Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-08-18
Admiral Togo
From hartford Courant.

The visit of Admiral Togo to this coun'
try takes us back to the days of Grant
and Farragut and Sherman n Sheridan
These are all gone, and F~arragut first OF
all. We nave had nothing since In tha'
class. Dewey did a workmanlike JoD IT
Manila bay, but it lacked that spice O,
equality in the opposing forces when IL
required in order to make the blood tlngr
when n thinks Of 1t. The destruction O.
Cervera's fine ships at Santiago was q
much more memorable exploit; but we go
into a general quarrel as to who did it
there was not glory enough to go round
and thus the brliIiancy Of the victory has
been dimmed by the ardor of the quar-
rel. 1t thus comes about that Admira
Togo cannot be welcomed to this country
by anybody who clearly is of. his class
None OF our sailors, capable as we know
them to be, has had the good fortune Il
find such work to do as he did in she war
between Japan and Russia.
We say good fortune with full inten'
ton. Under like conditions it would be
good fortune for the sailor OF any country
TO do what Togo did. For the war between
Japan and Russia was not a made war
"a the sense that 1t was plotted for
worked up artincially, and so brought &c
the burning point of actual conflict. l.
was a necessary and inevitable war, UNI
less Japan had consented to drop hef
thousand years Of sovereignty and be
come the vassal Of Russia. 1t was a war
Of doom, for Japan fought with her bach
to the wall. She had her islands and thu
sea around them, and she had the cour
age to stand by them and risk her ma.
tional existence upon one desperate throw
It was a monstrous condition that faced
Japan. She tried and tried, and then tried
again, to make Russia understand, but
Russia was blind and blinded. The riche(
of the far east, so Russia dreamed, werl
to be had for the taking. Why not take
them, then? It was the old rule to take
what you could get. Russia Veneeree
her plans of conquest by some talk Of
carrying christianity to the Pagans, but
the hypocrisy of this was self evident. II
was a timber-hunger for the forests O.
the Yalu, and the rubles that might b.
made to flow from them into RussiaL
pockets, that drove Russia forward. L
was the lust for the dominion of the Pa
cifc ocean that filled Russia's eye az
she looked toward the farthest horizon
Gold now and dominion later-why, for
sooth! should Russia not undertake the
high duty OF carrying christianity to thu
Pagans?
The trouble was-and it was a very Sc
rious trouble-that the Pagans would MOI
wait. Admiral Togo proved himself to be
a man who believes IN getting the frs
hold on a bad Job. So long as 1t must
be war, let il be war right off and with
out gloves. He sailed for Port Arthur
and began his work, and he kept it VI
until he smashed the Russian fleet in thf
Straits Of Tsushima. But he did some
thing more than to crush the sea power
of Russia. He took his country out OF
the clutch of a rapacious, arrogant ane
INSCRIPTIONS foe-so far as this could be
Zone on the sea--and 1t must be estimated
as the good fortune of any sailor who gets
the chance to do this kind of work for hi.
native land.
Admiral Togo will be very welcome IL
this country. He can be silent, it is said,
in a great many languages, but he viii
not get away with our welcome in that
manner. VIC shall speak our welcoms
with the customary grace and force, OF
course, but we h also in part do oul
welcome by letting him see how we MAKE
ships and handle them. We shall receiv,
him not merely as a great sailor, but alse
as a trusted friend.