The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1917-08-23
OUR WORK IN war
SETS new RECORD
Army and Navy Journal Asserts
That It Has No Parallel in
Military History.
ALL CRITICISM IS sILENcED
Service Paper Points Out That No
"Poiitieal General" Has Appeared
70 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 q
smoothness and an absence of scandal
that have no parallel in our history of
warfare" is the editorial statement
made by the Army and Navy Journal
in 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 our 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
screen has been lifted now and again
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 grlnncrS, fighting U.
boats and losing their lives in that ar
duOus duty; and finally. we have learn
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 man.
Great Growth Of the Navy.
sour navy's personnel has almost
doubled in that time, so that now we
have over $4,000 men in the navy
t, while in the Marine corps we have
29,361, as against the 1926 on April 6
the day the state of war was declared
| The auxiliary patrol fleet manned by
the Fleet Naval reserve is gradually
assuming the form Of 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
ficers and crews of the great fleet of
! merchantmen that the government is
building as part of the allies strate-
gical plan to conquer the U-boats.
"Even greater than this has been the
army's achievement owing to the sig
nal change that has come to the ma
tion's policy regarding large army
since the entry Of the United States
into the war. For on the army has
devolved the task of increasing the
regulars up to the war strength set by
the national defense act and putting
that army on war footing, while it
has also had to face and carry through
the many problems presented by train
ing the National Guard for duty over
seas. preparing the plans for the first
selective draft registration and see
ing they were carried out. the plans