Evening journal., 1918-05-03
DISCOVERY
(From the New York Tribune.) )

Today the Secretary OF War viii lay
before Congress the Administrations
plan TO go headlong into war, with all
the country's man power.
According to Tho Associated Press
dispatch, "he is expected TO disclose
that the War Department has reason to
believe 1t can handle during the present
year at least double the existing force
under arms OF approximately 100000
men. That would mean a total OF g.
100000 soldiers for whom clothing and
equipment and transportation are now
IN sight"
The FIRST feeling VIII be one OF in
tensce satisfaction. This Is bound to
be followed by bitter reflections.
When did all this clothing and equip
ment and transportation como into
sight?
Did 70 fall out Of the skyY
And why is 1t that al the man power
provided for under the existing draft
law Is noc yet mobilized2
There Is one answer TO all OF these
questions. The War Department has
wasted precious time 10 has not be-
lleved until now that 10 was necessary
TO win the war with American troops
at Armageddon.
When in the last quarter OF an hour
OF which Clemenccau speaks the fate
OF democracy in The world shall be de-
cided, the miracle Will be wrought not
by faith alone, but by tie presence
at a particular place Of enough men
TO overcome the enemy at the apex
OF his strength
The preponderance for God ard man
kind may be very slight-a division
more or less.
The time and place arc unknown
What one knows for certain is that
faith without heroic haste in works
is futile
Net In a country Overrunnng with
potential man power where 90 raise
and equip and dispatch an unlimited
army Is an undertaking that presents
technical diflculties only. 10 has been
necessary continually 90 mportune the
War Department TO enlarge It's plans.
This has been so from the begin
ming
Last January in his testimony be-
fore the Senate Committee on Military
Affairs Secretary Baker said General
Leonard Wood came TO my ofilses-
/ have forgotten when but 10 was
early-and suggested to me the. adyis-
ability OF Instantly calling out
larger army. I said. But, general
we have NOT the clothes and we have
not the weapons for them"
This was 20 show that General
Woods complaint that munitions and
equipment haas not been provided fast
enough was unreasonable because he
had himself suggested calling up men
faster. The implication was that il
this had been done. the shortage in
munitions and equipment would have
been even greater than it was on the
next page Of his testimony he defended
the Ordnance Department for having
taken months 10 perfect q rifle on the
ground that perfect weapons were
ready as fast as troops were ready TO
receive them.
lt was OF no use TO call up soldiers
faster because weapons were not
ready. and then 10 was Of no use TO
worry about the time lost in refusing
to adopt the British Enfield rifle be- /
cause soldiers were not being called
up faster than they could be armed |
For a long time after America en-
tered the war Mr. Baker was unable to |
imagine am army abroad.
Teslifying before the Senate Com |
mittee on Military Affairs on January |
p, ne said that as late as July, 1917 |
flour months after the declaration Of /
war ut was the confident expectation I
OF everybody in this country that The /
sending OF troops in large numbers TO |
France was a thing In the somewhat /
remote future" That &C was only sew
en- days after the coloquy with General
Wood, who was importuning him in
stantly to call out a larger army.
Twenty pages on from there he spoke
naively Of the perpleXity in which the
War Department was for 1--WE might
have perfected an army over here and
carried 10 across the ocean and found
10 wholly unadapted to It's task, and
10 might we'll have been that the army
we sent across was just the one thing
that they did not need"
And on the next page he said that