The Washington herald., 1919-07-20

Of which centsred In troublous MO
rocco. His work there attracted the
attention Of Gen. Lyautey, the resi-
dent general whom the French regard
as their greatest colonial administra-
tor.
Gen. Lyauty made him Dirsctor OF
Public Works, and when Gen. Lyautey
was recalled to France to serve In the
Ministry Of War M de Billy was
made Deputy General In Morocco.
where he carried on successfully the
dimcult and delicate task Of control
ling the half, savage tribesmen which
Gen. Lyautey had successfully In
augurated.
With the outbreak Of the war n. de
Billy was commissioned q lieutenant
colonel Of artillery and was sent a. q
liaison oficer to the British army. He
later went to London on q mission for
the French government and came to
the United States as Deputy High
Commissioner In May. 1917. with the
oficers and experts who followed the
Joffre- -Viviani Embassy after the
American declaration Of war.
DE BILLY AIDED
ORGANIZATIONS. -
iiio tdicHt as all ChSihCCt anu oech-
ness executive made, him invaluable
in the task of co-ordinating French
and American war purchases in the
hectic markets of those days. and
1t was largely through him that the
artillery program whereby the Amer
lean army was equipped with the hne
French "75" and '155" was put
through. He supervised the purchase
and assignment Of much OF the raw
material in this country out OF which
these guns and the Chaucat machine
gun were made.
NJ. de Billy became much interested
also in the work of American relief
organizations. Through his effort du-
plication among the various American
societies was eliminated and each was
assigned its task. 1t was also through
him that such societies as the Red
Cross. Fatherless Children OF France.
American Fund for French Wounded
and other organizations were enabled
to make their work effective In
France He arranged for ther work
ers and their supplies and supervised
their relationships with the French
government
Perhaps the most important Of M.
de Billy's tasks was the manner in
which he kept the American public
informed OF the situation in his own
country. He returned to Washington
after a visit to France in the early
summer of 1918. Just before his ar
rival some officers of the American
General Staff had returned from an
inspection of the Western front and
had been quoted In Washington dis
patches as believing that the task OF
hreakinp that front was iupossible.
This report was ofiicially denied. but
it persisted in the minds Of many
persons and many oficials in WASH
ington.
NJ. de Billy assembled the wash
ington correspondents and surround
ed by a group of French ofhcers
told of the real situation at the
front. He declared that the morale
of the French army had never been
higher and described the enthusiasm
with which the first contacts of the
American divisions with the enemy
had been observed. He secuted the
idea of the German west front be-
ing impregnable and cited figures
and conditions to prove his conten-
tion.
1t was just at the time that Field
Marshal Haig had issued his famous
Backs to the Wall" order of the
day and at the time when in re-
sponse to the call OF Lloyd George
American soldiers were being poured
overseas in every kind Of craft that
would hold them. NJ. de Billy showed
to the correspondents how this
would eventually turn the tide In
CONTINUED ON PAGE SIX.