The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1905-08-05


fight in the Korean straits, like the bat
tie OF Salanis, the battle Of Actium,
the destruction of the Spanish armada,
the Britain triumph at TrafaIgar was
not only decisive In Its immediate re
suits but it will also exert d powerful
tnluencs upon the entire future his
tory of mankind. When Xerxes In
vaded Europe Greece was just begin
ming to bring forth that wonderful civ
tlixation whose study has for centu-
ries been pleasure and stimulus Of
the intellectual leaders of the west
The Greeks won at Salamis, and
nerves was hurled back into Asia.
Suppose they had lost and the Asiatics
had overrun Greece. There would
have been no "age of Pertcles," no his
tories by Xenophon and Herodotus, no
dramas by Aeschylus and Sophocles,
no philosophers of Aristotle and Plato.
There would have been no statues by
Phidias, no orations of Demosthenes.
There can be little question that in
that case the moral, intellectual, and
material aspect of the western world
would now be extremely different from
what Is actually Is. Issues hardly less
important were settled at Actium. The
east, under Antony, there met the west
under Octavius. The victory Of the
latter determined that the capital of
the world should not be removed to
Alexandria, but should remain at
Rome, and made possible the founda-
ton by Octavius Augustus, Of the Ro-
man empire, the extension Of whose
sovereignty and laws over Europe has
profoundly affected all subsequent his
tory. There would have been no Au-
GUSTAV age II Actium had turned out
differently. The victory of the En-
glish over the Spanish armada deter
mined that Europe should not be Who'll
~ Catholic, but both Protestant and
Catholic. 1t prevented that arrest Of
the development Of English laws and
liberty which would have been a con-
sequence of Spanish conquest. 1t an
initiated Spanish power upon the seas
and gave to the extensive and mighty
empire of Philip II. blow from which
1t never recovered. Napoleon's favor
lite project for years was an invasion
of England, and he had his plans for it
matured. Nelson's victory at Trafal-
gar made England mistress Of the seas
and confined the operations Of the
French emperor to the land. Who
knows but that, If Villeneuve had won
at Trafalgar, Napoleon would have
achieved his ambition Of reigning
over all EuropeH If Togo had been
beaten By Rejestvensky Russia would
now be master of the eastern seas.
Marshal Oyama's great army would be
irretrevabiy cut off, the Russian feet
would be harassing the Japanese coast
at will, and the issue of the war would
be doubtful. The Japanese victory
settles both the result of the war and
be Mongol, not Slav; yellow, not white
It is to be free, not bond. 1t is to
work out its salvation under the sym
pathetic leadership of the intelligent
and progressive Japanese not under
the dictation of the despotic and re-
dictionary Russian bureaucracy. The
Japanese victory will have important
effects in Russia as we'll as in the east.
1t cannot fail to hasten the downfall
of the bureaucracy and the rise Of free
institutions. Each Of these great de-
cisiye battles was won by the fleet
which was the weaker in ships. Each
was won by men. not machines. In
the opinion of most of the world the
result Of the last will prove, as the re-
suits of all the others have proved, for
the best interests OF civilization.