THE CENTRE DEMOCRAT, BELLEFONTE, PA. FEBRUARY 4, 1904 Pace 3. RUSSIA = JAPAN Causes Leading Up to the Present Condition In the East —Charac- teristics of the Rus- sians and — the Japs N reviewing the present trouble be Y tween Japan and Russia and its probable outcome it is necessary to consider the each of the parties to the conflict. To Russia a war with Japan—or with any other country, for that matter mean territorial or other aggrandize ment and nothing more. To Japan war with Russia means national almost, for Japan, right or wrong, has constituted herself the guardian of the east aud wishes to appear before the world as the oriflamme in the modern ization of the orient. She has a quar rel with Russia not only because she dislikes the czar's methods with refer ance to herself, but also because, if she should permit him to go on as he has begun In t! , Japan will be forced for r int the background §s that the n today pathy of 1 world. He other nat i De Russia st is { nation— Russ A New has the sym Japan. 18 fro: A concedd battle of the porter i fight at Port Art) : ever consider 3s of th might previously have been entitles But, after all, it prowess had pan’s simply had bes In short, It was the which went to war, but a different, a very different, Japan Strong on Land and Sea. When n, flushed w t and anxio inte 1! the more peace ttlement ug was not n unders same o hina ger 1 | motive actuating | would | existence | Thus it | , untu | , 18 LIN roof any he wi She has also paid gt eal of atte n to her army, and, while she does not keep under ar a very large body of men, t1 e which she bh are 184] IGICT8 In ey. rd. ery s 3¢ of the wo Russia's Duplicity. Russia's disinterestedness po I when on the was ex- pretext of “pacify ng \Manchurls l i d men into tl yantry in 1000 and then after SU OX) allied nations again hina contrived by every artl- icy to hold on to her ra and Cl to d plon She had Russian road con nese cap nxious to versed and Russ K v that Jap knew The mikado then realized that the czar had practically announced that it was Jar . 5 le therefore notified which were so generous that Chinn naturally would have been delighted to accept them, Russia coolly stepped in and practically told Japan that she should have nothing for her trouble If she cared to take Formosa, all well and good, but the smallest plece of the Chinese mainland-never, Russia pro- fessed to be acting In the Interest of the Integrity of the Chinese empire, but she deceived no one, Japan was mad, She was ready to fight and would have fought right there and then had it not been that at the head of her government there were men thoroughly equipped to hold their own In diplomacy with the best Euro pean masters of the “art of concealing facts.” These men decided to bide thelr time, and ever since Japan has | NICHOLAS II.,, CZAR OF RUSSIA. war) right at the door of Manchuria, that the czar should let the world know his intentions with regard to the great Chinese province, Russia's only reply to this was to rush extra troops to her ports in the east and incidentally to foment small in Man churia In order to denfonstrate that it was not yet safe for her to leave Meanwhile the mikado became insist ent—so insistent, in fact, that the pow. ers that be at Bt. Petersburg deemed ft necessary to create a diversion. This “diversion” was characteristically Rus. sian. Affecting te regard the Manchu. rian matter as a “res adjudieata,” Rus sia began to encroach upon Korean ter. ritory. Just what steps she took in that direction the methods of diplomacy will nut permit of our knowing for disturbances gome nme, but it Is certaln that she gought to break down the predominat- ing Influence of Japan in the Hermit Kingdom. Indeed, she went much fur- ther than the regard for the rights of an ostensibly friendly nation ghould have permitted her to go, Nats Japan wanted to know what she Then began negotiations orea. Russia actually had Japan fn, ao coun fine 5 A proper urally was about 10 thie much United State wnt vorld having lor to Japan by and he nection In urpose 4 reason of ause later rly wo been wired to was, at least temporarily ts are | , Japan Perry's mission was to over awe the Japanese into extending to | American ships the privileges then en- joyed by the Duteh only. what lengths he was pre- should his show of force ufficient, the fact being that | (ht of the warships was | the shogun of the to Per not say iO pared provi the 1 tO vo convines of nceedh ry's wish the American de vO ports \Y'/ et &¢ . (od, SY ~ oF vert Arthugs Pechili 2) ref weihalwel Ch ;y nats few men ow a bit vidual right so him, but the mot pears the army becomes a mob, not knowing what to do or to do it With the Ameri the of ficer's principal duty is to let his men know he them do. That is all that is pecessary. The men find a to do it, and the officers don't bother to Inquire too closely into the methods which about the desired result, Japan's Transformation. But even the American soldier is In a measure put in the shade by the Jap, for the latter is full to bursting of en husiasm born of his self assumed di rectorship of civilization In the east, Regarded as a nation, Japan Is new; regarded as soldiers, the Japanese are so new that the paint hasn't yet worn off. But they have the right spirit, and they have demonstrated to the world that they are in earnest. A brief re trospect just here may serve to show the really wonderful strides made by the Japanese, From the appearance of Perry and bis fleet in Yeddo bay, July 8 1853, may be sald to date the awakening of corn to len » head disap disorganized how in to what wishes way brought | {8 muck more likely to be able to take y worsted them. Thus | i peror fix himself | the novel in tion which | ing of Japan ity in the direction of mental It waz the Chino-Japanese I1SOL05 that first aroused the civilized world to interest in the doings of the Land of the Nearly everybody predicted when the war be gan that the little bantam would speedily be crushed by the sheer weight of the unwieldy old rooster, but fow the fact that a nation that has just come into its own liberal » quickness in thelr Is due thied initiative war of a lively Rising Sun NREressive took into necount care of Htself than are a people decay: ing under the obsolete rule of an effete dynasty Not only are the Japanese soldiers brave and well disciplined, but they are also blessed with great agility and a physical strength that one would not expect In such mites of humanity —— I 0 Sa Their strength Wis trying marcel tine History does | 1} The Russian Army. to tmoaY Emit ’ As another result the men ride cCowhovrs | —pe or frormer @ TY a and hist Japan any « MUTSUHITO two-thirds of the availables must be exempted or exceysed. Every district has its recruiting board and makes up its quota for the various arms of the service. The soldier in the ranks re ceives only about $4 per year, Is some times whipped to death, must give un questioning obedience and is inured to a life of privations and hardships such as are known in scarcely any other army in the world. This, however, Ia not felt so much by the Slav as It would be by other races, for he has been used to these things from his routh up. The mass of the soldlery is -~ pe , EMPEROR OF JAPAN. portion of Russia's warships are strict ly monde practically all of dap to date as it Is possible to make them Russia has had no fighting experience with her new navy; Japan has had both men and ships tested under fire. And, moet ime portant of all, the theater of the pres. ent conflict is half around the world from Russia proper, while Japan in operating against Russia's fleets in the east will be at the same time patrol ling her own coast and menacing the Asiatic ports owned or controlled by her foe. rn constrictions INE ar ns 1]
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