Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1918-05-03
THE RECKONING

British and French officers in can.
tonments and officers training camps
as well as majority Of the American
officers, devote much time in their
lectures and conversations with the stu
dent soldiers to warnings against that
feeling Of over-confidence which too
many Americans mistake for loyalty
and patriotic zeal.
The stories which veterans of bloody
battles bring back across the seas are
stories Of German prowess and trick.
cry. Few Of these men tell of easy
victories they have won. They have
|1killed their man" time and again, to
be sure, but they wrested victory from
what might have been defeat ard
death for them had they underestimate
ed the strength and craftiness Of their
adversary. And the fact that they were
able to survive months of warfare.
to come through combats unwounded
or practically 30, Is the reason they
have been sent over here to instruct
the new American soldiers in the SER
ious business of fighting.
They do not tell their pupils to go
over the top with a smile. They tell
them to 60 over the top with blood
curdling yell, with fighting face, with
a determination to kill, as a means of
avoiding being killed. Some of these
instructors say. Go over the top with
murder in your heart Y you want to
come back"
It isn't a pretty thought, but there
is little OF esthetic beauty about any
thing that Is war. The big job before
the men who are fitting young Ameri-
cans for the task of stopping the Ger
man army is that Of making them UNI
derstand the seriousness of the under
taking on which they have embarked.
There has been enough and too muck
confidence on the side of the allies,
and the United States has been the
worst offender of all in this regard.
A few weeks ago, even as late as
the middle of March, observers and
experts" in Warrington were telling
interviewers of the great strength of
the allies defense line Of the western
front. They were certain, they declar.
ed, that no matter when nor how
strongly the Germans forced their
long-advertised and long &delayed Of.
fensive, the line Of Haig and Petain
adamant, unyielding. And now, since
March 81, the Germans have made
such gains that these optimistic fore
casts proclaim themselves the vapor-
ings OF minds which had not begun to
understand the seriousness Of the
struggle which they presumed to criti.
else from the pedestal of the expert %
In war, and particularly In such a
war as this, there are no experts. One
side, eventually, wins: the other side
loses. Until the decision comes, both
may claim their experts and their
authorities ON warfare" But events
leading to the decision must overturn
all the theories Of at least one side and
many Of the theories Of the other.
The Canadians, when they went into
the war with their famous first hun
dred thousand, lost many men though
over-confidence and a perverse unwil-
lingness to be bound by the restric-
tons and orders that came to them
from more experienced fighters. Even
the British. with their experience IN
wars which involved forces much
smaller than those engaged In this,
were compelled to learn from the
French and even from the Germans
the importance of communication be.
tween units-laisson, the French call
it-before they were able to fight eff
fectively. The French themselves had
a most severe lesson on this point in
the battle Of the Marne, and from
that day they began the development
Of a system Of intercommunication and
team work which has been brought to
q high stage of excellency.
The lesson the American soldiers
must learn is the lesson the American
people must learn. There must be less
OF over-confidence and correspondingly
more Of determination to win, regard
less Of the obstacles in the way.
On the men who are in the training
camps now and those who will follow
them intthe months to come, the world
must dApend 1Ds To 1asA q ~ d