THE CHINESE ARMY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13575, 6 December 1907, Page 3

THE CHINESE ARMY.

' ♦ R EORG ANIS ATTON WOR K . THF/AIENDOUR POSSIBILITIES. (Pall Mall Gazette.) The rise of China to the position of a military power in Asia is a contingency which cannot fail to exercise, a profound e.ffeet upon political calculations for the future. Much has to be done before this can come shout. But wo know what Japan achieved in fort./ years, and China possesses capable and enorgotic men, who are devoting themselves to this object with zeal and determination. At all events, if tho new Chinese law or regulations for the reorganisation of the army are undoviatingly adhered to, and financially supported, there can ba no question of the immense future influence of the Celestial Empire, not oniy in Asia, but in all those great world quostions which are gathering aroxind the supreme problem of Yellow competition with the White man. INSPIRED BY JAPANESE. An examination of the new regulations will do more than anything else to emphasise the possibilities of the f iiturn. These are undoubtedly inspired by tb.i principles governing tho Japanese 'military organisation, but are the joint v.ork of the Department for the Organisation and Instruction of the Chinese Army and of the ]VJ h) istry of War, und thus testify no less to the capacity of the Chinese organisers. The principles governing tho reorganisation are revealed in a series of axioms which our own Radical mandarins would do well to take to heart. For instance, it is set forth that "All foreign countries have strong armies always ready for Avar, with tho object of avoiding war." Also, ''There cannot be too many officers in time of peace; in war there is a rapid waste, and they cannot be improvised. " There are others equally sound. Next, under the heading of "General organisation," we get "The Chinese army is for the future to be 'National,' and vo longer, as has been the case up to the present time, a heterogeneous one, composed of provincial forces at the disposal of th,e different Viceroys." It kto bo divided into "The Active Army," "The First Reserve," and "The Second Reserve," and for the future it will be entirely devoted to preparation for war, police and gendarmerie being entirely ireponsihie for the maintenance of civil order. The army is to be divided into divisions of all arms — infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineers, and train — .mcl Lhirty-six divisions are to be formed fov the year 1922. Tliis reorganisation scheme is at the present stage so far advanced that in Chi-Li three Chinese divisions ami a strong mixed brigade of Manchus, both of the Active Army, have already been taken in Shantung, Honan, and Shansi. In other provinces of the West and South, the same work is being pushed forward, in spite of the great difficulty in China, above all countries, of PROVIDING EFFICIENT OFFICERS. . But the greatest difficulty in the path of speedy reform is the, lack of sufficiently* trained officers, especially of • superior rank, worthy of the name. Seven years ago, during the Boxer troubles, only a very small number were -turned out by the Military School at Tientsin, founded by Li-H ung-Chang, and similar embryonic establishments at Nawkin, Canton, Wuchang, Ningpo and in Manchuria. The greater part had no military value whatever. Opium > smokers to a man, grossly ignorant, and badly paid, they misappropriated tho ! pay of the soldiers, could not ride, an 1 rarely if over ventured on tho drill ground, leaving to a few juniors, who had boon trained on the German model, the task of teaching the men certain automatic movements of little fighting value. In short, the Chinese army, although possessing magnificent raw material, was useless for war, because, except a few captains and lieutenants., its officers were utterly deficient both numerically and professionally. YUAN-SHI-KAI. The changed order of things has been brought about by the gradual growth of Japanese influence and the appointment of tho young, energetic, ambitions^ Yuan-Shi-Kai to the Vice-royalty of Chi-Li. This man, with the assistance of the Empress, established a number of excellent military schools, into which Japanese instructors, speaking the Chinese language, found their way. These men, contenting themselves with small salaries and secondary classes, cleverly succeeded, before very long, in supplanting all the German instructors, who had endeavoured to obtain a monopoly of this work with the object of securing commands in the Chinese army for Gorman officers exclusively. STUDENTS FROM JAPAN. ' In 1902 Chinese students began to be sent to the military schools in Japan. They were treated with the greatest consideration and attention, and the excellent results of their studies caused a large multiplication of their numbers, as well as of Japanese instructors in the Chinese civil, military, naval and police establishments. The great provincial Governoi's were successively won over by Japanese influence, and at last, at Japanese instigation, the Lien-ping-chou was created, the medium of administratipn and centralisation, which, superseding the old Ministry of War, at once devoted itself to the formation of a strong corps of trained officers and MILITARY, SCHOOLS. We here reach the threshold of Chinese military efficiency. There are already in working order thirty-five military schools, with 6300 students, besides those in Japan and a few in the European schools. It is laid down that the students must be young men of good birth, and in order to attract such, a recent decree has restored to officers their assimilation with the Mandarinate. Their pay also has been- raised, and will continue to rise by degrees. A student passes through* the Preparatory School to the Secondary School, and thence to the Military School proper, receiving his commission not later than the age of, twenty-five years and four months. After two years' service he can, if clever, enter the Superior School of War for two years with a view to staff service or duty in the schools; higher grade schools for each branch of the service bieing also available for advanced courses. Schools for non-com-missioned officers aro also in full working order. Tt is thus evident that China is nsal-;in« serious efforts to form a body of trained officers, bat it will require at j

least ,a generation^ or thirty years, for the young officer of the now school to rea^li the upper ranks of Ihe army. • At present, tho Chinese higher officer, although possessing a good general knowledge and capable of automat v* manoeuvre work, has not true qualities of the military chief, and cannot dispense wiih the' assistance of young advisers, who are. generally taken from those who have been through Lhe Japanese. school 1 ?. THE OLD VICES. Although their general behaviour is now excellent, old habits of indolence and of taking opium still linger among the older men. Neither sports, fencing, racing nor athletics nre persevered with as in Japan, and the. cavalry officers, mounted on quiet Mongol horses, are not horsemen. • But the younger men are already showing themselvs capable of better things, and the present movement promises results which it is impossible to Calculate. The new regulations show equal care in the raising of the rank and file. In the first place, service in the new Chinese army, except for the Manchus, is to be voluntary. In principle, "only nlen belonging to a known family, and able to furnish the names of their fqrebear3 up to the third generation, will lie allowod to engage. They must be of* good physique, not opium smokers, have no secret vices, .and never have bceii mixed up with revolutionary matters." Not least in importance are tho new pay regulations. The Chinese recruit, as soon as accepted, is now allowed a small rate "of pay und 'his travelling expenses on joining. The full pay oi' the soldier amounts to 4.V ta.eh, or 13s gd a month. One tad per month is deducted and sent through the local mandarins to the soldiers' parents, duo receipts being exacted for the same, whilo parents are allowed to complain through their sons to corps' commanders in case of any delay in such payments. Moreover, if a soldier, after three months' service, passes an examination, his parents, if possessed of less than five acres, aviiJ be exempted from the land tax. Other advantages are also granted them, by which encouragement.^is giVen to recruiting. * From beginning to end the now Chi-* nese regulations are h model of theoretical perfection, and as far as they have been put in practice, have already achieved excellent results. As .we found at Wei-Hai-Wei, the Chinese soldier is strong, muscular, sober, smart, adroit, and a wonderful marcher. THE NEW ORDER. Unlike his officer, he takes kindly to I gymnastics. lie has now good barracks, good beds, good clothes, good food, and, in time of sickness, hpapltala, *i<)ctors. and nurses. His general education is sedulously improved, and moral theories are carefully inculcated, such as honour, patriotism, devotion to the Emperor, while to arouse his' enthusiasm he is taught to sing inspiriting soldier songs. It is also worthy of note, ad evidence of the real military awakening of the Empire, that military drill is now part of I^he regular curriculum of school and university students: The completion 6f this great reorganisation of the. Chinese army must, of course, depend upon-flnarfciaTconsidera-tions. Tlio.iuuiuar^ost- of; Shfc contemplated thirty*** 'drviiSidns t tolf3>ro : ba"bly amount to £16,200,000, the provision of which sum would entail radical changes in the whole financial and administrative system of China. This/ unless the influence of Japan continues, may initially reduce tho scheme, but enough has already been achieved to show us the coming military renaissance of the second great nation of the Yellow race.