to the highest degree of me-
chanical accuracy, so that his re-
spouse to the word of command may
almost be termed a reflex action; but,
on the other hand, he retains in addi-
ton to that burning patriotism. al
ready referred TO, a reSourcerulness
and intelligence that stamps him. to
my mind, as the superior of the Rus
sian soldier. He combines elan ana
dash with ineffable phlegm in critical
moments, as witness the absolute nat
uralness with which the Japanese
troops, during the last Chinese cam
paign, would take advantage of a lull
in the firing to extract fan from
their CATERS and fan themselves.
KipIing AYERS that blackguards and
gentlemen make the best soldiers. Such
a rule may apply to the heterogeneous
communities of the Occident, but it can
not be extended to Japan, where the
! two arms of the service are composed
of men the majority of whom are IN
spired by sentiments of awe and de-
Votion to the Emperor to which Eu-
rope can furnish no adequate parallel
and where, too, the unwritten tenets
of Bushido (''military- highways
iconoclastic zeal which has followed
the downfall of feudalism.
l have no hesitation, then, in affirm
ing that Japanese morale can be Sec
ond to none in the world. But have
referred above to the physical factor.
The shibboleth of Japanese diminu-
tiveness has been so obstinately per-
petuated by writers like Pierre Lott
and Matthew Arnold that, should one
attempt to qualify these sweeping
congratulations, one runs the risk OF
being denounced as a hereto, and OF
being treated as a literary IShmaelite.
But the truth is that foreigner meas
uring five feet six inches in his stock
ings feels decidedly small at Yokosuka
or Hiroshima No doubt the average
statue is below these figures, but in
the crack regiments five feet seven,
eight and nine inches are common
nights, and, what is far more i'm
portant than hight, the japanese sail
or or soldier impresses one as of
studier build than the English or
American-to select types most familiar
to ordinary readers. In colloquial par
lance, the Japanese Tommy Atkins
and Jacky are built from the ground
up" Their chests, necks and calves
are frequently too big for their clothes,
and, Withal the Japanese sailor and
soldier look, and have shown them
selves to be, as hard as nails.
l have heard it said that though the
japanese army and navy might be ex-
pected to fight well, if successful from
the start, a few initial reverses would
induce a panic. Yet the Japanese,
from almost the earliest historical
epoch, have been a military race, and
the entire record of national achieve
ment in the domain of politics, litera-
ture, ethics and art may almost be
summed up as record of the doings
of the military caste. But if the con-
tention that Japenese troops lack NOR
al stamina fails signally when judged
in the light of Pre- Meiji days, it's
untenable character is still more glar-
ingly exposed when the facts of re-
cent years are taken into consideration.
The China war of 1S94-5 may possibly
be deemed inconclusive testimony, in
view of Chinese cowardice; but at least
in the North China disturbance of 1900
the International forces were all sub
jected to the same conditions, and the
emphatic and universal verdict of ex-
perts is that the Japanese were second
to none and superior to most.
No more than in 1894 or in 1900 will
they enter upon their next war unpre-
pared. For minuatiae the Japanese
has talent amounting to genius, and
no detail, however apparently insig-
nificant, is likely to be overlooked.
Compare the men, compare the off,
GERS of the prospective beligerents. On
the Russian side we find the former
duh, british. ignorant dirty and in
different; treated like dogs and prob
ably amenable to no other treatment
the latter VIGOROUSLY corrupt as a
class. On the japanese side we find
the men, despite strict discipline,
bright, alert, clean and neat in their
persons keenlV interested in their call
ing, and ready and eager to fight to
the last gasp for Dai Nippon; the Off
GERS equipped in every branch of mill
tary and naval science, and, for the
most part, above suspicion of dishonest
practices.