Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-09-14

palm of peace is no defense against
the sword AS long as human beings
and above all our enemies. remained
the same as mankind has ever been,
| Germany, and in any event, the field
marshal and I, as the responsible mill
itary commanders, must retain our
hold of the sword and keep it sharp.
1t was, therefore, our serious duty,
in dealing with the government, to
| insist on the necessary war measures
! being carried out, and to try and in
fuse into them that degree of deter
mination which we thought was re-
CURED.
Used Sharp Words to Berlin.
! In all questions general headquar,
! ters addressed themselves to the con-
I stitutional authorities The war re-
CURED rapid and far-reaching deci-
sions at any moment. and thus stimu-
| lated that quality of resolution on
| which it was always making demands
In Berlin the old peace routine held
sway. Replies, even to the most i'm
portant questions, often did not arrive
| for weeks
! In consequence of this extraordinary
dilatoriness on the part of the Berlin
authorities, and of their failure to
grasp the necessities of the war. the
tone of our correspondence at times
became somewhat acrimonious. This
we regretted, but We were consumed
with justifiable impotence. Immedi-
ate action was called for for It was
often a question of averting some ir-
reparable disaster.
In peace time the imperial govern
ment was supreme. The foreign Of
| flee considered itself above all criti-
cism. The government departments
only gradually accustomed themselves
to the idea that on the outbreak of
war a new authority. general head
quarters, had come into being, which
NOT only shared the responsibility with
the imperial chancellor, but bore such
an enormous proportion of II that it
had necessarily to try and make good
their inertia by displaying greater en-
ergy on its own part.
could have wished that the gov
eminent had recognized this simple
situation as clearly. The position Of
General Won Moltke and General Won
Falkenhayn in relation to the govern
ment was essentially the same as-that
of the field marshal and myself.
The government went their own
way, anu. as IHSdTuS the WISHES Oh
general headquarters, neglected moth
ing which they considered essential.
But much was left undone that had
been insisted on as urgently neces-
.sary for the prosecution of the war.
\ Friction Over Army's Power.
Directly after the war broke out,
general headquarters was obliged to
take action in connection with several
matters which were really the sphere
of other authorities. The press, the
censorship, precautions against spies
and sabotage at home, dealing with
revolutionaries, all these wide fields
were left to the unaided efforts of the
military authorities. to the detriment
of the conduct of the war.
Uncertainty as to their powers and
lack of personnel checked the initia-
tive Of the authorities concerned.
Their strong sense of responsibility
urged the general staff to creative
work. 1t was better able to meet the
requirements in personnel than other
departments. particularly from among
officers of the reserve on leave with
previous training, And so the direc-
ton of this work fell into the hands
of the general staff. The execution
often remained in those Of the home
authorities.
| The line of demarcation, within
which these authorities considered