The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-03-06

In the light Of history. both the
Russian and japanese soldiers are
seen 10 be hrst-class fighting men.
There is little TO choose between them
except that the Russian is far less in
telligent and depends much more upon
leadership than the japanese Their
courage and discipline may be ranked
about equal The Japanese is a fiery.
impetuous fighter, always eager TO lead
fOrlOrn hope or storm q battery: the
Russian is heavy. logged and deter
mined TO the point of death.
The British found in the Crinnea that
when once the Russian infantry occu-
pied a position and got ready TO fight
D. was practically impossible to drive
them from that position: it was neces-
sary 10 kill them all before II could be
taken But. ON the other hand. a sur
prise frequently made them lose their
wits and retreat in confusion, and after
the loss Of their officers they We're of
little use as an effective fighting force.
They simply became a mob. knowing
not where to turn or what to do.
This estimate Of the Russians was
given TO the writer by a retired British
officer who fought them in most OF the
battles of the Crimean war and was
wounded in the attack on the Redan.
ImPetuosity VS.. Stolidity.
The discipline of the japanese army
is not so strict as that of the Russian,
but in the judgment of foreign experts
Il is quite as effective because the men
are SO keen on doing their duty They
obey readily because they like 10 be
good soldiers. not because they fear
their officers. There is a strong spirit
of brotherhood among officers and men
in the japanese. army, which is largely
due to their experiences in the China
Japanese war and the Picking relief ex-
petition. They have tested each other
and been satisfied. The Russian SOL
dier's discipline is stolid-perfect from
the military point of view, but de-
void of all enthusiasm. He obeys the
officer because he has never dreamed of
doing anything but obey, even before
he became a soldier.
The Japanese officers are mainly
drawn from the ChO-su clan. to which
the emperor, MARQUIS Ito. and nearly
all Japan's leading generals belong.
The officers Of the navy. on the con-
trary, belong, with but few exceptions.
to the Satsuma clan. All the officers
in the Japanese service come from
Samurai stock and their ancestors for
over two thousand years were as fine
fighting men as the world has ever
seen.
Japs Cannot Ride.
The weakest branch OF the japanese
army is undoubtedly the cavalry The
Japs are not good horsemen, and the
breed OF horses in Japan is distinctly
inferior. Heroic efforts have been made
by the Toxic war Office in recent years
TO improve this branch of the service.
but without much success. Among
other things. a special college for the
education of cavalry officers only was
esta blished.
The Japanese cavalryman,' an Eng
lish officer once remarked to the writ
er, 'can master with ease every de-
tail of his work except how to ride de-
Gently He never learns that"
The CossacSs, on the contrary. have
the reputation among military experts
of being the finest irregular cavalry in
the world, and those whom one sees. in
Russia and Central Asia are always
splendidly mounted. OF course il does
not follow that they would be equally
well mounted in ManchUria and Ko-