Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1917-07-24
DIRECTS ALL
OF n MEN \: AND \ D GUNS
Serves to Avoid Unnecessary
Red Tape and Make the Tasks
Of the Commander at the
Front as Simple as Possible.

Of the Commander at the |
Front as Simple as Possible.
organization or officers deficient in
"pep'' and common sense.
Armament.
Foreign military conditions (con'
cerned chiefly with military and pc.
litical situations that may endangel
the enforcement Of the Monroe doc
trlne.
Notifications. surveys, maps, ar.
chives.
Maneuvers, army war college and
other service schools.
Central section directly under chief
Of general staff in change Of all ques-
lions relating to personnel and nd.
ministratlon of United States army.
Flexibility Needed.
Organization, like all other good
things, can be overdone. It's red tape
can tie. hand and foot, the men who
are part OF It For example, in the
Russo-Japanese war fur overcoats
we're delivered to the troops in the
spring and summer clothes at the be.
ginning Of winter, not because Of q
lack Of organization, but because or.
ganization was 200 cumbersome, too
much in rut, too lacking in intelli
gence. 'a-
II Is the Job Of a general staff to
make certain that organization does
not outrun team play. 1t is no less
their job to lead on the army to new
levels of cooperative effort, to higher
and higher degree of organization. If
they fail in this larger task it will be
possible for the Germans, with armies
smaller than our own by far, to beat
us and make US submit to their terms.
Not without reason, therefore, Is the
general staff called ''the brains Of the
army"
Some people nowadays are willing,
shsmefully willing, to admit the ability
Of other nations to whip us. But 1t has
not yet reached the point where people
are willing to admit that we are the
Interiors Of the Germans in our ability
to use our brain power. THE brains
Of the army" should surely be given
especial support and whatever num-
Der Of officers are needed, for the usual
reasons and further because custom as
solid as law provides a civilian head
for the war department of the United
States. With q civilian head strong
body of experts to advise the expert
enced chief is more than ever neces.
sary.
Under the present law the general
staff Is also deprived to a large extent
Of the constant attention, aid and d.
rection 1t should receive from It's head
The chief of staff under the present
law supervlses the following depart
ments as well Us all troops Of the line:
Adjutant general, inspector general,
Judge advocate, quartermaster gener-
al, medical corps, corps Of engineers,
ordnance department, signal corps.
With such heavy duties it is entirely
out OF the question for him to give to
the general staff the time and energies
which 1t rightfully may expect from
its chief.
Decides Conduct of War.
And in time of war what does the
general staff do then? The answer is
that it practically decides the conduct
Of the war. For Napoleon it was
possible to say II require obedience,
not advice!' and to win consistently by
carrying out that principle. Suppose
that Napoleon himself had his head
quarters today somewhere In France
The changes Of a hundred years
would make it entirely impossible for
him to sit silently upon his white horse
on some hilltop to watch the battle I'M
fold around and beneath him, solid d.
visions upon divisions going forward
in thick masses to carry out his plans.
His men would be drawn out in thin
lines over hundreds Of miles Of ground
and stationed in trenches so low as to
be invisible. The hilltop headquarters
he would have to abandon for some
central point far back of the line of
fire, where few hundred telephone
wires and daily report from the sec
tors In the form Of sketch maps would
be his only means Of seeing" the bat
tie. Would he still refuse advice?
The question is nice one; but, after
all, whether We can answer 1t or not
matters not at all, for q Napoleon &C.
ours only once in half dozen centu-
ries. If we are uncertain about wheth-
er he would need advice and guidance
today, no such doubt exists about the
best generals In the fighting armies Of
the present time.
While the names of certain COM
manders are the only names we know,
we civilians, all soldiers know that it
is not they who really make the great
decisions on which campaigns are de-
cided and nations rise and fall. The
central brain Of the military body
the general staff-could scarcely be