to Joe and his father.

_42._ As soon as the contracts were awarded the struggle began to obtain
necessary labor and raw materials. We were straining everything to do a
patriotic service to the country in time of war, but we came up against
the competition for these essentials by ruthless capitalists who had no
thought but to milk the government by selling them supplies at an
enormous profit. Even with the wholehearted assistance of General Thario
it was an endless and painful task to comply with, break through, or
evade the restrictions and regulations thrown up by an uncertain and
slowmoving administration, restrictions designed to aid our competitors
and hamper us. Yet we got organized at last and by the time three
Russian marshals had been purged and the American highcommand had been
shaken up several times, we had doubled the capacity of our plant and
were negotiating the purchase of a new factory in Florida.

I set aside a block of stock for the general, but its transfer was a
delicate matter on account of the indefatigable nosiness of the
government and I approached his son for advice. "Alberich!" exclaimed
Joe incomprehensibly. "Just wrap it up and mail it to him. Mama, God
bless her, takes care of all financial transactions anyway." And
doubtless with great force, I thought.

Such directness, I pointed out, might have embarrassing repercussions
because of inevitably smallminded interpretation if the facts ever
became public. We finally solved the problem by putting the gift in
George Thario's name, he making a will leaving it to the general. I
informed his father in a guarded letter of what we had done and he
replied at great length and somewhat indiscreetly, as the following
quotation may show:

"... In spite of pulling every handy and unhandy wire I am still
billeted on this ridiculous desk. The General Staff is the most
incompetent set of blunderers ever to wear military uniform since Bull
Run. They've never heard of Foch, much less of Falkenhayn and Mackensen,
to say nothing of Rommel, Guderian or Montgomery. They rest idly behind
their Washington breastworks when the order of the day should be attack,
attack, and again attack; keeping the combat entirely verbal, weakening
the spirit of our forces and waiting supinely for the enemy to bring the
war to us...."

Although I was too much occupied with the press of business to follow
the daytoday progress of hostilities, there was little doubt the genera