The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-17

Every Country Sends Out Such Omcers
to Gain Technical Information.
New York Pres.

New York Press.
To the courts of Vienna and Madrid and
to the Republic of Switzerland the Presi-
dent last week appointed military attaches
for the American legations. Military ana
naval attaches to be really succesful
ought to be compounded of as many in
gradients as the heavy dragon in PA
tience." He should be a gentleman of en-
gaging manners and of wealth; an officer
of proved ability a close observer, quick
of perception, open and free in manner,
secretive to a degree, seeing all things and
appearing to see nothing; a man able 10
drink and never lose his head. one quickly
capable of putting two and two together; a
man eagerly looking for the secrets OF the
people among whom he lives, and, above
all, a man of spotless honor and integrity,
who would scorn to get information by any
underhanded means, or receive information
so obtained Take of these elements all
that is fusible, melt them all down IN
pipkin or cruicible. Set them 10 simmer
and skim off the scum, and an attache Is
the reSiduum.
All the Important powers have serving
with their foreign legations naval and mil
itary attaches. These men are really ac-
credited and received spies Their business
is to find out all they can about the mill
tary and naval establishments OF the pow
ers to which they are accredited and to
make reports thereupon to their govern
ments. They must do all this however, In
a legitimate way, by their powers OF OBJ
seryation alone The greatest ambassador
in the world might and does see things al
most every day when at his post OF duty
which are absolutely meaningless 70 him,
but which TO the trained eye OF ms n fniI I1
sale which when he has put 1t tosetner
will tell him what he came to find out; our
own system of fire control is worked out
backward from the English drill book for
sea coast artillery All the ambassadors at
the court of st. James could not have
done that, but a bright young American
officer of artillery could and did.
In the secret archives of the war De-
partment are plans of all the important
forts of Britain, and in the British war
Office there are excellent plans of our forts.
We have military maps of the greater part
of Europe with the conditions of the ROADS,
the facilities for railroad transportation
and all that sort of thing accompanying
them The War Department knows all the
time just how many troops a european tbaI ara
stationed, the condition or those troops,
the position OF the military magazines ana
storehouses and just what is in them A
thousand other things it knows about the
armies of Europe and the forts OF the ma
tons. One continual o. am or information
flows into the War rtment from our
military attaches abr Yet an the uihe
these gentlemen are Glded buttertlles
of the legations to Whit hey are attach 20
and are supposed to spend their time in
continuous round of social pleasures where
they can disport their uniforms and gener-
aIIy enjoy themselves. 1t is needless to say
that the military attaches of foreign ma
tions at Washington are furnishing con-
stantly to their governments the same kind
of information about our military establish
ment as we are getting about theirs.
What is true of military attaches Is, OF
course, equally true of naval attaches. NOT
a great nation in Europe but knows all
about the United States from military
uoint of view, its military resources and its
Natural and artificial defenses If they had
looked only at what is on the surface and
visible TO the eye of the civilian we would
have been attacked by some great power
nection with this subject 1t Will be remem-
bered that when the Germans invaded
France they were found TO nave peter ts mil
itary maps Of the country than the French
had themselves.