Great Falls daily tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1895-1921, 1920-01-19

Then the Americans marched off to
Brest, got aboard their transports and
went home. The French. after suit
able interval, took possession and put
Chinese and negro troops-Annamltes 8
and Senegalese-to guard the property
they had acquired.
Goods Never Checked.
But the French government did not
begin an immediate checking off of the
American inventories. They made no
attempt to ascertain the correctness of
the American lists. In purchasing to-
day at the big exAmerican camps, the
French statesmen usually check off the
supplies in stock from the old original
American inventories.
From the minute that the Americans.
turned over their stocks to the French
and from the moment that the Ameri
can guards with their bayonetted Spring
field rifles and their big Colt automatic
pistols were relieved the systematic
looting of the camps commenced.
Automobiles. motor trucks, sacks of
sugar. sacks of salt, tvpewriters. eases
of canned goods, everything practically
that was left behind. began to disappear.
The Annamite and Senegalese guards1
were doubled. but that seemed to do na
good. 1t developed that a package of
I
enough to satisfy his conscience and let
the Inarauders do their work
Officers Head Thieves.
And Franch officers became mixed up
in the affair They headed bands Of
a certain number of American deserters,
who robbed the camps
The fall of General Mangin is traced
to one of these affairs. General Mangin
was in command of the French army
on the Rhine when he discovered q
wholesale traffic Of stolen goods going
ACROSS the Mayence brtdgehead into
Germany He investigated and found
that stolen motor tricks laden with
stolen foodstuffs, were being driven into
Germany on forged passes and the con-
tents sold at fabulous prices.
General Mangin found that certain
French officers were implicated in the
affair and were providing the camouflag-
ed crooks-who were in French and
American uniforms-driving the motor
trucks with passes across the frontier.
Dozens Are Locked Up.
The arrest of dozen of these men
was ordered by the general. and they
plenty of money in their illicit traffic in
stolen American goods. and they lost
no time in summoning an influential
lawyer from Paris. This lawyer is said
TO have obtained card of introduction
to General Mangn from II. Mandel,
private secretary of Premier Clemen
.eau.
When the lawyer. NJ. Datchery. reached
Mayence he presented his card 10
General Mangin and asked an inter-
new. Before the general, he explained
hat he wanted to talk over the case
lgainst the wealthy officers and to ar
.ourt martial-if the general insisted on
bringing them to justice He pointed out
hat the morale and prestige of the
French army would suffer seriously
lfter such scandal, particularly on
ierman soil.
General Mangin replied that the mat
er was beyond his power and must
AXE its course through the usual chan
,els.
Manoin Is Relieved.
The lawyer bowed himself out, re-
urned to Paris, and it is said told his
lad story to NJ Mandel, who repeated
t to NJ. Clemenceau. A couple of days
ater General Mangin was relieved Of his
A few days later, when the supreme
.ouncil decided to send an inter allied
military mission to the Baltic provinces.
darshal Foch named General Mangin
IS the French officer. but NJ. Clemen-
eau. it is said. struck the iAme Of
iangin off the list and substituted that
Of General Niessel. General Cheney
> the American member OF this COM
mission.
Meanwhile the commerce of stolen
God stuffs from the American camps
arried in stolen United States army
motor trucks, goes on merrily. the
rocks usually passing by the Cologne