Year: 1870

/
IL to our readers


Tho PrussIan Line Of Communication.


Now that King william has set down with
his army to invest Paris it becomes matter
Of interest to inquire how his long communi-
cations are to be kept open. The siege may
be long one. for the French army inside is
lighting in its last ditch and hope everything
from time and the Notifications Of the city,
even in the weakest point, are formidable
enough to suggest the slower mode of re-
ducing them by mines and parallels ap-
proaches rather than the moro precarious and
bloody mode of storm and bombardment.,
King Williams army, therefore, if the siege
is protracted, will require food, ammunition,
clothing, medicines and the other necessities
OF an army, and he must look to his commu-
nications for the means Of supplying them.
The main line of Communication open at
present fs the great Strasbourg Railroad,
which runs from the Prussian camp at Paris
to Strasbourg, through Chalons. Barbecue,
Nancy and Luneville to the Rhine, and which
is held by the Prussians almost throughout its
entire route. AT Nancy, however, it connects
with another railroad running northeast,
through Metz and Saarbruck, into Prussia,
and by connections to Coblentz and Mayence.
At Metz the Prussians have been busy building
branch road running round the fortress, so
that there need be no breaking of bulk from
the heart Of Germany to the besieging army at
Paris This is the route over which King
William transports the supplies for his army,
distance Of about two hundred and seventy
miles, In the enemy's country.


So far we have heard Of no determined
efforts to cut of his supplies by breaking up
this line. Prussian troops In strong detach-
ments from the besieging armies at Toul and
Metz hold the important positions on the east
ern end of the line, and other detachments,
probably from the main army before Paris,
preserve the westerly portion intact. These
are doubtless able to beat off any cavalry
attack that may be made upon them, and are
supplied literally with material to repair the
road where it is damaged by their enemy. The
French infantry cannot damage 1t materially,
for it cannot be spared from the more import
ant work Of raising the siege in force strong
enough to hold the line for any length Of time,
and, as stronger reason yet for it's security,
King William would certainly make up
any deficiency thus created in his
supplies by levying only the more
heavily upon the comparatively fresh
country in which he is now operating.
The long line of railroad communication which
General Sherman kept open from Atlanta to
Nashville, and, in fact, to Louisville, was much
more difficult to maintain than the present one
maintained by King William. Sherman's line
was longer; the country was infested with
guerillas, of whom the rear of the Prussian
army seems to be singularly free; he was lily
provided with material for repairing the road
the country in which he operated had already
been impoverished by the long war which 1t
had undergone, and his army was dependent
daily, almost hourly, on the supplies which
came over this one single-track railroad. Yet
it will be remembered how completely he kept
this line intact. The trains which brought
him provisions and supplies were not
| detained twenty-four hours on the
route at any time, and his army
never once felt any greater need for clothing
or food or ammunition than was occasioned all
through our civil war, even in recruiting
camps, by the negligence or incapacity Of our
| Quartermaster, Commissary or Ordnance De-


partments Judging from this standpoint, and
from the facts in the case as set forth above,


King William may rest easy as to commu-


nication with his base. He will not be starved


out He has nothing to fear on that score


nothing on any score, but the vigilance and


determination of his enemy within the walls oil


Paris. the rapid movement and sklful man


agsment of his enemies outside the walls Of


Paris and the impatient mutterings of revolu.


ton that begin to be heard in the heart of his


own Germany.


THE SPIRIT OF THE DEMooRAcY.-Not since


the days Of Silas Wright has such degree o.


enthusiasm been awakened in the democratic


ranks of the State of New York as that which


saluted the denomination Of Governor Hoff