The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1917-09-21

brilliant achievements In the ngntln8
line; In fact, II was only the prepare
hon of 1914 that makes victory pos
sible In 1917.
He Is the only commander In the al
lied world that has retained his posi-
ton, we might say, kept steadily his
Job, throughout the war, without ever
as much as "a hint of a breakdown
either In the wholesale confidence hat
his country. his king, his army-and
the allies-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 go
and as time tests II, In the conscious
ness that 1t Is good
His faith In God supports his faith
In victory. For he Is a deeply religious
man, his favorite daughter, by the
way, is "A nun. and while such feeling
means a good deal to human lives that
are intrusted TO him, 1t helps him to
request Of them all the sacrifice that
the higher ideals may require.
IT Is his firm conviction that "to
sacrifice one life wantonly Is n crime;
to use a hundred thousand II neces-
sary Is a duty" for the commander OF
q nation at war. "If necessary" is his
condition and "if necessary. let II be
DONE" his slogan, just as the slogan
of the officers with heavy responsible
ties is: "When In doubt. 90 to Ca
dorna."
The particular characteristic Of his
mind In breadth OF vision and the
sweeping aside of all minor issues. not
to speak of petty details. He Ia, above
all. practical and simple. The funda-
mental law OF his thought Is common
sense and a 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 rome the length of writ
Ing that The art of var must be gov
erned chiefly by common sense pure
and simple" And by the study of war
on this basis he has reached a deep
knowledge of the world. on the princi-
pie that ''there il everything In war,
from geology to the human heart"
Given his simplicity and directness OF
thought. the simplicity and dlrectness
of his written words are consequential.
and IL may fairly be said that since
the Commentaries of julius Caesar"
Italy had heard nothing to compare
with the splendid simplicity and the
Latin Zine" OF his war bulletins.
IL Is whispered among those who
know that, in the early days OF the
war. the task OF drafting. the daily
communique had been intrusted to a
very brilliant Italian journalistic Of
fcer, whose headline ran "Gran Quar-
there Generate" (Chief Headquarters.
or something TO that effect, with OBJ
vious reference to the Germanic equiv
alent). General Cadorna. after hav-
the outer side Of the Italian border
line and carried the war into the land
Of the enemy Ga privilege which the
Italian army alone OF the belligerents
has enjoyed since the beginning of the
warD, turned back and saw that the
reports were not half so good as the
work-literary, but not razor-keen.
And this Journalist was thanked
(which. by the way. In the Italian war
zone slang. is expressed by silurate
(~torpedoed), and this characteristical-
ly Latin headline vas 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 con~tagiousness OF
faith, and the Identification of the ideal
with the reality I'm ultimate achieve
ment. He believes that victory. be-
fore Undertaking. as a fact, must be
potentially blazing as an absolute GER
tainty 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 IL the spir-
itual flame of victory. Never for one
instant has he doubted the ultimate
issue Of the war; never onc doubted
his own power TO win, not on ac-
count Of personal c~onceit, but be
cause ne considers himself as an agent
Of necessity. an exponent of the inevi-
table march Of history.
His will is ~infiexible, because he
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 outweighed. After
that his conclusions are drawn, and
anything that may follow finds him
answering. His strength lies largely
In his absolute. naive Inconsistencies
Of anything that might disturb II that,
In fact, would disturb another man.
No useless anxiety In him; no nerve
racking Impotence.
Once. away back In 1915. a mayor
of an Italian city sent word that his
constituents had an Italian flag ready
g.. rnulu Clorna Afcvrtoca1 thu