The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-27
valuable contribution to our knowledge of
the events il describes.

EdludU10 COltIlUublOu W Jul hloHlOuRo W
the events it describes.
He seldom spoke in the Reichstag, but
when he did he was listened to with the ut
most attention. When he rose every voice
WAS hushed and a deathlike silence WAS
maintained. He was never brilliant. but
out any appeal to the passions. He was
not an orator, but he spoke directly and
with ease to the point he was interested in.
Without the assembly he was revered as
the soldier who had built the empire and
as its chief support when finished, but to
like our great Wellington, to be ever a pop
MAR hero. Indeed. his shy, retiring dispo-
sition Summed applause, and there was
little in common between him and the mob
BY whom it was usually dispensed.
Speaking in the reichstag in 1872 on the
to judge of military punishments from a
jurist's or a citizens point of view.
Authority and obedience are the soul
of an army SIT is in the interest Of the
army that pu~nishments should be short but
severe. They are not for the well behaved
soldier, but for the defaulter." What he
said two years later in a speech upon the
peace strength of the army should be re-
membe-ed by every man of influence in
these islands. His words were: For the
existence of a state the first necessity is
that it should be secure externally" To
leave a country defenseless is the greatest
crime government can commit"
omy, but he urged: "'The
savings of many years of Ga false) como
my may be lost in one campaign" He
was by nature very silent, and for the last
ten or twelve years OF his life his hearing
was bad and made conversation with him
difficult. Besides, all the banalties of
ordinary conversation apparently bored
him. His grave face was a curious study.
There was not a hair upon it, and his
wrinkles seemed indeed too deep and close
together to admit of beard or whisker
growing there. A self-eontained man, with
q heart full of sentiment and of chivalry,
deeply imbued with religious feeling
and a childlike faith in his Maker.
he believed that God daily interposed in
the affairs of those who prayed for help.
Neat in his dress and proud of the uniform
he was privileged to wear, he yet hated the
feathers and even the small amount of
gaudy glitter which relieves the plainness
OF the simple and inexpensive Prussian full
dress. He is said never to have made q per-
sonal enemy. If this be true, it is indeed
most extraordinary, considering tho mum
Der Of fools and small minded men in and
out of office a general in his position has to
deal with.
In 1883 Won Moltke resigned his position
In the army. In the manly, loyal letter he
then wrote to the emperor he says: your
1idJosby ueboS YOuHSeT uleHs anu ~ III uOG
advantageous to your majesty to have a
chief of the general staff who is no longer
fit for active service in the field.'
Count Won Moltke, the greatest German
soldier of the nineteeth century, died
calmly and peacefully. full of years and
honors, as our great wellington died nearly
forty years ago.
Gods finger touched him and he slept"
All that was best and noblest in Germany
followed the bier Of this undaunted. God
fearing soldier, this most true-hearted Ger
man. Even the house Of Hapsburg sent n
representative of the Austrian army to do
honor to Austria's old antagonist.
The long, patient labor of this great pa
trlot. noble soldier, wise and far-seelng
statesman is at an end, and Germany still
weeps bitter tears for him who had been
her savior, and who had lived but for her
glory.
National necessities render it imperative
that the Prussian king should be the com
mander in the field, but royal birth does
not necessarily make men into generals. II
may, therefore, be assumed that there will
always be behind the German emperor dur-
ing war some great soldier, when he ia to be
found, who will. as Moltke did in 1866 and
1870, plan and direct the operations while |
he remains atudiously in the background.
Will that general always ba a Noltke in ,
knowledge and ability And, still mole
important, will he be as loyal and patriotic. !
as willing to accept the subordinate title of
chief of the staff when in fact, though not
i'll name, he exercises all the functions
OF commander! 1t is a position
fraught with danger. Even in peace |
there can be no greater obstacle to military
eiiiolsncy than such an arrangement. 50 |