The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1918-01-10

Washington, Jan. 10.--Secretary
Baker today replied to criticisms
of his departments conduct of the
war, in a long and exhaustive pre-.
pared statement presented to the
senate military committee.
conoedins delays and errors Of
judgment in so vast an undertake
| ing Secretary Baker epitomixed his
reply in these words:
"No army of similar size In the
| history Of the world has ever been
raised, equipped or trained SO
quickly. No such provision has
ever been made for the comfort,
health and general we'll being of
an army.
America now has in France an army
of Substantial" size ready for active
| service, Secretary Baker today told
the senate war investigating commit
| tee.
Officers and men, he explained, have
been trained specially for modern war;
fare. independent lines of communica- :
tion and supply are in process of con-
struetion, and great programs have
been formulated for the production of
new instruments Of war.
Arms of the most modern and eff
fective kind, the secretary declared,
have been provided for every soldier
in France and are available for every
fighting man who can be sent to
France in 1918.
An army of nearly a million and a
half men is now in the field or in
training at home and abroad, he as
serted. The subsistence of the army,
he continued, has been above criti-
cism, while its initial clothing supply,
temporarily inadequate, is now sub
stantialIy complete.
II state the foregoing conditions of
the war departments problem, and
some of the results attained, for two
purposes" he said. I'm the first place,
the American people are entitled to
Know OF the splendid effectiveness
with which they have been able to Or
ganize the manpower and the mate
rial power of the nation, and second,
our army in France and our allies are
entitled to have the benefit resulting
from the depression of the morale of
their enemies which must come when
the Germans realize that the Ameri-
can democracy has neither blundered
nor hesitated.
No Army Raised So Quickly.
mo army of similar size in the his
tory of the world has ever been raised,
equipped or trained so quickly. No
such provision has ever been made
for the comfort health and general
well-being of an army"
The secretary gave the committee an
outline Of tho work Of the department
and its various bureaus.
"on the first day Of April, 1917, the
regular army" he said. "eomprised s.
791 officers and 121,797 enlisted men,
1898 officers and 1918 |
enlisted men, and the reserve 1000 en-
listed men. There were also at that |
time approximately 2,573 officers in
the reserve, but as these were on in
active duty they cannot properly be |
considered in estimating the strength |
Of the army of the United States at
that time. On the 31st day of De-
oember. 1917: the regular army con-
sis.eu OF V,Eoo on,cers aHo 9!S,Vvo ct
listed ,s ns. men; the hstionaI oos guard, Of
men. and the reservs, Of BASIS officers
and 72,750 enlisted men. In other
words, in nine months the increase
,as been from 1924 officers to 100,856
,fficers, and from 2o2,51o men to t.
E28,650 men.
Nations Greatest.
During the war with Spain, the
lrmy of the United States at its max
md officers. The army now In the
ield and in training is, therefore,
oughly six times as great as the max
mum number under arms in the
spanish American war.
1.-THE total number already in the
service is one and a half
ines as large as any force mobilized
~ this nation.
"The death rate in forces in the
United States from d-Septembep to
he end of December averaged 7.5'per
housand, slightly less than would
ave been the death rate of men of ,
aid. "In 1898, the death rate per
was 20.14, or nearly three
ines as great" he continued. "Our
cath rate in the army during the
ear 1916. just before the war, was
per thousand. Leaving out the
eaths due to measles and its COM
lications, our rate among all troops
I the United States since Sept. has
cen about per thousand.
"For the fiscal year 1915 congress !
ppropriated for the war department
1853 900 900; for the fiscal year 1916,
203l000. 600; for the fiscal year 1917,
400 900 900; for the fiscal year 1918,
',527, ,338,716. In other words, taking {
BIS as a normal year, the appropria-
ons for 1918 are nearly fifty times 4
3 great.
War Department Given Tenth.
"The regular appropriations made |,
Y congress for all government pur-
oses for the fiscal year 1915 were :
720, 000, 900, or nearly one-tenth the
,1S appropriations for the war de-
artment alone.
"Of the total war department ap-
ropriations for 1918, $3,20O.000,000