Omaha daily bee., 1906-01-28


lightened and educated Of the Chinese Of
ficials are not anti-fOreign and are dis
posed to be friendly; but it is the rank
and file Of the minor officials who are keep
ing things stirred up And Secretary Taft
and his party would naturally meet and
trust the higher ofncial Of China-not the
lower orders. who. after all. are the closer
to the people.
II is regarded as significant that China
has dismissed the German officers in its
army and replaced them with Japanese.
II IL further regarded as significant that
an American telephone company starting a
telephone exchange in China was ousted
by the oficials without concession before
actual business had begun. and that Jap
anese company is now operating the ex-
change. II is also regarded as significant
that American railway concessions have
been repurchased by the Chinese govern
ment-at a profit to the holders. OF course
but nevertheless bought back and placed
under native control. II is also significant
that number OF conferences have been
held recently. plans being laid to prevent
American railway concession not only in
the province Of Cheklaing. but other Chi
nese provinces as well.
Summing all OF these things up In
single sentence and II appears 10 amount
to practically this: Japan is taking the
lead in the orient in matters commercial
as well as military. II is too much to say
that Japan was responsible for the Chinese
boycott-that Il was making OF China
mere cats paw to pull trade chestnuts out
Of the fre-but It is not too much to say
that Japan will be the chief beneficiary Of
this anti-foreign feeling. AS for the Chi
nese army, Il Is already known that Japan
Is extremely anxious to take the lead in
the orient in matters military and control
the vast wealth Of raw material which is
known to exist in the rank and file OF the
Chinese soldiery.
Msneuvers Surprise World.
For II should be remembered that the
maneuvers held in the north of China have
surprised the whole world. Thirty foreign
officers were In attendance, representing the
chief military powers OF the globe. 1t is
| surprising and not greatly to the credit Of
| their vigilance that these skilled observers
do not appear to have had the remotest
idea OF what the Chinese have been doing
! for the last four years. They went up into
the north OF China, they said. to witness a
spectacular comedy: they returned sobered
by the conviction that they had assisted at
what might prove a history in the far east.
| They saw an army which is as yet rela-
| lively small In numbers-for the total num-
| Der Of men assembled did not exceed $500
men-an army which filled them with
| establishment by its organization, Its dis
cipline. it's intelligence and its endurance.
| Great is the task which Yuan Shih- Kai
| and his colleagues on the Council of Army
Organization have accomplished in four
short years. The maneuvers, which were
carried out fifty miles from the nearest bar
racks. were executed under conditions which
put all branches Of the service to a severe
| test. and from that test all of them
| emerged with credit and several with bril-
liant success. The transport and commits
! siariat departments, which often break
down even in the armies of nations with
| long and continuous military traditions, did
their work in a way to command admira-
ton. Indeed. they worked so well and the
! constitution OF the Chinese soldier is so
! sound that in spite of the severe exertons
the troops underwent In the four days
maneuvers not man required the atten-
ton OF the doctors. The infantry displayed
intelligence in skirmishing and the use of
cover and their fire discipline The artillery
was handled with remarkable skill, the
drivers and the gun teams working in.
fashion which elected great praise from the
foreign officers present The engineers did
some smart bridging work, the training and
detraining being well performed, the tele-
graphic sections showing that they fully
understood their special business. There
were shortcomings. might be expected
For instance. the horses belonging to the
cavalry were poor in quantity and quality
and II Is doubtful whether trained Ameri-
cans could have made more OF these Man
churIan ponies than did their Manchurian
riders. Another thlng-infantry and artil-
lery are at present both badly armed. A
decree, however. has just been issued which
commands the adoption OF the newest pat
tern of the Mauser for the infantry. The
infantry at present has at least four Off
ferent varieties Of rifle. The guns are
small. of different pattern and are out of
date.
The present army IL comparatively small.
but by the end OF 1896 1t is expected that It
will consist OF ten divisions of some 1900
each. with over 10000 men in the reserve.
Acting under expert Japanese military ad-
vice well considered scheme OF ganiza j.
ton has been drawn up for the future.
Under this scheme II is proposed to increa sc
the number OF divisions to thirty-six II IL
planned to accomplish this in ten years or
even In Ave. This would give China a truly
formidable force of 432, 900 men. with re-
serve OF S0.O0. and IL they are true to the
sample produced In the recent maneuvers
the integrity OF China will be maintained.
i HYMENEAL.