THE STATE OF THE WAR.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 8, 21 January 1905, Page 8 (Supplement)

THE STATE OF THE WAR.

With a thoroughness which must be the envy of Lord Kitchener, whose opposition to war correspondents is almost proverbial, particulars of the movements of the Japanese forces south of Mukden have been denied to the anxious and expectant world. That a great battle, for which each side is mustering forces, will be decided ere long within sight of the ancient tombs of the Manc.hu kings seems inevitable. Everyone must be impressed by the varatness of the operations and the secrecy with which they are conducted. Even a few months ago it would have been incredible that the world as a whole would have waited for the great battle with scarcely any expectation of Russian success. Already the divided control of the Russian Ministers, the lack of organising power, in directing, providing, and inspiring the armies that take their orders from St. Petersburg, have impressed the nations. Russia’s restless provinces are boiling, and the Poles, the Finns, the Jews, and other dissatisfied peoples are only awaiting a strong leader to aid them in a movement which might, bi fraught with far greater and more important consequences than a set-back in the Far East. While the battle in midManchuria is the centre for the massed troops of the combatants, the heroic defence of Port Arthur appeals even more strongly to the imagination. There are only a few men engaged in proportion to what have taken part in recent hostilities. General Stoeissel some time ago was reported to have a bare 4000, and since then that number must have been materially reduced, whilst’the Japanese total is given at about 50,000. But the fighting is incessant. Every inch of ground is contested and the same position is lost and won many times ere it is finally held. It is necessarily a losing fight for the brave defenders, with their precarious supply of food and ammunition, supplemented by the few cargoes of blockade runnens who still risk their lives for immense profits b; setting their wits to the task of eluding the Japanese blockading squadron. Fort by fort and trench by trench the bloodstained corpse-strewed ruins are contested, with a few hours’ respite to bury the slaughtered dead, and the contest is renewed with greater vigour than ever. How long the end will be it is hard to predict. 'But the defence has been the bright spot in the Russian campaign and itsdoggedness must have a heartening effect on the Ruflsian troops. The utility of the defence of Port Arthur has been widely questioned. On one side it is said that the holding of that position has been as bad for Russia as the defence of Ladysmith was said to be for England in the Boer war. The early defeats of General Kuropatkin were ascribed almost wholly to the insistence of his imperial master that an effort should be made to recover the land approach to the fortress, and so eave not only the army in charge but also the remnants of the fleet which still lie on or under the waters of the little bay that was the “ice-free Russian Port on the Pacific.” But weighty authorities declare that Russian strategists were not quite so blind to the lessons of the modern science of war. Captain Mahan has even said, “Amid all the uncertainty in which we are as to the respective numbers of the opposing armies, one thing seems clear, that Kuropatkin up to the present has profited, and continues to profit, by the siege of Port Arthur.” This profit may have been reduced since the Port Arthur garrison was so weakened as t) be masked by a comparatively small beleaguering force, but, on the other hand, the mere possibility of the Baltic fleet reaching the East before the town fell and being able to reinforce that garrison and refit, has compelled Japan to finish the affair. The same reason may lead Japan to eradicate the Russian force at Vladivostock even at similar cost. Everything still points to a long war. As the Mikado said recently. “The time has not yet come to see peace restored.” Even with the continued ill-success Russia can flounder on for another year. With the best fortune, Japan must take months to clear Manchuria, overrun Saghalien, and capture Vladivostock. And the danger of all this is that it is a fireworks display in an explosive reserve. England has been exasperated with Russia once a month since hostilities commenced, and every fresh dispute intensifies the risks.