The Washington herald., 1915-09-19
FRENCH DO NOT
DOUBT BRITISH
Their Officials Are in Accord
with Slow Movement of
Kitchener's Men.
HOLD HUNDRED MILES
Three Million in Readiness to Move
Into Battlefield Back for
Training.
HOLD HUNDRED MILES
speci,l Cabie TO Ths W.shinRton Her,M.

Special Cable to The Washington Herald
London, Sept. 1s.-Many Englishnen
say II the French are really complaining
| because the British. in spite of their
boasting of having raised a volunteer
army Of 100000 men. are still only hold
Ing front Of only thirty-four miles, one
must admit there may be something in
| their way Of reasoning.
| An oficer OF the French general stair.
however, who Is at present visiting Lon
don. assures me that French officers have
absolutely no fault to find with their
English allies. though he does not deny
| that the French people are growing.
TraininE Needed, Says Leader.
| said, that when Marshal French pre-
ferred to estab blish his front in depth
| rather than extend it to the sides. 1t was
because he wanted only successfully to
bring the newly trained men into the
| first line. that they might gradually be-
| come used to the actual fighting, which
at this time has become a war veterans
game. indeed.
Let me ephasize this. however. that
Marshal French in no way doubts the
valor of the young troops sent from
England, but as during his former cam
paign he has always been used to han
ding an army of professional soldiers
and to commanding men in whom disci-
pline in face Of the gravest danger has
become an instinct, he considers It nee
essary to complete the training Of the
new bodies by a long apprenticeship in
the third and second lines.
Now he has accomplished his purpose
and he may send the men who now con-
stitute his rear lines into battle anywhere
and at any time They will stand as
firm and attack with as much swiftness
and strength as their professional COM
rades who form the nucleus OF the Brit
ish armies. The same may be said, in
fact, of the soldiers now coming over
from England after a longer training
they are able to march direct from the
transports into battle. as the Germans
will soon find out.
''As a matter of fact, the maps have
seen in England showing a bird's-eye
view of the English front were perhaps
quite exact two months ago, but they are
no longer SO. and ! betray no military
secrets when say that IL you start alons
our front from the Belgian coast you find
first the Belgian army. then a French
army. then the first English army, then
again a French army. and after that a
new English army. with front Of no
less than 100 miles, and finally the bulk
of the French. Altogether. there are
now with US on the front an English
army of approximately 100000 men.
"As for the reserves. still in England,
am not permitted to say anything. as
the English war office desires to keep the
exact number secret. rightly asserting
that the unknown is very often an i'm
portant factor Of success in war
The writer is not permitted to give the
name of this French officer. but It 10 one
which carries great weight, and he was
evidently very sincere when Sc spoke.
England Peace-lovfnR.
But why have the English been 30 slow
when they had these enormous masses Of
troops at their disposal. one hears doubt |
ers say. There were several reasons for |
this. the principal one being that when |
war was declared England was under no |
obligation to send any armies to the con- |
tinent at all. The entente on this point
was indeed as vague as 1t was cordial, !
though it was almost Immediately de-
cided to send England's entire standing |
army across the Channel
AS long as the British people, who have |
the reputation Of being rather slow Of
understanding, did not understand that
this war was one of life and death, the |
English government could do no more
than it actually did. that is. offer France |
the powerful support of the British navy
and the entire professional army.
1t must be remembered. too, that Eng |
land is the only country in Europe that
has temporary local and facultative laws. !
and that If the English people are free |
and independent. they are also peace
loving. and the government could not
order them to throw their full strength !
into the war. Today the English people |
not only understand the meaning of this
war. but they are even blaming the gov
ernment for not making them understand
it sooner. They have not only given
the government absolute carte blanche.
but they blame the government for not
having asked for dictatorial powers.
A prominent politician said here the
other day: This is the fourth time
since 1888 that England has made up her
mind to come out from her island. The
first time she undertook the task of
crushing the threatening power Of Philip
II of Spain and the defeat Of the I'm
vincible Armada" followed. The second
time was in 1n2 when she went for
Louis XIV and the result was the peace
treaty of Utrecht. The third time was
when the genius Of the great Napoleon
had brought all Europe to her knees
and then came Waterloo. This fourth
time 1t Is the German beast will have
hifa fha dusf