The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1918-02-01
BAKER REPLIES
To WAR CRITICS;
BIG ARMY READY
100000 Troops Will Be in France
Early This Year.
100000 TO GO LATER
Secretary, In Reply to Charges, De-
cIares That Allies Offered Guns
to U. S. to Save Ships for
Troops-Break All Records.

IFOOpS-OFGdk All nC(SiOS'
Washington, Jan. 29.-Five hundred
thousand American troops in France
early this year-and 100000 more
ready to gO-fulIy equipped and with
the artillery 10 support them, this was
the answer Secretary Baker on Mon
day gave the senate military commit
tee to the charge of inefficiency and
breakdown in the military establish
ment.
AS the climax Of Il days explanation
of all that the military establishment
had done, freely cOnfessing faults and
imperfectiOns, in so vast an undertake
ing, but maintaining that out of each
deficiency the remedy has been found,
the secretary of war disclosed what
hitherto has been guarded as mill
tary secret, and what the German peo-
pie little suspect.
This great fighting force, probably
little expected by the German general
staff itself. will be composed of the
men now with General PerShing, the
30 divisions OF troops now in canton
mentS and camps in the United States
and ready to move, Secretary Baker
said, and by the next increments to
be drawn and trained this spring I'M
der the selective service law.
Elemental equipment of the men
from the United Stats is assured and
the artillery necessary to their sup
port will come from the British and
French governments, which have an
excess of ordnance that they have on
their own initiative offered to supply
the guns and save ships which would
be used for their transport.
Build Great Railway Systems.
Secretary Baker described how
great American railroad systems, one
900 miles long, ports, terminals, sup
ply warehouses and other facilities on
an enormous scale have been built for
the army in France.
The secretary of war laid bare facts
regarding preparations for the Amer
lean army in France which have hith-
ertO been held as close military secrets
or widespread among few who have
enjoyed the confidence of government
officials.
Leaning forward and addressing the
senator's earnestly, the secretary of
war told story the German general
staff probably would have given much
to know long before. He approached
the subject by departing from the an
swer to criticisms, and referring to it
as ''the plan for the war"
II think | understand Senator Cham
berlain felt there wasn't any plan,n
said Secretary Baker
Il don't know how the committee
and the country feel about it, but /
want to say there is a plan. It's the
only possible plan under the circum-
stances.
Mr.. Baker told of the coming of the
British and French missions, with Bal
four and JOffre. These men were seen
in the halls of congress, but few peo-
pie saw the staffS of trained experts
they brought with them and who dis
tributed themselves through the war
department.
"They were the most brilliant men
in their armies" he said. Every
country has sent us that sort of ex-
perts.'
Even rs these experts talked, Sec
rotary Baker said, the story they told
grew old. Weapons they had helped
to develop had become obsolete before
they could be gotten TO the front
Pershing Is the eyes"
''This is moving picture" he said.
ut was necessary that we have eyes
there to see and report, and we sent
General Pershing and the major part
of the trained personnel of the army
that pitiful handful of trained men,"
General Pershing now reports daily
in cablegrams that run into hundreds
and even thousands of words, he
added
1--WE are using the eyes there to keep
up to what they want us to do
The startling progress of the war
in the development of munitions will
be shown, he said, by the fact that
weapons devised by American experts
during the last few months have been
discarded
Then, taking up a copy of the Met
ropOlitan Magazine for last August
Mr. Baker read protest in it's edi-
torial columns against the supposed
policy of the government to make its
contribution to the war, financial and
industrial Ito hold off until the allies
win the war for us"
A question brought out that Colonel
Roosevelt was then associate editor
of the magazine, which urged that
'tevery nerve be strained to get $50,
900 to 100000 men in France in 1917
II am disclosing no secret" Secre
tt Baker said, pausing, when l say
t we exceeded that maximum in
1915"
Senator Chamberlain asked If the
maximum had not been exceeded by
August, 1917.
.'Not the maximum" replied Secre