OCR Text |
Show THE W0h.Hd ARMY, TUe recent work on the arniicttol the wurld, by General Upton, U. S, A., couiaiuu the HUlia'.ics of Hie military mili-tary strength of the leading countries, both ol tho eituru and western hemispheres. Tlit-bf uhuw that the armies were never stronger, or belter oraniAid tor war thui at prcdint. Wlien we realizu how vsu-y a mutter it wouid bo to engine theao naliuuB in blued -spilling butile it causes a ahud-der ahud-der of borror to think wlmt tho dire results would be. No one can wonder that the great powi'ra hutrilato to set the hall in motion, for it could only be disastrous (o Hie victor iw well us tho vanquished. Accord i tig to Gen. Uptou, tho military of tho old world is oe follows: Peflco footing. War foolinj;. Japan 30,4-it) 1ti,lK)0 China 6UU.U00 1,01)0,000 India VM.WO GOO.OUO IVn-ia 6U,W'U 120,t)UO llnly ilHO,O0U 8(it,3lG Rus-sift- GO.UUO 1,iHO,000 Austria . auO,000 1,0-10,000 Germany 1,340,000 jr railed 4LtO,()00 1,7;1U.OOO England US,G24 541,01 ' Totals 2,US1,0W S),22C,90O The leading powers of Europe alone have a combined war strength of more than seven and a half millions ol men, and with the exception ot Eng bud the oatious are constantly armed to the teeth. England baa not drilled her men to take the field at a moment's mo-ment's notico, the occasion not being eo great us with the other powers. Her formidable strength on the sea precludes the kle of an invasion, and as alio has no desire or intent to conquer or annex other European territory, there is little need to keep her suhjocls at home on a war footing. foot-ing. However, the system of resorvss that has been found to work so well in point of fact makes England one of the beat prepared nations for war in the world, whilo it does not subject hor to the expense of holding in readiness in times of peace a vast army. It is estimated that England on the sea could fight the combined powers of the continent, with reasonable reason-able hope of success, having the ability to keep up a strict blockade of all the important ports. General Uptou says the armies of Persia and China are the weakest, morally and phyei cally, of any. They are mere shame aa compared with modern armies. The troops of Japan are well drilled, and thoroughly disciplined, and for a small army it is formidable and powerful. The British Indian army is splendidly organized and remarkably remark-ably well drilled. The 100,000 men he sets down for that empire comprise com-prise merely the regular army of the government, not including the 31o, .000 men belonging to the forces of: the native chiefs, who are also armed with 5,300 guns. The readiness with which the InJiau troops have responded to the call to go toE-irope, disproves the popular idea that they are not loyal, and would not hesitate to throw ofl their ullegiame to Britain wars au opportunity to present itself Of course the armies of liussia, Austria, Germany and Franco are perfect aa regards organization, discipline disci-pline and drill. They are ready, at a moment's not;ce, to take the field,, and fiht to the dath for their re j spective nations. j Tuough tho uewa from the east for the last few days has been more reassuring, and indicative of a peace ful arrangement of the ini-uoder standing that has so lung exorcised Europe, peace is by ua moans aa aured. On the contr ary, w.ir is liable to be declared any day, ui tha dan ger will not pasa for weeks and probably montha. As all of these powers aie more or less directly in tereeted in the controversy the en ; garment of seven millions of men in , a E iropean war is not at all improbable. improba-ble. Tho frightful consequences of so terrible a war aa is impending can not be estimated. Tue coute.it recently re-cently closed between Kussia and Turkey would be merely a skirmish by pickets, aa compared with it. A Hue of military poata extends across this vast domnia from iluocow to Nikolaivsk, at the mouth of the, Amoor, and protects the great eastern , trade of Northern Asia and Northern1 China. The Amoor river drains a territory of 900,000 square milet?, and is navigable for 2,200 miles, furnishing an outlet for Ruasia to the i'aciflc, and a highway to the Chinese trado. The czar's subjects deal with all of Mongolia, and penetrate to the very centro of the tea country. All of this vast territory was acquired by invasion and conquest, but these have been followed by peaceful colonization. colo-nization. There is a general and growing discontent throughout Russia, bat it is no more intense in Asia than in Europe, and the subjects in the former are probably as loyal to the imperial government as those in the latter continent. Tho Aaiatios have become Russianized, and through liberal grants of lands and special privilege a large European immigration has been induced, all acknowledging the ; supremauy ol the cz ir, and teudrin him allegiance. Germany has contributed contri-buted thousands ot her subjects to the Amoor valley, as have other countries, and Russia has thus acquired a large; and valuable addition to her population; popula-tion; valuable in two respects, Drat in themselves, being industrious, enter-1 prising, and intelligent, and second, in civilizing and keeping in oheck the ! uative races. In reality Ruasia has as Btrong a hold upon the entire j country of Northern Asia as Britain has on India. The indications of i late- point to tho preparation by the; czar to annex Chinese tenitory Bouth of the Amoor. Coroa has attractions for the Russian eye, and the czar's forts overlook the rich province of Kashgar. If let alone it is only a question of time when the northern omperor will own Corea, Mantchooria, Mongolia and Tartary, as he now owns all north of them to the undiscovered un-discovered pole. England's ambition tends in the same direction. It ia believed Britain would like to absorb tho cream of the Chinese empire, and in all probability the century will uot close ere she becomes mistress ol Burmah and Thibet, but when ahe does she is pretty certain to find her possessions on the north bounded by those ol Russia. |