Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-11-07

American eIpeditiondrp forces orerscds H H,g
privdtes arc published because theu dppedr 20
be Interesting. Publication OF mis ortimfie
CulleD's statements,
That the average American private
returning from overseas. has hatred
Of the army and dislike of officers as
class is fact that is beginning to
grip the public mind Charges OF AR
rogance. brutality, pettiness and lncom-
petence are heard on all sides. aud pco-
pic are beginning to wonder how much
fire is beneath all the smoke.
We are apt to think this state of
mind is peculiar to an army alone,
hut the truth is it is common to all the
armies of Europe. Any one who fire.
Quented tho cafes of Paris in the winter
and fall of 1917 knows this to be true of
the British and Canadian armies. and
all those who came in intimate contact
with the French soldiers. either at the
front or rear. knows that 1t was true
OF them. Conversations with German
prisoners and demobiliaed German SOL
diers in the occupied area show that
friction and distrust between officers
and men did much to hasten the col
lapse of the German forces. Evidently
some general cause was at work to
bring the rank in disrepute with the
file
One does not have to look far to
find causes. The officers were a privi-
legged class. All the cream found its
way into their coffee. Theirs were the
best 'billets. They were not restricted
ms the mon were. They were free from
srduous fatigue. On the march they
Travelled lighter. and. with the excep-
t1on of tho lesser infantry officers. they
we're generally mounted. They formed
a closed caste from which the private
was excluded by rigid social barriers.
In brief. they did not share in any full
degree the suffering and hardship of the
general cause. Added to this. tley 70 :
ceived the greater honor
The Men Were Sickcned
Men wearicd Of such II situation
They sickened of following men who
urged them to greater and greater Of =
forts and at the same time used their
position TO obtain greater comfort and
for their personal advancement. They
grew to distrust men who did not share
with them both the suffering and the
horror. They began to form the con
viction that they were the tools of poli
tics and caste This feeling grew more
rapidly in the American army because
the sitGation was totally new to tn,
average American citizen. To him tbt
officer was simply another citizen tenn
porarily in authority and the existenc,
of hidebound caste which claimed tn,
"a
from him by impossible social barriers
was revelation.
There were many officers TO whom
this condition of affairs was as repuC
nant as it was to the enlisted men an(
IT is IN behalf of this large group o.
fine. gentlemen that an examination OF
the basis of the hostile feeling on th
part of the returning file is an obliea
tion on the part of any fair minded
citizen.
In going into the matter shall con
fine myself. as nearly as possible. {,
what ] have seen myself. leaving hear
say to one side. To begin with, W.
must distinguish between circumstance
(war on foreign soil the system 9TH,
spirit of military regulationsl and tn,
officer as an individual.
Rigid Discipline Demanded
War on foreign soil demanded rigi,
discipline, especially as our troops wer
raw and in contact with the laxer lif
of an unfamiliar civilization. But thi
brought about comparison with tn
discipline of other armies and the re
suit was irritation.
We were the only soldiers (outsid
of the zone of the armes). whose pri
vate habits were supervised. In ever,
cafe were posters telling what we coul
drink what we could not drink AM
when we could drink it. The rub cam
when the French soldier at the sam
table ordered cognac while we had t
i be content with sour wine.
All this was the outcome Of circum
stance and national attitude, but it pre-
disposed the soldier to resentment Thi
resentment was naturally transferre,
from the circumstances to the officer
who enforced the regulation This cam
about all the more quickly because tn
officers were able to satisfy themselve
in these matters and the privates wer
not.
There were other dissatisfactions tina
grew out of the circumstances of war
War is no child's play and thoroug