El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-05-11

, him who can last the final Is min
utes." Lloyd George, Ludendorff,
Sonnine, CZernin. even president VIII
son himself. have all said that the
decisive battles must come this year.
Baker Made to See
On March q the great hammer
I blow Of Ludendorff fell in the west
I By the grace Of God. secretary Baker
was in France. From a visit 10 the
! Belgian front, he hurried TO London
| on the second day Of the attack. On
that black Sunday, March "A, he saw
] Lloyd George and the war chiefs OF
/ Britain, and they told him the truth
about the situation.
He came TO France. and saw Glenn
/ enceau, who had been working day
/ and night for four days already try
/ ing TO realize unity Of command on
{ the front. Neither French nor BRIT
] ish expected that America at least
/ at once would agree to the amalga-
] nation of our troops with theirs, but
! what mattered at the moment was a
/ supreme command over the French
and British armies while Ludendorff
/ was striving to break open the link
Z that bound them
L. $. Forces save Day.
] Secretary Baker was in Paris on
! Monday, March %. For the few in
/ the capital who knew the facts, this
D was LELA4G|Ia the oar hEoE A4I u AAAE
I war. At the moment the break be-
I tween the British fifth army and the
] French on the Disc had been repaired
/ by Fayelle, but the Germans were
/ rushing westwnrds towards Mont
didier and Amiens 40 miles more to
/ the sea-and the imagination refused
/ to grasp. refused 10 consider, what
] that 80 miles would mean to civil-
! Zation- How many troops could
America throw in? wish / dared
| say Not that there is in the figure
] anything to be ashamed OF, but IN
| this supreme crisis il must have
made general Pershing and secretary
] Baker resolve that II this storm
/ should be weathered, If the ship sur
{ vived this time, We must be ready TO
take our watch on deck during the
Hurry Is Necessary.
Baker and Pershing did not take
I long 70 reach an agreement The sec
rotary told the general what the Brit
/ ISL premier and the French premier
! had told him about the political fac
tors that must end the war before
I staff could be completed: in other
I words. before the American army, as
] planned up to that Monday afternoon,
could strike decisively.
] General Pershing has yet 10 earn
! the right to be called Q great gen
! eral, but he proved himself q great
/ man. that afternoon. He agreed to
| place the American forces unre-
! servedly under the command Of Foch-
I believe he also agreed. at the same
, time, that American troops hereafter
! arriving in Europe should pass into
/ the French and British armies and
! form part Of French and British
! units, until such time as they could
! join fully formed American units
/ ready TO receive them. At any rate,
: the latter mnuFEfnm within few DAVIS
Z was reported from Washington
Steady Flow VIII Tell.
That is the important thing; not
/ the engagement this spring under the
/ French high command OF the few d.
/ visions we have ready now, but the
! steady flow Of our unframed young
/ men into the training camps in Eng
l land and France.
| Both the French and British armies
are under strength Their units in
many cases have had TO be dissolved.
/ the survivors put into other bat
I talions themselves pitifuly depleted.
/ Now there is the wastage OF this
great battle 10 make up. It cannot
/ be done, excepting with American
/ soldiers Britain may raise the limit
from Al TO 50, but men over 40. as
/ the French have proved. cannot stand
I the rigOrs OF the battlefield.
MEANWHILE, IN FRANCE AND
! ENGLAND ARE TRAINING CAMPS,
. UNI AAALEDa " TN ~ LEN I'M IN
STRUCTORS, READY TO PASS THE
AMERICAN RECRUITS INTO AC-
TION. UNDER EXPERIENCED Of
FICERS AND STAFFSs IN FOUR
MONTHS. Let America supply the
men; the gaps in the allied armies
will be made good, units tried and
welded in four years Of war VIII nos
dwindle to disappearance, the allied
I forces can carry on and perhaps in
flict decisive defeats on the enemy
next spring
Would Waste Strength.
II. under our army system as or
/ ganized in Washington. those Ameri-
can youths were instead, trained in
! America under raw officers, then sent
l to France TO be gradually nodded into
shape by an inexperienced high COM
mand. THEIR STRENGTH WOULD
I BE WASTED THIS YEAR, AND
NEXT YEAR 1T WOULD, IN THE
Z MAIN. MAKE ITSELF FELT AS A
/ DEFENSIVE AND NOT As AN Of
I FENSTVE FORCE.
There viii be the trouble over the
use OF Americans in foreign units.
l The rigid caste distinction between
will be resented; the British author
] tiles viii make allowance. will try
I to help smooth things over. and we
must do the same, for can a differ
ent point OF view about social mat
[ ter be allowed to influence the
! chances Of victory or defeat in this
I year2 And. with the French, the Ian
guage difference is often productive
/ OF misunderstanding. Stil more Sc
rious questions will arise; all opera
lions in war are not successful; sto-