The Nome daily nugget., 1918-03-30

-'N''i' %l''NS EVu not 1ell II proper tO let the public into your confidence with reference to these things that you 'ere telling now?"
 Senator, l confess 1 have hcstitatnd and l still hestltate," replied the Sec retary. "I have here a statement from Field Marshal von Hindenberg. in which he is quoted as saving in German newspapers, in contemptuous fashion of us, that we have advertised our preparations for this war in an unworthy manner"
 Do you think for moment Sec retary Baker" said the chairman, that there has been any time within tho last year that the German secret ser vice has not been fully advised as to everything we have done?
 Yes l knew. If l may rely upon the confidential information which we get from confidential sources the German government Is still mystified as to the number of men we have in France, or have had there at any time"
 The chairman said he doubted this. After some dlo. t,,aIUn as to the policy of governments ill announcing mili- tary secrets, Mir. Baker said it was not the policy of the American or other governments to do so and added;
 "l am saying this now, because you have asked me why l have held back these facts until now I am saying to you that you could not get from Great Britain at his moment--I don't know whether | could get--thc number of soldiers Great Britain has in Franco or at home. could get the approXma- ton; 1 could get whatever information might be deemed helpful to the im- mediate military object to be accom- plishcu, but l could not get from Great Britain or France either one the actual number of troops they have at the front.
 Tt may be that the preclutlon is unnecessary, and yet that is the pre- caution which military men have obser- we'd, and l have no further point to make in the matter of the number of troops there than to show, as l was showing, when l read that extract, that our original intention was 10 make our military effort in 1918: and in August 1917 zealous advocate of Immediate military activity laid down as the max imum obtainablc program thing which has since been multifold exceed ed.
 "Why did We decide 10 send some troops to France in 1917? It Is no secret When Marshal Joffre came to this country from France, when the British mission came from France, they told Us of situation which we had not mp to that fully appreciated. There has been in France recently conducted before that m unsuccessful major offensive.
 The French people had suffered, oh, suffered in a way that not only our language is not adapted to describe but our imagination cannot conceive. This wolf has not only been at their door but he has been gnawing for two years and a half at their vitals and when this unsuccessful offensive in France had gone on three weeks, spirit not of surrender, but of fate, about tho French people, and this mighty mill tary engine which they had seen pre- pared to overcome them for forty years was at them and their attitude was that no matter whether every French man died in his tracks, as they were willing to do, or not, that it was an , irresistible thing and so they said to us. Frankly, 1t win cheer us; it will cheer our people if you send over some of your troops
 We did send some troops.
 At this place we had q choice. We could havo sent over. as Great Britain. our regular army and in a very short preparation have put it into action and suffered exactly what Great Bri- tain suffered with her 'contemptlble little army" as it wBs called by their adversaries. Our army would have given as good an account of itself as the British army did. but it would have been destroyed like the British army. and there would have been no nuclus on which to build this new army that was to come over little later, and 1t was deemed wiser e send over reg ular division. but not to send over our whole rc,llar army at that time.