The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-01-10
AMERICANS IN FRANCE READY
 FOR THE FIGHT
Secretary Baker in State ment to Senate Tells Our
 War Status.
(Continued from Page 1.)

The secretary gave the committee In outline of the work of the depart nent and it's various aRlreaus.
 "On the first day of April, 1917, the regular army" he said, "com- prised 5,791 officers and 121,797 en- listed men; the national guard in fed eral service, approximately S,733 off, eers and 76,713 enlisted men; and he reserve 4,O0O enlisted men. There were also at that time approximately L575 officers in the reserve, but as !hese were on inactive duty they can not properly be considered in esti- mating the strength of the army of | the United States at that time. On he s1st day of December, 1917, the | regular army consisted of 10,250 off, cers and 475, ,00O enlisted men; the national guard of 16.OS1 officers and aO0,90O enlisted men; the national lrmy of 4S0,000 men; and the reserve of S4,575 officers and 72,750 enlisted | men. In other words, in nine months l the increase has been from 9,524 off, hcers to 110,856 officers, and from | lo2,51e to 1,42S, $50 men. '@The total number already in the | military service is one and a half | times as large as any force ever mob l 1iZed by this nation. 'A substantial part of our military forces was selected by the operation of a draft law, the execution of which has demonstrated both the economi- cal and the efficient way of selecting soldiers
 'HFor the training of officers two series of training camps were held, from which about 45,000 officers were commissioned from civilian life. This number is nearly eight times as great as the number of officers in the reg ular army of the first day of April.
 For the training of these soldiers 16 cantonments have been built, cost ing $134,OOO, ,O0O, with an average profit to the contractors of 2.9S per cent.
 '"The death rate in our forces in the United States from mid-Septembeh to the end of December averaged 7.5 per 1000. Leaving out the deaths due to measles and it's complications, our rate among all troops in the Uni ted States since September has been about two per thousand.
 '|For the fiscal year. 1915, congress appropriated for the war department S15S, 900; for the fiscal year 1916, k2o3,0oO 900; for the fiscal year 1917, k4os, ,ooO, 900; for the fiscal year 1918, b7,527. 33S,71S. In other words, talk lng 1915 as a normal year, the appro, priHtionS for 1918 are nearly 50 times As great.
 '@The regular appropriations made by congress for all governmental pur- poses for the fiscal year 1915 were e72O, ,o00, 900, Or nearly one-tenth the - ISIS approximations for the war de- partment alone.
 ~Of the total war department ap- propriations for 1918 $S,200, ,000, 900 was for the ordnance department of which contracts amounting to $1,677,- 00O,o 900 already have been placed.
 ~On the first day of April, 1917, the ordnance department consisted of 91 commissioned officers while now it consists of 3,0o4 officers and, in adjdi- ton, has 2s,12O enlisted personnel.
 "In addition to the selection and training of this new force, the making of these great contracts and the fol- low up necessary in tht manufacturing processes. a continuous study of new weapons and instrumentalities has been kept up.
 Many of the classes of ordnance material requiring to be designed, spe- nincations drawn, and contracts let, were wholly unfamiliar to our nor n1a1 military practices. The trench EEarfare material alone involves com naatments of $2s2, ,o6O, 600.
 For the quartermaster generals de partnent in 1918 $s,O18. .O0o. 900 was appropriated, or sum more than four times as great as the 1915 appropria- Hons for all governmental purposes.
 "On the first day of April there were 347 officers in the quartermaster corps. On the first day of January, 1918, there was a total Of e,4S1 off, cers.
 'on the first day of January, 1918, nearly two billion dollars of the ap- propriation had been obligated by contracts, or disbursements.
 The aviation section of the signal corps on the first day of April, 1917 consisted of 65 officers and 1 1,120 men On the first day of January, 1918, il consisted of $500 officers and 82,1zC men.
 '-rhfs division of the war depart. ment was charged by Congress with expenditure of an appropriation az. gregating for 1918 $744. 4.O0o, 900, 0, i've times the 1915 appropriation fol the entire war department.
 "rhe engineer department, foi which in 1915 $53,000, ,0O0 was ap propFiated. was charged by the 1915 appropriation with expenditures O SSso. o.0o0, 900, or about TOO per cent Increase
 '"rhere have been organized, trained End equipped technical troops of for esters, stevedores and railroad con struction and operation men, aggre gating about 12O, 600, many of whom have been operating in France fo some months''
 In summing up the war depart ment's work the secretary gave tn following as its chief accomplish nents-
 "1. A large army is in the fiel and in training; so large that furthe increments to it can be adequatei equipped and trained as rapidly a those already in training can b transported.
 ''2. The army has been enliste and selected without serious disloca tion of the industries of the countr.
 "3. The training of the army proceeding rapidly and it's spirit high. The subsistence of the arm has been above criticism; its initi; clothing supply, temporarily made Quata, is now substantially complet and reserves will rapidly accumulat Arms of the most modern and effec