Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-24
SECOND Won MOLTKE
HAS YET TO FULFIL
TRADITIONS DEMAND
Name of German Amy's
Head the Synonym for In
vincibility in War-Quali.
ties Not Dazzling.

For nine years another Moltke-Teutoni.
synonym for invincibility in war-has
been chief of the great General staff of
the German army The decisive arbdtra-
ment of the present campaign will be
necessary to determine whether Lleuten-
ant General Helmuth Won Moltke, nephew
OF the Organizer of Victory" is entitled
to his celebrated uncle's other sobriouet
of The Battle Winner" His suprem.
war lord, the Kaiser, and the tremendous
organization Of 100000 officers and men
which Lieutenant General Won Moltks
heads at any rate have unalloyed conf.
dence In his ability to vindicate the ira.
ditions entrusted to his keeping. Mean.
time. emulating the habits which gave
the conqueror Of France still another pop
ular title THE Great Silence Keeper
Won Moltke's energies, writes Frederic w
VILE, in the Chicago Tribune, are devoted
to hammering into still more deadly per.
fection the mightiest war machine the
world has yet known The victories which
the German army has won in the first
six weeks of the war are a striking trib.
ute to his genius.
NOn MOlthe succeeded brilliant SOl-
dier, Count Won Schlieffen at the General
STAFF on January /, 1906. He had had a
| somewhat more than ordinary career in
the army up to that time, won his lieuten-
ancy and Iron Cross in the field as a
STRIPPING in the Franco-Prussian cam
palgn and acquitted himself creditably in
various grades of the service until he
reached his lieutenant generalcy in 1902
| But men inside and outside the army
| looked askance on his elevation to the
post so long adorned by Scftiieffen They
| declared he owed 1t primarily to EN-.
| peror Williams passion for the pctur-
| eque and a gnawing desire once again to
| have the magic name of Moltke at the
head of the brains department of the
| German army.
SCOFFERS RUB THEIR EYES.
Detractors were destined to have their
skepticism dramatically undermined. Hav-
ing scoffed at Won Moltke as a decorative
| figure, they rubbed their eyes over the
first KAISER maneuvers' held under his
auspices before he had been at the Gen.
eral Staff ten months. The great autumn
| mimic campaign for years past had been
distinguished by operations which that
| oft-quoted marshal of France would have
| called magnificent but not war" The
| Kaiser had an unconquerable passion for
| thrilling cavalry charges over bare fields
| which would make splendid cinema films,
| but cost the lives of division in war.
With the taunts of his rivals ringing in
| his ears that he was a Kaiser staff
| CHIEF pure and simple, Won Moltke's first
| innovation was ruthlessly to obliterate
| the picturesque from the autumn maneu.
| vers and substitute grueling, practical op-
| erations-nght fighting, forced marches
and all the other trappings of real" war
| Count Schleffen. who had opposed Will
! liam lis predilection for nvrot" chr,cs.
| had finally to leave the General Staff In
| disfavor. Won MoltEe. revealing will Of
| steel, succeeded speedily where his emf
nent predecessor had failed. His growth
in the esteem of the army was consistent
and rapid thenceforth. That the German
| army today is essentially "workmanlike"
| Is to n large degree the achievement Of
| its present chief of staff
| General Won Moltke. born in Mecklen-
! burg-Schwerin In 1S4S. was &c years old
| in Nav. 1914, He is often mistakenly
| called Count" Won Moltke for the title
| of count, conferred on his great ancestor
| in 1870 on the day Metz fell, was inherited
| by the elder brother of the present Molt-
| Ike. General Count Wilhelm Won Moltke.
| and ceased with the latter's death few
years ago. The "organizer OF victory"
| whose wife was an Englishwoman, Miss
| Burt, had no children. General Helmuth
| Won Moltke served as adjutant to his dis.
| tinguished uncle q the General staff from
| 1881 until the Field MarShaIs death IN
| 1891 While escorting the latter TO the
grave Emperor William informed the then
| Major Won Moltke that he had decided to
| elevate him to the rank of personal
| aide de camp. Five years of service in the
! KaIser's encourage We're succeeded by
| regimcntal and divisional commands In
the guards until in 1904 Emperor William
created quartermaster generalship at
the General Staff. hitherto filled only IN
| war time. and designated Lieutenant Gem
eral Won Moltke to occupy 1t. The post Is
| that of n vice chief and Won Moltke was
| thenceforth looked upon as Count Schlief'
| fen's eventual successor.
| Won Motke's qualities are not OF the
| dazzling order. Bulky and stocky Of ex-
terror. with the ungainly outlines OF
| Bismarck blue eyed and blondish gray
| haired, taciturn to a degree, a famed
| characteristic of the Mecklenburgers and
! Schleswig- Holsteiners, from which the
Moltkes have sprung, the chief OF the
| General Staff is a man OF indomtsoe
force unfaling candor and mental ca
pacity more distinguished for sanity tnsn
scintillating brliancy. He cares far less
for show than guard lieutenant