New-York tribune., 1918-03-30

IL
home.
On June Is, scarcely two months after
our entrance into war, General Pershing
and his staff arrived in France, and on July
the first division of American soldiers
reached the land of Lafayette and Rocham-
! beau.
Every in the expeditionary force
had to have supplies for six months, so that
each 100000 represented an equipment for
100000. These demands upon equipment
and supplies had to be met first Of all. In
the processes of training armies at home
the lnadequaclcs due to considering war
as an emergency and not as an abiding ma
tional purpose were reduced to minimum
of temporary physical discomfort and the
tools Of the fighting forces were sent pri-
marlly where the fighting forces were.
What those tools amount to can be best
indicated by the fact that the appropria-
tions for the War Department for the fiscal
year 1917 amounted to S403 600 and for
1918 to $7,527 ,338716, and Of this sum $4,-
756,50O,0OO was allotted to the Ordnance
Bureau An amount equal to three times
the ordinary annual expenditure of the gov
ernnlent for all purposes thus placed
at the disposal of a department which in
April, 1917, numbered only 81 officers It's
personnel has been increased to more than
5000 officers and 10000 enlisted men,
The scale on which ordnance operations
are being conducted may be appreciated
from the fact that deliveries of rifles for
the United States forces are now being
made at a rate of 600 Il week, which is
su11lcient to equip three army divisions
Deliveries in quantity of the new Browning
hight machine gun began IN February and
VIII reach the maximum rate in June, when
week. The heavier machine gun, the Colt
Browning, has been delayed a week or two
longer than the light gum The heavier gun
IN government test fired 10000 shots in
forty-elght minutes without mafunction
The Shipping Board. facing task of un-
paralleled magnitude and complicated bv
every difficulty, now has undsr way a nro-
gramme that promises to meet our needs.
At the time of the Congressional inyesti-
CATION OF the board Mr.. Hurley reported
tnae shad under construction 1927 ships
OF S5To,108 dead weight TONS Four hun
dred and thrty-one of these were shins
commandeered on the stocks from private
owners, Tor whom they were being built at
the time the board took over the shipp;np
business OF the country. Of the new shins
contracted for by the board through it's
Fleet Corporation, $50 are steel, 379 wood
ana % composite
The board has had about 50 900 900 900 to
work with. A most important part of its
labors SO far has been devoted to the OK
tension Of advice and financial assistance to
1ofty-two different shipyards. Ships are
building on the boards own contracts in
ITO yards, only thirty-six of which wore in
existence at the beginning of 1917 Reoui-
sltloncd ships are building in TWENTY-FIVE
additional yards
hope that a large part of the programme
under construction cav he finished this wear
rests on such facts as that on the Pacific
Coast hulls have been rushed to completion
in sixty-four days
Two great Liberty loans have been
launched. The first called for $4,000
100000, and more than $4,000 900 900 was
subscribed; the second for So 900 100000.
and almost $4,000 100000 was pledged. OF
these amounts, nearly $4,000 0O0O 900 have
been loaned already to other nations at war
with the imperial German government.
That we might discharge our duty to the
peoples OF other countries by sharing our
supplies with them generously and honest
ly, food control act was passed on August
10, and it is in efficient operation. The
1000 administration has been successful in
Sta0loS
ment to Europe. This is the primary Oh
ject of its existence But it has also dono
work OF vital Importance in keeping the
prices of commodities such as bread. mear
and sugar much below what they would be
under free competition
On December 26, 1917, the announcement
was made that the railroads of the United
States had been taken over bv tho yovern-
ment to be operated under Secretary Nc
Adoo as Director General. Thus n system
OF 26o,000 miles of railway, formerly in the
control of AL distinct corporations. h,s
been brought together under the manapc-
ment Of single head
The fuel administration has rro,on+o,
profteerng in coal, adjusted labor nron-
lems IN the mines SO as to prevent strikos
ana so distributed fuel that the most nr.ss
ing needs were first supplied The admin
istratlon has been forced to STRUGGLE with
the coidest weather the country has suf.
tered IN many years 1t was compelled bv
railway and port congestion and nv tho
pressing needs of Europe to issue in mid
winter a Monday closing order agoinst al,
but vital industries As result of +h;ss
order, within twelve days 49O shins. carrv-
ing 2,oVo,oO0 tons of food fuel and rnuni
lions' were coaled and sent from our norts
'ne stoppage was removed from the stroan,
OF traffic, freight congestion was ro]ievod
and the supply of coal to-factorics was 70
sumed
The nations satisfaction in these achieve
ments, heightened as it may we'll be bv the
expressions of appreciation from those ma
tions who await our aid in the great strug-
gle, is fundamentally not in the thin@s
done but IN the larger purpose for which
they are DONE 1t must not slacken our cf
forts in graphing with the greater tasks
yet before us 1t should not be diminished
by the unthinling. whose standards of mil;-
tNrY nrcna "a tinn md aclai