The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-04-01
INCREASING OUR FORCES

General Leonard Wood, who has just returned to America from an extensive triI over the European battlefelds, tells congress that the United States should begin at once to increase it's army strength to four or five million men. It is reasonable to presume that the things which General Wood found to exist in France leads him to make this reconl- mendation, and the further recommendation that at least half of the American forces should be conveyed to France as soon as pos sible In other words, he thinks that Am erica must place an American army in France numbering between two and two and one half million men.
 The adoption of such a plan calls fol serious study. The American war program cannot be centered in the army. The navy is equally as important, and the merchant ship, ping takes priority, since without a large merchant marine we cannot begin to move either large force or the supplies required to keep it up. As one of the foremost mill tary leaders of America, General Wood should be in a position to know what he is talking about If he is convinced that 5,OOO,- GOO men are needed and can produce evi- dence to support his recommendation the senate military committee is sure to give it a thorough consideration.
 We, however, have nothing like the num- Der of vessels required to supply these forces At present there are about 2,4OO,O0O tons of American shipping. In addition to this, about 100000 tons of German and Austrian shipping have been taken over Also ap- proximately 100000 tons of Dutch ship ping recently taken over and now being placed in commission. Then possibly 3OO,OOO tons of Japanese shipping is to be secured. This gives total of about 4, 4,4OO,OOO tons.
 Estimating that tons per year will keep each man supplied which is sent to France, we can now keep up an army of 880OOO men abroad, if it were all available for army shipping, which is not the case at present
 During this year Mir. Hurley expects to build 4,5OO,OOO tons of new shipping, making the total of shipping at the end of this year 0,90O,OOO tons. Estimating five tons for each man, this shipping can supply l,98OOO0 sol diers. By improvement of dock facilities both at home and in France, this can be bettered and also by taking over more lake and coast wise ships for cross seas service.
 Already the improvements to dockage ia cilities are being made under the direction of the British-American committee recently formed. This should materially shorten the waste of time occasioned by poor facilities at both ends.
 These figures, however, do not take into consideration the losses to shipping from the submarine campaign. The total additions to the worlds shipping during 1917 possibly were 3,5OOOOO tons. The Germans sunk ap- proximately 6,OOO,OOO tons leaving the world almost 2,5OO,OOO tons poorer than it was at the end of the year 1916.
 It can thus be seen that the problem comes back to the navy to reduce the subna- rine menace True, the shipping this year should be able to gain over the submarine sinkings, but this is problematical Every energy must be exerted to add patrol vessels destroyers and other efficient anti-submarine craft which will insure the safe passage o1 the merchant ships through the war zones.
 Shipbuilding can only be speeded up by the acquisition of great number of labor ers Mr. Hurley states that the capacity o1 the shipyards is not running to full power and cannot until labor is secured. Any radi cal increase in the size of American military forces must be made without interfering witt labor in shipyards and few other vital in dustries. It can readily be seen that the sug gestion of General Wood for an army of 5, 100000 men is not merely military problem but one which touches every side of the ma tion's activities, and unless it is dealt witt from this standpoint it will fail of the desired result, which is an early victory over Ger lmany.