The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1918-02-05

IL Is pdCrlOLlC uuCy 1OF one &c
read the impressive statement Of
Secretary Baker before the Senate
committee in reply to the charge ot
Senator Chamberlain that the Wa,
Department has "fallen down" ir
prosecuting the war. 1t was a dan.
gerous, even wicked, assertion fol
the Senator to make on the basis OF
the evidence which he presented to
support his position. Even among
his own sympathizers there were
those who admitted that he had fail
ed to prove his charge. But, worst
of all, the Senator's performance
from first to last has been inevitably
If not designedly, directed toward
weakening popular confidence in the
government. On that account, par
ticularly, Secretary Bakers presen-
tation of the governments case and
his review of the governments ac-
Movements must command the most
attentive consideration.
The reply is crushing. Unless ones
mind is hopelessly biased against the
Secretary or the President, or is OBJ
sessed with ulterior purposes whose
promotion calls for the Secretary,s
downfall, it must be recognized that
the achievement already bulks SO
large as to make the mistakes and
failures of the department seem by
comparison Of minor Importance in
the record. Aside from the Secre-
tary's success in throwing new; light
upon mooted points in the mobiliza-
ton, equipment and training of the
army, which have been widely ex-
plotted, he, has impressively recalled
what most people have. forgotten,
namely, the necessity from the start
of subordinating our own military
program to the imperative needs of
Britain and especially France.
The inside story of the demands
Of France cannot yet be told in its
fullness, butt Mr.. Baker wisely gave
US hints of the steadily increasing
pressure to expand our operations
abroad beyond all previous forecasts
of the most probable contingencies.
This knowledge must be considered,
also, in connection with the frequent
embarrassing changes in the charac-
ter of the demands of our allies
their insistence in the beginning up
on munitions, supplies and tonnage;
their sudden cry for soldiers for
"moraI effect" and then for more
and mufe soldiers;; and, still again,
their shift back to supplies and ton
mage in, preference to man-power.
In broad outlines, what are the
results today?i The government
sent in 1917 much! larger army to
France than the maximum Of Mr.:
Roosevelts own estimate early last
summer of what was required.
Roosevelt in June thought 100000
men ample for foreign service We
have in France today much more
than that number: Mr.. Baker de-
clares that "early this year. we
shall have an army of 100000 in
France. and that during the year we
could send at least million more,
making a total of 100000 soldiers
in France before next winter. In
thirty-twu American training camps
there are at this moment about IT,
900, 900 men ready to sail, and ev-
ery man Of them could 60 armed
and equipped.
Consider, also, the vast engineer
ing and construction work already
done in France, or in process OF ac-
complishment- great storehouses
and plants for supplies, new piers IN
harbors, barracks for soldiers, road
building for the British and French
armies by our own regiments of en-
gineers, and to top all railroad
600 miles long for the use Of our
own army, for which the entire
equipment has had to be shipped
fro,o +h;s countrv. These operations,