The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1917-08-10
Army and Navy Journal Asserts
That 1t Has No Parallel in
Military History.
ALL CRITICISM IS SnENcEO
Service Paper Points Out That NO
political General" Has Appeared
to Hinder observation-disclosures
for Defense Council.

New YOrk.-That the achievements
Of the army and navy of the United
States in the first three months of the
war have worked forward with Il
slnoothness and an absence Of scandal
that have no parallel in u history of
warfare" is the editorial statement
made by the Army and Navy Journal
in a review Of the part this country Is
playing in the great struggle.
In material accomplishments We
have set up" the Journal says. "a rec
ord before the world Of which we may
well be proud. The great outstanding
facts of these three months of war is
that III military and naval operations
have been conducted solely by army
and navy officers, with never a 'politi-
cal general showing his head above
the horizon. Between the people and
the work of the navy there has been
drawn, Of military necessity, a screen
Of secrecy more effective than any
thing we have EVER known before, and
which rebounds to the highest credit
Of the press of the country. When that
SCTeeu HIS DtCu HIlcu hoN dAA u6ulA
we have seen our fleets of destrOyers
operating In British and French wa
ters: we have learned Of another fleet
being in the South Atlantic on patrol
duty; we have learned Of hundreds of
merchantmen, armed and manned by
navy guns and gunners, fighting u
boats and losing their lives in that ar
a. ,-1 G,,1jx- x,-n how Lon t.n-
ed Of the navy's superb achievements
in conveying to France the greatest
body of troops we ever sent to foreign
soil in one expedition. without the loss
of a man.
Great Growth Of the Navy.
"Our navy's personnel has almost
doubled in that time, SO that now we
have over 10000 mel in the navy,
while in the Marine corps we have
29.361, as against the 1926 on April 6,
the day the state Of WA was declared.
The auxiliary patrol fleet manned by
the Fleet Naval reserve is gradually
assuming the form of a really effective
body Of young men who are learning
navy traditions more rapidly than
would have been thought possible six
months ago. In addition to its hercu-
lean task OF training the great influx
OF recruits to the regular service, the
officers of the navy have taken on their
shoulders the added burden of train
Ing thousands Of young men to be Of
fcers and crews Of the great fleet of
merchantmen that the government Is
building as a part Of the allies strate-
gical plan to conquer the U-boats.
"Even greater than this has been the
nrmy's achievement owing to the sig
nal change that has come to the ma
tion's policy regarding a large army
| since the entry Of the United States
| into the war. For on the army has
deyolved the task of increasing the
regulars up to the war strength set by
| the national defense act and putting
that army on a war footing, while 1t
| has also had to face and carry through
| the many problems presented by train
Ing the National Guard for duty over
| sens, preparing the plans for the first
selective draft registration and see
| ing they were carried out, the plans
for the working OF the draft itself and
for housing. provisioning and equip
| ping the $4,000 men that are to be
In environments some time after the
| first of September.
Coincldent with this the army has
| had to perform the hitherto unheard-of
| task OF conducting sixteen training
| schools for the making Of officers and
OF three camps for the training OF
officers Of the medical relief corps.
| Under-oficered rs every corps is in
the service they have had not only to
struggle along with the routine of the
service but also to handle the problems
OF this enormou expansion Of the reg
| ulars. the National Guard and the na-
| tional army that Is In the making.
And with oil this, the army has sent
to France General Pershing and his
stan, General Sibert and his expedi-
hcnary force; has taken g com.