GREAT DECISIONS AT VERSAILLES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14596, 4 May 1918, Page 3

GREAT DECISIONS AT VERSAILLES.

HOW THE LEADERS WORK.

SUPREME UNITED COUNCIL

(Sydney Sun Representative.) LONDON, Feb. 12. One of the earliest Allied war agreements was that France should dominate land operations, and Britain those on the sea. It is no new or strange thing, therefore, that Paris should be to-day the centre of Allied policy. British armies have grown until they exceed, m mobilised males, the total forces of France. British financial strength has been the basis of diplomacy for three years; British resources m skipping and raw materials have given her command- . ing weight amongst the Western Allies, for we have had to feed 1 them all. Yet it is inevitable that the control of the Allies' efforts should shift,to Paris. Paris is the central capital* And the whole trend of Allied administration ». towards centralisation. What we have lost through lack of unity will probably never be fully told, for after the war . everyone will try to forget its mistakes. The story of how all the Allied offensives m 1917 became disjointed, mis-timed, and httle less than chaotic, .through : failure of various armies to be ready to time-table, and m the case ; ot the French through a surprising political intrusion m strategy, has been told • m bir Douglas Haig's despatch. It suffices for the whole tale. The estsb- , ' lishment of the Supreme War . Council at Versailles is criticised by those seek- " ing political capital against Lloyd George. But the only criticism for dis- - passionate observers, like the Americans - is that it came three years too late. '■:•■:■ GENERALS AS SUBORDINATES. Where the council rubs against the Allied ' military leaders is m its domina- . turn m the field of strategy. The council |is far more than V strategical body, V-,' ordering the movements of armies and : supplies. It deals also with all diplo- ; ' matie, commercial, and shipping questions. It has set up minor councils to discuss all matters of transport, muni-' tions, naval policy, food production, and so on. These councils bring their re- - commendations to Versailles. The Foreign "' Ministers send to it their experiences/ information, and recommendations m l daplomatic ventures. But the main part of the prime Minister's work remains - strategical. They are charged with surveying .the war as a whole, judging the strengthen morale and armaments of each Ally, and moving the Allied armies m accordance with the general picture. That has never been_ done before. Strategy has been decided ""by joint meetings; of political and military leaders at which unassimilated schemes have been thrust upon the table, and most of the time spent m discussing minor ad- . justments which could have been better worked out by an expert staff. ONLY ONE AIM—VICTORY. The personalia of the Council is interesting. Mr Lloyd <3eorge is its leader. Even- the French, experts agree that his initiative, his tact, his brilliant penetration, make him unquestionably the Allied political leader. In those matters m which war work must be got through, he is dominant. The British General: Staff have a great idea of \ Olemenclau. Sir William Robertson returned from Versailles saying that m demenceau the" r Allies had at last found a truly great man, towering above his fellows. Clem- : enceau combines bulldog tenacity with the Frenchman's verve and imagination. Signor Orlando is a great man of affairs, ; with searching practical sense always at work. If America sends across Mr* ' Baker," the Council will gain another shrewd and clear thinker.

Already the minor military 'council, comprising Generals Wilson, Weygand,"', '■''■ Bliss and Cadprna— the Italian is to go,) home to answer charges of mistakes m.-i field command — has been shown less „': strong than the Allied field commanders and General Staffs. These won the: day, at the last meeting against a scheme proposed by the permanent Versailles ex- .'.;, perts and backed by Mr. Lloyd George. -- 1 " Sir Henry Wilson "is the leader of the permanent experts. A caustic, cynical, /'I brilliant man, he has had a; remarkable'/ career during the war. Though it was vi; his army corps which lost- Vimy Ridge ; --i'"V after the British took it over, from the French, he has remained- on—ierms of greatest intimacy with French generals, ; and on terms of trust with tb.o' British?,!/ leaders. He is : "Henry* to the senior^— - British officers and to the Frehcli. ; Nb'^S one doubts his brilliance ; ev^ryoiio '-.-' doubts his balance, and so he is used; "I according'- to his dues. Perhaps Sir Henry Wilson may be called the military - leader of the "Easternisjn" school. He has little faith m western' fighting, claiming that better Results nave always..., >> been available amongst the "side snows." - The "Supreme War Council, is now a continuous body. For between thVof* >. fioial monthly meetings, the, permanent staffs have been at work. They- ireceiyqall the intelligence collected by" Allied • departments and by the armies. ThSy digest and assort. They prepare plans, and work out problems of transport. At. first the Council was to have no execu- ■■'<•:& tive authority, and no "operations de-, ■ , ipartment." Now it is to have both; TThe"1* 1 second .Minister from each Ally is sup?, posed tbi be m residence at Versailles, *' where the old chateau* of Napoleon's -v, days .are awakening again to great life. But even when Ministers are absent, the work goes on. Each military representa- ' tive has a staif of officers working ioi him. They have been chosen from '. amongst the best young, men of the, services. ' The staffs are not large— V , nothing like a new War Office has been created; But they are carefully chosen. They represent m their Allied co-opera,-tion the determination of all the Ailiese' to pursue one aim, and one aim only—-"" Victory. '