Evening Star Newspaper, October 4, 1925, Page 45

EDITORIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL FEATURES Part 2—20 Pages i Heretofore Unrevealed Correspondence Sheds| Graphic Light Upon Events Tending to Reshape Modern Forces. Collapse of French Without the Be.lgian Check and British Aid Suggested—Quitting of Russians Was Expected. EDITED BY BURTON J. HENDRICK. (Copyrizht & Con HESE unpublished letters to Woodrow W United States, were among the latest private correspondence from by Doubledas. Pas son, President of the Walter Hines Page. wartime Ambassador in London. The fame of Mr. Page was greatly ed through the publication of many of his letters three years after his death, which had heen hastened by his war labore in Great Britain. The new ing Jetters, which will appear Sunday and daily in these columns until Novem- ber 1. constitute a vital addition to the intimate record. They are his- tory and they possess the charm of style which gives to all of Mr. Page’s writings a quality rare in historical narrative. Today's first instaliment tells the story. hitherto unknown except to a few diplomats, of an American officer’s secret visit to the British front in 1914, lly a British officer. He was admitted to all the secrets of the aliied armies. obtaining firsthand infor- about which the whole world was wondering. at a time of neutral- For five months he was practic mation as to fa when the United States Government «till adhered to the poli fty. Today's chapter also gives a vivid picture of the situation in London during those gruesome early months of the war. “All the world has taken to lying.” wrote Page. in des chief the fears and troubles of the embascy. As in the case of the previous letters. these are edited by Burton J. Hendrick. whose comments include disclosures of facts never before pub- lished. In the preparation of the letters Mr. Hendrick has consulted various leaders. political and diplomatic. with whom Ambassador Page came in contact. They have permitted him to record happenings previ- Iy hidden in secret archives. TO THE PRESIDENT. € Grosvenor Square, W. (London) November 4, 1914, ibing to his | ou know. | do not and the English don't But the people of any nation must reach a point sometime despair already—I The Germans have panies | | i 1 Dear Mr. President | My daughter got a scolding when | she came back and told me that she| had left Washington before kind invitation exll reached her She told me she wrote her explana hecome mine st and this is now [ Pow (I haven't had many) I have been able to forget myself in some | | goed book. 1 thought 1 should| | always have this resource. But it's gone now. The war gels between my | eves and the printed page. It gets between vour golf club and the hall. Somebody sald something here the other night about Christmas. It startled me. 1 found myself think-| ing 1t all out as a new proposttion— | Christmas — December — presents — the children at home—Santa Claus— 3 | the vear 1914—when did I hear o | mhips are blown up and more and| . ' ihinge before? What does one moce fotiithes sealls | German mined, | G s NGR ibtmas? | 1 itecl lan fir | and when more and more neutral|(® At CRRST | EC C8 | Siiths farsini(ia it eaven, Emot (RSXS SEIC R Sems S8 RIREE L, an American one) and when it is ) % mind with this supreme crime. Most discovered how mans Englishmen | are among the innumerable dead In‘ i | when they feel as I often feel: What's | the use? Y an do nothing useful. | constructive. vou can get no cheerful | experience in life. vou live in a mood | of anxiety life a i vour | 10 of mourning und -is i worth while? fast coming to pass. Most imporiant of all—Ho in- forms me that in good phy trim. That's cheerful as well| important. 1 am frequently | about your health—not be-| cause the questioner supposes you are {ll. but because he means that the world can't afford now to have any uncertainty on that score. The darkest davs, I fear, are not wvet come here. \When more British <e vou are sical as most asked of its best young men will be dead, the | older ones forever under the shadow | France. shudder of horror will selze | ¢1€7 tnes Forerer Bnate (e, SON all England. Tt I8 most solemn now: |y, .\ uoe and ruined. suggesting only | thie; men o MiiniBlopk Mback human misery—haggard old women their history and see time and children. and musderous ‘and (perhiaps mone a0 Can . imied: men: and lendless dall i Al that holds | o) ives of thix war. The sunshine the riendulily) the sand in North Edinis to church and caltinz his | mangy dog—that healthful 0] ccene to me compared with anything ve | mere. And smalt || o That | : over no s0 beggars starved gerous and uncertain. the tozether and kinship of our T never forget for fact, that now portant fact the thank God vou vau world Carolina, a pebble on on conntry and one moment y the world that will in way jnst is most ¢ seems in and 1 it are is where are. that forzotien on controve Lincolnlike never forgets He strong, pathetic figure “Steady, steady.” I el every day. “and look a long way ahead. It's the hig, lasting. pro- found things that count now, not the little tasks of the passing day or of the changing humour™: and I try to keep the rudder true. Always heartily yours WALTER H. PAGE TO THE PRESIDENT American this not all the has You world believe taken to anything | Groy,| th#t You hear or vead. Three times | within a week someho fn the| e | 1nited States lied to the State De time. | .| partment. Here come telegram An Amer- citizen imprisoned for criticlz- ing the English: zet him out. We call the man up on the telephone (in his office) and ask him if he's | in prison or if he has criticized the English. “News to me,” he says and he goes with his work. A day or later: An American citizen found zuil'~ of spying. to be shot tomorrow: hustle! All the military camps in the kingdom, all the mili- tary courts, all the police are set | to work frantically to find clear | who's ta be shot graph and telephone V| hot. Temorrow heard of such what walks onr side that man any can't ms Sir come. Edward it is. of say so far, the to jcan on two mbassy, London. | ovember 30, 1914, | President course, Dear Mr. of tdea and the that it probably two years, has inz often comes over the man Tele- worked | Nobody's | are talk- | do, | has any of the expect nobody the duration zeneral military would last opriainly tomor abont way re comes We one vear man. +nd possibly three Rut foel me that no peo- we are in hetter when he | = passport. | He being and | condemned to be shot, and he laughs ing about the man he'd asked abhout not heen changed. the and save lesses set a ple can stand such a tension, #nd the is spy depression «and the anxiety will b come simply unbes rable far out of it Jand, My detachment. of neutrality o I surely @ | and remarks: e 2 man In Eng- home were getting uneasy about m work of singular| Then comes u telegram about the We walk the tight lu)ls;dpll-mlnl\ of a ship with a full cargo The women have even | of Demand its release!{ Mrs. Page’s serv-| Well, it has so many tons of cop- ing on this and that commitiee that | per in the bottom. On this side of has to do with only the | the iUs the same way. The| conflict. thrifty American mer- | Germans ha taken Calais—every chants of contraband have | body believes it for a day. To-y ceased to come to me to help them zet | morrow night the Zeppelins will come 10 the office to make big con-| —many people believe it. The Ger- tracts. We are as aloof from it as it| mans have seized American food in is possible to be. Belgium. I get a messenger through It| to Whitlock. On the contrary, he It's the war. | writes back, they are giving us every Everybody feels it. 1 meet nobody|ald in distributing it. The German who feels differently. Well. if this| government asks for a report on the is =0 in London. how must it be on | scandalous condition of the detention the Continent? 1 think the world was | camp at Newcastle. There has never never before put to such # strain.|been a detention camp at Newcastle. May it not break some day all on a| Perlodicalle 1 remind the British sudden? | zovernment that we can't send pri-i The French would probahly have| vate inquiries in our Government collapsed as they did in 1570 but| pouch to Beriin: will they please in- for the RBelgian check of the Ger.| form the public that inquiries must mans and the Englich help. There he made at the war office? Cer fx an unexpressed feeling that the|tainly. The very next day a man Russians may suddenly quit some|on the staff of the war office comes day as they did in the Crimean War.|in and save Wt since our embassy They believe here that the Austrians|is the only obannel of communica- Bave almost come to the point of' lion will we please make inquiry ess my folks at | | as as any work s u cotton. ised to insist on one side of world The o wares wat Vet =n't we are not work that tires. aloof at all. to | mintster ana sir Edward I lite WASHI1 PRESIDENT WIIL N about his being world ulously brother? infinitely So. in sad, the Iving mad and stupld. Now. people can't recover from this abnormal state overnlght. These littie incidents hint big of the demoralization of the mind and of the character of men. The Germans are indescribably an. &y with the British. They question and ‘thing. At they hate and distrust us also. English are slow hevend any decent patience. The Austrians Iy follow the Germans in their restric tions. The Turks ask twice a day about their consuls Untruthful mer addition whole cred to is going crfticize ever hottom mechanical a | chants in the United States misinform | our own vernment. The RBritish admiralty and office cause terminahle delay. I never know what day will bring. Depression hangs over everybody like a London fos. But all these are incidental—are as nothing, if we keep fair and consid- erate dealing, these two governments with one another: for upon this hangs the destiny of the world. The prime irey never forget this, and I use their apprecia- tion of our friendship as far as it is manly to use it. And their attitude will enable us to pull through. As I say, all else is of minor con- sequence. Ours. of course, is the future of the world. When the world its senses its first remark will be. “Thank God for the United States.” And so sayv I now. Heartily war in- recovers vours, WALTER It I had finished this Haldane dropped in and Iked an hour or more. In addition heing “the keeper of the King's conscience” he secretary of being a sort of civilian ald to chener. He knows German ature and the Germans as well as any man in England. A few days ago he sent me a letter that Prince von Bulow had written to me, asking my good offices on behalf of his interned brother. “Your old friend, chancellor, knows better than to gx- pect me to be able to do what he asks, doesn’'t he?"” “Well, that doesn’t keep any Ger- man from trying.” Lord Haldane doesn't know how to guess about the duration of the war any better than 1. Yet he knows all that the British government knows. But he has more confidence in than most men 1 meet have. He told me of a Russian whom he met here a little while ago. Somebody asked him If he wouldn't soon be called to the front. “Not immediately,” he said. I belong to the thirteenth million and only five millions have vet heen called ont Lord Haldane thinks they'll stick, for they regard it a holy war. He's chiefly afraid that a peace may be patched up before another war is made possible. That's what, I find, most Fnglishmen fear—that Ger- many will be left with a chance to do all this over again some years hence. If that be so, life will not be worth living on this side of the world. They all confess now that it hasn’t been worth living these 10 years. R PAGE. P Just afrer letrer Lord to vet war, Lord a K the old German the Russians as TO THE PRESIDENT. 6 Grosvenor Square, London, W. December 15, 1914. Dear Mr. President: . This is my wish for a happy Christmas for you—that we may get through this war with the great influ- ence of our country mot only unim- paired but strengthened. In the small share that I have in working for that great aim 1 try step to consider the large historie forces at play before I con- sider any lIrritating incident of the day. The incident, at its worst, will be forgotien tomorrow the great historic forces will exist after we are dead. The great question i, How will our country stand when the Old World is reorganized after this at every AND AMBASSADOR WALTER HIN The | EDITORIAL SECTION he Sunday Stad NGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 4, 1925. Society News' Ambassador Page’s War Letters to Woodrow Wilson PAGE, war is ended? government it wil The, any present German government like hate us then as now, because we stand for the very opposite of its military spirit and ambition. Other | nations will respect us as we conduct | ourselves during its m It is | the larger good and the future rela | Hons that we shall have that I try | to keep in view | When 1 gzet that 1 am pro-Reitish | here bath English cans (they frendiiness 1 recall a lite West ball ress. a hint from home «nd am chided and Ameri «av) 1 lack and zm pro. far-off memory There town. As the hours | tripped along jolly drunk came |over the merry gentiemen of the | party and they showed their real en jovment of the evening by accusing by becanse proper German Lot myv o0 ont was a cowboy in a each man had ever been suspected. As this hilarious fun was running strong—all jolly drunk and noisy—the able-bodled parson of the town stepped in. Two friendly fellows seized him, one by each arm, and one sald: “Say, parson, what's you accused of—too much hell fire? “No,” said the other feilow, much harp and holy ghost | 1 dont sald: but cosmogony conversation “too remember what I do know that nor his daily suffered the parson neither his walk and change radical | grom this inquisition: for he had a; way of looking things in proper | he setting head and portion of seeing 1 suspect garded cach accusation as off other. serious depth (that" sndden we have in this time of unnatural strain), I have heard | from high sources that any talk of | peace which is suspected of being in | spired in Berlin would he | an unfriendly sugzestion. There not the slightest feeling of ven | geance here—only feeling of sor- o a a way received | as | is one another of all the crimes of which | TAKEN DURING PERIOD OF WORLD WAR, WHEN STRA S GREAT. (Photd | r | not | German armed | pear, and the |and with the least harm to the Ger | mans. the better. There the | | the English are determined this recur. The threat must disap- | sooner wi but to have war it disappears is not slightest hatred of Germans. The | moment Germany will or can give up! what we all forever peace come instantly-with revenge hatred, hut course with the reinstatement Bel But no voice will be heard except these conditions talic ot “topping the let it recur or 20 or 40 vears hence, to gratify a vast military which must fight somebody at some time to Justfy its existence. The English are become pliclous of the German influence and | activity in the United States But 1 set out only to wish happy Christmas, while 1 congratu- late our country on your wise lead- ership and vour everstrengthening grasp on the confidence and affec tion of our people and of the world. | And 1 send this to be posted under| the serens ‘countenancs of George| Washington (and not King George) by Mrs. Page, who hears (ind an- swers) the call of our grandchildren at Christmas. T hope that she may | have the pleasure 1o see vou bef her return. Always heartily WALTER I militarism will ne of no m on no merely war to 10 machine. very sus vou a vours, PAGE Award the only | leader in the struggle from the first. for Amevican co.oper tion with the allies. While he was founding his diplomatic policy on the necessity of obtaining American sup | port. the military chieftains had their on the United States as a de sirable military From the day the German armies invaded Belgium man of very different type from Grey looked upon the United States Sir rey was not who warked eves ally | | I { | Nothi BY BISHOP CHARLES H. BRENT. Senator Borah was quoted a while ago as denominating bolshevism a dis- eage. Judging from the recently trans- lated holshevik Rible which the Com- munist party of Great Britain has translated from Russian and published in English under the name of “The A B C of Communism,” holshevism ix not a disease: it ix a new dable world religion. | Russia is to the outside world as {darkest Africu used to be. No one |has any complete grasp of the situa- tion. But it is pretty clear that bol- shevism has established itself as a new force in the history of govern- ment. explains why and how. 1 have called this volume a Bible. 1t bears kin to the Koran and the whole movement is singularly like Mo- nammedanism. 1Its prophet is Lenin, one of the most powerful leaders and 'most relentless in loyalty to an ideal in history. The religion is universal in sweep. The proletariat is the instru: ment. It Is conversion or the sword. You must join the proletariat or die. The bourgeoisie and every other class must be obliterated. “In extreme cases the workers’ government must not hesitate to use the method of the terror.” There are no ethics of prog- ress—“Whatever helps is good, what- ever hinders is bad.” ‘‘The Workers' State will gradually die out; soclety as a whole will be transformed into a Communist society in which there will be no classes.” All other religlons must go. Chris- tian priests are grouped with_prosti- tutes and termed parasites. “'Religion is the opium of the people” and the deadly foe of Communism. But every sne must embrace Communism with religious passion. “Comrade Lenin wrote very truly that our task was to to take her share in governmental ad- ministration.” The sense of vocation such as I have seen in fanatical Mo- hammedans ix being inculcated through the schools. Then the bolshevist Paradise! It is Sweeping Movement to Sovietize World Stops at ng to Gain Its End, Says Bishop Brent. Urges Christians to Unite. and formi- | “The A B C of Communism"” | |see that every cook should be taught | FORMIDABLE WORLD RELIGION SEEN IN COMMUNIST DOCTRINE i earthly in character. In extremely | able and glowing language the com- munistic Utopla is_depicted. There | are ad interim conditions and provi- sions such as the dictatorship of the proletariat, the war of extermination | | waged against the hofirgeoisie and capitalists which is a “war to end war,” the necessity of enduring hard- ! nesg. etc. But the end is sure—per-| fect justice. perfect education, perfect |division of work, perfect enjoyment of |leisure and pleasure, perfect access to| |all treasures of art. perfect housing. |perfect hygiene—in shor perfect | |everything. ~ “The proletarians have | nothing to lose but their chains. They | have a world to win. Proletarians of all, lands, unite: !” et us not live in a fool's paradise. | We are facing in this reagent of czar- | [ism the most powerful product of | | the war, a world force to be reckoned with. No one can read the bolshevik Bible without being mpressed by its | extraordinary cleverness and it power to inspire those for whom it is written. Seme of its proposals are far from unwise. It is couched in practical terms from cover to cover, and therein lies a large part of its strength. It takes the highest dreams and hopes of man and delineates their materialization. Every statesman, every teacher of sclence and religion, every patriot should know the subtle strength of bolshevism from its own -literature, Only so can we learn how to meet it} To ‘damn it, to discount its growing ! influence in the Orlent and in Europe, to ignore it, is mad folly. The only way to meet it is to build up some- | thing better and truer and stronger. Neither contempt nor abuse will kill it. Medicine will not cure, for it is not a | disease, but a religlon. If all Chris- | tians were to adopt the slogan of bol- shevism for themselves and live as well as cry. “Christians have a world to win. Christians of all lands. unite! our bulwark against the evils of bol- shevism would be secure and some of its finest hopes would be realized. (Copyright. 1925.) | for | stood the ON BOTH copyrizhted by Harris-Ewing.) oEraphs And can factor in the war. Lord Kitchener's idea of Ameri- ion was much more di- than Grey's. At the outset the purpose was to Anglo-American relations on so keel that toodstuffs, our munitions steel, our copper, materials would flow unin British ports, while in full command of keaping these same i important co-ome rect secretary’s keep even a our our other terrnpiedly British navy into the was materials out of Germany The - when Grev's further however, . from pore brutal soldier, United States a mili- +lly. He wanted nothing less an American army. If neces- millions strong, fighting by the side of the British and the French. Whatever criticlsms may justly fall on Kitchener's head, one truth at least he completely under- magnitude of his problem. His famous prediction that the war would last at least three years was more than a happy prophecy: it was deliberate calculation. Another which Kitchener did not was that without the mili- support of the United States the could not win. He shared the judzgment of Gen. French, expressed 1ge on two occasions and reported the Ambassador to the President, t the situation. after the tle of the Marne, was an inevitable deadlock came pro. Lord the first, of Kitchener, the practical the went much with directness the to make a tary than is clear: a opinion, publish, tary aliles military n. French's solution was an Amer British statecraft in these Antumn months of 1914 thus presents a donble drama: one in which the leading performer twas Ed- « sitting in the massive foreign office in Powning street, skill- fully ndling # way that would keep the American markets open to the entente, while another fizure, more rigid, more di- rect, perhaps even more determined, was quietly at work only a few hun- dred feet away. hoping to make the United States an active force In the war. Sir Edward Grey negotiations through Page. Lord Kitchener, however, knew little of ambassadors; he really understood only one type of man, and that was the soldier. Fortunately the Ameri- can Army had a particularly worthy representative in London at that time Col. George O. Squier was as much of an innovation as military attache as was Page as Ambassador. Until his appointement, the American mili- Peace chener's plah was n army in Europe. ward Grey, conducted his | tary attache in London had not taken his duties Gen. any too seriously. When Leonard Wood became chief of staff, however, he decided to make this important. The sci- ence of war had made great prog- the business of a military at tache, thought Gen. Wood, should be to surve; the great armed camp which Europe had become and de- rive from it such lessons as ‘would promote the military preparations of the United States. For this reason, Col. Squier, much to his astonishment, was transferred to the London embassy in 1912. Col. Squier was a man of great scientific attainments. In addition to his mili- tary education, received at West Point, he held the doctorate of Johns Hopkins University, where he had been a pupll in physics of Rowland. Col. Squier had spent the larger part of his military career in sclentific investigation. His inventions in cable transmission. and his wireless had already enrolled him as one of the greatest workers in this field. Un- der new conditions of warfare, there- fore, Col. Squier seemed to be the man for this London post. When Page reached London he found Col. Squier well established an military attache. Page was not at first familiar with his reputation; the military attache was a modest and undemonstrative man. Page became \ post more ress: | the was determined | of Terribl tion—Sir Edward interested, however, when he discov ered that many of the leading sci entists in London were making fre quent visits to the little office above his own where Col had his headquarters. This two vears pre. ceding the gave the military attache the opportunity not only of meeting scholars but of forming the closest association with the leaders of the British When hostilities broke probably few military don, if in deed there were any, who had so com pletely won the intimacy of the men who were to direct the RBritish ofclaldom its confidence fully, after only the severest teating: the indispensable requirement is that a man shall be ble to hold his tongue. Col. Squier had already proved, to the satlsfaction of Lord Kitchener and his associates, that his ability to keep secrets amounted to little less than genius. From the begin- ning of the war, therefore, he was taken practically into camp and given opportunities and privileges for which all the other attaches were vainly clamoring. The proposal of Gen. von Donop, that the American Government trans- fer hundreds of thousands of Spring- field rifles from British describad. Lord Kitchener himself made Col. Squier. Tt of Kitchener's Squier war arme there attuches out were in L war gives care: its own arsenals to army. has already been this was, in favorite request to deed. one plans: the diplomatic apparently did not “You've got thos them nd we must the the | itself in Kitchener's mind the American interest him rifles have them'— phr Col. Squler minister's hament. rifles the we need his was way matier sed was amazed knowledge of | He knew just many American Army had and precisely how many were in each arsenal. At that time British recruits were drill- ing with wooden muskets and the task of early munitioning an army was a formidable one. Kitchener's life was burdened by the demands of forefgn military ob- servers who wished to visit the al- lled front in France. Their eager- ness and insistence indeed passed all reasonable bound: ‘The extension of such privileges had been usual in all wars, and never since the world be- gan had military experts had such an opportunity of witnessing their art. However, the head of the British army was Inflexible to such excursions. implacable at war how organizer “of victory,” American problems in | however room on office, ~ut unimpressed in his large of the war ‘e of these appeals. One day was summoned to his He quested to come in full.dress uniform and to keep his visit a seeret from ev body except his Ambassador. | Col. Squier fonnd Lord Kitchener sit- ting alone, usual, in his large office. and an extremely genfal mood. Col. Squier's recollection of Kitchener, indeed, is not the common one. The War Lord whom he recalls is not the grim. unsmiling, monosy labic and unbending autocrat who has passed into literature. Instead, his picture is that of an extremely genial and graclous man, with the most con- fidential manner and the most friendly smile, deprecating rather than insist- ent In his conversation—In fact, a rather slow and hesitant talker, but open, frank and Ingratiating. He was certainly in this mood on this morn- ing. He was secretive about only one thing—his wish that not a soul in London, especially not the military attaches of other natlons, should know anything about this interview. “I suppose I shall get caught it."” he explained, to let vou go o the front in France and stay there as long as you wish.” The great ihe United States in possession of the latest information in case it did go to war made Kitchener willing even to risk offending other nations. This was the opportunity which Col. Squier and all the other military men in the world had been clamoring for since the outbreak of the war. The difficulty, as Lord Kitchener now explained, was that of preventing the attaches of other nations from learn- ing about such a visit. Of course, Col. Squier's absence from London would be noted immediately, and the susplcions of his brother attaches at once aroused. However, he had hit upon a plan. That was to have Col. Squier detached from the American embassy in London and become, at least temporarily, military attache to the American embassy in Paris. His absence from London would thus be satisfactorlly explained. Lord Kitch- ener asked Col. Squier to make clear the situation to Page and obtain his consent. From the war office the American attache went at once to the embassy. “I'll -do it"" said “Page.” thumping his desk, and in & brief perfod the matter was arranged. Ambassador Herrick, in France, cordially co-oper- ating. the second floor silent in Col. Squier headquariers, was re- as in at Not only Von Donop. but | detatls involved | in this hostility | The grim and| “but I have decided | importance of having | “All the World Has Taken to Lying,” American Envoy Said, in Describing Period e Tension. 'When World Recovers Senses It Will Say ‘Thank God for U. S.”” Was Predic- Grey’s Situation. On November 1914, Squier arrived at Omer, Gen. French's headquarters in France, and present ed a brief note from Lord Kitchener. | He soon learned that his trip was not the usual more ot affair that the | taches subsequentlv Col. Squier British famiiy he spent five assoclation: he the men in the | with the officers thing and permitied t deepest secrets of the leaving lLondon Lord Kitchener provided Col. Squier with to draw English gold from paymaster in the army i | he desired and to limit. His daily \hnur was that of the | When he wished from one | corps to the next. formal memoran- dum orders were issued exactly as in the case of a British officer except that only his name rank ap- peared in the order. These orders gave no hint that he belonged to the American Army. These courtesies were all in to from Kitchener's office in London The explanation was clear enouzh. Neither Lord Kitchener mnor the many military leaders whom Col. Squier met in France made any con- cealment ef their wish that the United States sh enter the war. This point ir Edward | Grey and the diplomats of the foreizn office carefully evaded. bhut most of the chiefinina whom ai cussed the that his country not put the slightest restr upon their tongues. That the purpose of this visit was to enable the American Army to learn the details of the or- ganization and management of mod ern war has always been Col. Squier’s bellef. It was Lord Kitchener’s plan to place before the United States the facts that would assist this country in preparing for whatever might happen. Col. Squier was not merely a military observer: he was given access to military plans, to organi tion, armament, maneuvers. the quartermaster’s and surgeon’s depart- ment—to everything that formed the materials and the background of mod |ern war. He was invited make elaborate reports on all these sub Jects, and he did s the British offi cers giving all possible help in the preparation of these documents. To long lists of questions from the War Coliege in r Col. st les: of military hecame dress parade visits at taken the the RBritish camp; weeks everyday lived with trenches messed was into and in times he he was shown every- investigate the Refore had authority ny British France as draw it without life from hour British officer. army to 1o pass and response to instructions 1d was a that tmportant Col military ter freely bility “nentral” met the fact dia pos n real to Washington the Rritish ficers themselves sometimes wrote the replies. The evident make the American | pletely informed ditions methods British army itself. desire Army abont was 1o as com existing con and as was the Col. Squier wrote, frequently under gunfire and sometimes in the mid of a battle. a series of reports. His position really an unparalleled one; he was technically a “neutral,” an officer of a nation whose President was preaching the doctrine of ‘‘neu- trality in deed and in thought,” yet for five weeks he was virtually a member of the British army. t unnaturaily, he believed that Wask. ington would be as interested in his reports as he was himself. In the United States the popular discussion of preparedness was be- ginning; farsighted Americans, par ticularly ex-President Roosevelt and Gen. Wood. already foresaw the pos sibility that the United States might [ be drawn into the conflict. or at least | might be called upon, in case of German victory. to fight for its own independence. In any event, national policy made it essenti: we should abandon ated | methods and an army on | the lines made necessary by the pres. ent war. The great advantage of Col. Squier's visit was tifat it would pro- vide the basis for such an organiza- tion. He did his work with the most zeal and industry, and report afier report was sent to Washing- ton. Had the American Army acted upon the information thus dispatched. it would have been ready, on the declaration of war in 1917, with a policy and program, if not an army, fully prepared for all situations. How many lives would have been saved and how much money would have been conserved can be omy guessea at. Certainly the course of history would have been very different. Col. Squler sent his reports to the ‘War College, therefore, with the satis- faction that any man feels of having performed a great task. Washington, however. manifested no interest m them. They were deposited in appro- priate pigeon-holes—where they still remain. How many officers read them i= not known: that no action was ever taken Is the fact. was a a wise that antiq reorganize ut- s Note—-The second instaliment of the Walter Hines Page letters te Waood- row Wilson will he published tomor. row In The Evening Star.