Evening star., 1922-02-19

a serious menace. Stories were SCI
adrift that hundreds and hundreds
of wounded sailors were smuggled
into the hospitals. There were tales
of hardships and cruelties. all started
to cause distress.
1t was one time the boast Of enamy
agents that they would put repre-
sentative in every regiment Of the
United States Army, 50 as to lessen
the morale Of the troops and make
them less effective.
1t will be remembered by some that
an order was issued by the command
ing general of the American expedi-
tionary forces which in effect was to
kill on the spot any officer or man
who advised surrender during an
engagement This order was directed
not at our own patriotic men, but
against enemy agents, for It was
known 10 the generals Of the Army
and the Intelligence sections that Ger
man officers or German spies, dressed
in American uniforms, during the
thick of battle, had made their way
into the American lines and at criti-
cal moments urged the soldiers to
surrender or retire.
y +
ITO combat this condition was the
work of the military morale Sec
tion of the NJ. I. D.. and, as Napoleon
said, I'm warfare morale is to ma
terial as three is to one" This is
exemplified when one recalls that by
the destruction of the enemy's morale
Germany conquered more territory
than by force Of arms. Tho morale
section Of the German army, how
ever. overplayed its hand, and in
making false statements to the Ger
mon troops it destroyed the faith of
the soldiers in Germany's ability to
carry to q successful conclusion the
strife that was being waged.
The French army had a rather in
genious method Of keeping the spirit
of its soldiers up to standard. They
provided cartoons by well known art
lists. used posters on company bull
letin boards and issued leaflets warn
ing against the lies of spies. The
morale section Of our army not only
adopted part of the French system.
but advanced far beyond by supply
ing soldiers with such information
as to, make them laugh at the efforts
OF Germany to try and destroy their
faith in our ultimate success. Par
ticular attention was paid to the work
dealing with soldiers Of foreign ex-
traction. many Of whom could not
speak English and large numbers Of
whom were accommodating at camps
because they could understand orders
sufficiently well to be adequately
trained. These men were placed un-
der officers of their race and speech,
and In one camp where they hau been
given instructions for three weeks by
men who understood them they were
reviewed by the officer in charge OF
the post. When asked how many
wanted to go to France to fight
against Germany. IS per cent stepped
forward. Before this method of treat
ment had been applied these men. be-
cause they had been held on kitchen
detail and menial labor, had been
disgruntled and with an agitator here
and there many incipient anarchists
had been partially made. By the ap-
plication of a common sense method
they were turned into splendid SOL
diers. loyal beyond dispute.
Not alone did the NJ. I. D. deal with
alien enemies, but it handled. and with
out gloves, numerous individuals who
sought to graft upon the nation during
its war period. and while it was not
possible to arrest and prosecute every
CRATER or profteer, the Intelligence
section of the Army did save the
government many hundreds Of thou
sands of dollars and placed behind
prison bars persons who gave moth
ing to their country, but who desired
to take from 1t all that they could
possibly take.
In order that one may appreciate the
size of the task confronting the NJ
| I. D., the following outline will give
an idea of the more striking fields of
German intelligence work. In Ger
many many daily papers were pub
lished in elaborate foreign editions
with illustrated supplements and text
In a number of languages, including
! jTurkish, and distributed as widely