New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-13
rRANCENOT READY FOR WAR
.r>rpAI. BILLOTS FRANK CONFESSION
THE NEED OF a COMMANDER
IN-CNIEF.

IN-CHIEF.
7, snite of the magnificent showing or the
~,-arcb Army at Chaions the other day. when re-
,,awed by the Car, and notwithstanding the
'.orroous sums that nave been spent upon Its
.oorganization since 1870 the war budget being
ava only one that has never been questioned or
onnosed In the Legislature. the members of
,,b;ch are ell bound together in common ties Of
,r;ot,sn, doubts have arisen at Paris as to
,.t,ar the country Is to-day any better pre-
od >, resist g German invasion than 1t was
.o,,,eIx wears ago. This is startling
..o.eroont to make but ii is based on the utter
.,oss ~ the Minister of War himself. General
p,uo, is n veteran of tried discretion. and it
.,a,. he taken for granted that he would never
go made the speech which he delivered the
ether dsv at the War Department to a delega-
.,or of editors and correspondents Of military
,awsrapers had he not been impelled thereto
nv reasons Of extraordinary gravity. According
q, hin, st least 20 per cent Of the army serves
,.,h The col1rs only for a year, thanks 10 a sys-
con, NJ exemution which was in keeping with the
Nanoeonc regime. but which is totally opposed
a. the doc crimes Of equality and of Republican,
tenn of tile present Government of France
twelve months as the Minister very Justly
nonted out are a totally Inadequate period in
which 10 complete the military training Of
soldier especially in France. where. to use his
own words the revolution has made so very
a,aicult the task Of subJecting 10 the yoke Of
d,sc,p,ine men for whom the idea of liberty has
become dogma
THE LACK OF A PERMANENT HEAD
But the principal source Of weakness in the
French Army to which he drew attention. and
the one which cannot fail 10 excite profound in
+erest abroad is the absence OF any permanent
and regular head in time of peace. True. the
nlan of mobilization in the event of war provides
for the chief command of the entire French
Army and fOi the composition of the headquar-
ters staff But the members of the latter are at
The present moment scattered all over France
and Algeria. some of them being even stationed
In far distant colonies. and if war should break
out considerable time would be required to sum-
mon them from every point of the compass IN
order join their chief. and TO assume the posts
to which they had been assigned. 1t must be
remembered that everything in connection with
this scheme of mobilization is what may be de-
scrihed as eventual" 1t is only lin the event
Of certain things coming 10 pass that IT will be
brought into operation, and while on the one
hand the commanding generals have knowl-
edge Of the characteristics Of those who are to
constitute their staff the members of the latter
are for the most part not even personally &C
ouainted with one another AS in 1870. all the
preparations and arrangements to resist inva-
sion are on paper and only on paper.
The result of this is that at the present mo-
nent the commanders Of the twenty army
corps composing the standing army have abso-
lutely no one above them excepting the Minister
of War. who changes with every Cabinet crisis
tt,,,oa cold
and whose time is far too much engrossed with
the drawing up Of budget. with political Ques-
tions and with what may be described as the
economic administration of the army TO be
able to supervise and control the twenty gen.
erals commanding the various army corps. The
consequence is that these generals have de-
veloped into what the Minister describes a
species of satraps. subject to no rule but their
own goodwill and pleasure. almost entirely in
dependent of any central authority. and with
out any system Of cooperation or cohesion
with another
II will readily be seen how detrimental this
must be TO the efficiency of the French Army.
and II Is fault for which there can be but
one remedy namely the nomination Of a gen
eralissimo. with apermanent headquarters staff.
which would exercise the supreme command.
not only In time of war. but also in time or
peace As the matter stands now. there is no
provision made by French law for any such
office, which naturally exists in every other
civilized country of the world. Field Marshal
Lord Woseley fills the office Of generalissimo OF
the British Army and General Miles that of the
United States while in most Of the monarchical
countries of the Old World it is the Emperor or
the King who holds the supreme command In
peace as in war Why the French have until
~ ha Il ind ic ha-
cause they dread above everything else the pos
sibty Of a general invested with such an Of
flee as this assuming the powers of a military
dictator.
The entire Napoleonc system originated with
a military dictatorship Of this nature, and on
two separate occasions. namely In 1913. when
Marshal MacMahon was virtually in military
control Of France and again at the time OF
the Boulanger episode, the Republic has been
in serious danger Of this sort. In one word.
the political element Of France distrusts the
military element, and, although the Minister
OF War in his speech the other day intiinated
his determination to submit to the Legislature
q bin providing for the organization or mead
quarters staff and for the appointment or
comma nder-in-chief Of the army In time OF
peace as Indispensable to the efficiency OF the
military defences OF France. 1t Is doubtfui
whether ne will be able TO secure the consent
Of the Chambers thereto. so afraid are they lest
the generalissmo should make use OF the pow
ers thus conferred to assume the position OF
dictator
GENERAL JAMONT'S RECORD
The man who is reported to be destined by the
present Government for this important post ~
General lamont, officer Of such high distihc-
ton that the Government some time ago act
usly issued a special decree extending the limit
Of age in his case from his sixty-fifth TO his
SEVENTEEN year. True. at the present moment
General Saussier Governor Of Paris. liz the senior
officer Of the French Army, and Is known 10
have figured until now upon the plan OF nopih-
zaton as the Comma nder-in Chief in the event