The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-08
FRENCH OFFICIAL
 VIEW CRITICISES GERMAN 'CADDRES'
Eighth Instalment of Review Expresses Belief in Ger
 man Weakening.

view of the war previous chapters of which have been given by The Asso- losses of officers, the wastage of guns and projectiles and the moral vast age Of the German army"
 The chapter on losses of officers be- gins with the statement that the Cad dres, or basic organizations, in the German army, is bad. It is shown that in 124 companies active re- serve, there were only 4e officers of the active army. The active regi- ments have at the present time, &C., cordiug to the review, an average of 12 professional officers in reserveareg- irnents. ''If Germany creates new army corps and if the war lasts 10 months,'' it continues, ''she will re- duce almost to nothing the number of professional officers in each regi- ment, a number which already is very insufficient .''
 The French report points out that on the other hand, all the French regiments have been constantly kept at a m1ninum figure of 18 profession al officers per regiment At the same time 1t admits that the com naanders of German corps, command CTS of active batta1ions and the off, cers attached to the commanders of army corps are officers by profes- sion.
 
 itself to the wastage of material. Dis cussing the wastage of guns it says:
 ''It is easy to ascertain the German losses in artillery. On December 28, the 66th regiment artillery entrained at Courtrai for Germany 22A guns of which IS were used up. This figure is extremely high for a single regf-3 ment.
 s-The same facts have been ascer- tained as regards heavy artillery. On Dec 21 and g. seventy-seven guns of heavy artillery which were no long CT serviceable were sent to Cologne. These movements, which are not is- plated facts, show how silly the Ger man artillery has resisted the ordeal of the campaign.
 Furthermore, the German artillery lacks and has lacked for a very long time munitions It has been oblig- ed to reduce it's consumption of shells possible in this respect. The state ments of prisoners since the battle of the Garne and still more since the battle of the Yser make it clear that the number of shots allowed to the batteries for each action is strict ly limited. We have found on off, cers killed or taken prisoners orders prescribing positively strict econ omy of munitions.
 For the last three months, too, we notice that the quality of the pro jectiIes is mediocre. Many of them do not burst On Jan- 1g. in the course of a bombardment of 14aventie, scarcely any of the German shells. burst The proportion of non bursts was estimated at two-f1fths by the British on December IA; two-thirds by the BeIgians at Fsl1rness in Janu- ary, and at two-thirds by ourselves in the same month. On January 3 at Bourg-E Et Com1nfn and at other places the Outlets were protected without any force.
 From numerous indications it appears that the Germans are begin ming to run short of their 1898 pat tern rifle. A certain number Of the last reinforcements (January) are armed with carbines or rifles of a poor sort, without bayonets. Others have not even rifles.
 Prisoners taken at Woevre had old pattern weapons The upsh ot of these observations is that Ger many, despite her large stores at the beginning and the great resources of l her industrial production, presents manifest signs Of wear and that the does not correspond with the reality of the facts"
 Under the caption Moral Wastage of the German Army the review con- tinues:
 sThe material losses of the Ger man army have correspondedk with a moral Wastage which it is interest the Interrogation of prisoners and the pocketbooks and letters seized upon them or on the killed.
 l t'At the beginning of the war, the entire German army as was natural | was animated by an uhshakable faith | in the military superiority of the ern- pire. It lived on the recollections | of 1870 and on those long years of I peace during which all the powers l which have to do with Germany dis | played. towards her spirit of con 1 ciliation and patience which might pass for weakness.
 The first prisoners we took in l August showed themselves wholly in- different to the reverses of the Ger man army. They were sincerely and profoundly convinced that if the Ger | man army retired it was in virtue of la preconceived plan and that our suc- I cesses would lead to nothing The l events at the end of August were cal culated to strengthen this conviction in the mind of the German soldiers.
 t'F'or a certain time they had been ,consoled by the success at Warsaw. This success proved to be ffctitio ous incredulity came again. During the last two months the most intelligent
 of the prisoners have all admitted that no one could any longer say on
 which side victory would rest. If we think of the absolute confidence with Z which the German people had been
 sustained this avowal is of great inn
 portance.
 Il Letters seized on a dead officer
 speak of the imminence of a military and economic hemming-in of Ger
 many. They, discuss the possibility
 of Germany finding herself after the
 war with empty hands and pockets
 turned inside out There is no long
 CT any question of imposing the con . queror's law upon adversaries at his , mercy but of fighting with the ener- 1 gy of despair to secure an honorable l neace. An officer nfA inc oanara