_PERSHING_
Persons about to be received by the great are invariably amusing; I
know, for I have had the "funny feeling" of the man who waits without.
A reception-room is a "first-aid station" in practical psychology.
The nonchalance, perfectly transparent and that deceives no one, not
even the man who feigns it; the effort to convince the other fellow of
your own importance or the importance of your mission; the anxiety and
nervousness that you hide behind venerable magazines--these are a few
of the symptoms of the "about-to-be-ushered-into-the-presence-of."
I had stepped over to the general headquarters from the Y. M. C.
A. hut, to ascertain when "The General" would see me, and had been
surprised when Colonel Boyd, his secretary, said:
"Can you wait? He will meet you this afternoon."
And so in the plain but ample room separated from General Pershing's
private office by a smaller room occupied by his secretary I
entertained myself for two hours while the man upon whom the nation has
placed so great a responsibility wrestled with his problems. And while
I waited, I studied psychology. I began with a more or less complete
analysis of my own mental state--but why discuss personal matters when
there are other people to talk about?
I was particularly interested in a little group of Frenchmen. One
of them was a general, I should judge, although uniforms and gold
braid in France often mislead a civilian, and I had been saluting
letter-carriers for a week before my attention was called to the
mistake. He had with him two aids, one of whom was an interpreter. The
French officers sat with their backs toward the entrance of the small
room already referred to. Just within the entrance was a table on which
were four hand-grenades, unloaded, but with their detonating-caps in
place. However, the exact status of the grenades, which I have just
revealed, was unknown to me until after _it_ happened.
On one of the periodical excursions of my eyes about the bare walls
of the room--a room overlooking a great barrack court, flanked on two
sides and closed at one end by long, low gray stone buildings--they
stopped with a shock at the grenades on the table. The table was
directly in front of me and directly behind the French officers, who
sat within ten feet of it. When my eyes were arrested in their aimless
wandering, one of those hand-grenades was in the act of falling off
that table. I knew nothing about the nature of grenades at the time,
only that they were, potentially at least, small but effective engines
of destruction. At any rate, there was nothing that I could do but
brace myself against what might happen when that grenade met the floor.
What happened was this: the detonating-cap exploded. It was a
relatively small noise as this war goes, but within the four walls
of a quiet room it gave a pretty good account of itself. It was
particularly disquieting to men without warning of it, men for several
years accustomed to associate all such disturbances with the business
of killing. The French general and his aids rose hurriedly and with
ejaculations! Every man in the two rooms decreased the distance between
himself and the ceiling. Only General Pershing remained unperturbed; at
least, no sound came from within and his door was not opened.
After the field had been cleared and the composure of the innocent
bystanders restored, I took up again my task of waiting. Colonel Boyd
was courteous and interesting; indeed, the American officer overseas as
I saw him was two things--busy, _very_ busy, and always courteous. He
has no time to waste, but he is efficient without being a "gump." His
efficiency is branded with his Americanism; water-mains, railroads, and
warehouses built by Uncle Sam's engineers carry no "made in America"
label, but their origin is unmistakable. They look and they _act_ the
part! There are French cities now that remind one of a section of
Bridgeport, Conn., or of Chicago.
And what romance walks with those who have come so far to make the
paths straight for democracy! An Oregon company of engineers, while
excavating in a certain city that nearly girdles a beautiful harbor,
dug up a cache of Roman coins bearing the head of Marcus Aurelius.
The tombs of the past are being opened in more ways than one by these
soldiers of the present; the old and the new are joined together, and
the West has come to the East.
But we have wandered far afield. In the meantime General Pershing has
completed his schedule, and I am ushered into his presence. Perhaps I
suggest the personality of the man when I confess that I carried away
not the slightest recollection of the room in which our interview took
place. He had just completed instructions to certain officers, and was
dismissing them when I entered. He greeted me with the suggestion of a
smile, and, after I had seated myself at his invitation and directly
across the flat-top desk from him, he waited for me to speak.
When I faced General Pershing, I found a man who looks like his
picture. He is slightly heavier than I had expected to find him,
exceedingly well proportioned, and amply tall. He is erect without
the conscious effort of those who begin soldiering after years in
the undisciplined pursuits of peace. His eye is gray and clear, his
close-cropped mustache accentuates the firmness of his mouth. His
skin is of the ruddy texture of health, the health of vigorous action
out-of-doors. I have not consulted "Who's Who in America," and I know
that he is older than he appears; but he looks and acts virile fifty.
His inches are all those of a soldier, and his presence carries the
assurance of a man of action.
In the weeks which I spent in France following my hour with the
commander-in-chief of the overseas forces the almost startling
efficiency that I found everywhere, and in some instances under
difficult and extreme circumstances, was at once associated with him,
with the personality of this other "quiet man" who has soldiered
in every place where the flag of his country floats, and who is
now intrusted with what Lincoln gave to Grant. General Pershing's
promptness is fast becoming proverbial. On October 19, 1917, he was
requested to pass judgment upon the sawed-off shot-gun as a possible
weapon of trench warfare. Seventeen days later the originator of the
idea was notified that the gun had been adopted.
When General Pershing spoke, his first sentence clearly stated his
attitude toward the matter being considered. It is my impression that
no circumstance would find him able to cover his thoughts with words;
his mind is hopelessly direct! His famous "speech" at the tomb of
Lafayette, "_Lafayette, we are here_," was true to his best form, and
what could have been more complete?
As to the opinion men have of him,--those who have been associated
with him closely and those who have met him casually, as I did,--one
word tells the whole story--_confidence_. A certain gentleman high in
British political life said in my presence,
"General Pershing is a great re-assurance."
In the opinion of the writer he will be followed with enthusiasm and
real affection by many, and all will have faith in his leadership.
When we discussed the morals of the soldiers in France, the General's
face lighted; and well it might, for no nation has ever been
represented by cleaner-living men than those who wear the uniform of
the United States in France to-day; and the programme of the military
authorities in France to safeguard and inform the country's fighters is
a source of gratification and pride to all who believe that efficiency
and morality are twin brothers. General Pershing said,
"When the report shows an increase in the venereal rate of _one
thousandth of a per cent_, I learn the reason."
Army medical officers--and with two of these it was my privilege to
have conferences--are constantly in the field investigating conditions
that affect army morale and morals. Their findings and recommendations
are the basis for orders and constructive activities that never relax
their vigilance. Early one Sunday morning the General motored nearly
thirty miles to a certain brigade headquarters, which while American
authority was in control served both French and American troops. This
situation made it embarrassing, to say the least, for any action to
be taken affecting the recognized customs of our splendid allies.
But General Pershing's trip was not a pleasure-jaunt. Several French
wine-shops had been injuring the discipline of American soldiers.
Conditions had not been improving. General Pershing permanently closed
every wine-shop in the village, and so diplomatically did he proceed
that the cordial relationship between the two armies was not disturbed.
His own attitude both toward alcohol for beverage purposes and toward
vice is in harmony with the programme of the War Department and the
Navy Department at home, and he is earnestly enthusiastic for that
programme. Some of the details of the programme as applied in France
must be worked out by indirect methods rather than by direct, but
the programme shall not suffer. For instance, in the villages at the
front where our leadership is in control I found no orders against the
distribution or the use of the popular beverage of France, light wine;
_but neither did I find any light wine_. It was not available.
[Illustration: A MESSAGE FROM GENERAL PERSHING TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF
THE AMERICAN CHURCHES]
GENERAL HEADQUARTERS AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES.
France, March 4, 1918.
To the Young People
of the Churches of America:
I am glad to have the opportunity of sending you greetings and
hearty approval of the concerted support the church forces of the
country, through you, are giving the Government. The great active
moral influence of the churches of America cannot fail to add power
to the Nation.
After all, it is to the young people, whose vision reaches far into
the future, and whose aggressiveness of spirit gives force to their
will, that the country looks for strength. Your efforts will serve
to unite our people more closely in their determination to give the
downtrodden throughout the world the same free democracy that we
ourselves enjoy.
While the young people at home may be depended upon to do their
full part, the soldiers who represent you, encouraged by your
loyalty, may be depended upon to give a good account of themselves
in this battle for the principles of liberty.
With very best wishes, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
John J. Pershing.
To Dr. Daniel A. Poling,
American Y. M. C. A.,
12 Rue d' Aggesslan,
Paris, France.
Our conference revealed General Pershing's own firm religious
convictions and his determination to give to the army a religious
leadership second to the leadership of no other branch of the service.
He spoke with kindling eyes of what he hoped to secure for the men
through the chaplains, and referred to the work of investigation he had
committed to his old friend and the friend of his family, Bishop Brent.
His words were the words of a constructer and prophet, as well as the
words of a forward-driving warrior. He expressed his gratitude for the
Y. M. C. A. and his appreciation of the support from the religious
and moral agencies at home. He barely referred to the criticisms that
some temperance leaders had visited upon him after his order against
"spirits" was made public and before opportunity was given for the
General himself to explain the order with reference to its silence on
wine and beer, also its relation to circumstances associated with army
life in France. He is too busy to give attention to small things and
too big to misunderstand the real heart of the anxious men and women
whose sons had been intrusted to him.
The last words spoken to me by this leader who represents so much of
the idealism and faith of his country to-day were of the _men_. I shall
not forget many things that were said in that interview, but with
distinctness above everything else that was said I shall remember the
dozen words with which the quiet soldier revealed his pride and his
confidence in those who fight now to achieve a lasting peace.
General Pershing's life has had a great tragedy; under unspeakably sad
circumstances his family--all but one boy--was destroyed in a fire
while he was on duty on the Mexican border.
General Pershing's wife and children were received into the church by
Bishop Brent when the bishop was presiding over the Philippine diocese,
and while the General was stationed in Manila. Since his acceptance
of the post in France the General himself has been welcomed into the
fellowship of the church by his old friend, now serving as leader
of the chaplains of the American army. There is something vastly
re-assuring in the manifest poise of a man who is so transparently
unaffected in great decisions and whose personal example is so high a
challenge to acknowledge the authority of the spiritual.
It was after office-hours when I found my way down the ancient stairway
and into the courtyard. Out through the guarded gates I passed, the
gates through which Napoleon marched his legions when he turned them
toward Moscow, the city of their destruction. And as I thought of
Bonaparte and of his programme, of that unsated ambition and pride
which brought about the overthrow of the military genius no time of the
past or the present has duplicated, I was glad that America's man of
the hour on the field of democracy's destiny has not forgotten to place
first things first; that he retains so clear a conception of relative
values in so disturbed a time.