Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1911-12-23
London Times Thinks lndivid-
uaIity Has Been Crushed
Out of Men.

Is the German army real fighting
machine, or merely an aggregation
of chocolate soldiers7-- That Is a
question that is being constantly
asked In our own service as well as
abroad. The military correspondent
OF the London Times undertakes to
answer It. and while the conclusions
drawn may he somewhat colored,
the facts stated are of undoubted In
trrest to those In the United States
who are up ON matters military.
In part the Times article says:
The writer has not formed n
wholly favorable opinion Of the Ger
man army, which appears to him to
be living on a glorious past and 10
he UNEQUAL to the repute In which II
Is commonly held.
When we turn from theories of the
conduct of war TO their execution,
and examine In turn the various
parts Of the war machinery without
Icing mislcd by the glamor and
pomp Of drill aud parade. the defects
OF the German army cannot be over
looked
leading at the maneuvers Of dis
tinguished character. and mistakes
we're committed which tended to
shake the confidence Of foreign
spectators In the reputation of the
command. The stan work. though
usually good was not by any means
above suspicion. The infantry
lacked dash, displayed no knowledge
Df the use of ground, ntrenched
themselves badly, were extremely
slow III their movements. offered
vulnerable targets at medium ranges,
ignored the service of security. per-
formed the approach marches In IA
uld-timc manner. We're not trained
TO understand the connection he
tween fire and movement. ana
seemed totpllv unaware OF the eff
feet Of modern fire The cavalry
drilled well and showed some bcauti-
fully trained horses. while the cav
airy of the guard was well handled
from the army point of view, but the
arm was in many ways exceedingly
old fashioned. the scouting was bad
and mistakes were made OF which
our yeomanry would be ashamed
The artillery, with its out of date
material and slow and Ineffective
methods of fire. appeared so inferior
that II can have no pretensions 10
measure itself against the French on
any thing approaching level terms
Finally, the dirigibles and aeroplanes
presented the fourth arm in rela
lively unfavorable light. The Ger
re-, 10.
confidence In itself, and high state
OF organization. does not present any
signs of superiority over the best for.
eign models, and In some ways does
rot rise above the level OF the sec
ond rate.
A Stale Army.
The German army appears TO tho
written To have trained itself stale
Year in, year out. the same ceaseles;
round of intensive training has re
duced the whole army to machin,
by which individuality, initiative,
and freshness have been rigorousl!
crushed out. The effort to create in
iiiatiye by regulation has not sue
ceeded. The training of the year
always the same, has become form
VI soHlidiiDuilsHi. ENtIyDDuy uoc
the same thing every hour of ever.
day every year, and officers VIII,
have to wait l6 or II years for thei
companies are spent and tired lonI
before they rise to high command
The majority of senior regimental OF
ficers do not possess the physical
qualifications, necessary for efrectiv
service during the arduous strain q
the Infantry fight, and until the cad
res are rejuvenated these condition
will remain unaltered. There are som
great thinkers and some hard work
ers among the officers. but the in
preston conveyed is that only Sc
lect few really work. that all indy
duality has been crushed out of th
rank and file. and that both abst
lutely, and still more relatively. tn
German Army is not so good as Il
.orernnner which achieved the unto
of the German States. "A bloody wa
and a sickly season"-that yenerab
toast of our port-drinking ancestor
might reinvigorate the Army I,
might destroy 1t. Failing such e,
IRENE measures, the best thing to r,
store new life TO the Army would I
diSband Id for N wear In order In pi