The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1910-08-12
a REASONABLE EXPLANATION
Fear Of the TeemfnE Millions of China
Causes japan to Nafntain m I'm
| mense Army and Navy
by Adzchi Etnnosuks.)

In answer 10 all the smiles at the
absurdity Of the japanese war talk
there Is always one re-ort.
Why, why. then, Is Japan prspa--
ing for war SO vigorously, 50 persist
entity, so feyerishIy TOO that she Is al
MOS. breaking herself fnanciaIyz-
Japan Tsend there is no shadow Of
a doubt about ir-preparing for war.
She had a. the beginning OF the Rus
sian war thirteen divisions Of armed
forces. today she has nineteen She
had six battleships when Togo knock
ed al Port Arthur: she has thirteen
battieships now In fighting efficiency
her navy is at least three times as
zreat-perhaps four times-as in the
Russian war days
All this took monsy-a deal Of IL
And she has achieved il all when
her people are paying something close
! to 80 per cent. Of their net income in
one form Of taxation or another In
the financial year 1910 out OF the total
revenue Of 534,I72,76s yen the estimat
ed expenditure for the army is 81
1s3,s2s yen and for the navy ss,oso.-
rs
IN short japan is TO spend over
sos per cent Of her total revenue on
| ton. This Of course does not include
| all such expenditures pensions and
the interest on debts arising from past
wars This is straining more than a
point.
| Why this expenditures Against
what power. what country, if not the
United States OF America?
The answer is plain. convinc
| ing, as the schoolmaster's stick-to US
/ OF the East
Against whom? Why, China, Of
course? What else can Japan be
afraid Of but the awakened China
| the new China under a strong central
government, with her new army armed
| with something rather different from
bows and arrows and stink pots?
; Are you surprised at the answer?
Our American friends, 1 believe, do
| not realize, do not even suspect what
! is self-evident to us.
1. That all the wars we have fought
since the birth of the new Nippon
have been defensive. We fought the
Chinese war Why? Because China
| in her occupation of Corea gave us a
nightmare. Later we fought Russia.
Why? Because Russia turned the CO.
rean Peninsula-it looks like an exag-
i
| a dagger point aimed at the very heart
of our empire.
| 2. That Japan has sat up nights
| and has not quit losing sleep over the
| very existence Of the state. No doubt
we exaggerate our goblin. That comes
from the rather overheated passion we
have for the dignity and life of the
state.
3. That we are not afraid Of Amer
ica-not in the least. Why? Simply
because we don't think that Japan is
good enough for Americans to immi-
crate into
| But China-of her we are afraid and,
| what's more, getting frightened of her
| more and more every day. China can
| do things to US, awful things, and in
! two ways:
| All that she has got to do to ruin
us fnancially-especial1y within a few
years to come, when we shall begin to
| count upon her as great market for
our wares-iS to raise a fuss among
| our own people. She need not fire a
| single shot at us to ruin us. China at
| war within herself. resulting in the
| loss Of her purchasing power, spells fl
| nancia1 ruin to
She can get at us in another way
| i
are people in America who would
! laugh at this remark of mine. 1 feel
| happy because / believe they cannot
fatter our fighting ability any more
/ highly. I feel sad because 1 have a
horrible suspicion that it may not hurt
our American friend to know some
thing more of the fighting quality Of
| the Chinese
Whenever 1 recall the Boxer trou-
| Bile l cannot see how the Occident
missed the one dominant lesson out of
| that hysterical mud Of b1unders. Be
| fore the South Gate Of the city Of
Tientsin sat the allied army-Russian,
British, American, German, japanese,
| French,-and they sat down there and
didn't bulge for weeks There were
| some Chinese sharpshooters behind the
| South Gate, but there was nothing else
under the sun which prevented them
from moving. Certainly the daily, al
| most hourly, bulletins out of the Pc
| king legations encouraged them to
| move on. Let me state the historic
| fact and say-they didn't move. Why?
| Even in those days a few Cinnamon
| could fight and did fight.
| The new army of the new China is
in the making today And it is the
| SHlHcSc di lily u tOIiiOTTO" tndt "Or-
| ried Japan. 1t should in all sober
truth, worry some one else beside ia
| pan.
1t is very kind of you Americans
| to say to US: "Oh. come; you fellows
can step over there and eat them up
! before breakfast" But our faith in
your kindly compliment would not
| save us. They have numbers-ten to
one is the awful ratio. Will you tell
US that quality and not numbers
| counts? The lesson of the Liaoyang
| and the Mukden battles discounte ed
that time-honored dictum. I believe.
Certainly quality counts, but numbers
| also.
| But what about the Chinese war of
1895? Have you heard self-respect-
ing Chinaman on that war? He would
tell you: "Oh you mean that little af-
| fair of Ii Hung Change" China was
not fighting then. IT is safe to say
that something like three hundred