davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29

The verbatim report on the impor
tant phases OF Mr.. Bakers testimon.
follows:
II am, Of course. grateful 70 the
committee for permission to make a
comprehensive statement at this time"
said Mr.. Baker. "for one reason and
smother the impression has gone out
least, that the War Department has
fallen down in addressing itself to
the task Of conducting this war.
want TO address myself to .hat ques-
ton.
There are severa. reasons why I
should ask you to hear me on that
question. In the first place, the coun-
try is entitled to know whether that
IS fact, and in knowing whether it
IS fact the country is entitled to
know what this war is. what its prob
taken to meet those problems.
"ln the second place, have a deep
sense of obligation to the officers OF
The army and to the civilians who have,
from the beginning of this difficulty,
labored in q way which certainly. in
my experience. has never been eaualled,
with devotion. self-sacrfice. zeal.
spenulnS sieepiess nights and tlreless
days in an effort to bring the organi-
zation of this great army and its use
IN military enterprise up most
rapidly and effectively.
II have seen strong and grizzled
men of the army turn away from my
desk to hide tears when they were
asked to stay IN this country and do
organization work here instead of
going to France, where the glory of
their profession lay; and yet l have
never known one Of them to hesitate
for second to obey the order, nor
has there been any lack Of quality in
The work which any Of them has done
by reason OF his natural ambition to
be on the field Of battle rather than
IN an administrative task. and of the
great company Of civilians who have
come to Washington from all over the
united States, laying down their pri-
Vate business and working in season
and out of season on thic I'm do rt NO
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29

resentatives and unofficial spectators in
the crowded room could sec him. Hc
rose to sort of crescendo at the end
of which was given with much oratori-
cal effect. When he was through soma
Senators congratulated him privately.
and he responded to each one person. i.
ally in voice full Of feeling.
Mr.. Baker is a good speaker, and he
touched on moving things knowingly
All the eNcellences Of the thing which
Mr.. Chamberlain said had fallen
had their share of the speakers
enoqucncc. He spoke OF the spirit
of The army. He said Strong, grizzled
men turned away from my desk in
tears when they found they could not
so to France, where the glory of the
profession lay, but must remain in
Washington to press forward war
preparations. There was no case, he
added of any officer who had not ac
cepted his duty with his whole heart.
Men Of high places in civil life
throughout the country, he said. had
come to Washington to accept salaries
Of office boys; many no salary at all;
to place their experience at the dis
posal of the nation.
"Gentlemen," he said speaking with
great earnestness, at woul dbe tragi-
cal thing if this momcntous. effort were
to deserve the comment that 1T had
fallen down.
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29
Action Just Before
Gen. Pershi1,g Sailed

Senator New: "Can YOU give the
date, MIR. Sccretary?"
Secretary Baker: "[ cannot give the
0atc, Senator, but it must have been
very shortly before General Pershing
went abroad. should say about the
first of June. | am not certain of that
Perhaps Senator Warren could tell
that"
Senator Warren; "Thc last Of May"
Secretary Baker: "Pcrhaps it was a
week before he went abroad. He was
here altogether, | think, some eight or
ten days. studying the whole condition
III the War College, preparatory to his
going away.
1--WE did not know then, as | shall
illustrate a little later to the commit
tee, whether our army was to fight with
the French or with the English. The
mode Of our military operations was
not determined The excellence Of our
weapon was so we'll known that just
before the outbreak Of this war, the
British government had decided to re-
model its weapon and rearm its army,
and they were on the point Of manu-
featuring a modification Of their own
Enfield rife, which would use a rim
less cartridge, and thus obviatc the
possibility of jamming in the weapon
and make it better weapon. 1t was
only that the war broke out so sud-
denly that compelled the immediate
need OF equipment supplementing that
which they had, and, fearing the con-
fusion of using q new weapon in con-
junction with their old weapon, that
they decided TO adhere to their Enfield
rife.
"'rhat conference considered every
aspect of this question, and it was
finally decided to use our own Spring.
field rifle. and to procure modification
of the Enfield, which would allow it to
be chambcred for American ammuni-
ton, in order to get the advantage Of
the large and organized anufacturing
facilities already built up in this coun-
and that decision, made that night, had
person in the conference. The Master
OF the Army War College, with his tech
meal advisers and experts; the Chief
of staff and his assistants, and the
commanding general Of the expedition
ary force. whose ary and its usefulness
were at stake, were present. When we
undertook. to remodel the Enfield rifle
it was discovered. although there were
three plants in this country manufac-
would not fit the rifle from another
factory. Instantly the question arose
Of procuring nterchangeability in the
rifles produced. At the outset it was
thought some eight or nine interchange
able parts would be enough. Later it
seemed advisable to increase that num-
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29

10 great thing greatly" which he
thought was the source of much Of
he criticism.
The mistakes cited in Senator Cham
berlain's speech, Secretary Baker de-
clared. gave disproportionate view.
Without intent, he said. the effect Of
the Senator's speech was to give the
country the impression that the defici-
cncy "were characteristic rather than
occasional" He said he was not there
TO defend individuals or deny delays
and false starts.
"Rut | think ! can say in confidence
that we have sought the remedy"
After America entered the war,
Mr.. Baker said, General Wood came
20 his office and advocated the necessity
of calling out a large army. Secretary
Baker said there were not the clothes
or arms. but General Wood replied he
knew that. but contendcd the men
needed to live together for preliminary
training
He told General Wood he agreed that
the army should be assembled as rapid
ly as possible. but it WAS the intention
% build up the regular army and the
National Guard first and then the Ma
tionai army.
The speech, it is only fair to call it
that. for the Senator's seldom inter
rupted. was emotional. The speaker
stood up where all the Senators, Rep
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29
Would Sho1u Errors
"Merely Incidents

"And if | may venture, with very
great respect to the chairman and to
the committee, to suggest 1t, 1t seemed
to me at the time read that speech
that perhaps the feeling | would have
about it was this: That without the
intention Of the chairman and without
anybody's intention, its effect might be
to have the country feel that the par
ticular difficulties and delays referred
10 by the chairman were characteristic
rather than exceptional, and l want
therefore TO address myself to those
Incidents which were pointed out by the
chairman in his address to the Senate
and sec whether l cannot place them in
a light which will show that rather
than being CHARACTERISTIC they are in
fact instances OF shortcomings, but
only instances.
"lf l may say one personal word, and
one only, Tor it is the only one want
to say, l should like TO say that for
some reason, which ] do not under
stand, when | appeared before your
committee in these hearings with the
intention Of being frank. weighed down
as | have been ever since | have been
Secretary of War by accumulating diff
1!culties in that department and with
the utmost desire to aid this committee
to develop all that it wanted to know
and all that there was, l seem yet to
have left, at least upon the minds Of
some members of the committee a feel
ing that ! was fencing and defending
the actions of my subordinates when
that was not my intention.
II am here, if l can, to make a com
pendious statement of this whole stua
ton; and ii there be, as doubtless there
will be and ought to be. other phases
of the War Departments work which
your comYittee desires to go into, |
trust you will go into it thoroughly;
and when you have uncovered any
shortcoming or defect l need not tell
you that if you bring it to my atten-
tion | will do all | can, and that speed
lily and without fear or favor of any
person. to correct, adjust and i'm
prove it.
"Thc chairman Of the committee read
TO the Senate two letters dealing with
instances Of neglect Of the dead.
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29
tho sildicr's life a little in advance
of their being fully tried with arms"
Clues Figures
On Machine Guns

Mr.. Baker then read from a report
on machine guns as follows:
"'Thc distribution of machine guns
to the national draft camps have been
as follows: Thirty Colt machine guns
to each camp, IS Lewis machine guns,
d. Chauchat automatic rifles; distribu-
tion Of machine guns to the National
Army cantonments, 80 Colt guns each,
65 Lewis machine guns, 45 Chauchat
rifles to each camp.
"1n addition to those mentioned, ten
Lewis guns have been issued to each
regular cavalry regiment and ten
fantry ctically all of the
above before the troops were ready for
them-that is, about November l." He
continued:
"Now, freely, that is not an adequate
supply, but it is some machine guns
which the machine gun companies may
practice with and learn the mechanism
and mechanics of these arms, and the
supply will be forthcoming as the re-
suit Of this quantity manufacturing
which has been arranged for"
Senator Hitchcock: at does not state
Mr.. Secretary, that these guns were
sent to each camp?
Secretary Baker: Eyes, sir; it says
so; to each camp"
Senator Hitchcock "But not all of
them before November /, Mr.. Secrc-
tary."
Secretary Baker: "The statement
made by General Wheeler is that prac-
tically all of the above were shipped
before the troops were ready for them
that is, about November T."
Senator Hitchcock: "Shipped?"
Secretary Baker: "Yes."
Senator Wadsworth: "Does that in
clude the 1900 machine guns that we
found in the testimony were in stor-
ape?"
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29
Secretary Quizzed
On Guns Held Back

Secretary Baker: "Obviously net.
Those have since been shipped"
Senator Wadsworth: ON other words,
Mr.. Secretary, onc-half of the number
of Lewis machine guns mentioned there
were not shipped to the camps until
January?"
Secretary Baker: "rhat seems to be
so, sir"
p Senator Wadsworth: "And the ex-
preston almost ALI is scarcely accu-
rate"
Secretary Baker: "Well, if 7 have
been guilty of the least inaccuracy I
trust it will be called to my attention"
Senator Wadsworth: "I understood
it was the language Of the letter"
Senator Warren: 81 suggest that tn .
Secretary is reading what another Of
ticcr has written to him; he is not
using his language"
' Secretary Baker: THAT is so. Sena-
tor. and yet the evidence which is be-
fore the committee shows that there
WAS some 1,2O0 machine guns which
had not been distributed at the time of
my appearance before the committee
which was in January. and those guns
have since been distributed. But NV
recollection about that-and speak
only from refreshed recollection-is
that at the time l reported to you about
that, ! learned and told you that these
guns had not been in stock very long,
but were quite recently delivered-lcss
than month in stock"
Senator Reed: "Since we have brok
en- in with All interruption. 1 only ask
to get an expression in the first in
stance, or have an expression repeated
so that | would understand it, and that
has led to these questions: The state
ment is made there that those guns
reached the camps before they we're
needed substantially; that is the ex-
PRESTON"
Secretary Baker: Substantially that
before they were ready for them"
Senator Reed: "One thing further.
A statement there is made that these
guns were shipped; it does not say they
had arrived" N'
Secretary Baker: "No, sir"
Senator Reed: "Do you have anv in
tormation as to when they did arrive o,
Secretary Baker: 81 have not got in
formation with me. There was doubt
less delay i'll shipping because of the
general congestion and delay in the
country"
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29
The Family Doctor
In Army Hospitals

He has formed around him a staff
the like of which probably does not
exist on the face Of the earth for de-
vising hospitals, devising an organiza
ton and supervising its perfection, and
when one considers that the casual and
usual DOCTOR here and there, whose
attention has been devoted to the treat
ment Of individual cases, under home
conditions, under the necessities OF
this situation thrown into great Or
eanizatIon, where he is compelled to
deal with hospital conditions and
groups of men and sanitation on a
large scale; while it may be. and is.
deeply to be regretted that there
SHOULD even be the necessity of inl-
provement. yet the direction of this
great medical staff Of men, the zeal
and loyalty and patriotism and ef-
hclency of the medical profession, are
an at work rapidly improving it. and
the Improvement already wrought is
very great.
"Thc second set Of difficulties which
You discussed with regard 20 the War
Department were those affecting the
supply OF ordnance. In my previous
hearing before the committee we went
INTO that with great fulness: clearly
there are things about the supply Of
munitions of war about which men,;
minds may differ. Not merely the rcla
i've excellence Of certain weapons, but
tie extent to which speed Of procure.
ment should be sacrificed for excellence
Oh performance when procured, arc
questions OF Judgment. and their so]u
h.A
ance one can secure.
The first question of that kind
winch arose affected the selection of
a rlle Tor the army, one involving
the calibre Of the rife The situation
was that the English were using rifle
with trimmed cartridge of one calibre
and the French were using a rife with
a trimmed cartridge Of another calihre
We. in America, had, admittedly the
best rifle so far developed in any mil
ltary service, the Springfield. using
q rimless cartridge, and we had Of
those weapons something like 500
700 IN stock and in the hands of troops.
inns was early IN the spring. The
question had bee ninvestigated prior
TO that time, III order that there might
be summary view Of the possibilities
OF rapid procurement of various types
W i'itNa, anu lnaIiN the ChOlce OF Il
weapon was decided in my Office. as
near as my recollection holds, at night.
at about | o'clock. and there were
present in that conference General
Crozier. the chief of ordnance; Gen
eral Scott, the chief of staff General
blss. the assistant chief Of staff. and
General Kuhn, the chief of the Army
War College. and one or two other
tfticerS associated with the War Col
lege. the Ordnance Department experts
on the subject of rifles. and General
Pershing
AT that time General Pershng had
been selected as the commander in
ch'ef OF our forces ultimately to be
dispatched to France, and as he was
TO command the army and was to use
the forces. it seemc,t an especially
fortunate circumstance, that he should
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29
France Offers Us
"75" Type of Guns

Senator Hitchcock: "Was that after
she had her ministry of munitions, Mr..
Secretary?"
Senator; do not know. Well, there was
our situation; we had limited amount
OF artillery. The first step taken by
the War Department was to attempt
to speed up the artillery which we al
ready had in process Of manufacture.
Here again, however, we come in con-
flct, or come into contact, with two
theories of the use of artillery. The
French use very large quantities of
the 75-millimetre type. Their barrage
is made by enormous quantities of 75-
millimetre fire. The British had field
howitzer of larger calibre for that eff
feet.
owe did not know then the relative
merits of either. We had reports from
our observers; we had experts opinions,
but now we were down to the place
where we had to choose for ourselves.
And | shall show in a moment, our
attempt to do that was by sending over
to France the abiesJ men we had, to
determine it on the ground in consul
tation with men who were making and
using these relative types of weapons;
but in the meantime, we allowed no
hndrance to be proposed in attempting
to speed up the production of our prac-
tlcal types of weapons.
"But very early, perhaps in June, i.
was estimated to us that the French
had SO far accelerated their industry Il.
order to procure their initial supply;
that the wastage of their use would
not consume or occupy their Industrial
capacity. and that, therefore, it would
be possible for them to supply such
troops as we could get to France, with
in limits, with artillery of their manu-
facture and of the kind they were
using. That question was very actively
taken up at once. Mr. Tardier was
here. He had for eight months, think.
said in his letter, been connected with
munitions production in France: he
knew that subject. General Crozier.
and he had many conferences about it,,
and on the l4th of July, or perhaps the
l3th, an agreement was reached where
by the French government undertook to
supply us with quantities of the two
principal pieces used, according to their
theory of artillery use, namely, the
70 mlllimeter field guns and the los
milllmeter rapid-fre howitzers."
Chlef Examiner rated DR.. I.arLin.
NOW, was the confident expectation
OF everybody in this country that the
sending OF troops in large numbers to
rance vas thing in the somewhere
remote future. That was in july"
Senator Reed: "If understand Won.
the view that the War Department took
was this: that France had been obliged
IN order to supply her own forces
rapidly to build factories of greater
capacity than she needed, after once
her troops had been suppliedo
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29
America could contribute most to the
early winning Of this war.
Says Allies Had
Surplus Ordnance

Zone of the answers to that question
was that the more rapid expedition of
troops to Europe was part of the
answer, and they asked at once of their
associates in conference: "Wlsat about
further supplies Of artillery and arth-
lery ammunition ?" And there, in the
high military councils of those two ma
tions, the matter was discussed, and it
was agreed that both Great Britain and
France had surplus ordnance, surplus
ordnance ammunition, and surplus
ordnance capacity: that Great Britain
was i'll exactly the same state that
France was.
~ have seen in the newspapers state
mcnts that this taking OF ammunition
from France is putting her TO greater
effort than she ought to undertake. I
say to you that General Joffre and his
associates, who were here; Mr.. Tardier
the French High Commissioner; the
British representative, General Bridges,
and his associates, when they were here
on hat mission don't remember
whether | spoke with Lord Northciiffc
on this subject or not-but all Of the
persons who have come to this country
with any knowledge on that subject.
and General Bliss, who went to Europe
to study that subject on the ground,
bring US the confident and positive as
surancc that we are not only not TAX
ing from France and Great Britain
things which they need, but that we
are helping them to maintain their
processes, that We are using the ia
cilitics which they have organized in
order to meet need, that we are saw
ing tonnage, that we are expeditng
the arming of our own forces. and that
we are making properly co0rdnated
and co0perated effort of military
character with our allies in this war
bv this process
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29
"People Impatient
To Hit Like a Man,

1t would be tragical if this tre-
mendous effort, this wholly unprece-
dented sacrifice mad by men were in
fact to tu1n out to deserve the COM
ment that it had fallen down
Il have not the least doubt that such
currency, as that feeling has gotten, is
due IN large part to the tremendous
lmpatience of the American people TO
do this great thing greatly; every one
demonstrate the thing which we know
to be true, that our country is great
and strong, and, in cause like this,
VIII mt like man at the adversary
which has attacked us. And always
there is between the beginning Of
preparation and the final demonstra
ton or its success period Of cues
tionng, when everybody, you and / and
everybody else, goes through searchings
OF heart to find out whether all has
been done that could have been or that
ought to have been done.
"Whethcr anything remains that can
be done, and we look bavll over the past
and realize that there have been delays
and that there have. been shortcomings; ;
mat there have been things which might
have been done better. In so great an
enterprise it is impossible for frank
ness not to find those things.
But our effort is to learn from them
not TO repeat, to strengthen where
there needs Strengthening; to supple
ment where there needs supplementing
Now ! want to say at the outset
that have no bias in favor of individ-
uals. The issue Of this is far too large
for any prejudice or favoritism to any
individual, and when | discuss it, if I
shall discuss individuals by name,
whether it be General Crozier or Cen
eral Sharpe. or if | refer to myself
| want it understood that the appear
ance of any one of us in the casualty
list any morning is q negligible mat
ter as contrasted with the success OF
TINS enterprise. and am not here
either to defend individuals, including
myself, nor am | here to deny delays
mistakes, shortcomings OF false starts,
New-York tribune., 1918-01-29
Says Crozier Urged
Quick-Firiirg Cannon

"And yet, continuously from 1906.
the expert of the army on that question
was saying to the Secretary OF War
and to Congress and the Secretaries S
OF War have changed both in person
and in political affiliation, if that
amounts to anything, several times
since these original recommendations
were made-General 'Crozier was say
ing TO you and to us that it takes Il
iong time to make artillery, that artil-
lery is getting to be weapon of in
creasing Importance and urging that
there be ample production for more
down in the Treat Board report.
II have letter before me from
Mr.: Tardier, and perhaps ! may be per
mItted to read it. 1t is written to Mr.
baruch and not o me. You will find
here few figures and further infor.
nation concerning which I told YOU
tho. other day When war began Franco
had at her disposal guns Of artillery
calibre about 80 centimetres, or 3.S
inches, but of these only 140 were quicl
1lrlng, that is, really adapted to moderr
warfare; 272 only of these guns, will
their personnel, were organized in regi
ments. The balance were located ir
fortresses and fixed empacements
There was a period during which The
activity Of our war ministry on heavy
artillery was limited to the equipment
and formation into batteries of heavy
fortress artillery. 1t was an error, as
modern warfare requires quick firing
heavy artillery; but as every was con
vnced of the short duration Of the
war, it was wrongly thought that it
was not necessary to start with tho
manufacture of quick firing, modern
ordnance
III shall not read that schedule, but
will read the dates when France, the
very seat of the conflict, with her en-
envy at her throat, with the demonstra-
ton of the character of warfare now
being adopted. that it was the massing
Of heavy artillery that ultimately was
to determine the integrity oe the Hin
denburg line. With that before her
minds eye, France gave orders for
heavy, quick-fring artillery in Septem-
Der and December, 1914, and January
April, September, October and Decem
ber, 1915, and in January, 1916; and
the largest order she gave on any of
these dates, except one, was the latest
order, in January, 1915. after the wa,
had progressed substantially year and
ha alfn