The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-10-26

4
service at the front. But 1 also used
civilians. My chief preoccupation was to
obtain men with technical training, 1or
am not one of those who believe that
the majority of men are capable of hold
| ing any post.
For purely administrative posts ] was
compelled to take lnen without previous
experience. A resolute WILL general eX-
perience and sound common sense had
| to make up for what was lacking. For
agriculture, forestry, law, finance, &C.
clesiastical and educational affairs eX-
perts were absolutely necessary. The
| extraordinary demands on the man power
of the nation for military duties made it
at first difficult to obtain the necessary
men.
FEW NATIVES EMPLOYED
| Later on, when the administration OF
| the commander-in-chief in the east at
\ tanned a certain reputation, 1t was an
| easier matter. We used to make search
| ing inquiries about all candidates at the
employment bureaus at home. The sub
| ordinate posts were filled by the various
administrations and lines of communica-
ton inspectorates in the same way.
| Insisted upon having reliable men on this
foreign soil Natives were only employed
| in Courland and then sparingly.
| Everybody co-operated jealousy with
| me in this strenuous undertaking. we
| a y,
| lions of which were absolutely unknown
| to us. which had ben devastated by war.
and in which all political and economic
| bonds had been severed. we were
among foreign population, consisting
of many different rival races, popula-
| ton that did not speak our tongue ana
was secretly hostile. All of us were ami
mated by the spirit of faithful devotion
to duty, the heritage of many centuries
of Prussian discipline and tradition.
AS became better acquainted with the
| country, l realized that some meas
ures could not be carried through, but
would have to be modified. Here and
there, of course, things might have been
done better and more achieved. But
NV duty was to act promptly and de-
cisively in these unfamiliar conditions.
EXPLOIT, THEN CONSIDER
III particular, any omission IN matters
economical was more serious than mis-
| take which could be rectified later. Only
! after we had got to work on the problem
was / able to see my way clearly
| should have been more cautious mad
been dealing with a political problem,
| but l was not concerned with that yet.
| (He thus answers charges that his
brutal methods of exploiting and Ger
lmanizing the country turned the popula-
| tons against Germany and interfered
with the conciliatory methods of the
chancellor)
! The chief administrators of Courland
and Lithunia have attracted much pub
| lie attention.
Major Won Gosser governed Courland
| in an unobtrusive and impartial manner.
| He was a member of the Reichstag,
| land owner and an ex-landrat. Since 1903
the Bats had been very embittered
against the Let's. He understood not
| only how to make the former more con-
x,rsv. h.
| pathy of the latter and gain their active
cooperation. In Courland they still speak
with gratitude and appreciation of his
| Just and far-seeing administration.
ADMITS A PRINCE ERRED
| Lieutenant Colonel Prince Won Isen-
burg, in Lithania was more impulsive,
perhaps too much SO. He was an ener-
getic man, who managed his family es-
tates admirably. My attention was first
drawn to him in occupied Poland where
he had taken useful part in the admin
| istration. The lieutenant colonel later
| fell victim to politics.
! So long as / remained in Kovno poll
tics played no part in the administra-
! ton Prince Won Isenberg had full oppor-
tunity of interesting himself in the af-
| fairs of the other districts, and enlisting
the sympathies of the population and
clergy of the small district then under
| his control.
| 1 am sorry 1 cannot give the names
OF various other deserving administrators
| The personality of the lines of commun-
ication inspector, General Freiherr Won
! Seckendorfg, made itself felt, particu-
larly in the Bialystok district. He gave
his administration character of it's
own. Nowhere else did the lines of COM
| munication commandments and the heads
of districts work so well together and
with so little friction from the start.
! The administrative districts were di-
vided into circles, often as large as a
line of communication area in the west
The onus of the administrative work. as
regards its economic and agricultural
aspects lay On the president and the
! head of the circle. He had nothing to
do with the law, which had equal au-
thority with his own. The heads of the
circles ranked with town mayors of the
! larger towns.
MADE PEOPLE AID GERMANY
| Subordinated to the district command
ants were the mayors of the small towns
and the area presidents in the country,
and under the latter were the village
| presidents Attached to the district COM
mandants were specialist agricultural Of
| fcers. whose duty was to supervise cul-
tivation and estate management, and to
take steps for increasing production and
utilizing the harvest. Other officials as
sisted the commandments in producing all
kinds of raw material required for war
purposes.
These districts had body Of gem
darmerie for their police force In the
provinces they were formed into detacn-
| mepts, and in the district under the COM
mander-in-chief in the east they were
formed into corps. I deeply regretted
the lack of German police forces. Ger
many could not spare sufficient gen.
darmes. and I was therefore compelled to
commander older men from the front
They received special instructions to fit
them in some measure for their duties.
Unfortunately individual gendarmes
may have added to the discomfort which
showed itself later. How could they
be expected to give satisfaction anc
accomplish anything in strange land
and among a hostile population, and with
no. sufficient knowledge of the language?
This one question will illustrate the diff
ficulties which Germans in a foreign land
had to encounter. Dishonesty and profit
eering are absolutely inexcusable.
The loyalty of the gendarmes brought.
hem into conflict with the numerous
armed bands, and many of them lost
heir lives. This must never be forgot
en-.
How thoroughly the occupied lands
were exploited for the benefit of Ger
many, Ludendorff shows tomorrow. He
declares. however, that he did q work