Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1917-11-08


ton. we might say, kept steadily his
Job, throughout the war, without ever
as much ns hint of a breakdown
either In the wholesale confidence that
his country. his king, his army-and
the allles-have placed In him, or In
the lively. energetic. all-around quality
Of his action and command. In fact,
he seems to thrive on his work, and to
gather new strength, as the days 90
and as time tests II, In the conscious
ness that II is good.
His faith in God supports his faith
in victory. For he is deeply religious
man, his favOrlte daughter, by the
way. is a nun. and while such feeling
means a good deal to human lives that
are intrusted to him, It helps him to
request Of them all the sacrifice that
the higher ideals may require.
II is his firm conviction that ITO
sacrifice one life wantonly is a crime;
to use q hundred thousand II neces-
sary is q duty" for the commander OF
nation at war. "If necessary" is his
condition; and III necessary, let 1t be
DONE" his slogan. just as the slogan
Of the officers with heavy responsible
ties is: "When In doubt, 60 to Ca
dOrna."
The particular characteristic Of his
mind Is breadth Of vision and the
sweeping aside Of all minor issues, not
to speak Of petty details. he Is, above
all, practical and simple. The funda-
mental law Of his thought IL common
sense and q remarkable clearness In
seeing things as they are"-nOt as he
might like them to be or as he might
object to their being.
He even has gone the length Of writ
ing that "The art Of war must be gov
erned chiefly by common sense pure
and simple" And by the study Of war
on this basis he has reached q deep
knowledge Of the world, on the princl-
pie that ''there is everything in war.
from geology to the human heart"
Given his simplicity and dlrectness OF
thought, the simplicity and directness
Of his written words are consequential,
and II may fairly be said that since
the commentaries Of Julius Caesar"
Italy had heard nothing to compare
with the splendid simplicity and the
Latin 'line" of his war bulletins.
1t Is whispered among those who
know that, In the early days Of the
war, the task of drafting the daily
communlque had been intrusted to a
very brilliant Italian journalistic Of
fcer, whose headline ran, "Gran Quar-
there Generate" (Chlef Headquarters,
or something to that effect, with OBJ
vious reference to the Germanic equiv
alent). General CadOrna, after hav-
ing firmly established his men on
the outer side Of the Italian border
line and carried the war into the land
Of the enemy "a privilege which the
Italian army alone Of the belligerents
has enjoyed since the beginning Of the
war), turned back and saw that the
reports were not half so good as the
work-llterary, but not raZ0r-keen.
And this journalist was thanked
(which, by the way, In the italian war
zone slang, is expressed by silurate
(torpedoed), and this characterlstical-
" Latin headline was adopted: Com
ando Supreme (Supreme COmmand).
From that day on, the communicate
Cadorno has brought to the expectant
Italy the daily word Of her great gen.
eral and the unspoken assurance OF
his faith in ultimate victory, every
day made nearer and more resplend-
ent, for the general believes In what
might be called the contagiOusness OF
faith, and the Identification Of the ideal
with the reality In ultimate achieve
ment. He believes that victory, be-
fore Undertaking. as q fact, must be
potentially blazing as an absolute GER
talnty In the hearts Of the soldiers
and their leaders-in fact, must de-
scend from the leaders to the masses
as an irresistible, joyous flow Of truth
He believes that discipline Is the spir-
itual fame Of victory. Never for one
instant has he doubted the ultimate
issue Of the war; never once doubted
his own power to win, not on ac-
count Of personal cOncelt but be-
cause he considers himself as an agent
of necessity, an exponent Of the inevi-
table march Of history.
BIS win Is infexible, because ne
never seeks strength in the opinion OF
others. On the other hand, he never
makes up his mind until every SIDE
has been considered and every Item
of the contention outwelghed. AFTER
that his conclusions are drawn, ana
anything that may follow hnds him
answering. His strength Hes largely
In his absolute. naive Inconsistencies
Of anything that might disturb It; that'
IN fact, would disturb another man.
No useless anxiety In him; no nerve
racing innpatf1nce.
Once, away hack In 1915. q mayor