The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-19
soMr RrprcuIous MOTIONS.

SOME RIDICULOUS NOTIONS.
 1t Is really singular and frequently amusing to note the opinions which some intelligent foreigners have of the United States. There are many of them' or course, who are well-informed on all sub jects connected with this country but there are others who should be fully in- formed, but who seem to know but little more about our people and about the con ditions existing here than do the Tagais or the lower classes of the Chinese.
 For example, we have recently read portions of a paper written by one Won Edelsheim. lieutenant on the general stan of the German imperial army Now' any one would naturally suppose that man occupying that position would De we'll informed with regard to the United States. but we doubt if native Filipino could reason more absurdly than this Lieutenant in the army of one of the most enlightened nations of Europe does. In fact, his reasonings are So thoroughly ridiculous that one can hardly refrain from admiring the extent of his ab- surdity.
 This Won Edelsheim gravefy discusses the ease and facility with which Ger many could conquer the United States, beginning by saying that the German l navy would make short work of the American navy, and would then ravage all our seaport towns. What our war ships would be doing while they were destroying our navy is not considered. Probably he has some sort of notion that our vessels would go out into mid-ocean and calmly wait to be sunk. Nor does he take any thought of the Qualifications of our cities. though it is possible that | he imagines that we have no coast de- | fense of any kind, and that our maritime | towns are wholly. at the mercy of any enemy who cares to take possession Of l them.
 Having thus disposed of our navy ana taken possession of all our seaports this l brilliant soldier proposes to send over l an army of 5000 men, composed of the flower of the imperial forces" and one7 l half of this army Is to keep our generals befuddled by feints and forays while the other half is to be concentrated at some | point ready to kill or capture whatever
 force we might send against them This
 would be easy because he argues that the United States could not muster an
 army of more than 2O.OOO regulars. lied by oniders with no experience in real l war" and our national guards. militia, | etc. would be as dust before a wind. | zte nd | fully absurd? His idea of the size and eficiency of our army reminds us of the boast we actually heard made about the l beginning of the war with Mexico. A gentleman from Alabama. man Of fair intelligence who had spent some years l in Texas. declared in our hearing that a certain Texan officer, whose name is not now remembered, could take five hundred Texans and whip the Mexican nation | He asserted that Mexico could not put
 more than ,1.5OO men into the field at one | time and the Texans could easily whip three times their number.
 Now, this man was perfectly serious,
 but his belief in the prowess of his own ! countrymen and in the weakness of the
 enemy was not more pronounced than are
 those of this German officer. It seems
 impossible than a man with intelligence
 enough to occupy the position that Edel- lasifefni does should hot have read the his
 tory of our Civil War and thus learned
 the number of men put into the field
 nearly forty years ago by the opposing governments. And 1t seems, also, that ! he ought to have fair knowledge of our navy and its history, and that it could not be disposed of as though 1t were a
 fleet of pleasure yachts. Really his ab-
 surdity Is too funny.
 And yet we are not sure that this Ger
 man, with his vast fund of misinforma- | tion Is quite as bad as Is one~ Colonel | Delauney. a member of the general stan
 of the French army. This officer writes
 a paper to show how easy it would be
 for France to conquer England, and he
 reasons it all out and makes the job lit-
 tie more than a frolic. Even if the
 French navy should not be able to over
 come that of England he gravely argues
 that ito land an army in England is
 but the work of one moonless night, and
 there can be no doubt of the success Of
 such an operation. for the army of in-
 vasion, once landed could do without out
 side help and find in England the neces-
 sary resources for living and fighting"
 1t is really difficult to decide which of
 these military gasconaders is entitled to
 the belt. If there is any difference the 1. Frenchman wins, for France is within sight of England and the Colonel ought to be almost as familiar with the latter as he should be with his own nation, sc that 1t is difficult to attribute his boasts
 to ignorance or to anything else but un'
 adulterated brag, or to an attempt to
 outdo the famous stories of Munchausen
 Between the German and the Gaul there's
 little left to be desired in the way of braggadocio and ignorance.
 SOME QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
 The Advertiser is in receipt of the fol-
 lowing letter.