Orders signed by General von Ludendorff, chief of the German
General Staff, have recently been found on German prisoners in Flanders. The peculiar interest of these Orders is that they urge a strict economy in mon as well as in munitions. This is the first time that such an Order for economizing " cannon fodder " has appeared. The Order says that the consumption of munitions has remained much too high, but that economy in men is even more important. Tactics and methods of fighting must be regulated so as to diminish casualties. It is no longer in doubt, says the Order, " that wo persist in our old ways of seeing things." Thus there is unneces- sarily severe fighting for the possssion of ground in first-line posi- tions—often trench elements of little importance. Haaty counter- attacks are undertaken without co-operation with the artillery. The first-line trenches are held too strongly, and large reserves are often exposed through not being kept far enough back. This Order makes an interesting footnote to the estimate of German casualties jawed in France which we have discussed in a leading article.
