Tar use of the torpedo as a defensive Weapon is, we believe, attracting quite 8 much attention on the part of the Chinese as itis among Western Governments. The chief incidents of the [ate war between. France and Prussia have been eagerly. devoured by the higher classes of officials, who have spared no pains to obtain their infor-motion. In a Chinese point of view, one of the most striking features of this war was that France could make because of the torpedoes by which the little or no use of her powerful navy
Prussian coast line"was guarded. The natural inference the Chinese draw from this fact, is that by enough torpedoes to defend the chief points of the China coast, and the rivers and harbours, the country can be made secure from the intrusion of Foreigners, whenever such a measure becomes desirable. The "inevitable gunboat" would then either have to keep out at sea altogether, or be deliberately sacrificed in attempting to come near the shore or enter rivers and harbours. thickly strewn with tor-pedees. A comparatively small outlay would serve in.a few hours to render China almost impregnable; at least as far as Foreign ships of war are concerned.
The torpedo, as a defensive weapon, is exactly calculated to suit the pecu-Viar idiosyncrasy of the Chinese. With such a' passive race, direct fighting is too serious an unde: ing. Hand to hand encounters are avoided as much as possible. "Discretion is the better part of valour" with them; and to be able therefore to stand away securely in the background, and watch the self-acting cases of gunpowder performing all thedisagreeable task of fighting is the summum. bonwm of what an ordinary Chinese warrior could desire.. And in the case of a war with Foreigners it would be an exquisite gratification to be able to say that the " Water Thunders" (as they call torpedoes) are the' very inventions of the barbarians themselves, and were bought from them with the very money exacted in the way of tribute at the Imperial Maritime Customs. Does not the old proverb say: "Lend a man your sword and you will have, beg your life of. him Every year brings fresh improvements in the construction and' use of torpedoes. If we are rightly informed, the Chinese Government keeps itself well posted up on this subject. Estimates, drawings, and models are freely supplied by foreigners of different nationalities, who are prepared to indoctrinate China into the use of these instruments of wholesale destruction, and to supply any quantity of them at the shortest notice. Very little instruc. tion however is needed by the Chinese; for although they have not much of the inventive: faculty they have a remarkable genius for imitation, speedy in anything of a mechanical "character. The specimens already in the hands of various officials could, therefore, be multiplied to almost any extent, should the supply from Western nations be cut off.
The wonder is that, with such a shrewd class as Chinese officials, the use made of torpedoes in the American war did" not open" their eyes sooner to the utility and importance of this new means of: warfare.. Per. haps, however, this is to: be accounted for on the-supposition that' the details of the use of torpedoes: during that war were never brought clearly before their notice; because few or none of the higher officials had at that time begun: to "em. ploy interpreters to translate for them accounts of the leading events of the West, as is now the case: Still, we'believe that an attempt was made: to blow up one or two old war junks with small torpedoes on the Yangtse, near Nanking, some few years ago, by way of experiment; but the result was not sufficient to induce any amount of enthusiasm on the subject in the minds of the officials present; and the idea was for a time abandoned. On: the occasion of the last visit to Shanghai of the late Viceroy of the Two Kiang, there was a sort of review out beyond Woosung; in which the explosion of a torpedo' under an old junk was to have been partof the programme. From some cause other, however, a series of mishaps oe. curred and the fuse apparatus would not act; so that after waiting patiently for about half an hour, the venerable old Viceroy went on his way back to Nanking, probably more firmly convinced than ever that the use of torpedoes in warfare was little better than a hoax.
But there are now other viceroys who are said to think very differently, and who are preparing to introduce the use of torpedoes to alarge extent in China, Considering the present unsettled state of the country, and the fast increasing symptoms of a desire on the part of the Government to get rid of Foreigners altogether or else to impose heavy res-frictions upon them, it behoves Western Governments to take this matter into consideration.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.