The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-11-10


country's capacity for the fight. ii
front and also, according to the suprt
treason against the country.
without political guidance, and in
1atudated by agitators, section for the
German working class mas precipitated
their country, their fellows, and them
selves, into immeasurable misery; this
will always remain as a terrible indict-
ment against them.
The government should have made
especial endeavors to influence the
working class by full explanation of
the seriousness of our position, and
should also not have hesitated to use
force If the end could otherwise have
been achieved.
a The supreme army command knew
only too well that in questions of the
return of troops TO civil life there were
cases of favoritisr1 which of necessity
had the same embittering effects as
the Sinking at home Often and often
begged the ministry of war to put
stop to this.
DEFENDS CONSUMPTION OF
BELGIANS
1t was inevitable that, in our diff
cult position, we had recourse to the
occupied territories. The ministry of
war had already tackled this question,
aud the employment of Belgian work
men IN Germany had actually begun.
The supreme army command requested
the governor general to comply with
the wishes of the war ministry and of
of the industries generally, and did this
all the more earnestly because at that
time the government had not even met
the army's demands Cor additional man
power to the extent of passing the
auxiliary service law.
The CONSUMPTION of workmen for
Germany was in the interest of the
Belgians themselves, since unemploy
ment had reached high figure. This
CONSUMPTION, after discussion with the
officials in Berlin. was extended. With
these extended enlistments, which at
first were carried too far, there were
cases of hardship which it would have
been better to avoid
They were in the main brought about
by the Belgians themselves, who often
denounced their fellow countrymen. for
one reason or another as out of work,
when this was not the case. The gov
rnor-general put stop to these abuses
so soon as he discovered them. In the
course of time many Belgian workmen
removed to Germany without any fur
Their complaints being heard. :
We also conscripted Belgian work
men for work in the occupied regions.
In the Belgian refugee press and in the
entente propaganda, as was to be ex-
pected, there was mad outcry against
this procedure. The fact that similar
cries were raised in Germany merely
shows very childish judgment on the
war. The military authorities were
acting from patriotic duty, and not ar
bitrarily
NOT "HIGH HANDED" HE HOLDS
We also obtained man-power, al
though not as much one might have
hoped, from Poland and the other then
occupied territories, as we'll as from
those which we acquired later We
acted everywhere with the greatest con-
sideration, and avoided any appearance
of depressing foreign populations with
the air of a high handed conqueror;
we had too keen sense of what was
due from us, and such conduct not in
accordance with our views.
Prisoners of war were of the utmost
importance in all fields of war activity.
We could not have kept our economic
structure together without the aid of
the enormous numbers of Russians
taken in the east. Correspondingly of
course the prisoners taken from us in
volved. not merely a sensible loss of
strength to US, but also an increase in
the labor force available to the enemy.
Whenever we took prisoners, it had
to be decided whether they were to be
employed in the occupied districts or
to be sent on into Germany. In this
respect, too, the greatest consideration |
was shown to the authorities at home, |
even when the army was in the greatest |
need of men.
Side by side with the effort to obtain |
further man-power from the home |
country went the preparation OF the |
programme for munitions production, |
for the exception of which part of
the man-power in question was to |
serve. We needed above all more guns |
ammunition, and machine guns, and |
then larger supplies of many other
things.
HEAVY LOSSES IN ARTILLERY
The guns were needed, not only for |
new arming, but also for changes in
arming to replace older patterns by |
newer. and finally, too. to take the !
place of the many worn guns. In the !
battles of Verdun and the Somme we
suffered heavy losses in guns. not
merely through enemy Smelling. but
also by the heavy demands made on |
the material by the excessive firing.
Our heavy artillery was well sup
piled with high-angle guns but the
number of flat trajectory weapons was |
not so satisfactory, and we accelerated |
their production, as fire falling well |
into the back areas had been found very |
effective, rendering supply and relief
to the front lines more difficult and |
during actual operations hindering the !
distribution of orders and the employ
ment OF reserves.
The heaviest flat trajectory guns were |
also increased. His majesty exerted |
the navy should give up guns from
the vessels that were placed out of
commission.
1t was necessary to decide what num-
Der OF guns were to be produced month
ly, in order to cover all requirements.
This was a difficult matter In the
case of the heavy artillery we decided
correctly, but for the field artillery
we estimated too highly. So soon as
this was recognized. the demand was
reduced; but this of necessity caused a
little uncertainty. Factories cannot be
rearranged in a day, and each change
involves time. and dimution in pro-
duction.
1t was thus necessary to exercise the
greatest caution in deciding on any ,
new construction. This was the reason
why we were not so insistent on the ,
Introduction of special weapon for
the infantry as the events proved that
we might have been.
SATISFIED WITH TANK GUN
For defence against the tanks field |
gun 06. which penetrated the tanks,
was sufficient; the only thing necessary
was to turn it out in sufficient quanti-
ties Il
At this time the increased production
~ annrulnition depended IN fba cuas