Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-11-14
BY GEN. ERICH Won LUpENpoRFF

] reduced and the vast majority of the
available men called up 1t was still
| necessary, however. not merely to
send into the army all the men then
available, but also to find some new
source of supply beyond these; in
| particular il was vital to reduce the
numbers of exemptions
Had To Build Defenses.
At the same time we had to find the
| labor needed for the work behind the
| lines, where the construction of posi-
tons was of simply incalculable i'm
portance, and to keep up the war in
dustries at home.
| Fit for garrison duty only" was
| always a thorn in my side. When
everything was at stake, why should
not the garrison duty man. who was
employed at the front. carry rifle
as much as the general service"
man? The men. however, looked on
their garrison duty classification as
sort of passport to safety. The SUI
preme army command never succeed
I'd in adjusting this conception to the
urgency of the army's needs or in
getting rid of the ill-effects of this
classification. An order of the min
lister of war, issued in the autumn of
1918, was too late to do any good.
In the meantime the standard of
fitness for general service had been
again revised, and below the class of
garrison duty in the field or at
home" there was created another,
labor duty"
The system of reorganization and
control generally at home seemed to
me to be defective.
Complaints of the most incredible
| Sinking We're always being made.
urged the war ministry to act ener-
| getcally, which was only bare JUS
tice. l never. however, was able to
| feel that in this respect things were
| as they should be for the sake of
morale in the field and at home.
| Demands All Shall Serve.
| The (auxilary service) law left I'M
touched labor that should have been
| devoted to the state. The duty of
service was only laid on men between
! II and As. | regarded this limitation
as quite inappropriate in view of the
| iron necessities of the war.
| AS early as September, 1916, the
chancellor received the first demands
of the supreme army command for
the unsparing application of all forces,
We insisted emphatically on the point
of view that in war the strength of
every citizen belongs to the state, and
that accordingly every German from
lis to so should be under an obliga-
ton to serve, an obligation which,
with certain limitations. lay on wo-
men too.
The duty could be fulfilled by serv-
| ice at the front or by work. in the
widest sense, at home, and was in no
sense limited to workmen in the or
binary meaning of the word, although
it. OF course fell mainly on them
The introduction of compulsion for
war services was of the greatest
! moral importance. placing as it did
every German at the service of the
state in these anxious times, in ac-
cordance with the Oldest principles of
German law. 1t should also have had
| the great practical advantage Of CIV
ing the government the control over
| rates of wages.
Points Out "Crying Iniusticcs"
1t was one of the most crying in
| justices of the war-and must have
| been so felt by the troops-that they
| who were risking their lives daily
were much worse off than any of the
workmen who lived in safety, While
| the soldier was fighting for himself,
his wife and children. he could only
think with anxiety of his future and
the maintenance of his family. The
separation allowances We're in no way
sufficient
The longing to get back home,
which could be sufficiently explained
by the desire for personal safety. had
aisos q high motive In family affec-
- .