Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-01-20
IRvINGTON, VIRGINIA. FRIDAY JANUARY 20 1905.

saOAS o0SSVocAuis nS1, tOO, nave
plenty of troops and plenty of money,
they say, for their needs. After all,
it is a question not Of will and
courage, but of endurance. The
Japs are at less expense than the
Russians and much more enthusiast
tic. If they can hold out for long
time, the present Gar may find it
necessary to initiate previous Gear,
who called the Crimean War off,
though that war was entered upon
with equal determination. Russia's
prestige as buffer may suffer by
Withdrawing from Manchuria, but
her best friends think it would be q
very sensible thing to do.
WAR WITHOUT PRISONERS.
Baltimore Sum-,
One of the remarkable things about
the present Russo Japanese war is
the fact that few prisoners are taken.
During our Civil War almost every
action, however small, resulted in
the capture of one or more prisoners.
In important battles Of our war the
captured were numbered by the
thousands, while in accounts of large
battles IN Manchuria no prisoners
are reported. Even in the battles of
Sbakhe river, where the casualties
are estimated at $4,000 or $4,000,
only two or three hundred prisoners
are mentioned, and all of these are
reported by the Japs. The cause is
perhaps two or even three fold. One
may cite the feroc ty with which the
war is waged and allege that neither
side is disposed to spare the life of
an enemy. There are some signs of
this in the story from Mukden to the
effect that in the recent action a
certain Russian division, being in
furiated, bayoneted the dead as we'll
as the wounded. The Japs have
reported many cases of mutilation
on the Yalu aud in subsequent
engagements
Another cause of the scarcity of
prisoners may be found in the long
range of the modern rifle. During
our Civil War the opposing armies
used weapons of short range and
often got go close to each other that
the men could "see the whites of the
eyes" of their opponents. At such a
distance it was easy to see a man
hold up his hand In token Of sur
render, or even hear his cry 'I sur
render!" The nearness itself favored
pity on the part of the victor, who
could see plainly the blood of the
wounded. But with rifles that kill
at distance of over q mile the case
is different. Even at distance of a
quarter of mile the opposing soldier
is target rather than a man, so far
as sentiment goes, and will be shot
down as a matter Of course. At q
less distance it may be impracticable
to observe whether man is holding
up his hand or Offering to yield.
The vanquished man is almost GER
tain to be killed before he can get
close enough to make his purpose
clear. A third explanation may be
based on the inability of the Russians
and Japs to understand each other.
Their languages are wholly unliks,
so that the average soldier can't make
out whether his opponent is offering
to surrender or demanding surrender.
On the part of the Japanese it is
point of honor to die rather tLan
to yield. Many commit hara kari
rather thau surrender. Nevertheless
when all is said, it is to be feared
that the phenomenon of excessive
paucity of prisoners is due largely to
the fact that the Russians and Japs
are of antipathetic races and hate
each other with intense bitterness.
Under such conditions war may be
expected to manifest excessive
ferocity.