Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-27

leSsness and delay in loading Of trans
ports"
The War Department had brought up
the question Of civil jurisdiction over
the members of our forces in France
and had inquired regarding the atti-
tude of the French. A committee OF
the American Bar Association, being Of
the opinion that counsel and advice
might be needed, had offered the free
services of several of their members
familiar with French laws and Ian
guage.
My Judge advocate, Col. w. A.
Bethel, presented our opinion to the
French authorities, which was that &C
cording to the principles Of interna-
tional law and in view of the conditions
under which the American Army was
serving in France its members should
not be subject to criminal prosecution
in French courts, but should be answer
able only to our own military tribunals.
This view was readily accepted by the
French, and, very properly, the jurisdic-
ton over our forces, both civil and mill
tary, remained in our hands.
With reference to storage for ord
nance, as noted in my diary, very
careful calculation had been made Of
our requirements, and sites for three
large \depots and shops were selected at
Gievres, Mehun and Foecy, besides
storage depotS at the ports of st.
Nazaire and Bordeaux and in the for
ward area at Is-sur-Tille and Jonchery.
There were also many smaller plants at
various points In the 8. 0. S. As to
construction, with the exception of spe-
cial repair shops it had been requested
that the matter be left in the hands
of my chief Of ordnance. Satisfactory
types Of buildings had been developed
by the French and British, and the
organization of our Ordnance Depart
ment was such that the work could be
done by men on the ground.
PershIng Hits at Delays.
However, the chief Of ordnance in
Washington was apparently unwilling
| to accept our calculation and asked the
French Commission at Washington to
obtain the views of the French on the
subject. The commissioner transmitted
the request to his government and the
government sent it to Gen. Petain; who,
of course, referred the question to me.
My reply, which went direct to WASH
ington, naturally supported the origi-
nal recommendation.
| At times it seemed that the last re-
f1nement was being invoked to cause
delay
The following cable regarding the
incident was sent to the chief of staff
90" This endless chain should
clearly indicate the necessity Of ham
ding such matters direct with my head
quarters. Ordnance officers here cap
able of managing this construction
work, thus leaving to chief Of ordnance
more important duties and decentraliz-
ing his once as to details that should
be handled here. Request approval OF
my recommendation and reply by
cable.
| 90" Again recommend that sll
requests for information required by our
War Department be sent direct to these
headquarters, as invariably such mat
tiers are referred here by French, either
directly or indirectly"
1t appeared to be difficult for some
of the bureaus of the War Department
to think in terms of a World War, and
they naturally hesitated to make deci.
sions on questions involving the large
requirements in supply, construction
and material. If they had only real
lied the pressing necessity for early
preparation and had accepted the view.
Of the men on the spot 1t would have
saved time and patience.
AS a matter of fact, my cables were
too often regarded merely as recon-
menoaIlonS WHICH the bureaus mlgn
approve or not, as they chose. Thi:
conception Of their functions was en-.
tirely erroneous, in that there had beer
no previous study of these questions
made at home, and they could not
from that distance, know what We
needed as we'll as we ourselves knew
Moreover, in principle it was simply
their dAty to furnish the Army what
IL asked for, II possible. as otherwise We
could not be held responsible for re-
suits.
AS pertinent to this disregard of my
requests In some quarters Of the War
Department, we received on q certain
date confidential cable adviceS Of SAIL