The Washington times., 1905-04-18


Newspaper Enterprise Association To-
dav made public the following copy
riqhted and exclusive article on the
Observation-Disclosures war by Admlral
Dewey. Discussing the naval situation
in the Far East. the famous American
sea fighter says:
"One Of the most momentous naval
battles that has been fought for years
is impending III the Far East, and, ike
all the rest Of the world, am watch
ing it with the greatest interest. The
situation is one Of almost thrilling in
terest I confess that 1 am up in the
morning at o'clock looking for the
papers. All naval men are interested.
but I have, possibly, an added interest,
owing to the fact that I was myself
at one time confronted by a dilemma
not unlike that which is now faced by
the Japanese admiral, Togo
LAS to- what will happen, it is any
| body's guess. There are as many
| opinions as there are naval experts.
My guess, perhaps, is no better than
another Hsrfpt riH aS Witb Ha the complicating
| circumstances, which must be taken
| into consideration.
Russians the Stronger.
| But one tnlnS On WHICH dil dUtiioii-
| ties seem agreed, and which doubtless
is true, is that the Russian fleet is nu-
merically and in tonnage and, arma-
ment stronger than the forces or the
Japanese. They have several more
! heavy fighting ships, according to re-
ports, than the Japanese, and it is also
to be remembered that there is sec
| ondary fleet of three or more heavy
| ships which is on the way and will be
J due on the scene in about forty days
.Some naval authorities incline to the
, belief that Admiral Tooo will avoid a
direct engagement, and will try TO pick
out the weak members of the Russian
fleet. cutting them off i'll the night, us
i ing his torpedo-boat destroyers, and fol-
lowing much the same tactics as were
employed at Port Arthur.
"I wondered at that time that the
/ Japanese did not go right into the har-
Dor and finish the work. at once, but /
have been informed since by a reliable
authority that the Japanese admiral
had strict orders from the Mikado not
to risk the loss of his battleShlpS. Ihe
loss might. at that juncture, nave peeh
/ fatal. So they took the slower methods
4 to the same end. It is not imposslple
that the same policy will De pursued
now. We probably shall not know until
events disclose What Is the JdpdlleSe
plan Of campaign.
| Togo at Formosa?
4 "I presume Admiral Toeo's fleet is in
4 a port at the northern end of the island
of Fcrrnosa. There is a magnificent har-
Dor there, a veritable Gibraltar. Nc
doubt Togo is in touch with the Rus
sian fleet through his scouts and his
wireless telegraph equipment, and Is
watching to see whether Admiral Roge5t-
vensky will take the inner or outer
channel.
There is n possibility that the three
battleships which the Russians have al
Vladirostok will try TO effect a juno
ton or Will begin to prey on japanese
commerce or a general contraband oi
war in foreign ships. These are some
of the possibilities which the situation
involves.
Now, suppose the Russians should
succeed in forcing a decisive battle
Suppose for the sake of argument, that
they should lose. The losing battle wouic
not be so disastrous to them as losing
battle would be to the japanese 1t woulc
not have the same effect of cutting OF
communication between their lant
forces and their base of supplies, and il
would not to the same degree expose
their shipping and their coast to the
| ravages OF q hostile fleet And they
would still have the secondary force
coming along in May. YGl. see. II IS {
problem not easy to decide. And there
is almost everything at stake for the
two countries whose navies are inyolY'
| ed II certainly looks as if a decisive
! engagement between the two fleet:
would decide the war