The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1917-11-23

development or the development OF
the tacticians and strategists of one
Of the other Of the ally countries. OF
course. cannot here be told. The
chances are that every war office VIII
present plan and that the grand
scheme finally adopted will be one
which contains parts Of the plans OF
the experts OF all nations. 1t Is pos
sible, Of course, however, that some
general plan, product in large part
of the brain of one military student,
may be the one finally adopted.
Lack Of Team Work Deplored.
Washington for months has had
within its borders representatives of
the armed forces of all the allies. 1t
Is held generally by the military ex-
perts that the plan of campaign Of
each individual war office as 1t affects
its own front has been In the main
excellent. From the first. however,
there has been uneasiness among the
students Of strategy because no grand
plan OF co-ordinated campaign for
the final crushing of Germany and
Austria has been evolved.
1t Is known to be somewhat of
disappointment to American military
authorities that at the allied confer
ence In Paris the war Offices are not
to be more fully represented. To a
considerable extent the conference on
the conduct of the war will be a civil
ian affair. but there will be sufficient
military leaven In the meeting to at
feet its deliberations and finally prob
ably to produce the strategic result
desired.
Something has been said concerning
the belief that the war Is to be long
one. If plan Of grand strategy In
which all the allied nations shall take
part Is evolved, adopted and put into
operation, 1t will mean probably that
for months the conflict seemingly will
be at a virtual standstill except ut
parts Of certain fronts where progress
even under preparation conditions Is
possible. If the endorsement Of
comprehensive plan Of "coalesced war
fare" is secured from the war Offices
Of each Of the allied countries, the
preparations for putting the grand
plan into operation must be adequate
and all embracing. Food, munitions,
men. supplies Of all kinds at the fronts
and at the bases back Of the fronts
must be provided so that there may
be no excuse at any point Of the thou.
sands of circling miles for the now
familiar plea that retreat here or there
came because the necessaries In the
case were lacking.
Retired Officers Back In Harness.
Scenes in London during the early
part of the war are being duplicated In
Washington. The streets, Of course,
here are full Of soldiers as they were
In the British capital in the fall of
1914. but one striking thing here, as
there, is the presence Of many men,
erect and sturdy, but aged. who are
wearing the uniform Of their country
and doing active work at time Of life
when they had the right to expect to
be resting on their laurels for the rest
Of their existence.
There are old Officers In this town
from the rank Of lieutenant general
down to that Of second lieutenant In
full uniform, all Of them working for
the government and the juniors,
many Of them, ranking in age scores
Of major generals and brigadier gener-
ais still In the active service.
Lieut.. Gen. 8. B. NJ. Young, aged
seventy-seven years, is In harness
again as commanding officer Of the
Soldiers Home located on the heights
above Washington and In which are
many hundreds of former regulars who
are incapacitated for service. The
placing Of General Young In this po-
sition released for field service a
younger officer of the line.
The instant that war broke out Gen.
eral Young, despite his age, offered his
services to the government. His i'm
mediate ranking officer, also lieu
tenant general, Nelson A. Miles, Of
fered his services at the same time.
Except In an advisory capacity Gen.
eral Miles services have not yet been
required,
Many Retired Officers Working.
There are In the war department to-
dny retired army officers working
away for dear life whose shoulder
straps have the open field denoting
second lieutenant rank, or the bar Of
the first lieutenant, or the double bar
of captain. Some of these men IL
they had stayed In the service would
be major generals today. and numbers
Of them in fact already have reached
the age when retirement would have
been compulsory under the sixty-four
years clause.
Some of these officers were retired
because of wounds received In the
early Indian wars. Some of them
so far recovered from the effects of
their wounds that IL the law had al
lowed they would have been able to
return to active service In days of
peace, but the law makes no such pro-
vision. When war comes the services