Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-09-09
WHAT THE NATIONS THANKS
TOITS FULL GENERAL MEAN
John J. Pershing Is Fortunate Beyond
Other Heroes" in That No Spurious
Glamour Attends His Reception

A NEW kind of war brought forth a new
kind of commander. John Joseph
Pershng, leader of the largest American
armed host ever assembled, returns with
a record of unclouded victory. Cheering
thousands acclaim him. Flags wave.
Guns boom. The homage of gratitude
which the nation pays to the marshaler
of its military might is profoundly sin
cere.
But to believe that this present drama
of "The Conquering Hero" resembles in
character those hitherto enacted in the
course of American history is to miss the
significance and spirit of the world con-
tict, to misunderstood the mission which
! General Pershng so magnifccntly full
| filled and to miscorCeve the nature and
traits of this valiant and efficient chief
| actor
| Individual instances of-rOmantic aC-
tions abounded in the universal struggle.
! But the war itself was not romantic. 1t
was soberingly practical, opprcssively
| statistical. 1t was the now fallen foe
which determined its unpoetic character.
| Administration of resources, co-ordina-
ton of victory units in the most substan-
| tial sense were the prime requisites of
| success. ParadOXiCal as it may appear,
| the very magnitude of the idealism which
inspired the soul Of the nation in the
| fray necessitated the translation of this
| sentiment into the most materialistic
| terms
America embarked upon the colossal
enterprise without illusions. Clearly
| cleanup job on the most monumental
scale had to be undertaken. To finish it.
as swiftly and as completely as possible
was the nations purpose. Personalities
played their part merely as cogs in the
great wheel. Limelight generals were at
a discount.
Anything so distrcssingly futile as
Shafter-Mles or a -Schley con-
troversy was wholly lacking in popular
appeal. That explains why the case of
Leonard Wood, despite that able officers
stout champions, played so small a part
in the situation. The public was in no
mood to tout favorites. What it impera-
lively demanded was celerity and mill
tary production.
| 1t cannot be said that the governments
! choice of General Pershng to lead its
troops evoked any peculiarly intimate
| thrills He had served with credit in the
Indian wars against Geronimo, at El
| Caney, in the Philippines and in the
! Mexican expedition of 1916, which he was
| not permitted to carry to a logical con-
| clusion. What most interested the peO-
pie was his reputation as hard worker
and a tireless organizer. He had their
| best wishes because they passionately de-
sired the end of foul carnage.
The legend makers, of reminiscent
leanings, bestirred themselves, but to
little purpose. One heard of 'Black
Jack" Pershing. Somehow it lacked the
authenticity of Little Mac, the peoples
pride" of "Stonewall" jackson, of "The
Rock Of Chickamauga."
1t was reported that standing by the
tomb of the Marquis de Lafayette the
| chief of the American eXpeditionary
| force cried out, Lafayette, we are here"
! Coldly scientific history in coldly scien-
tifc war repudiated the episode. Pub
| licly at least General Pershing has said
very little concerning it. His reputation
! has been based not on striking attitudes,
| but on striking Germans.
He did so as the center of vast or
ganization, contending against terrific
| and novel difficulties in warfare, against
huge transport embarrassments, against
complexities soluble by a keen admins
trative brain and by hard, consistent
! labor.
That General Pershing was the man
for the place is gloriously revealed by
the results. His conduct of the St.
Mhiel offensive was as decisive as the
| functoning of a time-clock. His direc-
| tion of the Argonne drive, prodigious
| factor in rendering the German cause
| hopeless, was equally clean cut and en-
! phatic. Europe realized the vigor of his
nature when, despite all pleas, ne re-
fused to be turned aside from his resolve
to form an all-American army acting as
a unit. Washington appreciated his au-
| thoritatiVe thinking when he repeatedly
told the War Department precisely what
he wanted and exactly what he didn't
want.
| Everybody knows that John J. Per-
shing is firm and that he is man of ac-
tion. And yet the nation does not really
know him. The shouts that greeted
| George Dewey on his return from Manila
bay are not at all to be compared with
those which the bronzed, erect full gen.
eral of the United States army heard in
New York yesterday.
General Pershing is fortunate. SO is
| the American nation. We seem to have
passed the hectic stage of San Juan Hill
hysteria. There is scant probability that
either the people or the man archaically
and loosely termed its "hero" will pre-
sent pitiable and foolish spectacles SINH
lar to those disclosed twenty one years
ago.
The Spanish War was an easy enter
prise. The deceptive aua of fighting
prevailed. Both Dewey and his fulsome
admirers came to grief because their
premises were false The heyting demand