New-York tribune., 1918-01-11


retary Baker read to the committee
when he took the stand, while con-
ceding delays and errors Of judgment
In so vast an undertaking, he epito
mized his reply in these words:
"No army of similar size in the his
tory of the world has ever been raised,
equipped or trained so quickly. No
such provision has ever been made for
the comfort, health and general we'll
being of an army"
America now has in France an army
of Substantial" size ready for active
service. Officers and men, he said,
have been trained specially for modern
warfare, Independent lines of commu-
construction and great programmes
have been formulated for the produc-
| tion of new Instruments of war.
Arms of the most modern and cffcc-
tive kind, the Secretary declared, have
been provided for every soldier in
France, and are available for every
fighting man who can be sent to France
in 1913.
An army Of nearly million and a
half men, enlisted and selected with
out serious dislocation of the nations
industries, is now in the field or in
training at home and abroad, he as
serted. The subsistence Of the army,
he continued. has been above criticism,
while its initial clothing supply, temp
orarily inadequate, is now substantially
complete.
~ state the foregoing conditions of
the War Departments problem and
some Of the results attained for two
purposes" he said. "ln the first
place, the American people arc en-
titled to know of the splendid ef-
fectivencss with which they have BEEN
able to organize the man power and
the material power of the nation in a
great cause; and, secondly, our army
in France under General Pcrshing and
our Allies are entitled to have the
benefit resulting from the depression
Of the morale of their enemies which
must come when the Germans realize
that the American democracy, has
neither blundercd nor hestated, but
actually brought the full power of its
men and resources into completely
organized strength against their mill
tary machine.
"No army Of similar size in the his
tory of the world has ever been raised,
equipped or trained so quickly. NO
such provision has ever been made Tor
the comfort, health and general we'll
being of an army.
"By the cooperation of all interests
and all people in the country the ma
ton is now organized and set to its
task with unanimity of spirit and con-
tidence in its powers. More has been
done than anybody dared to believe
possible. That there have been here
and there errors of judgment and de-
lays goes without saying, but should
be wanting in frankness were | to omit
my own estimate Of the real unseliish
ness and intelligence with which my
associates, military and civilian, have
applied themselves to this undertak-
ing, and the results demonstrate the
success OF their efforts
Growth Of the Army
The Secretary gave the committee
an outline of the work of the depart
ment and its various bureaus.
"On April /, 1917. the regular army,
ne said, "comprised 5,79l officers and
Guard in Federal service, approx
matcly 3,733 officers and 1918 en-
listed men, and the reserve, 1000 Ell
listed men. There were also at that
time approximately 2,573 officers in
the reserve, but as these were on active
duty they cannot properly be consd-
cred in estimating the strength Of the
army of the United States at that time
On December 81. 1917, the regular
army consisted of 10,250 officers and
475 900 enlisted men, the Nationa
Guard. of l6,03l officers and 100000
enlisted men; tho National Army, OF
100000 men, and the reserve Of 8d,57l
officers and 72,75O enlisted men. Ii
other words, in nine months the in
crease has been from 1924 officers to
l11O,S56 officers and from 20251O t(
,428,650 men.
During the war with Spain the
army of the United States at its maxi
mum strength aggregated 272,000 mer
and officers. The army now in the
field and in training is, therefore
roughly, six times as great as the maxi
mum number under arms IN the Span
I'ish American War.
"The total number already i'll tht
military service is one and hall
times as large AS any force ever mobil
izcd by this nation.
; Draft Made Popular"
"A substantial part of our militar,
forces was selected BY the operation O.
, demonstrated both the economical anc
the efficient way of selecting soldiers
The law itself was drawn, its execution
carried to q successful conclusion ant
. the theory OF the law, novel to our peo
pie, explained and made popular, be
cause of it's demonstrated fairness botl
in plan and execution
"For the training of officers two Sc
ries of training camps were held, from
which about $4,000 officers were com
masioned from civil lifc. This nun
Der is nearly eight times as great a:
the number OF officers in the regular
army on April l.
"For the training OF these soldier.
, sixteen environments have been built
costing $l34,OO0,0O0, with an average
profit to the contractors of 2.98 pei
!, cent.
"The death rate in our forces in the
United States from mid September t,
the end of December averaged rs Pc
thousand, and is slightly less thar
, would have been the death rate of me,
of the same age at home. In 1898 th,
death rate per thousand was 20.14, O.
nearly three times as great. Our deatl
rate in the army during the year 1916
just before the war. was per thou
sand Leaving out the deaths due K
measles and its complications, our rat,
among all troops in the United States
since September l has been about
per thousand.
Appropriations Fifty Times Greater
For the fiscal year 1916 Congress ap
propriated for the War Department
&1S0 O00 000. for tho ScaI vo,r 1O1C