Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 29, 1900. In the Far East.

Manawatu Herald, 29 May 1900, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 29, 1900. In the Far East.

■». — England's difficulties are her neighbours opportunities,, and we find a leading Russian ' journal suggesting that that Power should profit by the. circumstances, and anriQx Manchuria and the Lioa-tung peninsula. It will be remembered that in this peninsula Russia, a year or two ago, obtained permission to establish a naval station an act which forced Great Britain to secure. $. similar station at Wei-hai-wai, which commands the gulf of Liao-tung Russia may be successful in her grab, and as she has a naval station in the gulf, and has had conceded to her by Great Britain the" right to open up China without interference from the north of the great wall, there seems very little to trouble Great Britain, but that is as it appears on the -surface, and underneath, it may be" known to be of greater consequence to prevent Russia establishing herself so completely there. The country which it appears to affect the most is Japan, as the Liao-tung peninsula adjoins Korea, a country which both Russia -and Japan are exploiting, and which both desire to possess. At present the difficulties of Russia in dealing with Korea are many, owing to the distance her present territories are from it, but as a close neighbour her opportunities would be many,*i and she would not be -slow to use them. We inay expect a protest from Japan, but it is not one that will be heeded by Russia unless the little country is backed up by some other Power, and to whom is Japan most likely to appeal ? If we read 1 not the signs amiss we believe Japan will strongly object, and be prepared to use her fair share of force, and she will call upon Great Britain to back her up. It has always been looked upon as a sure thing that should the Empire be embroiled in war the navies of Italy and Japan would be found amongst our fleets, and Japan has been encouraged in every way to make her navy a firstclass one from the idea that she would loe a most useful allay *in the far distant east. K this annexation could be shown to be to her detriment it would be impossible for Great Britain to refuse to back her up, or else the loss of help from her navy, which would be a very awkward addition of strength to the navy of any other Power, would be

certain for the future. Eussia probably views this position in a somewhat similar way and therefore thinks the time is ripe whilst the war in South Africa is engaging our attention. There is another view to make us expect Japan wall call on Great Britain, from our being the best traders she has, doing double the business the United States does with her, and more than double what China does, and eight times' more than any other country. The trade of Japan is a very valuable one, of course to both sides, but to have the best of trade connections with an industrious population of forty-three millions is worth some risk to retain, besides the calculation of the worth her help would be in any embroilment in that part of the world. The Japanese navy consists of four firstclass battleships,, two second-class battleships, two first and nine secondclass cruisers, five third-class cruisers arfft ten third-class coast defence ships She has also two first-class and fifteen second-class gunboats, and a number of torpedo boats, and torpedo boat destroyers. The army consists of 273,268 officers and men. "Mr Rudyard Kipling but lately paid a visit to Japan and thus he describes the infantry of the army, of the cavalry he has not so good an opinion, suggesting that they do not know how to ride : — On the parade-ground they had a company of foot and a wing of what, for the sake of brevity, I will call cavalry under instruction. . . . . The likeness of the Jap infantryman to the Gurkha grows when you see him in bulk. Thanks to their wholesale system of con-, scription the quality of conscripts varies immensely. I have seen scores of persons with spectacles whom it were base flattery to call soldiers, and who I hope were in the medicgj or commissariat departments. " Again I have seen dozens of bull-necked, deep-chested, flat-backed, thin-flanked little men who were as good as a colonel commanding could.. desire. There was a man of the 2nd Infantry" whom I met at an upcountry railway station. He carried just the proper amount of insolent swagger that a soldier should, refused to answer any questions of mine, and parted the crowd round him with ceremony. A Gurkha of the Prince of Wales' Own could not have been trimmer. In the crush of a ticket-collecting— we both got out together — I managed to run my hand over that small man's forearm and chest. They must have a very complete system of gymnasties in the t Japanese army, and I would have given much to have stripped my friend and seen how he peeled. If the 2nd Infantry are equal to sample, tney are good The Jap soldier has the long stride of the Gurkha, and he doubles with the ! easy- lope of the 'rickshaw coolie. Throughout the three hours: I watched them they never changed formation but once, when they doubled in pairs across the plain, their rifles at the carry. Their step and intervals were as good as those of our native regiments, but they wheeled rather promiscuously, and were not checked for tfais by their officers The precision of their movements was beyond praise. They enjoyed three hours of steady drill, and in the •rare intervals when they stood easy to draw breath I looked for slackness all down the ranks, inasmuch as ' standing easy ' istbe crucial test of men after the first smartness . of the morning has worn off. They stood 'easy' neither more nor less, but never a hand went to a shoe or stock or button while they were so stand-