Evening star., 1918-07-14

It is to the military sias of AmsF-
ica's contribution that most minas
will turn at this memsnt Whst v'il
Q million American soldiers msan p
this crisis in the world wars Wasl
viii they mean In the rsstortng oi
the balance between the Germsn ana
his opponents on the western paet!e-
front, the balance destroyed by tne
collapse Of Russia7
We have sent million men to France
aud they are q solid fact on French soil.
but vs cannot reckon that We have sent
a million fighting msn across the ocean
or that all Of the hghttng men who
have crossed srs yet In ltns Or rsses
for service.
What 10000 1Esp Msans-
told by ths War Dspsstmsnt that Of
the million some So Per cant may ne
counted e Aghtipg msu,. and this
would mean $4,000 men. Add to this
total the number sent IN the two
weeks that hsvs psssed since TBS az
nouncement wa. a msaS; nn fSS fhss w Ha.aiiis me
day. there are In France three-quar-
ters Of a million Americans ready or
destined soon to be ready to appear
in the lighting line. :,
This means that we have now IN
France an army gnose VINO ,,ot ofsarifSe at fSe
ssnsh .sy STsiasF II psaes saes .me
than half as strong as the mass
which Germany hurled at France In
the NaFne campaign and three quar-
tsrs Is strong - the French army
which defeated the German nid 70.
supreme victory Sss"ssh ssIL anu
Have Seen Battle Service.
Now. of this three-quarters Of a
a0e, have been organized into the
\, hrst American Army, and this Army
really formidsbie force. since It In
ciudes all Of the troops which have
been longest tn. in Frsns. q o, sIs ncss. y como Ono
| have had the best training and the
most experience. It includes the list
Division, which has given good &C,
| count Of itself in several sectors and
won the smart little success At Can
We have, then. given the allies-our
ferior to the best Of the British and
French armies, 10 resource Of great
Importance. In addition, We may
apoa .on1 fo5s aSs
| British and French units, getting its
| training on the firing line and con-
tributing nightly to relieving the
| strain upon the older troops. All
things considered, this army may be
Of the Kitchener armies, which came
out after Ypres and got Its bloody and
bitter training on the line, but held
Its share Of that line.
Ready to Fight In Month.
There remain 25e,eeo troops which
are stin lacking in the necessary
training In France, which serves as .
post-graduate course for our gradu-
ates of the home camps. But
eIperience has already shown in
| France that month after they
land our American troops can
| be sent to the front-that is. to a
quiet sector-provided that they are
ish units. Thus 1t Ia not too much
to say that by the middle Of August
| we shall have two armies of $780,
600 each on the lfns. IL 1t be decided
to use them in separate formation. or.
troops capable of taking thsir piace
in two armies Of this Size. And by
the middle of September We shan
| have three.
with these preliminary remarks
let us now get back to the main
question, What effect has America
contribution had upon the numerical
balance between the Germans and
thsir opponents In Fraaeaf
German Strength In West.
Now we have certain things to guide
US. No allied report has placed more
than 2oe German dtvisions on the
western front up to the present mo-
ment. although there have been
credible reports that before the cam
psign Vas over st least aaI would
| reckonsd ut $4,000 men, and Ses d.
| visions would thus mean around
| S,5AB, ,a0e men. Add another 3s0, zoe
and the brute strength Of the German
| thrusting power for the present cam
paiEn would be 3,7se, 900 men. but it Is
well to bear In mipa that no more
than 100000 have yet been &C
| c0unted for, and not al Of these, by