The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-10-25
MODERN ARMY. OF JAPAN
Force Of 100000 Men May Easily BE Put
Upon tho Mainland.

u 3. . :
Only thirty years old, the Japanese
army has passed through successfully.
the only real test of military efficiency,
an actual campaign, while select
but representative portion gained
laurels for itself and the commenda-
tion Of the army. men Of other nation
alities in thesmareh Of the internation-
al troops to Pekin three years ago.
From the forty-seven millions Of hsr
population Japan has an enrolled body
of soldiers Of 100000 men. Conscrip-
ton was introduced in 1873. when mill
tary feudalism was abolished, and the
Japanese army was organized on a.
European model. At first under the
prestige gained by the Germans from
the Franco German War, German in
structors were employed, but for some
years the Japanese army has been
Independent, and there are few lessons
in regard to drill, equipment, subsi-
diary services or the higher strategy
planned by the general staff which the
Japanese now need to learn from
others.
Service is%obligatory from the age
Of seventeen to forty. In the upper
classes on educational grounds. as in
Germany, the term of service is modi-.,
fed from three years to one year, but
for the mass of the army sixty thou.
sand men are drawn by lot every year,
for seven and one-third years service
Another body Of one hundred and
thirty-one thousand men are drafted
into the two sections Of supernumer-
aries, for shorter period of training
before joining the territorial army
The ordinary conscript passes three
years in the permanent, or regular;
army; four years and four months i'm
the first regular reserves, five years in
the second reserves. or landwehr; and
then after depot service passes the re-
naming years Of service up to the age
Of forty. &I
The regular army, or permanent
force, on mobilization for service be-
yond the seas, would consist of the
following: Officers, 5000; rank and
file, 224,990; guns, 79s; horses, G7,152.
In the China Japanese War of
1S94-5 Japan easily kept an army OF
100000 men in the field, transporting
them to Korea and keeping them we'll
supplied with necessaries. Since then
she has relaxed none of her efforts to
maintain the greatest military eff
cheney on a larger scale, and would
probably be able to move and support
on the Asiatic Continent near her
shores an army Of 100000 without
much greater: difficulty. The scheme
drawn up after the war with China
aims at the provision Of war force
home and foreign, Of half a millions
men, with 100000 horses, but in the
ordinary course of things this aug
mentation will not be complete until
next year. - !
The great weakness of the Japanese
army is in it's cavalry A critic at a!
recent review of the pick Of the army
before the Mikado characterized the
cavalry as mounted on ponies, which
compared but poorly with Cossack
troops which Russia could draw upon
without stint or. with the horses
drawn from America and elsewhere
for mounted infantry in the Boer war.
The Russian military writers for this
reason believe that Japanese army
operating In Korea or Manchuriai
would be much handicapped as a mo-
bile force. On the other hand, the
japanese, while admitting the weak,
ness Of their cavalry, assert that the
lightness Of their race in the sadd1s
makes heavy horses unnecessary, and
point to the excellence Of their trans.
port and commissariat arrangements
in their recent campaigns. 4
ASA fighting man the Japanese SOL
dier has a wonderful power Of endur-
ance considering the simplicity and
moderation of his , physical require
ments. His staple food is hoshu, a.
preparation of rice, SO cooked that he
can carry enough in his own bag for
a three days march, and he is more
than content with this if it is ac-
conlpanied by cried seaweed, salted
fish, or picked plums. He is ex-
tremely agile and possesses fighting
instincts inbred as a national char
acteristic. He is looked upon as the
smallest Of soldiers in personal
stature, but according to the latest
statistics, the average height has been
gradually rising throughout the army
The officers are IS body well trained.
active and jealous in their profession.
and actuated by a high code of honor.
New York Herald.