Manawatu Herald. [Established Aug. 27, 1878.] TUESDAY, FEB. 16, 1904. The War.

Manawatu Herald, 16 February 1904, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. [Established Aug. 27, 1878.] TUESDAY, FEB. 16, 1904. The War.

A Japanese merchant, who has just returned to Europe, when interviewed by a reporter of the Daily Express, stated that from the highest to the lowest in Japan the belief was universal that the country could whip Russia. On sea. the Japanese hold that they can more than prevail,

whilst on land the wiry soldiers of the Mikado, disciplined nearly to the point of perfection, are quite capable of holding their own against the Russian troops. This particular crino thinks that the question will resolve itself mainly into one of officering, and if the Japanese are ns capably officered as the Russians he looks to see Korea very soon the property of Japan. It is non gener- j ally known in Europe, ho says, that the Japanese officers regard _the Siberian railway with very little apprehension. They are not at all concerned with its possibilities for the quick transport of Russian troops to the seat of war. A Japanese general, he adds, quite recently told him that the railway would be blown to pieces in half a dozen places within a fortnight from the commencement of hostilities. Another authority states that in winter Russia is confronted with immense difficulties in her one means of troop transportation by land. Her base must be Europe, and to bring troops in winter time over the gradients and curves of the Siberian railway is a task which will be extremely slow, even if the line remains intact. Cut he, too, believes that Japan is already in a position to blow up the railway in numerous places, and so cut the Russian Army off from its European base. Another danger lies in the social conditions of Russia. In midwinter the discontented peasants will be ■ feeling the severest pinch of poverty. Their emancipation from the tyranny of local authorities has only taken place on paper. Defeat for Russia might mean a revolution and the desertion of if!any regiments already suspected of socialism. A Russian victory, on the other hand, might reunite the nation on the broad grounds of pure patriotism. The crucial period in such a conflict was stated to be about the beginning of February, when Russia would be in the grip of the ice, whilst Japan, with all her arsenals and dockyards open, would Jbe in a position to seriously - harass her enemy.