The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-10-10

~csodtnANtan countries
u In his answer 20 our second note.
Wilson gave Us nothing; he did not
even tell us whether the entente
took its stand on the Ia points. He
demanded. however. the suspension
OF the submarine war campaign.
stigmatlxed our conduct OF the war
In the West as n violation OF inter
national law. and once again sought
In obscure phrases To NEEDLE with
Intimate questions Of our domestic
politics.
No doubt was any longer possible
as TO the Intentions OF our enemies.
or as 10 the predominating influence
OF Clemenccau and Lloyd George.
Wilson was not prepared TO stand
against the comprehensive claims OF
France and England.
We had heavy decisions 20 take.
We stood now clearly before the
question. were we TO surrender I'M
conditionaily TO the entente. or was
the government to call on the people
10 fight last fight Of despair We
hal TO return n firm and dignificd
reply to the note. and TO emphasize
once more our honorable anxiety for
m armistice. but. at the same time.
TO maintain warmly the honor OF
our brave army We could not al
low ourselves TO be deprived OF our
submarine weapon. for this would
amount to capituiation.
The note was discussed on Oc-
tober IT. at a meeting OF the war
cabinet In Berlin. Colonel Heye and
I were present had also requested
General Hoffman, to attend. On
this very day the Eighteenth army
Vas fighting a desperate battle at the
mont.
WAR NOT SUM
IN ARITHMETIC
The chancellor again asked a
number Of questions. and. turning
70 me. made n statement TO the fol-
lowing effect: That a new note had
arrived from Wilson. containing an
v1ncrease In his demands: that Wilson
had plainly been placed In a difficult
position thru pressure from external
influences: that he apparently hoped
that we would give him the oppor-
tunity to continue negotiating with
N and to overcome the opposition
Of the ''ncverendians" In order to
reply to the motto II was necessary to
understand quite clearly the military
position.
Z had Q different view M TO the
statements of the enemy. and could
sec nothing but their intention to
destroy us.
To the many questions that were
put to me. / took up in general the
following position:
ALREADY on a previous occasion
have been asked a number of ques-
tons to which II Is impossible 10 give
precise answers.
war Is not = sum In arithmetic.
There are In war many probabilities
and improbabilities. What will actu-
ally happen no man knows. When
We went to Fast Prussia In August.
1914, and the orders were given for
the Battle of Tannenberg. even then
none knew how things would 20. or
whether Rennenksmpf would or
would not move. He did not move.
and we won the battle. Part of war
many's way again.
II can only tell you my convic-
tons. For what I tell you the re
sponsibElity Is mine. and has been
mine. for four long. weary years.
TROOPS BADLY
CORRUPTED
In particular the question was dis
cussed whether by transferring from
East TO West all our divisions, or
be so strengthened that we could
hold out for a long time. To deal
with this one had 10 know how
much general headquarters could
withdraw from the East. To know
this I had TO have an answer from
the government 20 my two earlier
questions as 70 the danger Of Bolshe-
vism and the importance Of the
Ukraine TO US.
At this time we had In the East, in
Russia and Rumania. 20 divisions
composed only Of men over IS. and
weak in strength In Lithuania
there was one soldier to every IS
square Kilometres q square miles.)
IN the west hncTe were lS0 QlFlSiOnS,
many had to be broken up.
Divisions recently removed from
East to West had not done well un-
der their new conditions. and I had
had very unfavorable reports of
them. In spite Of the shortage OF
men, drafts from the East were re-
ceived with the greatest reluctance.
They brought a bad morale and had
an unfavorabIe effect on their fel.
lows.
According TO the explanations of
General Hoffman, the temptations to
which the men were exposed from
the corruption OF Jew traders In the
East and from Bolshevik propa-
ganda, and. indeed. also by propa-
ganda from home. had broken their
fighting spirit. How far this had
gone was not known until the begin
ming Of November.
TOLD or
BOI1sHEyIk PERIL
The views OF the general as 20 the