when it fell into the grip of Togo. The overwhelming victory of the Japanese has been made evident in the light which has been thrown on the movements of the Eussian fleet since it left Russian waters. The vessels were fully manned. There was no dearth of coal, and a few, at least, of the warships were of the most modern and approved type. The guns were probably capable of shooting straight, and the battleships had sufficient armor plate to withstand a good hard knocking, even at the hands of a superior adversary. Un- doubtedly, neither the ships, nor the ammunition, nor the guns, nor the coal were to blame for the disgraceful defeat of Eojestvensky. The harrowing result can be laid almost entirely to the state of mind of the Russian officers and men. Eojestvensky, according to the newspapers, had no confidence in his own success, his only hope being to reach Vladi- vostok in a shattered condition. In the Indian Ocean, the crew on one of the vessels muti- nied, and a number of the men were executed. There was a feeling throughout the whole squadron of uncertainty. While the attitude of mind might not be called exactly that of fear, it certainly must have broached so near that feeling that the line of demarkation between it and a natural state of apprehension could hardly be established. With officers and crew in such a state of mind, and, on the other hand, with the Japanese alert, eager, watchful, determined and aggressive, in all human nature there could be no other result. The moral of this battle is that it is men that count, and not guns or ships or coal. Napoleon once said that God is on the side of the heaviest battalion, but it is not so. In- deed, it would be difficult to find a case in all history where such a bare statement, not accompanied by explanation after explanation, can be found to be substantiated. The greatest factor in the struggles between nations, as well as the struggles between men individually and collectively, consists, we are forced to believe, in the attitude of the mind of those who are the combatants. In all departments of human endeavor, unquenchable confidence in one 's own ability or policy is more than half the battle. A football team that enters the field without enthusiasm and confidence is already beaten. It is worse than folly for men to undertake any commercial enterprise without enthvisiasm and the fullest confidence and belief in ultimate success. So in all forms of human endeavor, and in all forms of struggles between men for the mastery. It is the man that counts. With- out belief, without enthusiasm, the cause is already lost. Russia was defeated before she began. America was entitled to her independence, and the first shot on Boston's streets sounded the death knell to English supremacy on this continent. The wrong may seem to triumph temporarily, but the right eventually conquers and remains. The laws of righteousness are right. They are unchangeable. The world advances steadily and is coming day by day and year by year into a better and higher conception of right. There can be no such things as final defeat of right. Truth is marching on.
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Tne Seventn Year
The Pacific Monthly celebrates its seventh birthday with this number — doubtless the best issue of the magazine which has ever been published. The edition, 50,000 copies, is easily the largest which the magazine has ever printed, and the illustrations are the best that could be procured regardless of price. Seven years' study of conditions that confront magazine jiublishing on the Pacific Coast strengthens the belief of the publishers in the opportunity for a great Western magazine. That others have recognized the situation, is shown in the fact that during the seven years that the Pacific Monthly has been in ex- istence, over twenty different monthly publications have attempted to secure a foothold on the Pacific Coast. Three of these have been absorbed by this magazine and the balance have failed. The policy of the publishers of the Pacific Monthly has been to improve the magazine continually in every way possible. This policy has already attracted wide at- tention uf the press and of readers of the magazine. In fact, every number of the maga- zine in which exceptional progress was shown, owing to the great demand, is now out of print. This gratifying and encouraging result of the policy which we have adopted has led the jniblishers to ado])t a still more vigorous and progressive course in reference to the quality of illustrations, the number of stories to be printed monthly and the general char- acter of the magazine. It is our purpose to print more short stories each month than any other illustrated 10 cent magazine, and although the high quality of the illustrations of the Pacific Monthly has been a feature of the magazine during the past two years, better pa])er and better ink will be used in order to improve, if possible, the magazine in this respect. Eeaders of the Pacific Monthly who are interested in the coming supremacy of the Pacific and the lands which border it, or in any phase of the subject, will find the articles of Dr. Wolf Von Schierbrand of extraordinary interest and value. With clear-cut, interesting stories, rare and beautiful illustrations, illustrated articles on industrial prob- lems connected with the great West, and representing the energy, enthusiasm, and optimism of this part of the world as no other publication attempts to do, the Pacific Monthly should, for the next year, be of more than ordinary interest to every magazine reader in the land. In taking this opportunity to call attention briefly to some of the extensive plans which the publishers have for the enlargement and beautification of the magazine, we wish to acknowledge the generous support which we have received in the past from advertisers and magazine readers on this Coast. We can assure them that they will not only get value received, but ere the time of their subscription or advertising patronage lias passed they will thank us for suggesting at this time a continuation of their support during the com- ing twelve months.
