Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-01-11
BAKER DEFENDS
 WAR DEPARTMENT
 BEFORE COMMITTEE
utoutinuCd from page oncb
Train i5, ,OOO Officers.

Train 5000 Officers.
 | "For the training of officers two se- rics of training camps were held from which about 45. .000 officers were com miSsioncd from civil life. This mum Der is nearly eight times as great as the number of officers in the regular army on the first day of April
 "l'or the training of these soldiers, l6 cantonmcnts have bean built, cost ing $l3l.000.0o0 Witt an average profit to the contractors oi 29S per cent. @.
 "The death rate in our forces in th" United States, from mid-Septcmbcr to the end of D accmbcr averaged 15 per thousand and is slightly less than would have been the death rate of men of the same age at home. In 1898 the death rate per thousand was 20.lI, or nearly thrc2 times as great. Our death rate in the army during the year l91G, just before the war, was , per thou sand. Leaving out the deaths due to measles and it's complications, our rate among all troops in the United States. sincr September i, has been about per thousand.
 Appropriations 90 Times as Great.
 "F'or the fiscal year 1915 congress appropriated for the war departments, $l5S, ,0O0 ,000; for the fiscal year 1916, $203,000, LOGO; for the fiscal year 1917, $403, 1000; for the fiscal year 1918, $7 ,527 ,33S, FIG. In other words, taking 1915 as normal year, the appropria tions for 1918 arc nearly , times as great.
 What Is Accomplished.
 In summing up the war depart mcnt's work the secretary gave the following as ifs chief accomplish mcnts:
 l. A large army is in the field and in training; so large that further in crcmcnts to it can b. adequately equipped and trained as rapidly as those already in training can be trans ported.
 ?. The army has been enlisted and selected without serious dislocation of the industries of the country.
 3. The training of the army is pro ceeding rapidly and it's spirit is high. The subsistence of the army has been above criticism; it's initial clothing supply, temporarily inadequate. is now substantially complete and reserves will rapidly accumulate. Arms of the most modern and effective kind--in- /! cludng artillery, machine guns, auto matic rifles and small arms have been ,pHovidrd by manufacture or purchase fer every soldier in France and are available for every soldier who can be gotten to France in the i year 1918.
 4. A substantial army is already in France, where both men and officers have been additionally and specially trained and are ready for active serv- ice.
 ,. Independent lines of communica tion and supply and vast storage facil- itles are in process of construction in France.
 6. Great programs for the manu- lecture of additional equipment and for the production of new instruments of war have been formulated.
 Realizes Criticism.
 "I make this statement" continued the secretary, "fully aware that there { have been produced before the mem- bers of this committee some cxpres- sions of doubt, difference of opinion I and disapproval The war department has spent eipht months hearing simi- 1 lar expressions, analyzing them, cor recting the conditions out of which |, they grew, perfecting it's organization to prevent occurrences, and all the while driving on to the accomplish ment of the main task.
 "My military associates and ap- preciate the work which this commit tees has done, and will value sug- gestions from the committee as a whole, from it's individual members and from every other patriotic citi- i zen which will enable us to carry on this work more effectively and ] more rapidly"