Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-11-29

relating to peace questions was con
Quoted by the political department.
His Dictator Of the Press.
| The third was Lieutenant Colone
| Nicolai. a man of unfailing industry
| and devotion to duty, and gifted with
organizing talent His duties were
multtfarious, perhaps too much So He
was responsible for the military di
rection of the press, and the cugnate
duty of watching and fostering tht
moral of the army and the people a.
home, so far as this could be done by
military authority.
In both these functions collabora.
ton with the government authorities
was essential. We were unsuccessful
And So as we knew only too well, the
direction of the press and the enlight.
eminent of the public remained mere
patchwork. The military censorship
of the press was another of the func-
tons of Colonel Nicolai and his sub
ordinates. This Is one Of the neces-
sary evils of war. and from its very
nature satisfies nobody.
was very sorry that general head
quarters had to undertake this duty,
but all other authorities refused to
have anything to do with it.
The other great branch of Lieuten-
ant-Colonel Nicolai's work consisted
of the secret intelligence service, pre-
ventfon of spying, supervision of post,
telegraph and telephone services and
the adoption of measures against In
dustrial spying and sabotage. Lieu
tenant Colonel Nicolais intelligence
service was of the greatest value to
the supreme command.
Uncertainty is of the very nature of
war. Even the enemy, in spite of his
far more extensive agencies, never
knew our intentions. We always sur
prised him, except on July is. 1915
an occasion when we made things too
easy for him. (This was the attack
around Rheims when the French,
knowing the plans, let the Germans
advance and then slaughtered them. J
Hindcnburg Liked Stories.
We all met together for meals,
which were marked by peculiarly inti-
mate and pleasant intercourse. The
field-marshal was fond of amusing
stories and lively conversation. | used
to join in. but liked to discuss service
matters also. OF course, we took the
greatest care not to mention anything
connected with operations.
We often had visitors. either at
meals or only in the office. Some
times guests appeared during very
critical times. ] remember IN Octo-
Der, 1914. some gentlemen arrived at
Radon with trainload of gifts for
the troops, and talked about the pros
pective capture of Warsaw, while at
that very moment I was already con-
templating retreat. On such occasions
guests rather got on our Nerves, but
Generally speaking they cheered
us up. .
F From officers of all arms and be-
longing to all the divisions ON the
front we heard how things were going
in the army, sometimes better than
from long official reports. / attached
the greatest Importance to our keep
ing in close touch with the front. and
received many hints which always
followed up. l was particularly fond
of these military visits and greatly
valued them.
Often we had members of the gov
eminent from Berlin and the states
of the empire. The imperial chan
cellor, Won Bethmann9Hollweg, paid
us visit at Posen in the autumn of
1914, and again in February, 1918. at
Lotzen, The other chancellors also
came to see us often.
Reichstag Got No Secrets.
Sometimes we had visits from mem
bers of the reichstag. always had
the impression that these gentlemen
enjoyed being with us, whatever party
they belonged to. Towards them and
other private individuals I naturally