TOMMY ATKINS OP JAPAN.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11790, 13 January 1904, Page 7

TOMMY ATKINS OP JAPAN.

THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN. [TOKIO COBBESPONDENT Of THS "tUILT KAtt."] To -those who allow themaelvies to be impressed by mere •voirdupow, ih» spectacle of little Japaa eaating her gaffe at the feet of gigantic Rueria. », doobtlee, infinitely humorous.

But unless memory fails xne, many pro* phets who tried tip predicts before the even* were firmly pexraaded in 1894 tStt there could be but one ending to the China-Japan -war—and that the complete humiliation of Japan. I have a> very distinct recollection of '.having interviewed at Vancouver an intelligent British officer, who had been detailed to accompany the Japaneae Army, and he seemed greatly tackled when X eoggested that Japan might possibly defeat her bulky opponent. "He used the etocte arguments: China could, overwhelm Japan by abeer -weight of numbers; the Chinaman's physique wae fax superior to that of tlie Japanese, and he thad no fear of death; Chiim'e resourcee were immeasurably greater, etc. • ' THE MILITARY UNIT.

It w not necessary to enlarge upon wbjrt actually happened. A few, far-eeeing men there were, on the spot, who realised from the first that tbe issue was certain. They recognised in the Japanese Army and Navy —small a* the latter then wap—a compact and homogeneous whole, organised in accordance with the best Occidental model*, commanded by officers trained in the beat Occidental schools, and animated by aepirifc not imported, bat indigenous to the toil— the vamato damashii or aoul of old Japan, which is invariably in evidence whea there is fighting to be done. . The military unit, it ie true, ha« beett ; drilled to the highest degree of mechanical accuracy, no that h» lespanee to the word of command may almost oe termed a reflex 'action ; but, on tbo other hand, be retain* in addition, to tibat burning already referred to, a insourcefulnees and 1 intelligence that stamp him, to nvr mind, as the superior of the Russian soldier. He combines elan and. dash with ineffable phlegm in critical momenta, as witness the absolute naturalness , with which the Japanese troops dunng the ladt Chinees campaign would tafce advantage of a lull is the firing to extract a fan front tbeir gaitera" ana fan themselves. Now that the Spanish-American and South African wars have proved the ptre* mount importance of initiative and intelligence in "the man behind tho gun," I think it is not unfair to conclude that, other things -equal, the army and n»vy possessing the more self-reliant and better educated units will win. ■' . .

Kipling avers that blackguard! and geo.*' t tlemen make tho best eoldiert. Such » rule may apply to the heterogene.>ni com* : munitiee of the Occident, but k cannot be extended to Japan, where the two arm* of the service are. «om|>osed of men th* majority of whom are inspired by lenti* ments of awe and devotion to the Emperor to which Europe can fumisli no adequate parallel, and where; too, tho unwritten tenets of ways") are still cherished amid the Tortei of iconoclastic zeal which has followed tb» downfall of feudalism. THE "UTTUE" JAP. > . I have no hesitation, then, in affirming that Japanese morale can be eeoond to nione in the world. But I have referred above to the physical factor. Tb# iblbboletJi of Japanese diminutiveness ha* been k> oleUnatelv perpetuated by writers 10ai Pierre Loti and iUtthew Arnold that, ahoold oo» attempt to qualify these eweepJM pmf alirations, one runs the risk of being denounced ac a here tic, and of being treated m a literary I»hma«lite. But th* tjrutli » Cua* a foreigner measuring f« feetJtK inches in hi* rtoclung* feels- deddedjy Hmall at Yokosuka or Hirothim*. So doubt the average stature Jβ below tMM figures, but in the crack xegimmt* fly* feet seven, eight, and nineincnei are common heights, and, what a far more important than height, the Japanew tailor or soldkr impressea one as of .»*««« build than the Engi«b or <**«*«£-£ eelect typet most familur to ordinary, parlance, iht > J»P«*" Tommy Atkin» ***l^, "* the ground up." Then- cb«to, ""*•*»« calv« are frequently too big for their SS,Tnd, withalf the J»pta« »** and wldkr look, and have ebowa ««»- eelvew to he, aa hard, ac nave. OOUKAOE AND TRADITHMf. I hare heard it taid that though th* - Jataae* Army *nd Navy might>» «- pj*ed7o fight well,.if *oces«fttlfiomtto rtart. a few initial reverses woold mdue. rpake Y«t tl*e Japanew, from *l«ort

tne earlket historical epoch, nave been a military race, and the entire record of national achievement in. the domain of politics, literature, ethics, and art, may almost be summed up as a record of the doings of the military caste. But if the contention that Japanese troops lack normal stamina fails signally when judged in the light of pre-Meiji days, its untenable character is still more glaringly expoeed when the fact* of recent years are taken into consideration. The China war of 1894-5 may possibly be deemed inconclusive testimony in view of Chinese cowardioe; but at least in the North China disturbance of 1900 the international forces ■were all subjected to the same conditions, and the emphatic and universal verdict of experts is that the Japanese were second to none and superior to mostNo more than in 1894 or in 1900 will they enter upon their next war unprepared. For minutiae the Japanese has a talent amounting to genius, and no detail, however apparently insignificant, is likely to be overlooked. Compare the men, compare the officers ef the prospective belligerents. On tne Russian tride we find the fornvt-r dull, brutitih, ignorant, dirty, nnd indifferent; treated like dogs, and probably amenable to no other treatment; the latter notoriously corrupt as a class. •On the Japanese "side we find the men, despite strict, discipline, bright, alert, clean and neat in their persons, keenly interested in their calling, and ready and eager to fight to the last gasp for Dai Nippon; the officers equipped in every branch of military and naval sconce, and, for the most part, above suspicion of dishonest practices.