The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1917-10-04

I preparedness tHf WY ht NtNt '"
work and reorganiKed and equipped
II was Ms remarkable and as brilliant
| an achievement ms any ~ hts most
brilllan, achievements In the ightlng
line In fact, II was only the prepare.
ton Of 1914 that makes victory pos.
1 sible In 1917.
He Is the only commander In the nj.
| 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 breakdown
either In the wholesale confidence that
his country, his king his army-and
the alles-hnve 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. ms the days go
and ms time tests Il. In the conscious.
ness that II is good.
His faith In God supports his faith
in victory. For he Is n deeply religious
man, his favorlte daughter by the
way, IL n nun, and while such feeling
means a good deal to human lives that
are intrusted TO him. II 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 wnntonly Is crime;
to use hundred thousand II neces-
sary Is duty" for the commander of
nation nj war III necessary" Is his
condition; and III necessary let il be
done" his slogan, Just ms the slogan
of the officers with heavy responsible
ties Is: "When in doubt 80 TO Gu
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 Is 'commcn
sense and remarkable clcarness in
seeing things as they are"-not as he
might like them to be or ms he might
object to their being.
He even has gone the length of writ
ing that 1.-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 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 directncss Of
thought the simplicity and directHcss
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 Zine" 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
communique had been intrusted to n
very brilliant italian journalistic Of
ficer, whose headline ran, "Gran Quar-
there Generate" (Chief Headquarters,
or something to that effect, with OBJ
viOus reference to the Germanic equiv
alenD. 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 Ga 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-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 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 respend-
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 materializing as 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 Is the spir-
itual fame Of victory. Never for one
instant has he doubted the ultimate
issue Of the war; never once doubted
his owp power to win, not on ac-
count Of personal conceit, but be-
cause he considers himself as an agent
Of necessity, an exponent of the inevi-
table march Of history.
His will Is inflexible, 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
IF the contention outweighed. After
hat his conclusions are drawn, and
that may follow finds him
His strength lies largely
n his absolute, naive unconsciOusness
- IA. ypiubt OF II that !