The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-01-28
100000 MEN
tContiued from Page Two.)

No army could be raised in any
country, the secretary contended,
diseases All that could be done was
to provide every means of science to
meet that danger. That he insisted
was being done.
How Enfield Was Chosen.
Taking UP Senator Chamberlain's
attack on the ordnance bureau Mr..
Baker said that mems minds differed
about the quantity. He then disclosed
that the decision to adopt these
called rechambered Enfield rifle was
reached late one night in his office at
a conference attended by General
Pershing, who was preparing to go to
France: General Scott, chief of staff;
General Bites, assistant chief; General
Crozier, chief of ordnance, and Gen
eral Kuhn, then head of the war col
lege, and several other staff officers
experts in rifles" 1t was late in May
or early in June.
The American Springfield rifle,
Secretary Baker said,-"was admitted
ly the best military rifle developed by
any country when this decision was
reached. There were in stock 600, 900
of them.
1t was not then known, Secretary
Baker commended, whether American
troops would fight beside the British
or the French. The British used a rim
cartridge rifle of one caliber and the
French rim cartridge gun of an
other caliber. The British government
had been prepared to re-arm the en-
tire British army with the Enfield
when the war broke out in 1914. The
excellence of this weapon was SO well
known that. the British decided to re-
model their guns but the -suddenness
OF the war prevented them making the
change.
That decision made that night"
Mr. Baker added, referring to the con-
ference held at which it was decided
to change the American rifle, had
the unanimous consent of every man
at the conference
Wood Wanted Large Army.
After America entered the war. Mr..
Baker said,- Major General Wood came
to his office and advocated the neces-
sity of calling out large army Secre-
tary Baker said there were not the
clothes or arms, but General Wood
replied he knew that, but contended
the men needed to live together for
preliminary training" He told Cen
eral Wood he agreed that the army
should be assembled as rapidly as pos
sible but it was the intention to- build
up the regular army and the national
guard first and then the national
army.
Concluding his statement regarding
the decision to call many men early,
secretary BAKER SAID.
so the determination ultimately
was upon an attempt to call men
needed for training. 1t was deemed
wise to put men into camp to learn
living and essentials of a soldiers life
a little in advance before they be fully
supplied with arms"
Regarding Chamberlain's, statement
that rifles originally sent to camp
were a "motley collection. Secretary
Baker said he did not object to the
term, but that the facts were that I'VE
had about 100000 Springfield rifles
and something over 100000 Krags."
Germans Best Prepared in World.
..The German army, best Prepared
in. the world, he added, furnished
an obsolete rifle for practice until
men learn to take care of better
weapon
that the question was decided infaln-
bly. 1t might have been better to
have used the English Enfield but L
do mean to say it was decided con-
scientiously that now every man in
this country intended to carry rifle
had one, and az rifle Of better quality
than if we had adopted the existing
type at the time
Thirty,Two Camps in Q. s.
There are now in the United States
sixteen national army camps and six
teen national guard camps (thirty-
two divisions of troops> filed with
men ready to co. said Secretary Ba-
ker. Il do not know how fast it may
be necessary to send them to France"
he said. 81 know how fast we have
sent them and how fast we plan to
send them. What we tried to do was
to get the men out as rapidly as we
could estimate on the production ca
pacity of the country being able to
care for them
I'VE had a limited amount of ar
tillery and our first STEP" the. secre-
tary said, was to speed up that al