The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-05-12
ABD|CAT|ON OF
CONTINUED from Page One,
kaiser's betrayal. was brought about.

kaiser's betrayal. was brought about
In the antercom I met General Won
Plesson and General Marschall no told
me that Htndenhurw and Grosaer had
left TO see the kaiser and ask him 10
ahd'cate at ance Ny answer was You
all seem to be stark mad around here.
The army is loyal 10 the kaiser The
two Of them took me along to see the
kaiser
At the conference with the kaiser
there were present Field Marshal Won
Hndenhurg, Generals Won piesson. Mar
shall and Greene FxceiIency Won
Hirt2e Chen minister for foreign af-
f@trsl. Herr Won Gruenau. az the foreign
Office, Major Nieman. Of the supreme
army command. and myself The field
marshal told The kaiser he had 70 ask
for hrs discharge from the service as
f. German army Officer addressing his
emperor. tn" kaiser replied; First
let us see what Il is
Then General Grener began a long
talk He said the army was in q des-
pera'e situation Germany was in the
hands 0f revolution, serves instead Of
h(Ane the cSns tr the army we're Join
ing the rebels, he continued Revoiu-
tton3Sts were in possession OF the rail-
roads, the supply depots, the telegraph
lines and the bridges across the
Rhine The rcvolutiouists had ocru-
Pied Aachen tAtx Ia Chappelle1. Yer
Nier7 and other places right back Of
the arn1y's line.
IN Berlin civil var was liable 10
break out tany minute The army
n the fold had rattons only for a few
days and II the army was to feel the
pinch IF hunger 4 catastrophe would
be tic result The army, he claimed
was not to he relied on any longer II
would b" absolutely impossible 10 com
the enemy's armies at IT'S back and
march three weeks hack into the heart
of Germany for the purpose Of waefnr
ciVu war. According To his own and
inc held marshalrs opinion, which was
supported by all the chiefs Of the de
parfments, az well rs by the quarter
master-gNneral Uudendorfo the gen
erai IN charge Of tho comuissarv and
The general IN charge Of the railroads
the German fafherland's only Salvation
would he the Immediate ah1ication NJ
the emperor
Thereupon tho kaiser asked me 10
EXPRESS my opinion What said Is
about as follows.
Wanted Rest.
me army group commanded hv
t4~ -rToTH TTrTCe behaved oxCcIlentiv
curing these many weeks Of lighting
IN the fall and always offered the
thoughesf kind of resistance. in spite
OF the almost superhutnan demands
made upon their STAYING power and
nerves Now their lines are thinned
out, and the men, while stil1 in the
hanas OF their leaders. have only one
desire, armiStice and rest After an
arfnistice Is signed 1t Will be DIM
cult to lead the army against the
enemy.
But after the nnen will have few
aaysS OF rest. after they have had time
TO delouse themselves. after thew have
sept decent nights sleep. when they
can be housed in decent quarters
where they have n chance Of cleaning
up and reenperating. their leaders Will
again be able to control them and
their nghfing spirit will return OF
course you cannot make the whole
army In the West turn about face at a
moments command for the purpose
or hghung civil war In the interior
OF Germany. The army would not
stand for that. but that is not at all
necessary.
Why do we not engage the revolu-
tfonists in spotso WHY do we hoist
the white flag right at the beginning
without offering the least resistance
We should send picked troops com
manded by picked officers, and sup
pied with the most modern Of weap-
ons, such as fog. gas, bombing SQUAD =
rons, fame throwers etc. to Aachen.
Verviers and Cologne to begin with
and let us restore order In these
places by the force OF arms OF
course, prerequisite, absolutely for
waging such campaign is the RICH,
| Kind Of a slogan ! am sure our men
Will fall for this slogan II we tell
them that the navy In conjunction
with Jewish war profiteers and stay
at-homers is stabbing them in the
back and is depriving the field army
OF its food supplies. This slogan will
take. ] am sure. IT will arouse the
men IT is bound to have a salutary
effect In the whole country when me
people SEQ order restored by the force
OF arms in certain places when they
see re are determined to follow this
/ up with similar action in other
| places Determination is everything
1t Is true. the army's food sup
plies are short But we have enough
! 10 live on for some days Besides ths
! bulk OF our armw is in Belgium. q
! rich country which can feed our mer
! for some eight days or more should
! Il come to the worst
" SO far the supply trains carrvine
| the food to the army have not beer
| stopped by the Bolshevists Let us
take chance and wait to see
| whether they dare TO stop the trains
/ ! am convinced the German people
will rise as one man MY advice is
| No surrender. no abdication, no civil
war but restoration OF order by force
| of arms Il spots. In this task the
army will Loyalty support the kaiser
His ma iesty said he agreed with
me and declared he would not abai.
cate. He said he did not care to have
civil war but Acheu and ycrvfers