New-York tribune., 1918-12-01

Not an hour should be lost in collecting
and transmitting casualty information If
the cables are clogged the lists should he
put aboard the fastest ship of the navy. It
is nearly two weeks since the last shot was
fired, and even though there were no cables
the War Department by this time sbould
know who have been lost. Leaving out Of
view the insult to the American people. tho
War Departments policy has most repre-
hensibly assailed the peace of mind OF
countless homes'
"The New York Evening Post thinks
an explanation is due from the War De
partment:
What startled the public in learning o.
the total American casualties in France
was not so much the number as the fact
that the War Department apparently did
not know the true figures Shortly after
the signing of the armistice, the War De
partment issued an official estimate that
the casualties would not much exceed 100.
oVo Now General Pershlng's reports push
up the number to $4,000 The deaths rixo
from an estimated 10000 to more than so
600 actually 1t is difficult to understand
now cable congestion, or even the intensely
hard lighting of the last few DAYS before
Germany surrendered, could account for
the enormous discrepancy. In proportion
to the forces engaged and the results oh
tanned, the final casualty list IS not greater
than might have been expected. But an
explanation seems 20 be due why the War
Department was SO grossly misinformed."
Comparisons are made to show how
small our losses really are alongside
those of other bellgerents. "rhc New
York Sun points out:
Our deaths were nearly twenty time,
less than those of Great Britain. which lost
nearly as many men at the Dardanelles IN
one vain effort as America lost altogether.
For every American grave in France there
are thirty Frenchmen's graves
The Springfield Union refers to our
losses in the two preceding wars:
IN or Civil War more than 100000 men
IN the Union armies were killed in battle
or died OF wounds and disease, and 200 0oo
more were crippled for life If the Con
ie6erate armies suffered as heavily. an4
they undoubtedly did, the nation thus los.
100000 able bodied men. In our war with
Spain 336 men we're killed, l25 were NOR
tally wounded and 5277 died Of disease
That WAS our shortest war, lasting onlv
from the latter part of April to the middle
Of August, 1898, and it was war in which
the losses we're mostly on the side of tho
enemy. AS compared with our civil strife
IN the Cos, the Spanish War was but child,
play, and when we compare our losses in
the war against the Teutonc powers VIC
have better appreciation of the sacrifices
made for the preservation of the Union"
"The price of freedom" is high. "rhe
New York World" admits:
ut vas a costly service. Aut it had to be
rendered to the uttermost. Song and story
will never cease to immortalize. gratitude
viii never neglect to crown with its tr,b
utes the price these fifty thousand young
Americans, with heads held high and heart,
undaunted, paid for the freedom Of the
nations
The Philadelphia inquirer concludes:
The world has lost much, but at lesse
1t has gained something in ideals which
ought to make this planet more desirable
place IN which TO live than ever before %