War between Japan and Russia ... with historical and descriptive sketches of Russia, Siberia, Japan, Korea and Manchuria ..

Front matter

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Chapter I The War And Its Tauses

Japan and Russia Clash in Deadly Conflict for Supremacy in Asia — News Causes a Sensation in the United States and Japan ^s Victory is Likened to Dewey ^s in Manila Harbor — Sympathy of American People for the ''Under Dog'' — Both Nations issue Formal Statements Concerning the Causes of the War 33

Chapter II

Japanese Torpedo Flotilla Attacks the Russian Fleet in the Roadstead at Port Arthur and Blows Up Two Battleships and a Cruiser — Japanese Lose Two Torpedo Boats — Japanese Battlefleet Returns the Following Morning and Engages the Russian Ships and the Land Battery in Fierce Action 45

CHAPTER in THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE ACROSS ASIA

BY TRU]\rBULL WHITE

Historical and Geographical Sketch of the Great Northern Power — Peter the Great and His Boundless Ambitions — Yermak, the Conqueror of Siberia — Muraviev Carries Russian Dominion to the Pacific Ocean — The Great Siberian Railway — Manchuria in the Grasp of the Muscovites — The Conquest of Turkestan — Resources and Industries of the Russian Empire — The People and their Customs — The Siberian Exile System ... . ... 50

Chapter IV Japan, The Island Empire

The Rise of an Asiatic Race into Full Fellowship in the Family of Nations

Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the Land and the People — The American Commodore Perry Opens the Country to the World— Growth of Western

14 ' CONTENTS.

Civilization — The Mikado Eestored to Power— End of the Feudal System — Constitutional Government Established — Japan's War with China and Its Far-Eeaching Eesults — Extension of Commerce and Influence 103

CHAPTEE V KOEEA AND MANCHUEIA

* ^ The Land of Morning Calm ' ' — Sketch of the Hermit Nation — History, Geography, Eesources, People, Customs — ^Weakness of the Government — The Scene of Jealousy and Strife — Eivalry of Chinese, Japanese and Russians — Manchuria and Its Eelation to tlie Chinese Empire — Chinese Ports in the Grr'bbag for Ambitious Nations — Secret Treaties with Eussia — The Manchurian Eailway — Port Arthur in Eussian Control — The Boxer Uprising — The Looming of the War Cloud . . . , . 1:^5

CHAPTEE VI

Secretary of State John Hay Sends a Note to European Powers Asking Them to Join with the United States in Maintaining the Neutrality and Integrity of the Chinese Empire — All Accept and the ''New Diplomacy'' Wins a Signal Victory — Our Part in the War . 143

CHAPTEE VII

DUTIES OF NEUTEAL NATIONS

President Eoosevelt's Proclamation of Neutrality Defines the Obligations of a Neutral Power and of its Citizens or Subjects, and Also the Eights of the Belligerents with Eespect to Neutral Nations — All the Great Powers Declare Neutrality at the Outbreak of the Eusso-Japanese War . . . 151

CHAPTEE VIII

FIGHTING FOECES OF THE MIKADO AND THE CZAE

Comparison of the Military, Naval and Financial Strength of the Combatauts at the Outbreak of the War — Japan Well Prepared in Every Way, but Her Army was Small in Comparison with the Eussian Military Machine — Financial Standing and Eesources of the Two Warring Emiures... , . 153

CHAPTEE IX

GEEAT MEN OF THE WAE

Brief Sketches of the Men who Eule the Destinies of Japan and Eussia and Others Famous in Diplomacy^ the Army and the Navy — Pen Pictures of

CONTENTS. ir,

Mutsuhito the Japanese Mikado, Viceroy AlexieflP, Admiral Togo, Plehve the ''Terrible Euss,'' &c., &c., Together with Anecdotes Illustrating Their Chief Characteristics . . 167

CHAPTER X ON THE EVE OF THE WAR

How the People of the Japanese Capital Remained Calm in the Face of a Great Crisis, While the Government Secretly Prepared for War — People Knew Nothing of the Merits of the Controversy — Japanese Spies Disguised as Chinamen — Keep Government Informed Concerning Russian Affairs in jNIanchuria. . 183

CHAPTER XI THE FIRST SHOT IN THE WAR

A Russian Cruiser and Torpedo Gunboat Trapped in the Korean Harbor but Forced to Fight in the Open — Japan's Second Naval Victory, in which Not a Japanese Life was Lost — Recalls Admiral Cervera's Brave Dash at Santiago — First Shot in the Preliminary Skirmish Fired to the Russians . . . 1S8

CHAPTER XII PORT ARTHUR, THE RUSSIAN ^^ GIBRALTAR"

Named by the English for a Daring Naval Lieutenant, Fortified by the French for the Chinese, Won by the Japanese in the War with China and Finally Leased to Russia — Dalny, the Commercial City, Splendidly Located, to Be Terminus of the Siberian Railway — Port Arthur as a Purely Military and Naval Base . IW

CHAPTER XIII RUSSIA'S CALL TO BATTLE

Czar Answers Mikado Challenge to Combat and Army Reserves are Called to the Color9r-War Department Takes Charge of the Trans-Siberian Railway — Czarina Throws Kisses to Schoolboys and Students — People Kneel in the Snow Before a Chapel Containing a Sacred Image and Pray for Victory .... 213

CHAPTER XIV HARBIN, RUSSIA'S ARMY BASE

Viceroy Alexieff Deserts Port Arthur a Week After Hostilities Begin and Establishes His Base of Military Operations at Harbin, 600 Miles North of the Besieged Fortress— Japanese Recognize the Change as a Shrewd Strategic Move — ^Description of the New Seat of Viceregal Power 2'2{)

16 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV

BED CROSS IN THE WAR

Japan and Russia Had Effective Organizations for Caring for the Sick and Wounded— Empress Dowager at the Head of the Society in Russia— Merchants and Churchmen Make Large Donations and American and English Women Aid in Preparing Materials — ^Japan at First Declines Outside Aid 237

CHAPTER XVI.

THE PRESS AND THE WAR

How the News of the War Reaches America After Traversing Fifteen Thousand Miles of Cable on the Bed of the Ocean — Cablegrams from China Cost the American Press 3.8 Cents a Word and from Japan 50 Cents a Word — Route of a Press Dispatch from Nagasaki to Chicago 241

- . CHAPTER XVII

The Torpedo an American Invention Which Has Been Most Highly Developed in Austria — Torpedo Boats Compared to Battleships and Cruisers — Daring Life on a Destroyer — The Stiletto of the Navy With Which Deadly Blows Are Struck in the Dark — The Whitehead Torpedo and How It Is Launched. 245

CHAPTER XVIII

First Russian Stronghold Built in the Far East — Entrance by the Golden Horn Like the Golden Gate of San Francisco — Life in the Remote Military and Naval City Which Is a Cheap Imitation of St. Petersburg — A Fortress as Impregnable as Millions of Dollars Combined with Science and Nature Could Make It ... ... 25:)

CHAPTER XIX JAPAN'S ARMY INVADES KOREA

Transports Loaded With Mikado's Troops Rushed to Gen-san, Masampho and Chemulpo and Take Possession of the Hermit Kingdom — Two lines of Battle Formed and an Advance Made Toward the Yahi River on the North of Which Russia Was Concentrating a Large Army — Hardships of the Russian Troops Transported in Box Cars 273

CHAPTER XX LOCKED IN THE BLACK SEA

Russia's Fine Squadron Barred From the Scene of War by the Treaty Governing The Dardanelles — Description of the Historic Strait Which Is the Key to the Turkish Capital and Connects the Sea of Marmora With the Aegean Sea — Fortified by the Ottoman Government and Considered Impassable Except With the Sultan's Consent 279

18 CONTENTS.

CHAPTEE XXVI

GALLANT DEATH OF ADMIRAL MAKAEOFF

Eussian Naval Commander at Port Arthur Goes to His Death on the Battleship Petropavlovsk, Which Is Blown Up by a Japanese Mine — Crew of 525 Men Go Down and but 80 Are Eescued — Verestchagin, the Great Eussian War Painter, Also Perishes— Makaroff, Called ' ^ The Cossack of the Sea, ' ' One of the Most Dashing and Ablest OflBcers in Eussian Navy — Mourned by Eussia and Japan... 331

CHAPTEE XXVII

THE JAPANESE MAECH TO THE YALU

In Eight Weeks the Mikado's Land Forces Sweep the Eussians Out of Korea and Across the Yalu, Practically Holding All the Territory in Dispute at the Beginning of the War — One of the Most Marvellous Marches in History — Japanese Defeat Cossacks at Chong-Ju — General Kuropatkin in Command of the Russian Forces 347

CHAPTEE XXVIII

THE BATTLE OF THE YALU

First Great Battle of the War Fought on Manchurian Soil — Japanese Cross the Eiver on Pontoons Under a Heavy Fire and Then by an Artillery Attack Capture the Heights Held by the Russians — Flotilla of Gunboats Aid the Japanese Commander — Japanese Bodies Lay in Heaps at the Eiver Ford — Eussian Losses Heavy — Eetreat Toward Fengwangcheng :.i. 352

CHAPTEE XXIX POET AETHUE CUT OFF BY LAND

Russians Abandon Fengwangcheng and Make a Stand at Kinchou — ^Key to the Eussian Situation in Nanshan Hill, Which Is Strongly Fortified — Japanese Storm the Hill Nine Times in the Face of a Deadly Fire, Which Wipes Out Entire Companies — One of the Most Desperate Charges in the History of Warfare — Japanese Cut Eailway Line to Port Arthur 359

CHAPTEE XXX DEFEAT OF STAKELBEEG'S EELIEF EXPEDITION

General Kuropatkin Sends an Army Corps Under General Stakelberg to the Relief

of Port Arthur — ^Description of the Battles of Vafangow and Telissu, in Which

the Eussian Forces Are Cut to Pieces and Flee Northward to Eejoin the Main

Army Under General Kuropatkin— Japanese Are Left Free to Attack Port

' Arthur by Land .-. 369

CONTENTkS. 19

CHAPTER XXXI

THE ^^THERMOPYLAE OF MANCHURIA''

Kuroki Defeats Kuropatkiu at the Second Battle of Motien Pass and Opens the Way to Lioayaug — Russians Lose the **Key to Manchuria" After a Desperate and Bloody Battle Fought in a Fog — Japanese Occupy the Valley of the Liao River — Personal Experiences of a War Correspondent 376

CHAPTER XXXII

THE BATTLE OF LIAOYANG

Six Days' Battle Between the Russians Under Kuropatkin and Three Japanese Armies Ranks as One of the Great Engagements of the World and the Bloodiest Since the Franco-German War — Losses on Both Sides Almost as Great as at Gettysburg — Defeat of the Russians, Who Were Strongly Intrenched, As- *sures Japanese Control of Manchuria . . 3^7

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE DRAWN BATTLE OF SHA RIVER

Ten Days of Continuous Fighting With the Russians for the First Time on the Aggressive — ^Battle Line is Forty Miles Long — Kuropatkin Checks the Japanese Army After the Hardest Fought Battle of the War — Richard H. Little 's Magnificent Description of the Spectacular Engagement — Both Armies Go Into Winter Quarters, but Keep Up Brisk Skirmishes. ... . 408

CHAPTER XXXIV

THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR, CONTINUED

General Nogi's Land Forces Continue the Attack From the Rear and Take Fort After Fort, but With Heavy Loss — Dynamite Bombs and Bayonets Used in Fierce Hand-to-Hand Conflicts— Two Months of Fighting for 203-Meter Hill, the Key to the Russian Situation— Stoessel 's Defense of the * * Russian Gibraltar'^ the Most Gallant in War History . . . . 421

CHAPTER XXXV

General StoeBsel Surrenders the Great Fortress to the Victorious Japanese on New Year's Day, 1905, After Five Days of Bloody Hand-to-Hand Fighting- Japanese Take 25,000 Prisoners, of Whom 16,000 Were in the Hospitals— Dramatic Meeting Between Stoessel and Nogi— Siege Cost Nearly 80,000 Lives— The Dawn of Peace 433 in = g

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UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

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General NoGi . . ...

General Stoessel

The Besieged City , .^

Brave to the Last . . . . . ....

Admiral Togo ... . .

Admiral Eojestvensky .... . ....

General Kuroki . .

General Oku ....

The Desperate Fight . . .... . ...

The Czar Addressing a Body of Imperial Guards . A Signal Torch at a Cossack Post ....

EussiANS Drawing Lots for Military Service . ... ....

The Emperor of Japan and His Suite.

Territorial Expansion of Eussia — Map . ....

Map Showing Points of Active Operations in the War between Russia and

Returning from the Review . . ... . .

Nicholas II, Czar of Russia. . .......

Czarina OF Russftv.. . ... . .

Russian Exiles to Siberia. ... ...

Japanese Cavalry ... . . .... • .

Bayonet Exercise with Dummies . .

A Hospital Corps .

KiACHAU, German Naval Station .

Russian Imperial Family . .

Count Leo Tolstoi

Russian Torpedo-Boat Destroyer Buini.

Russian Cruiser Sisoi Veltky . . .

Mutsuhito, Emperor of Japan

Empress of Japan

Czarina of Russia in Robes of State. . . . .

Czar of Russia in Robes of State

Off TO THE War

Marquis Ito, Japan 's Greatest Statesman . ...

Field Marshal Yamagata, the *' Right Hand" of the Mikado. Russian Soldier and His Dogs . . . .... . .

Docs Hunting Wounded and Dead Soldiers

General View of Vladivostok . . .

View of Chemulpo

The Landing Place, Tobolsk, Russia. .. ...

Scene in a Russian Prison . .

Japanese First-Class Battleship Yashima

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24 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

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Japanese Torpedo-Boat Destroyer Usuguma 146

Japanese Jinrickshaws ... ... . . . . . . . 163

Japanese Idols in the Temple of Nikko. . . . 164

Admiral Alexieff, Russian Viceroy in Far East . .... 181 General Kouropatkin, Russian Minister of War and Commander of Land

Forces . . . 181

Admiral Avelan, Russian Navy . . . . . 182

General Wasmundt, Russian Army . . 182

Admiral Skrydloff, Russian Navy . . . . 182

Count Lamsdokf, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs 182

Vice-Admiral Enomoto, Japanese Navy ... ..190

Field Marshal Oyama, the ''Left Hand" of the Mikado 199

General Nozu, Japanese Army . .... 199

Baron Tadasu Hayashi.. .... . 200

Admiral "Kabayama, Japanese Navy . 217

Major-General Fukushima, Japanese Army 217

Admiral Ito, Japanese Navy .217

On the Mancpiurian Border. . 218

Russian Frontier Post in Manchuria . 218

Japanese Infantry Scouting . 231

Market Day in a Siberian Town . 236

Russian Troops in Camp . . 23tj

Map, Position of Fleets at Beginning of War 2n3

The Moloch of War. . 254

Coming Out of Vladivostok Harbor . 271

Going Aboard Ships. ... 272

Russians Encamped in a Chinese Temple. . 289

French Influence ..... . 290

Further Growth Illustrated . 290

Russian Officers Hurrying to the Front , 307

Torpedo Attack on Port Arthur 308

Cossack Leader Receiving Order from Commander 325

Coolies at Work upon the Port Arthur Defenses.. .326

Modern Officers of Japan. . . 343

Modern Infantry of Japan . 343

Wandering Musicians Playing to Japanese Beauty . 344

Friendly, Though Foes . * 361

Russian Ambulance Train . . 362

Human Birds of Prey 379

Artillery on the March in Manchuria . 380

The March of Despair. . 390

The Cossack General, Rennenkampf ... . 391

Selling Life Dearly. ... . .... 392

Introduction

BY TRUMBULL WHITE.

THE CAUSES AND SIGNIFICANCE, OF THE RUSSO-

JAPANESE WAR

I^^ VERY work on an Asiatic snb,iect, whatever its theme or

ft ^ its scope, might fitly begin and end with a query. The

whole Asiatic situation, physical, political, so^nal, intellectual

and commercial, might be punctuated with inteiTOgation points.

It is a continent of questions, a kaleidoscope of problems.

The looming of the war cloud over the Orient raises afresh in the mind of the student of world affairs, the memoiT of a myriad of problems that have arisen out of Asia, sometimes solved, often given up as too puzzling for human solution. This war between Russia and Japan makes new questions to be asked, that cannot be answered in full until long after the smoke of battle has vanished, and the last echo of cannonading has died away.

We call Africa ''the Dark Continent,'' and the phrase is an apt one to apply to this wilderness of tropical jungle and marsh, of untraveled rivers and ranges, of desert wastes and of benighted peoples who have been left so far behind in the rise of the human race. But Asia is the true Dark Continent, when by darkness we mean mystery, obscurity and uncertainty. It is the birthplace of the human race, of the world religions, of intellectual and social systems of hoary-headed antiquity, in short of Civilization. Yet in spite of all the thousands of years that measure its recorded history there remain vast areas virtually unknown to the world and unpenetrated by even the hardiest explorers, and strange civilizations that we have not begun to understand. Indeed, it is to be doubted if any European or American ever has fully understood the viewpoint, the manner of thought, the ruling spirit of any Asiatic people. Take the wide sweep of Southern Asia that connects Europe with the seat of wat in the Orient. Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, India, Siam, China and Japan. Every one full of mystery when viewed from the standpoint of western civilization; every one known to us in connection with some question. We have had the Eastern Question, the Far Eastern Question, the Indian Question, the Chinese Question, the Korean Question, and now we have the Kusso-Japanese Question.

Ever since Peter the Great formed his ambitious plans for Russian aggrandizement two centuries ago, the Asiatic Question has been the Russian Question. As world-interests became more intimate between nations, it has been necessarv for the world to ask what Russia is doing. It is a long time since a year has passed without a demand to know what the movements of the great northern power might mean. The world has wanted to know what Russia is domg on the Amur River in Siberia, what in Central Asia, what in Afghanistan, what in Persia, what in Manchuria, what in Korea. At last the demand has become insistent, the problem has become pressing, and Japan has asked the question with a voice that will not be denied answer

Beside this present cataclysm, such localized political problems as we have had in the Balkans or in Finland become of little moment. It is impossible for the imagination to over-conceive what this grapple between giant foes may mean to the world. Let us look for a moment at the possible results, from the viewpoint of the contestants, taking their positions at their own valuation. The attitude of Russia as voiced by her statesmen and her imperial ruler, is that the world's sympathy should be with their country; that Russia is a Christian nation arrayed against a heathen nation, a white race against a yellow, a western power against an oriental. They declare that a Japanese victory would mean the alliance of Japanese energy, alertness, intelligence, skill and progress with Chinese numbers, resources and endurance for a conquest of all Asia and the virtual commercial dominance of the world. They claim that America and Europe should hope for Ilussian success, in order that the world shall not be overran by the ^Mongols m a movement tremendously greater in its signifi- ( ance than were the mvasions of the civilized world a few centuries ago by Ghengis Klian and Tamerlane, or Timur the Tatar.

The Japanese, however, declare that their stand is in the interest of real civilization and true progress, against the onslaught of a tremendous despotism, benighted in its methods of government, oppressive of all liberty and progress, threatening a blight upon freedom wherever its authority extends. Japan claims world sympathy with the clear stateinent that while Russia may be white of race and (Jhristian of faith, in this instance the Oriental comes far nearer to th(^ ideals of the Christian nations and western civilization than does the power which claims their fellowship.

Prefatory to the body of the volume in hand, let us weigh the merits of these opposing contentions, to learn if it be Russia or Japan that is fighting on the side of occidental civilization. Doing this, we may have some surprises, and even some shocks to preconceived opinion, but that is not as bad as to be resting in an erroneous understanding of conditions. The histoncal and descriptive cliai^ters which follow will bear out the opinions here summarized, and even the revelations of the war itself, as operations continue and facts develop, will verify the same conclusions, or so it is believed.

First, as to Russian demands for world-sympathy, based on the fact that Russia is a Christian nation, while Japan is pagan. It IS, indeed, true that the Russians are among the most religious of peoples, strict in the formal observances required bj^ their faith. The state church is that branch of the Christian religion known as the Greek Catholic, as distinct from the Roman Catholic, the Anglican and the various Protestant churches. In Russia it is all but universally accepted, from prince to peasant, and loyalty to the Emperor, head of the church, exacts loyalty to the church itself. Its cathedrals and its more modest places of worship are everywhere. Its shrines or ^4kons/^ before which prayers are said, hang on the wall of every home, shop and office. But it is difficult to discover that this universal formal orthodoxy has had any effect to uplift the social, mental or moral life of the nation, or, indeed, any good effect of any sort. A low state of morals in private life; a doubtful standard of obligation in public life, commercial 'and governmental alike; a shocking state of national ignorance; an enslaved thought and speech— these are conspicuous reasons why the real Christianity of Russia may be questioned, however freely we admit the profession of the faith.

In Central Asia, where the Russians have been in authority over the conquered khanates for a quarter of a century, I have Jooked in vain to find a trace of Christianity, or even the Russian profession of it, given to the native tribes. The Russians have built their own churches everywhere in Turkestan for tlieir own officers, soldiers and merchants, but what we know as missionary effort seems to be absolutely unknown. Furthermore, where Russians rule, missionary effort on the part of other Christian churches is not permitted, and even in St. Petersburg and Moscow, the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches permitted there for the foreign residents exist only by sufferance and must avoid even the suspicion that they are seeking to proselyte.

Let it be clearly understood that Russian dominion over Manchuria and Korea would mean the practical cessation of missionary labors m those fields, and that the Russians themselves would do little or nothing toward a substitute movement of their own church, and does not their chief plea for world sympathy fall to the ground?

It requires but a brief paragraph to show the reverse of this position— the Japanese attitude. True it is that Japan makes no pretense of Christianity. The religion of Buddhism, and certain faiths and practices which we call pagan, are there instead. But Japan makes thought and speech and religion free. There are no trammels on a man^s faith, and no restraint upon his teaching.

Where Japanese authority goes, the missionary may labor at will. Liberty and property are protected to a degree unknown in Kussia. The spirit of the Island Empire is stirred to freedom, justice, enlightenment, advancement. These are concomitants of Christianity, and the Japanese have truth with them when they declare their nation closer to Christian ideals than is their powerful enemy.

The threat of **The Yellow Peril" which Russia holds up before the world in the demand for occidental sympathy, lacks the aspect of reality. Truly a Japanese-Chinese alliance would be a powerful factor in world affairs, and justly so. But is not the alternative the dominance of northern China by Russia? And should we not rather welcome the uplifting of the Chinese by sympathetic influences, to a position of worth, rather than to approve the suggestion that the ancient nation should either remain an inert mass, or should be dominated and absorbed by jealous European powers for their own profit? The only way in which a Chino-Japanese alliance can invade the world of to-day is by offering the world services or products which are desired. If Japan and China possess qualities which make it possible for them to invade and conquer the world of commerce they will do it in time, in spite of Russian warnings. It is not for Russia to avert that event by a single war, nor can Russia terrify the commercial nations by projecting such a specter against the sky from the rays of the searchlights mounted on their battleships.

It would be impossible to conceive a greater contrast between nations than is immediately apparent between Russia and Japan. In its details the difference will become visible to the most casual reader, on every page of this volume. But we may note here, for the purpose of perspective, some of the larger surface aspects of this contrast. Physically, it is the difference between a continental power nearly three times as large as the whole of the United States without Alaska, and an island power with an area about equal to that of the state of California. The respective populations of the two nations are approximately 135,000,000 and

45,000,000. One is a sparsely settled, little developed land of marvelous natural resources hardly touched as yet, the other is a densely populated land whose productivity is being forced to its highest capacity by the alert, active, thrifty people who dwell there. One sweeps from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and from the burning deserts of Turkestan to the ice-bound shores of the Arctic, including within its limits such tremendous variations of barrenness and fertility, of heat and cold, of plain and forest and mountain as can be paralleled by no single country m the world. The United States and Canada would have to be considered together, in order to find a fair comparison. The otlier, in its sweep of sea-giii; islands reaches from the tropics ahnost to Behring Sea, but its climate is modified by the great mass of the Pacific, so that except in the extreme north and the extreme south there is a fair degree of uniformity. Generally speaking, Japan IS temperate, mild, balmy and beautiful.

In the pages just jDassed we have drawn some comparisons on the side of goverament, religion and ruling spirit, and these are ^ et to be expanded in succeeding chapters. For a comprehensive contrast, the two nations may be fairly typified by a tremendous glacier and a clear mountain torrential stream. One has huge mass, slow motion, great weight, resistless progress toward the warmer valley, and at last the sea. Cold, silent, ciTishmg, it makes its way over obstacles to its destination. What cannot move out of its path it destroys. On its surface appears the debris gathered in its frozen flood. The other moves in haste, clears away obstacles by its impact, leaps down the slope of beetling elites, turns mill wheels for men, gives water to thirsty fields m the valleys, lends beauty and cheer to the landscape, and in the end reaches the sea to rest after worthy toil well done.

If in the end we are asked to say which has the greater power, we can but point to the huge gorges and canons cut through mountain ranges by brooks hardly wider than a man might leap, to show the amazing effects of erosion. May we not yet find Japan making deeper impress on world affairs than can Russia, with all her glacial momentum?

Most wars are but episodes m history, a partisan (controversy, a sovereign's ambition, a greed for plunder, as the stimulating cause, with indifferent importance to the world m the outcouu^ But this Russo-Chinese conflict looms big m its ultimate cons(»- quenees. It promises to affect the destinies of the world, to decid(^ who shall dominate the Orient, to leave its traces on the eoimneree, the politics and the industries of nations on the other side of the world who have no share m the fighting.

If there be one great naval engagement or one great hind })attle which, when the war is ended, can be named as the turning i)ouit in the conflict, that struggle will go down into history as one of the decisive battles of the world. Those of like signifi(*anee are few, indeed. Charles Martel defeated the Saracens and it was determined that Europe was to be Christian instead of Moslem. The destruction of the Spanish Annada by British ships and British storms decided that England, rather than Si)ain, was to become the dominant power in Europe, and that Anglo-Saxon, rather than Spanish, ideals were to survive. ^Marathon, Saratoga, Waterloo, Gettysburg, perhaps a dozen other battles, might be named as really decisive in world history, and to these some great name will be added before the Russo-Japanese war is end(Ml.

We of America are specially concerned m the present war A Pacific Ocean power, as the United States has become, we are, perhaps, more vitally interested in the outcome of this war, autl the ultimate results of the outcome, than m any foiei.^n war that has been waged heretofore. Our states face westward to the Orient, with great cities and busy harbors, fertile fields and noisy factories to be reckoned in world affairs. From Alaska, on the north, to Samoa, on the south, and from San Franeiseo to ^lanila lie the American possessions. Not onlv Hawaii, but Tutuila, Guam, the Philippines and many a coral islet vield to American s(n^- ereignty The only trans-Pacific cable is American. Our ships ply every waterway on the great ocean. Our merchants are in every port. Our Chinese neighbors are the most vital problem in the labor conditions of the Pacific states and the island dependencies. The possible restraint of trade with the Orient in the event of Russian victory is a real factor in the situation, as it affects our commercial relations with China.