The Sentinel=record., 1918-08-06
TROOP MOVEMENT TO
 RUSSIA CONCEALED
NOTHING IS GIVEN OUT BUT THAT 4 FEW THOUSAND
 WOULD BE SENT.

Washington, Aug. 5--Plans for the organization and dispatch of the American military contingent to Russia to cooperate with the forces of the allied nations, in support of the Czecho- -Slovaks at Vladiyostok are being worked out by the army general staff. Beyond the statement issued Saturday by Acting Secretary of State Polk that the American forces would be a few thousand in number" no intimation as to the size of the contingent has been given,
 At the war department today 1t was said that by next Wednesday, General March, chief of staff, would be able to give out a statement of as much of the plans as can be safely given at this time Meanwhile the rules of censorship regarding the actual movement of troops do not permit of any specific statements at this time of what is being accom- plished, but there is a good reason to believe that when General March makes his statement it will disclose the fact that it follows rather than precedes the action that has been de- termined upon, at least in some of it's leading features.
 Meanwhile there is no objection to the statement that if the military laws that govern joint action by in ternational military forces are to be observed in the case of this Siberian operation, and as these Is good req son to believe they will, the senior officer of the international force will be in supreme command. This rule prevails even where the different na- tional forces making up the joint ex- petition work on concurrent lines, though in that case the national commanders, having complete con- trol of their own forces, are bound to obey the general rules of the cam paign outlined by the supreme com mander
 In this case it is assumed that AS Japan, by reason of her proximity to the scene of action, and the excel lent condition of her army and trans port service, wifi supply the largest
 single body of troops in the under
 tkaing, and therefore following mi,i-
 tary rules would naturally assign to their command an officer of higher
 rank than those in command of the smaller American and entente forces
 in the opinion of officials here this
 officer will De General Baron Uye-
 hara, chief of staff oi the Japlness
 army.
 The fact is recalled that the only violation of this international rule of
 courtesy was on the occasion of the joint expedition against the Boxers in China, more than a decade ago. Then, the kaiser, through his con- | tlngent was less than some of the l others, rushed field marshal all the
 way from Europe to China in order. ! through his superior rank, to be able | to claim Germany's right to com | mand the expedition No such small
 statesmanship is expected to be dis :
 played on this occasion, howevei Admiral Knighg commanding the American naval forces on the Asiatic station, already is at Vlad1vostok on his flagship and is in communications twice each day with the navy de partment here. It was said that he
 would of course, cooperate fully with
 the military authorities in the execu- ton of ther program, usng for this purpose the vessels of his fleet. l It is not possible to indicate just where the American troops are 10
 come from. but in view of the known relatively small number of seasoned
 soldiers anywhere near Vladivostok, the rpincipal force must be drawn
 from distant point, which would
 seem to place the initiative in a ml- tary sense upon the nearby Japanese 1 forces.
 There VII be no armed resistance to the landing of the international soldiers at NlaGivostok as the port practically is dominated by the Jauan- csc and British military and naval forces already there. though so far these forces have not nterfered with
 the functions of the local authorities. -..-------