Evening star., 1918-01-27
DATA
MAY ROUT CHARGES
Newton D. Baker ''on War
PATH" Friends of U. S.
War Head Declare.
WILL PRODUCE RECORDS

! Secretary of War Newton D. Baker.
| who trained in argumentative oratory
| and political debate under Mayor Tom
| L. Johnson of Cleveland. is going to re-
vert to type and make a speech on his
| own behalf.
Tentative arrangements were made at
| the Capitol yesterday to give Secretary
Baker such a hearing as he asked Of
the Senate military committee-one at
which all senators and representatives
| who desire can be presently holding
| the session in a room large enough for
| the purpose and not in the small COM
mittee room.
! He has been preparing the speech for
two days. He may or may not have
| large audience, for his request to have
a chance to deliver it to the sembled
members of the Senate and the House
has not yet been officially granted. But
it will have a carrying power just now,
through the press, that will be nation
wide. 1t will reach multitude far big
ger than those crowds that used to as
semble out in Cleveland to hear this
promising and gifted" young man,
as they called him. who wasxhe under
study of the rugged JohnssA.
Will Bring Records.
Secretary Baker himself admitted
last evening that his answer to Senator
Chamberlain's arraignment of the War
Department would not be a statement.
read to the Senate military affairs COM
mittee, and given out beforehand for
release when delivered"
He will appear in the small committee
room at 1890 o'clock tomorrow morn
ing, armed with data and records. but
what he will say will not~50 in the
form of the cut and dried matter
which he gave to the committee when
he was before it the week before last.
There was every indication that Sec
retary Baker was going to the Capitol
tomorrow with plenty of fight in him"
as one of his friends expressed it, and
"if they want a debate up there Baker
win hold up his end Of the argument"
this same friend declared.
To Reveal Facts.
The Secretary also admitted last
evening he intended not only to answer
the remarks of Senator Chamberlain,
hut to present many facts about condi-
tions of training here and abroad which
hitherto have not been disclosed He
will not venture upon ground which
would be considered a disclosure of
military secrets. but he will illuminate
has been untraversed because the War
Department did not encourage news
papers to tread its paths.
sidelight the Secretary's mat
ter-of-fact attitude toward the achieve
ments of the department during the
war was furnished yesterday by man
| in close touch with the administration.
1t has been his deliberate purpose to
adhere to the Presidents keynote of
some months ago that this is a grim
business" and there has been no effort
to cast any false glamour about war
making for its own sake. It was stated
/ n Io do
might explain much of the unwilling
ness of administrative officials includ-
/, ing the Secretary. to glorify or idealize
the business" of war preparation.
Promised to Give Names.
1t was learned last night that secre-
tary Baker yesterday had telephone
conversation with Senator Chamber
lain in which the latter promised to
give him the names of the writer's Of
the letters which the senator read in
his speech on Thursday just as soon as
the writer's permission for the dis
closure is obtained
The Secretary desires the names to
check up with similar reports he has
had about isolated cases Of inetficiency
among medical officers which resulted
in reprimands or dismissal of these of
| ficers. Two such dismissals were re-
ported only yesterday.
Only yesterday another step was
taken in the quartermaster's depart
ment. now under Maj. Gen George w.
Goethals. to cut away red tape and
effect complete reorganization Of
! that office. The significant thing about
the reorganization plans announced by
Gen. Goethals, it was stated, was in the
supplanting of several Army officers by
civilians trained in business, where the
Apsitions seemed to call for such train
Ing rather than for military experts.