Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1884-02-02
COUNT Won MOLTkE.


Men rs He Moves Chess Pieces.
London Times.
The advance Of the German armies
over France was like the impetus of
man skating one false step would have
brought heavy fall-and Won Moltke
was not admirable only in having
drafted and executed point for point
the most elaborate plan OF CAMPAIGN
ever conceived, but in having accurately
foreseen all the demoralizing effects
which defeat would produce upon his
foes. Had he made any miscaiculation;
had the French shown spirit when lie
expected them to be cowed; had they
resisted stubbornly when he had
reckoned that they would yield-the
end OF the war might have been very
different from the beginning. More
than once the silent commander must
have been anxious in spirit; but he let
nothing of this be seen. A foreigner
who called upon him at Versailles in
the midst of the siege OF Paris, and on
a day when great sortie was expected
found him quietly reading an English
novel
He is an extraordinary man. A
diplomatist who met him in the Wilhelm
strasse of Berlin the day before he
went to the seat OF war would have
taken leave of him in hurry, suppos-
ing that he must be busy but Won
Moltke said,'I have nothing to do"
and went on chatting with his usual
composure. In this incident was re-
vealed the whole strength of the Ger
man military system, which allots to
each officer just as much work as he
can easily and efficiently perform. The
formula of the whole system may be
defined as the constant search after
able men; and, as the princes of the
royal house of Prussia have steadily
adhered to the principle of letting
merit be recompensed and INCOMPETENCE
shelved without favor or fear. they have
been contributors equally with the bes
of their generals towards the events
which have made Germany what it
now is.
The organization OF the German army
has much in it that produces awe as
we'll as admiration on foreign minds
The staff office in Berlin, over which
Marshal Won Moltke presides, has de-
partments as mysterious and inquisitor
ial as those of the Roman curia; and the
place is in fact military inquisition,
Maps of all countries and cities OF l.u-
rope are there, with plan. Tor invading
these localities, and minute details as to
the accommodation which the invader,
would find in the way of Loarl anl
lodging. When Gen. Won Cohen, at
the head of the Eighth army corps,
m 'rched into Rouen, he astounded the
Inhabitants by sending out, within hal:
an hour of his entry, adjutauts wis
marked on the door Of each house the
number of billets it was to furnish
Protests were of no use. The general
had his instructions what each he so
could do and must 90; and he knew,
moreover, that the citv was in a position
to supply 10000 pairs of boots 10000
flannel waistcoats, and 10000 good ci,
CARS to his men at twenty-foUr hour
notice Perhaps the stall Office III;
thoroughly considered the capabi.itics
of London in the same manner.
Marshal Won Moitile may well take
his ease, attend with ,Ilethodcal punctu
ality all sittings OF the reichstag, play
his rubber every evening, and devote
so many tranquil we yearly 10 bot
AIMING and agriculture on his estate at
kreisau. The system which has reduced
the management of armies to the pre-
c;s;on of mechanical science was not
constructed in day; but nov that iorg
experiences has shown how we'll it WORKS
its principal engineer can leave it with
out missiving to be regulated, during
his occasional absences, by the expert
pupils whom he has trained. he
marshal himself disclaims the idea that
he is 3 necessary man. 1t is tine very
essence Of his system, as he maintain,
that it shall always bring out men o
genius so long as any are to be found in
Germany; but on this point foreigners
while recognizing all that is good
Prussian military administration, vii,
not readily concede that men like the
ma, shal are easy to replace.