Republican farmer., 1918-04-12

NaSl1nRIOn, ADrll O.-ln0 1lISL dl1 niversary of the entrance of the Uni ted States into the war finds the great resources Of the country just coming into the struggle but rapidly being prepared. the achievements of the first year are chiefly divided between the army, which has been supplying and training fighting forces; the Navy which has been hunting the submar- inc and conveying troops and sup plies to Europe, the Shipping Board which has been building merchant marine and the Treasury which has been advancing credits to the Allies. In all other departments of the gov ernment there has been a tremendous effort to bring all the force of the country's resources Ntd power to the aid of the actual fighting machine. For military reasons it is not per missible to state the exact number of American troops in France with General Pershing's expedition, but Secretary Baker, in recent testimony before the Senate Military Commit tee predicted half a million men | would be there early this year and that another million would be reaoy l to go during the year.
 American troops have taken up several positions on the fighting line | in France, have occupied a sector ot | their own northwest of Foul, ana have had numerous encounters with 1 the Germans. Official statements I from British and German army head 1 quarters have shown that certain | American fighting forces were thrown ] into the battle brought on by the great German offensive this spring | the British war office first reporting
 them as fighting shoulder to shoulder
 with the British and French troops in the vicinity of Rove.
 By referring to the combined forces
 of the regular army and nationa
 guard a year ago, and comparing thu
 strength of the regular army now the National Guard mustered into
 Federal service, and the men of tht first draft in cantonments, 1t is ap parent that the total number O ready fighting men has been increas ed from a meagre two hundred thous
 and to something like million an'
 half, with about ten million mel
 registered under the draft still avail
 able for calls to the colors.
 Military experts have estimated that should the war be prolonged an it become necessary for the Unite' States to assume the burden of car
 rying on the conflict an army of fiv million men would not be improb able. The immense and sudden ex pansion of the army has not bee without criticism but, it is declare this was expected in the conversio into a fighting force of a nation tra ditionally welded to the pursuits o peace.
 The expansion of the naval force has been characterized in Congres by many as praiseworthy. The exac
 details, here too, are shrouded in SC crecy as military measure, but is well known that an emergency wa building program has been pushe . with such rapidity that the Unite
 States is we'll on the way to a plac
 second only to Great Britain as
 naval force, and that in destroyer , alone-most proved and deadly wear on of the submarine-the navy b next year will have the greatest flee
 on the seven seas. Since the Unite States went to war, the navy hs placed contracts for practically ; thousand vessels, and beside that too , charge of repairing the seized Gel
 man and Austrian ships damaged
 their crews at the orders of the Gel
 man government.
 The case of the great liner Water
 land. now the United States Ship Lt
 viathon, is a fair example of the eff
 ciency and speed with which the ns
 val engineers conducted that worl
 When the Germans finished the \ work of destruction the Vaterland \ commander remarked he would tah } his hat off to the Americans wh
 could put the ship In shape in tin
 to be~of any service.