The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-17

the lines of civilization, and the same de- sires toward the betterment of mankind and of the world. There is no reason why we should be set off aside by our selves.
 As to China" his highness continued, what 1t will be in the future I cannot predict, except to say that in the past its power has been greatly overestimated and that today 1t is in no position to have war with any great nation. At the time of the Chino-Japanese war there was generally supposed to be in the neighbor- hood of 1000, 900 troops in China Li Hung Chang had 5000 men, who were reported to be well equipped and trained by Ger man officers, and he had also 300, 900 sol diers in the north. Upon investigation we found that a great number of these men were enrolled only that their pay might be taken by the officers They had no existence except as men of straw, and both army and equipment were of a low order It will be a long time before China can put a great army into the field. As I look at it, the Chinese empire to- day has very little strength in itself, and its existence as nation and its pres ervation as such depends upon the great powers of the world, who are interested in keeping it independent"
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 But can China be westernized? It is said to be now introducing our modern civilization
 ''I do not know. It will probably change in time. If it should have strong em- peror, who would take the reins of gov ernment into his own hands, it would be as easy to change it as 1t was to change Japan The system of laws is similar throughout the country The Emperor is supreme. and theoretically he controls everything in his empire. The military system might be centralized and the taxes reorganized so as to give the country a revenue. If properly trained the Chinese might become excellent soldiers and with almost infinite resources of men and treasury strong Emperor could create a most powerful army. In such case China itself might become what you call yellow peril. At present, however, there Is no danger of such a possibility, al- though China in the past has had two rulers of the present dynasty who have governed the people with a firm and cap able hand
 How Japan's Army Was Created.
 The conversation here turned to the organization of the Japanese army, which was largely performed by Prince Yama- gata, and I asked him to tell me some- thing as to how 1t was done. He replied
 'Tn the feudal times the imperial army consisted of about 100000 families of Shizouka or the followers of the daimyo who were the feudal lords. Each daimyo kept as many retainers as his finances would permit and, allowing two or three men to the family. the army of that day had possibly as many as 100000 men. This included not only the soldiers but the surgeons. treasurers and other officials It was in 1871 that the system of conscrip- tion was introduced and the reorganiza- tion of the army began. It was first start ed in few provinces, and thence ex- tended throughout the empire. The im- perial scheme was to organize a stand ing army of 100000 men, comprising six army corps. This was found impossible at the start, and a small army of 10000 was created. That was about 1873 At that time French officers were brought in to train the soldiers and for several years they were our chief instructors along the lines of modern warfare
 'Then after careful investigation of