New York, Mar, 14. [FALX'S defect in North Africa has teen due to inadequate leadership, lack of equipment and inability to discard old nicthods of combat for the new Blitzkrieg tactics. Responsibility for the Italian debacle must be shared by officials both at home and in the field, The Italian soldiers not only in North Africa but also in the Greek campaign have not shown the same fighting spirit or the same leadership qualities that*they displayed during the World War. The enormous number of prisoners taken in Libya indicates a change in the once rugged independence of the Italians.
The Fascist teachings of Premier Benito "Mussolini apparently have not been to the benefit of the Italian army. The insistence upon mechanical obedience to the flats of the Fasist party seemingly has muMied freedom of ideas and has interfered with originality.
In warfare such handicaps are serious, They are especially dangerous in present day combat when changes of methods are occurring which require great mental flexibility and entirely new conceptions of strategy.
The British successes int Africa have been due primarily to the rapid assimilation by army leaders of the lessons of the Battle of France. The British have not been held back by principles of automatic obedience to governmental authority.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.