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Show MUSCOVITE AND JAP. War between the Slav and the Jap is bound to come, and come soon. War has been talked about for the past two year, or since the suppression of the Boxers. ' True .the talk became monotonous, and far eastern news was received with doubtful faith; yet two years is a long time for two nations to prepare for war and then avoid it through diplomacy. di-plomacy. Procrastination is greater in precipitating precipitat-ing a conflict than diplomacy could ever be to prevent; pre-vent; and so it is that Japan is bound to take the initiative. The sympathies of all who love fair play will go out to Japan as against the greatest of land pirates, pi-rates, Ttussia. The same emotions will control as controlled during the war upon the Boers by that other land pirate, Great Britain. In the end brute strength will prevail. Victory will go with the heaviest artillery. The Muscovite will triumph over the little brown man. J . And the pity of it all. Indignation is aroused j only to think of it. By all the fights of conquest, Japan won Manchuria from the Chinese. It was the booty of war..; Japan really needed that territory terri-tory as . an outlet for her dense population ll lie almost at their door, and they understand, as no others do, the characteristics and spirit .if its people. Out of Manchuria, three territories of the size of Japan could be carved, but her population is eighteen tiroes as dense as its own. It tdl Austria-Hungary were crowded, into Montana, rho pressure of population would approximately equal that in Japan. But Paissia, surprised at I In? eay vietory of . Japan over China and vexed at the brown man's ambition, induced the other powers of Europe to unite in a protest. So Japan was forced to relinquish what fhe had fairly won. One other possible outlet is left for the Japanese- Korea. It is to ' safeguard her interest-! hero, threatened by Iviissia, whicli has brought affairs to an acute stage. Xotes have passed between Tckio t.nd St. Petersburg, but Russia, as usu-il, soars for delay. - Neither nation is in condition, financial',.-, to go to war, but that will not stop them from fighting, fight-ing, if fight they must. Russia spends a billion dollars per year, most of which" is raised by grinding grind-ing taxation. Her public debt is more than .100,000,000, and she pays $1."0,000,000 a year in interest, in-terest, lii war time Russia can put in tho tiel.l . -i.r00,000 men and 7.V00 officers, for whom there are 5(30,000 horses. Shrewd guessers say there are more than 300,000 Russian soldiers in Man'huria now, - x What has Japan with which to meet all this; Quoting from a writer in Everybody's Magazine: "To begin with, Japan's people nre animated by a patriotism which borders on fanaticism, and which counts it a privilege to make any sacrifice for the national honor. The Russian autocratic government, .unhampered. - by popular feeling though it may b-, will have no such advantage in this war as it might with a western nation. Aor it will meet. 'a' government enthusiastically f upporlcd by every citizen, from. prince to ricksha coolie. Japan is poor, but such a people engaged in such a war will count nothing as hardship of deprivation depriva-tion which furnishes means to the common nd. And there are certain advantages of position in her favor which Russia will not find it easy to overcome, . Japan is compact '.nd well withhi herself. her-self. Her population of 46,000,000 oan s.,ppCrt no such army as that of her antagonist, but what there is of it is in position to be used suddenly and to strike swiftly." As against Russia's peace i.vnty of 1,100,000. Japan can muster by the nv stigorous summons jesi than 650,000. ' The Japanese debt is $250,000.-000, $250,000.-000, only one-fourteenth as gr.tt as- Russia':? huge debt, only one-fifth, as much per capita, but it is large enough for Japan. A well known military observer has said, in jpe:king of war between Japan and Russia, that the "foundation of thj strata r;ial futurj will b-.i the command of the sea." li. :! at brief sentence lie:; the key to the-. struggle. To save hersel?,-Japan hersel?,-Japan must win in the naval coi test. No one realizes re-alizes it better, than- the Japanese, and their now rnvy has been built to iusjrj them the s ietory. Four of her battleships lead the world's nsvh.s.. In number of ships Russia outclasses Japan. But the Russian ships. ?re" divided into three fleets ow. Iti the Baltic, 14,000 miles from Port Arthur, and another 9,000 miles away in the Black sea. To reinforce re-inforce the far eastern fleot after war begins will bo impossible, for Russia hr.? not a coaling station on the .way, and to use the friendly French stations would be a violation of neutrality by the French, y hich, under the terms of hoi- treaty with Japan, would force England into active assistance, with he. ally. v Such, in brief, is the situation.' If a layman vo:e bold enough to- predi?t results-, and many ar;; vain enough to do so, he would give the best of the fighting at the start to the Japanese. But towards the end it will look like a small man trying to stop a great stone from rolling down hill by getting I:i front of it. lie may check it at the start, but after a while his strength gives out ; he is obliged to let go, and the stone rolls over and crushes the life out of him. 'i : . k : . |