The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-11-21
USED SHARP WORDS TO BERLIN

| In all questions general headquar-
| ters addressed themselves to the con
| stitutional authorities. The was re
| quired rapid and far-reachinr decisions
at any moment. and thus stimulated
/ that quality of resolution on which *
was always making demands In Ber-
lin the old peace routine held SWAY,
| Replies even to the most import at
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
m emit was supreme The foreign Of
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 it that it
their inertia by displaying greater en-
ergy on its own part
could have wished that the gov
eminent had recognized the 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
and as regards the wishes of general
headquarters neglected nothing which
they considered essential But much
was left undone that had been insisted
on as urgently necessary for the prose
clrtio1 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. It was better able to meet the
requirements in personnel than other
departments. particularly from among
officers of the reses-e 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
themselves to be sclely RESPONSIBLE.
was not clearly defined Friction was
unavoidable. This would have been
avoided by that resolute lee 5ership at
home for which observation-disclosures
often asked.
As first quartermaster general, II
was often my duty personally 10 lay
the demands of general headquarters
hefa~a The ~ovarn-->n~+
CALLED REACTIONARY; DENIES
OF political nerso-.ages and parties
took no account Those parties
which were forever talking abort "un-
dersta ndine" instead of foster'r@ the
warlikc spirit of the nation, did not
recognize the need for the demands
nut forward. The Government shared
their views And thus the government
and the majority parties found them
selves IN agreement and adopted an
antarnri~tic attitude towards me and
nv military ideas ana wishes.
It was ohv!ous that had more
supporters among those parties which.
like myself re-aided IN rndersta nding
as impossible III view OF the enemy's
determination to destroy us. and there
fore wished the wnr TO be carried on
with the greatest energy. I never
asked for thar support. but they
trusted me. These parties belonged TO
the right---the minority. And 20, al
though I thought only Of the war. tho
rest labelled me "rcactionary" Had
foun, NV own ideas accepted bv the
democratic rarties. sho-ff heve fouaf
supnorte-s s->~rg ff~-, s'~o. IN which
~ese tNc "rfyht" would perhaps abused
No ~ "der,ocret" er@. as a matter
Of fact, this happened often enough
I am neither ~reactionary' nor
democrat" All I stand for IL the
prosperity. the cultural progress and