Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-05-17
JUDGE CHEADLE
ON GREAT WAR
Some Warnings and Lessons to be
Drawn From Titanic Struggle In
the Orient.
YELLOW PERIL IS REAL DANGER
Military Genius Of the japanese
Some Observations Made by judge
In the Land Of the Mikado.

The address delivered by Judge E.
K. Cheadle under the auspices of the
Woman's club at the Presbyterian
last week was an intensely in
teresting one, dealing, as it largely
did, with the great war now raging
in the orient, and giving the speak
er's views in regard to the yellow
peril" of which so much is heard in
these days.
At the outset of his lecture, Judge
Cheadle touched upon a subject that
has been widely discussed and that
has been the cause of international
friction-the reason why the sympath-
les of the American people are over
whelmingly with the Japanese in this
fight, rather than with Russia, the
hereditary friend of the United
States" Upon this subject, Judge
Cheadle said:
Russia and the United States.
sons for feeling an interest in the af-
fairs of Russia at the present juno
ture. Russia was friend to the Amer
ican republic at time when it had
no other friend among the nations of
the whole earth. During the days
of the civil war every European coun-
try, with the exception of Russia, was
antagonistic to the American republic.
England hoped for our dismember-
ment, France and Germany likewise;
Russia alone of all the nations of the
earth was friend to us at that crit
ical period in our national existence
In view of this fact it Is somewhat
remarkable that American sympathy
in the present war Is almost wholly
with the Japanese, but there are rea
sons for this. It would perhaps be un
gracious to inquire or conjecture how
far Russia's sympathy for us in the
days of our rebellion was real ant
genuine, and how far it was polite
how far it was a measure of state
policy with her. It also Is impossible
for us even to guess, suppose, wheth
er the Russian people felt that sym
pathy for the American people at tina
time which the Russian government
professed. The Russian government
has never represented the feelings o
the Russian people. The mass OF thu
Russian people are ignorant. degraded
| illiterate. It is not likely that one IL
a thousand of them even knew OF tn
existence of the American common
wealth at the time of our civil wal
However that may be, our attitude ar
pears somewhat ungracious, but
wish to give what seems to me a goo
reason for it. We are more closel,
allied in race to the Russians thal
to the japanese. The whole worla
more or less agitated over wnat !
called the yellow peril, meanln
thereby the danger which may resui
to the white race If the yellow rae
becomes too strong. No doubt Rus
sia is honestly puzzled to understan
why America does not sympathize VII
her instead of with Japan, but tn
reason, I take it, is this: That tn
government of Russia is oppressive
autocratic, tyrannical; that Russia a
liberately smothers all the feeling
and all the ideals which Americ
stands for. The government OF hu'
sia stands for repression; its metnoo
are antiquated and cruel; 1t has n
respect for human rights. On the otl
: er hand, the Japanese are progressive
enthusiastic, and much further adva'
ced in human liberty than are the Ru
SLAMS. Another thing is that Russ1
in this contest was the agrgesso
For wears she has been reaching OF
towards the Pacific coast; she acqui
ed Siberia; she built the trans.Sioe
ian railway, ending at the harbor
,Vladivostok, which is ice-bound Il
about the same length of time eac
wear that the harbor of Duluth 9
Lake Superior is. In order to secul
an omen port on the Pacific, navlgaD
all the year round, she obtained co
> cessions from the Chinese governmel
!. which permitted her to extend
\ branch of the Trans.Siberian railws
: southeasterly to Port Arthur, OF rat
! er, to Dalny, a town which was MAJ
: to order by the Russian governme
+ on the open waters of the yellow Sc
3 in order that for twelve months IN q
e year she might have access 10 u
r waters of the Pacific. For mai
d years her design has evidently be-
!. to grasp Manchuria. and as mu
J. more of the adjacent Chinese ter
J, tory as she might be able to acqull
/, This could mean only one thing
:. japan: The endangering Of her We
n existence as a nation-the probat
j. ity that if Russia's advance could 2
G. be checked, she would in time L
A, within the sphere of Russian inhuen
[. and cease to be an independent g
r ernment. It is no exaggeration
o. saw that this is a life and death STR
a gle for the Empire of Japan. jap
S. is in the position where she must v
r, or surrender up in a very few ye;
n, her national independence. Hence
a. desperation with which the Japan.
h. fight. It is not too much to say u
re nobody in the world expected that