Arizona republican., 1905-02-24
PHoENIx. ARIZONA. FEB. 24. 1sO5
What It Costs Russia.

Official figures of the losses sustain ed by the Russian army during the Iyear of war have been printed in St. Petersburg They show that out of q total force estimated at 450.O0O men at least forty percentum have suffered in one way or another. The list given tells of more than 76.O0O sick. of which number 17,722 were permanently in valided, while 9,429 were returned 10 Russia. There are still 21.554 in the hospitals. Of those who were wound ed 4,OO7 died in the hospitals and the total number dying of wounds is plac- ed as high as fifty thousand.
 When more than thirty percentum have passed through the hospitals it is clear that Russia has had its hands full in that direction. There seems to be an absence Of intelligent treatment for sick and wounded and the usual story of war is told. Protection against disease does not seem to have entered into the Russian plans. which is directly the opposite to the method employed by Japan.
 
 ing perfected and put into practical use an intelligent system of providing against disease. There are corps of medical men and chemists with the army and they make 1t their duty to anaIyze all water used by the troops; they examine the food and prescribe what should be used; they secure the best places for camps. and they look after the health of the soldiers in ev- cry way. Thus Japan has taught the world that it is better in time of war to prevent sickness than it is to care for the men after they are sick.
 So far as the hospital reports from Japan are to be taken it is found that the percentage of fatalities among the sick and wounded is remarkably low, altogether refuting the general belief that sickness must of necessity be the worst enemy in the field. Japan has not made public its record for the first year of the war, but in time it will be presented for comparison with the Russian report. The only figures to go by, so far as Japan is concerned, are those that have appeared from time to time. All the correspondents who have looked into the matter agree sickness and the care of wounded is remarkable.
 We are told that the world at large has much to learn from Japan. And therein lies the secret of Japan's en- durance in the field. It may probably through its representatives with the armies in Manchuria, will secure data that will be of value in the future Only seven years ago 1t was demon strated in this country that our system of caring for troops in the fiId was not only crude but defective to criminal extent. Sickness ragged in the camps at home and in places where every possible opportunity was offered for | intelligent care and treatment of the men.
 Japan has set a pace that must be followed by the rest of the world in the matter of the care of soldiers. In the cities of this country every effort is made first to prevent disease, and that is what Japan is doing in the field. | It is cheaper. in both men and money, | to prevent sickness than it is to care for the sick. When Russia admits that | about forty percentum of its soldiers | have been either killed or wounded or have gone through the hospitals it is made clear why the Russians have | shown such remarkable weakness at | every turn.