The Washington times., 1917-04-24

have had conseription very early in
the war.
1T was the great blunders o. this
volunteer recruiting that we had TO
go back and correct at a great cost
General Bridges said the object OF
the missions visit to Washington
was threefold.
First, we came to greet this great
republic whose soldiers. we hope, VIII
stand side by side with the French,
with whom England has formed
lasting friendship" he said.
Always Liked French.
I'VE BritIshers haven't always lik-
ed the French but we have learned
so much from them and have come
TO admire them SO immensely that
practically nothing could sever our
friendship friendship born OF com
mon disasters and pursuit OF COM
mon object, the winning OF the war.
ave have learned a great oesl
from the French by fighting beside
them I NAV say that before we
knew little or rothing OF MODERN
warfare.
.sThe French are like women in
their enthusiasms and their tendency
of purpose. They never let go tliI IL
thunders. They have got II IN tneir
blood to stick to their purpose me
French can take their bourgolse from
offices and marts and send them out
and they make most excellent tlght'
ers.
..The Britishers, however, while
they are nice, clean, good looking iet
lows are not soldiers.They have 10
be trained to fight.
aThe second object of our mission
IS to connect some means oy "niIn
the enormous potential forces OF TINS
great American nation may be EN-
ployed in speeding up the object 10
be attained-the ending of the war
Can End Only In ne Way.
GAs m how It will end it can end
in only one way; and IL everybody
back is put to the Job, we can emo u
quickly. Conscription will insure
that this is done. Men, women eno
children must all fight at home ana
at the front
s'The' third object, is to tell the
American people of the blunders we
made. the useless, needless sacrhlces
we made because we did not Know
We had no means OF knowing because
we had a volunteer system.
1--WE hope to be Of service 10
America. as France has been to US
We hope to save America Sne oiIlei
heartaches, the sorrows ana olsap
pointments that were ours during tne
early stages of the war. MOST OF our
sorrows were attrioutaple VII -
the volunteer system
"The American people, with their
great freedom and lack OF military
knowledge, have much to learn It Is
our earnest hope that we snail ne
able to point out the large pitfans
of war into which we plunged head
long and unknowing.
No Intention to Interfere.
There is no intention on our part
TO interfere with your show but we
do feel It q privilege and a duty to
place our tragic experiences at the
disposal Of the American people. We
sent a great many men who would
have made COED officers into the
trenches with guns on their shoul-
ders. They were lost. This was
big. tragic blunder. We sent thou
sands of men to the front to fight
when they could have performed in
fnitely more valuable service in the
munitions plants and elsewhere at
home"
General Bridges said Great Britain
approved both universal military
training and universal military serV-
ice, there being but one step from
the one to the other" dIe said he re-
garded II as not only a privilege but
a duty for each man to bear arms in
defense OF his country.
"I rather regard It as one OF the
privileges OF citizenship" said the
soldier.
Asked II II were advisable TO keep
a nations commerce and internal
manufactures as nearly normal as
possible in war. General Bridges re-
piled:
by all means; keep every phase Of
commerce and industry that is impor-
tant to the business life of the ma
tion. However. there are some things
more important than others and some
things have to give way to others.
For instance, we are not now making
pins for Chinese, but devoting our
time and machinery to manufactur-
ing munitions"
Best Rose From Ranks.
General Bridges said the best officers
NOTED from the ranks. privates and
noncommissioned officers OF earlier
days He said he recognized many Of
the officers in his division as privates
and subordinates who served with his
regiment early in the war. y
Commenting on the present sitnation
in the western theater of war. General
Bridges said the allies success was due
10 a preponderance of artillery.
The British ertiIlery now outnum-
bers the Germany by about three or
four to one," he said. This is very
satisfactory to US for we had It the
other way around for quite a bit
But artillery does not turn people
out Of their positions. It's the bayonet
Bayonets win battles"