Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-12
Crossing the Pacific with an Army

in three months, or a million in six months across
the broad Pacific to invade the territory of the United
States that would be most serious enterprise. The
conditions between Japan and Russia would be some
what reversed Japan may have approximately thirty
or forty large ocean steamers capable of carrying great
number OF men, with coal sufficient to take them
the Pacific and to wait for debarkaton and RETURN but
a great fleet of small ships coasting steamers would
be wholly mpraccable for such service the trans
portaton of army with all its material necessary
for conducting campaign in hostile country Great
Britain controlled fftytwo per cent. of the
of the world and yet it took her good part of
year to transport army of two hundred thousand
to the coast of Africa where the opponent had not
single vessel to intercept to oppose the movement
If Japan had sufficient fleet of transports conveyed by
powerful fleet of vessels, they would have to
counter whatever force and enterprise there might be of
the American navy on that
They would find every harbor on the Pacific Coast
either well fortified mined and they would also find
submarine vessels which would be exceedingly diff
fcult to encounter. They would find instead of one
Port Arthur, dozens along the line of the Pacific The
States of Washington, Oregon, and California have
population of three and half million people, with at least
five hundred thousand capable of bearing
These would be found quite different from the people
occupying the territory of Manchuria or Formosa.
At least seventy-fve thousand regular troops and
hundred thousand militia National Guard could be
moved to the Pacific Coast in week. and there would
be sufficient volunteers only too anxious to double the
ranks of those organizations making aggregate of
three hundred and fifty thousand men.
At the close of the great Civil War the United States
had million veterans in the great armies. Those men,
instead of being continued in standing army, laid aside
the habilments of war and turned their efforts to de-
veoping the great of country The same
is true of the who have served for longer shorter
period in Our military service since that time
An Army of Million
IT would be practicable to organize and equip in few
weeks army of at least million men, commanded
by Generals many of whom would be not older than
of the most distinguished Generals in the Japanese
army in the war with Russia, who have been in more
campaigns desperate battles have studied the art
of earnestly, and have had much experience
insructing dscipning, and commanding large bodies
of troops any officers in the Japanese army We have
thousands of young military that would be ready
to match against any officers in the world to command
regiments, brigades, and divisions
We have five great tranSContinenta railway lines and
additional line with three branches extending from
Ogden, Utah, to Portland Oregon San Francisco. and
Los Angeles, making practically six great trunk lines
These all better equipped with better locomotives
trans Siberian road over which the Russian army
compelled to Having been over every line men,
would be possible and practicable if emergency re-
quired, to move over these lines of railroad hundred
thousand men day for any number of days required
Making few comparisons of the two countries Japan
has about FIVE thousand miles of railroad, principally
gage roads, against two hundred and thirty
thousand miles of railway in the United States with all
its splendid equipment. In of war, hundreds of
thousands of men engaged in the manufacture of
steel rails locomotives steel bridges and buildings and
everything of the kind could be turned to the manu-
facture of materials. So far the wealth needed
sustain armies in the field is concerned Japans bonded
indebtedness is larger than that of the United States
She paying three times the amount of interest that the
United States is paying its national debt. The
paratve wealth of the two nations to two hun
dred The of the two nations Incompatible
have too much regard for the wisdom and goodwill
OF the japanese nation and too much respect for the
better judgment of people, to believe they
be forced into STILL have at present very little
material for the demagogues-the cheap politicians and
professional agitators they may work the people
of one both countries into frenzy. If such