Arizona republican., 1916-10-26

myself looked over the ground and l received orders to prepare the men and material for my part of the enter prise Instead of undertaking a pre- mature offensive with our unready army, it was decided to take over more front from the French.
 "The decision was most fortunate and a tribute to the judgment of the French that they could hold the Ger mans at Verdun. Not only could they hold the Germans, but they were able, after giving the enemy the severest handling he had had so far in this war to join us in the Somme offensive with results which we all know"
 They say that the Germans hoped to force you to attack prematurely last February" the correspondent sug- gested.
 Nothing could better have suited their purposes" was the reply than to have induced us to attack before we were ready. They had thinned their lines in the east and massed their reserves in the west. Happily owing to French tenacity and pluck, we were given time to wait for new guns which were beginning to a rrive from Eng land in gratifying numbers and for intuition factories to start the big low of shells. Roads and light railways had been leveled for bringing up the immense quantities of munitions and supplies of all kinds requisite for the attack on the fortified lines which the Germans had been nearly two years in building and for continuing the of fense once it had started.
 ''The wastage of life and material in so titanic a struggle must be fore seen and calculated and arrangements made for renewal. Our machine must be so organized that no contingency could throw it out of gear and that we should have everything required in abundance.
 When in their eagerness our bat talions have advanced too far because the resistance was comparatively light and the Germans closed in with su- perior numbers our men either held their ground successfully or died fight ing, rather than yield. This is the spirit which We have to work with in our future Our young officers, who knew nothing of war two years ago, have had a schooling battle. The places of those who have fallen are being filled by chosen men from the ranks, as well as from the schools at home and in France"
 You have been fighting the Ger mans for two years now. general; have they depreciated? 2" said the corres- pondent.
 Decidedly They still area brave and slllful army but tired army. For the first time they have known what 1t was to face superior artillery fire and armies which know their lessons as well as they do The French and ourselves fight as one army. If either develops any improvement it is shared with the other. So similar have our systems become that I never consider whether 1 have an English or a French army alongside of me.
 The Germans too, are quick to adapt any new wrinkles from us. We i are all learners, even after two years | of war.
 After some of our attacks, confu sion in the German lines and a break ! down of the German staff organization | were evident from the haste witt which the assorted units were rushed i haphazard into the front line. There ] was lack of cohesion on their part, ana even of maps of the area to which they were sent, and this induced confusion which some times cost them heavier casualties on the defense than wer, |
 General Skoneleff once said that ir every hundred men there was a smal proportion who were naturally brave a larger proportion who would respond to leadership and training, and agaiI a small proportion who were funks. 4 ! small proportion of the Germans hay, shown tenacious and defiant courage particularly in their defense of ma chine gun positions. The great ma Jority have ceased to respond to lead ership with their old ardor As for tn funks, who are disciplined into cour age, they are the ones who have beei following their natural instincts o self preservation and holding up thei hands when our men approach in thei charges"
 Can the line be broken?"
 Undoubtedly 1t can, and it will b sooner or later. All that is necessar is to keep hammering.
 Tn this war, as in every other wal victory must come as the result c moral and physical superiority con tinued for a sufficient time at a de cisive point. The first step is to fore the enemy to defense; then superio
 shell fire, superior manpower and re lentless pressure in attack must so de PAtNidhc IiS organization anu moral
 that one day he will break.
 The allies, in close sympathy an
 cooperation, will keep on pressin
 simultaneously on all fronts, until a
 some point the enemy gives way.
 is difficult to say what the result of
 break in the line might be but it ser
 ously will weaken his whole system
 defense.
 Our army has not yet reached tt zenith of it's power nor will it have dor
 so until next spring, or perhaps neJ
 summer. l think we have reached tf
 top of the hill but there is an undu
 lating table land to cross before W
 really get on to the downgrade pol
 tion beyond. This may be steep,
 may be quite a gentleslope, but it wi
 be downhill work and comparative
 easy"