The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-07-27
Officers Never Said the Ger
man Line Was I'M
pregnable
NOR THAT TEUTONS
CONTROLLED AIR
British Have Vast Army in
Reserve-Scare Mong-
ers Are Played

Washington, July 27.--Secretary o
War Baker and Frank l.. Polk, actinl
secretary OF state, ridiculed Wednesday
might the statements attributed to Unit
ed States army officers who have Just
come back from the French front, anG
asserted positively that no officer repre-
senting the army had given to the press
information that the German front in
the west was impregnable, In like
force both denied the statements charged
to the same officers that the Germans
held supremacy in the air
The officers who ara credited with hav.
| ing brought back a tale of gloom were
reported to have been attached to Gen
eral Pershing's staff, and to have studied
the strategic situation all the way from
the North sea TO Switzerland. Mr. Bak-
Balfour party, and not with General
Pershing, and that they were charged
with the duty of studying purely techni-
cal subjects, having no relation whatever
to the strategic situation.
I'm one of the morning newspapers"
said Mr. Baker, members of the party
of officers Just returned from France are
credited with an expression of opinion to
the effect that the German line along the
western front line is impregnable. ! have
succeeded in reaching all of the members
of this military mission, and am assured
that no one of them has expressed such
an opinion, either to newspaper man
or to anybody else including his own as
sociates on the mission. The alleged ex-
preston therefore is wholly without
foundation.
'The members of the military mission
were sent abroad to study technical
questions. They were accorded the full
est opportunity by both the British and
French governments to complete their
study and were given opportunity to OBJ
serve actual conditions at the front. The
mission is unanimous in its praise of the
splendid morale Of the allied forces on
the western front, and while il shares |
the general realization of the gravity of |
this war, it returned without any pes.
simistic opinion whatever as to the final
outcome"
The commission contained number of |
the best known officers of the army. |
They sought information in England and |
IN France on the means used to supply |
troops, transportation, and purely tech
meal matters They brought no report
from General Pershing, who is his own
-eport maker, and in their talks with !
Baker expressed only the most
optimistic sentiments.
Mr.. Baker used the theme as text
rom which to preach strong sermon
lpon the evil of making sensational mis-
statements for the purpose of alarming
he public, and referred to the recently
story that submarines were
mixing 100000 tons Of shipping a
month, when they only had sunk 100000,
s a striking evidence of the alarm that
alse reports might cause.
The American people, said the secre-
airy of war, should be warned against the
poradic epidemics of pessimistic reports
the military situation in Eu-
ope, which, he added, had no foundation
! fact and could only serve to cause
seless sensation. de declined the sug
estion that it might be well to paint
he situation blacker than it is for the
urpose of arousing the people, and said
nat as much harm would come from
Ich source as from minimizing the Sc /
BUSINESS of the situation.
Full descriptions of what is going on
Europe, said Mr. Baker, are being
ven to the people through the daily
Ible dispatches, and he was unable to
e that these reports had in any degree s.
isrepresented the real facts. W
To this view from the war department W
r. Polk contributed the conclusion that p
e state department drew from its Off d.