The Washington herald., 1917-05-06
Europe Man Power Waning
Allies Look to America
Huge American Army Would Ease Entente
Conditions-Old Men and Women
May Replace Eligibles.
ny JOHN L. BALDEHsToN.
tcspEasAt, M. hy he Mechr. Newspaper
gyndfatal

London, April % oBy lettsr1-rhs rais-
ing Of = huge American army that could
Be thrown into the scale upon the west
srn front. II the war should last over an
other winter. may have decisive I'M
portance. Great Britain Is undogbtedly
better OF for manpower at present than
any other Of the Europeaa belligerents.
excepting Russia. but even here there are
limits to the supply OF soldiers. More
than 100000 men out OF q population OF
100000 are serving in the army ana
navy, and the claims Of indispensable IN
dustries such as munition' making. ship
building and Agriculture for certain
number OF ebls-bodied men cannot be
overlooked.
Lord Derby, the War Minister, de-
mands 500, 900 more men fo- the army oy
July. These men can ard will be OBJ
tanned. but only By substituting elderly
man and women In jobs now held by
msn Of military age, and by the most
drastic measure to enlist every other man
who q able to do garrison duty or labor
at the bases, even II he cannot shoulder
q rins. Orders have been issued for the
re-exannination OF every man who at any
prvious time has been rejected for ser
vice by the Doctors. This necessarily in
wolves . lowering Of the physical stand
ard. The determination of the govern
rnent 10 stop at nothing to keep up the
armies 10 shown by the further order
that an soldiers discharged because of
wounds or sickness must be re-exarnined
and. II aba to serve. put back into
khah
Must Call ON Youths.
These measures. forced upon England
now by cruel necessity, were long ago
adopted In France and in the enemy coun-
tries. Europe Il running out Of man
power: outside Of these islands only the
akaR q 90
during the war remain available.
Hence the interest In American military
prsparations an interest as painful In
Germany a. Il Is hopeful in England and
France The youth and physical fitness
OF the American troops will make them
It is admitted here. Tar better soldiers
than the last dregs from their popula-
tons that Britain and France can put
into the field. though the inexperience
Of American officers and the lack OF STAN
organization would make military men
skeptical concerning their immediate
yalue in modern warfare were It not for
the magnificent record Of the Canadians
and Australians, trained under systems
no better than IL as good as that the
United States viii provide
There Is great fear here that Americans
will not appreciate the enormous import
anee to the common cause Of preparing
fighting forces as fast as possible. The
fact that the Germans are showing signs
Of crumpling up on the West front, 1t Is
thought. will cause Americans to feel
confident that Germany viii be ready TO
make peace on the best terms she can
get BY NEXT winter. This belief is COM
mon here. But II Il pointed out that the
one thing that viii encourage Germany to
hang on will be the hope that her enc
mics, too, are becoming exhausted. and
that by a little more sacrifice and priva-
aka
Moral Eject Great.
Even though it is improbable that the
bulk Of the new American forces, or even
they may stll have decisive effect
1T Is that. I am afraid, which viii be
so hard for you to realize" said a high
British of1cer. Nations calculate their
policy and decide for war or peace, de-
pending upon the resources and reserves
Of their antagonists. II Americans
should fail to put big armies IN the field
with all possibIS4speed, Germany might
figure that she had nothing to fear from
across the Atlantic, and hold on In the
hope that the submarine war might
Etarye US out. But when she sees the
ships that you are building, and knows
that you are preparing great masses OF
the best troops now left anywhere to
throw into Europe next winter aud next
spring, she probably viii quit berore en-
countering these new forces in the feId
with the last remnants of her battered
armies"
COIonIaIs show Possibilities.
How soon do you think We could have
troops re- dy for service, aside from the
few regu 1rs who might be sent over
soon for NoraI efrect?'' I asked this au-
thority.
"Canad' and Australia supply the an
swer" . added Less than nine
months after war broke upon US un-
awares the Canadians gallantiy stood
under the nrst gas attack at Ypres and
by repulsing the onslaushts OF the best
German troops saved the situation, In
the words Of Lord French At the same
time, the Australians were disembarkins
fn Europe. Better troops never shoul-
dered rifles. With your resources, you
would not take longer than our Domin-
ions ever did II, like them. you had not
expected war. but, Of course, you did
expect 1t and your War Department has
been making its plans for months.
see no reason why some Americans could
not be sent over in the late autumn
and by spring an American army may
be on the Meuss or the Rhine ready tc
spring on the ensmy, If he has not hac
enough"
The general paused, and then added
I'VE are not ashamed to say that We
want you over here, for your President
has said that you were going to give
all you had to the common cause. The
main thing to impress upon Americans
Is that, IL they want to help US win
they must not think money and ships
are enough, for soldiers are needed nov
as badly as they ever were The Amert'
can clerk who drops his pen for the rife
today Is serving the cause Of humanity
lust as truly as the English boy who
left his plow IN 1914. and this Is true ever
II he never smells powder"
There Il reason to believe that In tht
conferences between French, British anc
American soldiers the view expressed
by this officer viii be strongly urged.
Germany Learning Lessons.
Between the present German strategy
on the western front, and the plans oi
the United States to put an army in tbs
field, there exists an intimate ttrstegica
connection without attempting 70 indulg'
in military prophecy, the Clements Of tht
German strategy, as now understood
here, can be explained in a way that will
make this connection clear.
Germany Is imprpying in France upor
the lesson taught her by the Russian
armies during the great retreat OF 1915
49, t. =