The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-07-14
\PAN IN NO CONDITION FOR HOSTUTTIFS

portion of enlisted men in the ,Japanes
army today who have seen service i
more than 10 per cent, and within TIVE
years even these will have gone bacl
inso the body polite.
Actual Army 100000.
a statement was recently published
having as alleged sponsor a well. know
retired naval officer Of the United
states, that Japan could immediatel,
put l,0uU,OoO veteran troops in the field
y Is dimeult to believe that u military
NAN rh could nave made such statement
me present japanese army approx
mates 100000 officers and men under
arms. and any increase must be b,
methods similar 10 our own under such
circumstances. it is true that there are
organizations designated ms the first
ana second reserves, but these Gre
serves exist only on paper, and arc
organized only in the sense that Ger.
tam classes are theoretically designated
as belonging to them, and are liable to
DC called upon for active duty without
previous notice or consent. Ali Europ.
can nations have similar reserves The
necessity for fiscal economy. if no 9th
CT reasons existed, required japan TO
reduce the personnel Of her army and
navy to normal as soon after hostilities
ended as was possible, aside from the
TACT that a great majority Of the sol,
dlers had enlisted only for the war
Ariskl Rifle Inferior.
turning from personnel 10 equip
ment, let us consider that of the Jap
anese army today. The rifle with which
the troops wore armed during the war
IS known as the "Ariski' rife, named
after Japanese officer Of ordnance:
bnt 1t is an almost exact copy Of the
Muuser 1898 model, formerly used by
the German army. The Japanese gov.
eernment, following it's customary course
IN such matters, simply appropriated
the mechanism Of the Mauser, with
Few notifications. such as shorter
stock adapted to the short arms of the
Japanese soldiers, and somewhat
shorter barrel. The rife as a weapon
was not improved by these changes,
although lightened little, for the cali.
ore was decreased to give velocity and
a hatter trajectory, which, as expert
ishcd the stopping power of the
While about equal TO the
rifle used by tho Russian army (the
1901 Mannlicher), the Ariski rife is
far inferior TO the rifles with which the
United States, German, France, and
Butleb armies are now supplied This
is fully recognized by Japanese ord
nance oInccTs, ana plans TO entirely re-
arm the army now occupy the attention
OF the general staff The stub bayonet
with which the Arski rifle is provided
is now believed to be inadequate, and
q number of minor deficiencies were
demonstrated during the war.
Used Russian Guns.
But if the fact that the Ariski rife
is obsolete (judged by modern stand
ards it is not as good weapon as the
krag recently discarded by our gov
did not supply sufficient
,eason for providing the Japanese army
With new weapon, one exists through
,he wearing out of the rifles now in use.
The number of Ariski rifles in Japan
ese arsenals when the war began is not
lehnitcIy known, except to the Jap
'nese staff, but it was noticed that even
'arly in the war rifles captured from
he Russians were used to arm the su-
which were attached to
he Japanese armies, and foreign mill
ory attaches noted that late in the war
ome Japanese soldiers carried Russian
ifes, which indicates that the supply |
# Arski rifles was limited, since any |
military man knows the objections to |
into an army arms requir- |
ng different ammunition The erosion |
f small calibre rifles using smokelcss |
owder is very great compared TO for
rer methods, and tests have demon
trated that rifles begin TO deterioratn |