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TBE-STAY OREGOmAX, PORTBJtfO), -SEPTEMBER 3, 1905
Kangiri; the List of Forceful Men
During the; Past Two Years'
THE -world has bad to rovlse Us list of
men with real power several times
of late. It Is doubtful -whether any
other similar period In tho last half cen
tury has seen the humbling of so many
believed by the multitude to be superla
tively strong s . has the last twenty
four months.
Some have dropped out because of ad
vancing age and death. It is but a little
while since Joseph Chamberlain, with a
long and successful career behind .him
and bent on revolutionizing Groat Brit
ain's fiscal policy, was a figure of con
sequence before the world. Chamberlain
is still alive, but physical infirmities have
vanquished him. Only the other day John
Hay, stronger; In diplomacy than any of
his contemporaries, was believed to have
many years of useful life "before him. Now
John Hay rests with his fathers.
A few now men of power have lifted
their heads above the general level mean
while, but they are noteworthlly less in
number than those whose hands, believed
to be strong and steady, have been found,
after all, weak, nerveless and incapable
In September, 1P08, desptto the opinion
whispered here and there that he was not
the equal of his fathers, Nicholas II. the
Czar of All the Russia, was counted one
of the most powerful men alive. Now,
outside tho cringing members of the Rus
sian courtier set, there is none so mean
as to do him reverence. On the breaking
out 'of the war with Japan the Russian
naval and military chiefs were believed
to be men of genuine lighting power. To
day Makharoff is dead, Kuropatkin is dis
graced, and so are Alexleff and Stoessel
and the desperately wounded Rojest
yonsky; all the supposedly mighty men
of war on the Russian side are hopelessly
down and out,
World's Proved Fighters
Are Few
TOGO and Oyama and Kuroki and Nogl
and Kamimura, and others with like
names all short of stature and with stiff
black hair and nut-brown skins those are
the men of proved fighting power today,
almost the only men of their class now
alive. .It may be that there are officers
In the armies and navies of Germany and
France who might rise to the level of
those Jans were they to have the chance
to try. But they are few, indeed, who
would like to bet their money on It. and
no one would look for commanders of
the Japs' caliber in the fighting forces
of any othof European nation, except,
perhaps. Great Britain.
She has Kitchener and Lord Roberts
among her soldiers, and Admiral Lord
Charles Beresford among her sailors, who
have been tried and not found wanting.
But of the three, Lord Roberts is now
so well along in years that he can no
longer be included among the world's
most powerful fighters.
Great Britain, then, has only two active
mon known to be strong in the profes
sion of arms. Of these Beresford, the
sailor, has had little chance to distinguish
himself since the memorable day whon,
before Alexandria, his achievements .were
such that the admiral of the fleet was
moved to signal "Well done. Condor!" in
recognition of what- his ship had done.
That was nearly a quarter of a century
ago.
Kitchener's deeds have won for him the
unqualified admiration of the whole world.
In India. In Egypt, in South Africa wher
ever he has been sent to lead the British
land forces, there he has led them to vic
tors'. Like the Japanese, neither Beres
ford nor Kitchener has ever known de
feat, but neither has over had to meet
a foe the equal even of the now despised
Russian.
Groat. Britain, to date, 1b entitled,
perhaps, to be termed the "Mistress of
the Seas," but her ships have not met
the ships of another civilized nation
for generations. It is generations
since the armies of Great Britain were
defeated, but in all that time they have
made war upon none but, savages, save
when fighting the Boers, and the latter
-were finally overborne through sheer
force of superior numbers and almost
Infinitely greater resources. It Is pos
sible that Beresford might match Togo
on an equal footing, and that Kitch
ener might hold his own against an
equal force of Japanese, commanded
by one of the Japanese generals of to
day, but the world would have to see
them do It before It would be satisfied
that they could.
It Is hard to name moreythan two or
three living American fighting men
who have proved the right to be con
sidered alongside the -Japanese gen
erals and admirals, much as the patri
otically Inclined may regret the fact.
Our Army and our Navy have Jiever
been defeated; our ships are the only
ones afloat at this time, except those
of the Japanese (the Russian ships
being mostly at the bottom of the sea)
that have ever soon fighting service,
but defeating the Spaniards was a dif
ferent' thing froni what defoating the
Japanese would be.
Dewey, the hero of Manila, is still at
the head of tho Navy. His daring In
entering the Harbor of Manila, despite
the presence of hidden mines and tho
batteries of the forts, has been sur
passed by no nava'l hero, living or dead.
But, brilliant though the achievement
was, it hardly placed him on the level
since reached by the Japanese ad
mirals. "Bob" Evans is alive, and undoubt
edly an able fighter; Clark, who
brought tho Oregon around the Horn
from the Pacific Coast In time to take
part In the Santiago fight, has just
been retired; a few naval heroos'of the
Spanish "War are still in active service,
but they are not so young as they once
were, and the brunt of the fighting
would, hardly fall upon them were we
to have a long sea war now. Samp
son of Santiago Is dead, and Schley Is
retired. Chaffee, among our actlvo
generals, haa never failed, but he has
never commanded a "big army fighting
another one. Miles Is on the retired
list
Nearly all the jrorld's men of known
power as fighters' today, then, are Ori
entals, and Japanese at that. Yet how
long is It since the Western world re
garded the Mikado's military forces as
"toy soldiers," an.d his entire people as
too much devoted to beauty, too polite
and too trivial, both mentally and bod
ily, to be really worth considering
among the nations of the earth?
The World's Most Powerful
Rulers
THE President of the United States
Is not a "ruler" at all in the sense
the German Emperor is, yet-his name Is
Included in every printed list of rulers,
and, in these days, the world accordi
the American Chief Executive a higher
degree of power than ever before. This
Is partly due to the Increasing. power
of the Nation he represents, whether
he "rules" or not. In the case of Theo
dore Roosevelt, the undo'ubted power
of the man has much to do with it, and
this the w-orld .at largo has generously
recognized.
The self-aesump'tfon that he was a man
of great native force by William, Emperor
Of Germany, In the early days of his reign,
caused all the world to laugh consumedly.
But the man has been justifying the as
sumption, and today, despite some cavil
ing, there are lew among those who keep
close watch upon men and affairs who do
not recognize bis Inherent power. Fur
thermore, his -power is growing; It has
been fostered by no Bismarck, as was that
of Emperor William L, his grandfather,
and, unlike Roosevelt's, it will notbe ter
minated by law at a. set time. There Is no
Impending Imperial election In Germany
for him to look forward to, as .Roosevelt
has to look forward to the Presidential
election of 190S. Roosevelt's .friends believe
that he -will be a man of unusual ixwcr
even after he ceases to be President,
but, that Is a matter which time only can
settle.
Whether the Emperor's uncle. Edward.
British King and Emperor of India, will
pass into history as & monarch of real
power, It is yet too early to say. There Is
no doubt that he has shown himself a man
of much greater force than was expected
when he was merely "Prince of Wales
son of the good Queen Victoria, who
might rule some day. but who might die
before his mother and'-so never ascend
the throne at. all. Edward differs essen
tially from his nephevc. being as .quiet as
the lattcp-Js noisy. The ultimate rating,
of both . may possibly -depend upon the
prowess of their fighting men. No one
can forseo what national quarrels may
arise under tho new conditions In the
Orient.
Compared with William and Edward, no
other European rulers are in sight as men
of power. Of Asiatic rulers the Shah of
' "
Persia has absolute power over his own
subjects, but . he has never .proved hla
power to be more than local "to his own
country and probably never wIlL
The Turkish Sultan? Well, for years the
Sultan's power has been dependent mainly
upon- the Inability of Europe's Christian
rulers to get together and throw him out.
They might find it quite a task were they
to try- it now. It has been shown In every
war with the Sultan's forces that the
rank and file of his army Is made up
of men who arc hard to whip men who,
like the Japs, can live on lltttle and en
dure much men who count their lives as
nothing in battle and know how to obey
orders. Unlike tho Japs, their excellent
fighting la due to, religious fanaticism
J
and not to patriotism, but results are
what count In war as In anything else.
It Is not Impossible that military' com
manders of surpassing ability might de
velop among the Sultan's officers, as they
have among" theMlkados. . '
The Peculiar Power of the
Senussi
PERHAPS tfie Sultan's power Is .more
subtly menaced "by a man who lives
In a mid-African oasis than by any Eu
ropean power or combination rf powers.
The influence of this man may have been.
J J -
at the bottom of much trouble the Sultan
ha3 lately had among the wild tribes of
Arabia, which has been sufficient to make
the Constantinople government do much
hard thinking within the last few months.
This man Is known as the Senussi, and.
though no white man Is believed everx to
have seen him. he Is a personage of great
and real pqwer In tho entire Mahometan
world. The Senussfs headquarters Is at
Jarabub, on the southern edge of Sahara,
about' TOO miles south of Tripoli and about
500 miles west of the Nile. He Is at the
head of a mysterious secret society known
as the Senusslya, formed in 1S30.
Its ultimate object is to drive all Chris
tians out of Mahometan lands. It Is be
lieved to have at least 10,000.000 members,
and It has emissaries wherever the follow
ers of Christ and the followers of the
Prophet rub elbows. Over and over again,
for years, uvery European power with Af
rican .colonics has feared that the Senus
slya would start a Jehad, or holy war. It
is known that, for three-quarters of a
century the mysterious society has been
accumulating a vast war treasure and a
greet store of arms.
Such a war would bring together the
English, the Germans and the French,
with their African possessions, as noth
ing else could; once begun, it could never
be brought to a close without enormous
loss of life. When finished, the mllltary
power of the Senussi would be forever
broken, or the Christian nations, so
caiied. would be driven, not only out of
the Mahometan parts of Africa, but
probably out of every other country In
the workl where the Mahometans dwell.
The father and the grandfather of the
present Senussi pursued a waiting game,
growing stronger, ever stronger, as tho
years rolled by, and to date he has been
doing the same thing. The help of the
Senusslya was asked by both the Mahdl
and the Khalifa when they were fighting
the British, but was not granted. Had it
been the results might have been differ
ent. During the Boer War the Senusslya
Intelligence department kept close watch
of the operations, and today It has
agents constantly on duty at Cairo, Alex
andria, Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers and other
African cities occupied by Europeans.
The original Senussi. who was a great
reformer a sort of Mahometan Martin
Luther and was driven Into exile by the
Sheik el Islam of Cairo, was as much op
posed. In his day to the men of his own
religion in high places as to the Chrlr
tlans. All alike, he said, were corrupt;
none made for true godliness, and against
Turkish rule and practice his face was
set as a flint. As with him, so it was
with his son, and so It Is with his grand
son. This is why It is more than possi
ble that the present Arabian uprisings
have been inspired by him, and If the
power of the Senussi Is ever really ar
rayed against the Sultan, then days of
real trouble will begin for him.
Two Great Antipodean
Rulers
REMEMBERING the triumphs of
Japan, It would be a mistake not to
count the Mikado among the world's
most powerful rulers, even though It be
true that Japan contains several men of
more real native power than he.
But, powerful though the Mikado may
be, with his thousand, generations of an
cestry behind him and with the backing
of a national patriotism that is as strong
and as dogmatic as the most fanatical re
ligious sentiment imaginable, he Is not to
be mentioned In the same breath with a
certain half-bred Mexican-Indian, Por
flrlo Diaz by name, who really rules, and
for three decades has ruled, over the re
public to the south of us. It was of
Diaz that a great thinker said, after con
sidering profoundly his antecedents, the
national material upon which he had to
work and the results he had achieved,
that, all In all, he was the most powerful
ruler In the whoje world.
Possibly that Is so today. The republic
over which Diaz rules, far more like a
benevolent, absolute despot than like an
elected executive, Is made up of the most
difficult human elements.
People of Spanish blood, developed In
the new world; people of "aboriginal
American blood, by no means easily
transformed into good citizens of a civ
ilized state; hybrids notoriously mercu
rial, fickle and turbulent the world over
with a mighty thin sprinkling of Span
lards, other Europeans and Americans,
make up the citizenship of his country.
Before he took the helm. Mexico, like
every other Spanish-American State, was
torn by revolutions, church ridden, the
prejf of other nations, whipped by the
Yankees, seized by the French as an Em
pire for Maximilian, tho Austrian; sub
ject, in Tact, to about all tne His any
country has ever suffered.
Diaz himself a real soldier in his youth,
as no other ruler now living, not even
Roosevelt, was after years of fighting for
lost causes, Sf defeat, of exile, of Impris
onment, both In his own land and In the
(Concluded on Page 39.)