The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-13
OLD CHINA'S
 LATEST ARMY
ITS srLENDIDLY bRiLLED AND
 EQUIPPED,
Soldiers Not Taught to shoot and Good Men Prefer Commerce
 tO War.
3t. Petersburg Correspondence.

------o------ t y St. Petersburg Correspondence.
 Tn a leading article entitled "A Fu- ture Threan" the Novroe vremya re- gently deals with the Chinese maneu- yers, which were held toward the end of last month in the neishborhood of Changtefu in Honan Province. It gives the opinion of the Russian ofFicers who were present on that occasion. and 1t is noteworthy that Russia sent six officers this year against two in 1905. These officers declare that 1t is im- possible not to wonder at the progress which the Chinese army has made. |" They think the infantry Is the best, but that the engineers and the cav think, wonderfully good. Discipline is in the very blood of Chinese sol- dier."
 The Novroe vremya winds up it's re- mark in the usual yellow perip key. We must" 1t says, consider where we stand. Up to the present we have overlooked the fact that the Chinese are very busy colonizing the Russo Chinese frontier over front of 5000 versts. There now begins for us . new era insour relations with the greatest power in Asia" This dole full remark is intended, however. for foreign consumption. It does not, at all events, represent the views of the best authorities and the general im- pression they left on my mind was that Russia need not fear China's growing into a military peris~<
 The most important of these authori- ties Is a Russian functionary of high rank, who has just returned to St. Petersburg from China, where he spent ten years in close touch with the highest personages In the country.
 He got to know a great deal about the Chinese army and became intimate with all its leaders, so that his opin- ion in this connection Is valuable. lie does not think that China will. for a long time to come. be a danger to Flu rope from 8 military point of view His reasons for thinking so are as follows: The Chinese are reorganiz- ing their troops, 1t is true. but they do not teach them to shoot, because this is very expensive and does not give any immediate show. The arms are of different patterns and there is not sufficient ammunition. The Chinese officers, even those of the highest rank, are ill-fnstructed in their profession.
 Chinese Dexpise Soldiers.
 The new schools for the education of officers will undoubtedly impart a certain amount of military education to their pupils, but as the oficers are not well paid and are not regarded with respect the graduates from these schools will as a rule prefer on leav- ing them to join the civil service or become merchants I know military schools that were started six or seven years ago. but they have given the army very few permanent officers. be- cause once the young men who enter them learn a little English or German and discover that they can make ten a a~ T. as In the military service the natural traditional bent of the Chinese toward commerce leads them almost invariably to choose a career of that kind. For. in spite of the apparent rehabilitation of the army in some of the treaty ports, the military profession is still de- spised by all self-respecting Celestials. This Is the most important factor of all. The army is very unpopular in China, war is looked upon as very bar barous and until Chinese ideas on this point undergo a complete change the army cannot be any good To make such a change in such a country as China will require many generations. To be of any military importance, a people must have taste for soldier ing. and that is just what the Chinese utterly lack"
 They Are Well Drilled.
 On directing my friends attention to the Novoe Vremya article to which I have already referred. he said: Tt has evidently been written by some one who knows nothing of China. AL most the only true remark in 1t is the statement that the Chinese were well drilled. As matter of fact the Chi nese are the best-drilled troops in the world. Three years ago I saw 1s,ooO of them drilling before the Viceroy Chang -chirtung, and the gymnastic display was simply perfect. Tn China I have seen the troops of every nation, but in the perfection of their drill the Chinese easily beat them all. They are far superior in that point to the best troops in the Russian guards. Last week was present in Paris at a drill in non on-commissioned officers school, but though 1t was very fine 1t did not approach the Chinese standard All the minutiae of marching. handling the rife, etc, have certainly been master ed by the Chinese. Nevertheless this knowledge IS of second-rate impor- tance except 10 soldiers on the music hall stage.
 "Once at Chefoo viceroy Yuan held review in my honor. We ate together on a hill, underneath the Viceroy's great State umbrella, and watched the soldiers going through wonderful per formances in the valley below. One or these performances consisted In forming themselves with the greatest rapidity and accuray into a hollow square. On the Viceroy raising his hand the man at the north corner of the square fired his rife. after which the man next to him fired, end so on, the volley travelling round and round the square with great speed and ac- curacy They then formed themselves Into a circle, into a star with six points and into various other geomet- rical figures and went through the same fancy firing. It was very Leau- tiful. but 1t was not military. Things are somewhat better now, but the mistake of training for showy effect, Npot for real work. still makes the Chi- nese army useless. and will make 1t useless for a long time to come"
 But" said I, your own officers who attended the maneuvers were very much impressed by the military qual!- ties of the Chinese"
 Yes" said Ills Excellency, some what dfyly, they are young officers who have attended the maneuvers of Chinese army for the first time. and.