L. A. S by L. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jan 19, 1905

L. A. S

By L. A. S.

AN event of profound significance to Asia and the whole Eastern hemisphere is reported in recent dispatches from Peking. The long-expected military awakening of China seems now to have actually begun. China, the land of four hundred million people, is on the eve of a transformation from a vast aggregation of unarmed and impotent barbarians, to a military power. One more great military power is to be added to those which already fill the world with the clang of warlike armaments.

The New York Sun says:—

It is reported from Peking that the committee on the reorganization of the Chinese army has laid before the government a plan for the introduction of universal military service in the empire, the period of service being twelve years. . . . The project is for the provinces to begin by enrolling only a thousand men in each, selected for their aptitude and intelligence, to form corps of instructors and the staff of the future battalions. The training will, it is said, be modeled partly on the German and partly on the Japanese system, the Chinese commission believing that the latter produces the best results in field service. For the protection of the capital and the guarding of the northern frontier, it is proposed to have a separate and distinct army, the organization of which has been confided to Yuan-shi-kai, the governor-general of the province of Pechili. This functionary, who is one of the ablest and most progressive among the public men of China, has received orders to proceed at once to the formation of an army of two hundred and fifty-two thousand men, organized in forty-two infantry divisions, composed of twelve battalions of five hundred men each, the cavalry and artillery to be organized being additional.

The importance of this action of the Chinese government, is manifest. It is meant, in the first instance, to preclude a repetition of 1900, when the troops of a coalition of foreign powers marched on the capital practically unopposed, and compelled the flight of the dynasty; and in the second place, to keep down popular risings menacing the foreign representatives, such as brought about the foreign coalition of that year. . . . For the world at large the military organization of a population of four hundred million of people hitherto quiescent and submissive is a portent for good or evil, as it may result, while for Asia it is the dawning of a new era.

Thus rapidly are events shaping today for the coming battle of Armageddon.