Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-08-17
Admiral Togo
From Hartford courant

FROM hartford COurant.
lhe visit of admiral Togo to this coun-
Try takes us back to the days of Grant
and Farragut and Sherman and Sheridan.
lnese are all gone. and Farragut first OF
all. We have had nothing since in that
class. Dewey did a workmanlike lob in
Manila bay, but 1t lacked that spice of
equality In tine opposing forces which Is
required In order to make the blood tingle
when one thinks OF it. The destruction OF
Cervera's fine ships at Santiago was a
much moro memorable exploit; but we got
into a general quarrel as to who did it
there was not glory enough to go round
and thus the brilliancy of the victory has
been dimmed by the ardor of the quar-
rel. 1T thus comes about that Admiral
Togo cannot he 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 to
md such work to do as he did in the wal
between Japan and Russia.
We say good fortune with full inten-
ton. Under like conditions 1t would be
good fortune for the sailor OF amy country
to do what Togo did. For the war between
Japan and Russia was not a made war,
in the sense that 1T was plotted for.
worked up artitlcially, and so brought to
the burning point of actual conflict. 1t
was a necessary and inevitable war, I'M
less Japan had consented to drop her
thousand years of sovereignty and be-
come the vassal OF Russia. 1t was a wal
of doom. for Japan fought with her pack
to the wall. She had her islands and the
sea around them. and she had the cour-
age to stand by them and risk her ma
tional existence upon one desperate throw.
1t was n monstrous condition that faced
Japan. She tried and tried. n then tried
again, to make Russia understand, but
Russia was blind and blinded. The riches
nf tho for noSt cn E,ycSjo x3rco mod va.
to be had for the taking. Why not take
them. then? 1t was the old rule to take
what you could get. Russia veneered
her plans OF conquest by some talk of
carrying christianity to the Pagans, but
the hypocrisy of this was self evident. 1t
was a timber-hunger for the forests OF
the Yaiu, and the rubles that might be
made to flow from them into Russian
pockets. that drove Russia Onward. 1t
was the lust for the dominion OF the Pa
cifc ocean that filled Russia's eye as
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 the
Pagans?
The trouble was-and 1t was a very Sc
iious trouble-that the Pagans would not
walt. Admiral Togo proved himself to he
a man who believes in getting the first
hold on a bad job. So long as it must
be war, let II be war right Off and with
out gloves. He sailed for Port Arthur
and began his work. and he kept 1t up
until he smashed the Russian fleet in the
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 and
unscrupulous foe-so far as this could be
done Oh the sea-and it must be estimated
as the good fortune Of any sailor who gets
the chance to do this kind of work for his
native land.
Admiral Togo will be very welcome in
this country. He can be silent. 1t is said.
in q great many languages. but he will
not get away with our welcome In that
manner. we shall speak our welcome
with the customary grace and force, OF
course. but we shall also in part do our
welcome by letting him see how we make
ships and handle them. We shall receive
him not merely as a great sailor. but also
as a trusted friend.