Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-21

q new Chinese army and 1t was intimated
that the government was preparing for hos
tilities. That is an absurd miscoaception
of the situation. The organization of an
army Of defense upon a modern basis is
consiGe red by Chinese statesmen the most
important Of all the reforms that have
been attempted, because UP till now the
government has been absolutely poWerless
to resist the encroachments OF aggressive
European nations, and has been compelled
to yield in every dispute. This continuous
humiliation will not last many years longer
In each of the tWenty-one provinces con-
posing the Chinese empire formidable mil
itary force is now being organized, armed,
uniformed and drilled according to modern
military tactics by Japanese instructors
Hitherto Chinese soldiers have been trained
py Frenchmen. Germans or Belgians, but
since the close of the war in Manchuria
Jananese military experts have been called
in and by permission of the Japanese gov
eminent, they are now to be found al every
provincial capital, creating an army out or
such raw material as they ind avaliaple.
The Chinese are not fighting race; they
do not have the beligerent disposition or
their neighbors in Japan; they prefer tne
arts of peace to the art of war, and al
ways will be more successful in commercial
and industrial enterprises than in military
achievements. But they realize that they
must have means of defense and are organ
izng them on the Japanese plan lnoeed
the development of modern civilization Is
almost a repetition of what was going on In
japan thirty-five or forty years ago. The
Japanese method of conscription has been
adopted in most of the provinces, so that
every young Chtnaman. as ne comes OF
age, will have a military training by serv-
ing three years with the colors and then
pass into the reserve and spend at least
four weeks of each year for the following
five years In camp. 1t should be explained
here that each province. each grand divi-
sion Of the Chinese empire, has its own In
dependent military force, whose proficiency
policy and ambition of the viceroy The
imperial government has general supervi-
sion over the military forces in all the
provinces, and will have more or less TO
say about the organization.
The other day l saw large album filled
with photographs Of Chinese soldiers taken
during the summer mobilization and ma
neuvers In the province OF Pechill me
pictures were an extraordinary contrast TO
scenes which might have been photo
graphed only few years ago when Chi
nese generals were selected because OF
their familiarity with the maxims of Con-
fucius and the soldiers used bows and ar
rows and 'stinkpots' as weapons Of onense
and wore hideous masks In order to terribly
the enemy in battle. Today they wear
uniforms resembling those of the German
army, which are much better adapted for
fighting than the skirts and tunlcs Of the
native costume and enable military OFF,
Ger to ride horseback. which is always diff
fcult and awkward in the Chinese dress.
cutting OH the queue.
The most sensational and significant fea-
ture Of the new military regulations is the
disappearance of the queue. which has
been condemned by military experts as
inconsistent with the proficiency OF SOL
dier. Therefore every conscript has his
queue cut of when he assumes his new
uniform and many of the officers do the
same. although 1t is not required by the
regulations. Those who preserve their,
queues curl them up on the crown Of the
head under their caps. But 1t will not be
long until the absence of queue will be
the badge of the soldier and the young
men of China are rapidly acquiring the
same love for military display that ls
found in every other nation.
The queue, that distinguishing badge Of
the Chinese race II doomed. The regula-
lions OF nearly every modern school for
boys In China require q uniform of semi
military pattern. which will distinguish
the student from the ordinary boy In the
streets. This custom has been adopted
6rom Japan. Every japanese school boy
wears q uniform. and the crest upon hds
cap will tell those who understand such
things what particular school he attends
A queue does not conform to modern dress
and student realizes 1t very forctbly
Hence the entire student population Of
China are cutting OF their "pigtails" and