The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1918-01-31
- OCloy Ok war Says America win
Have 1900. 900 Ready This
Year

VIII have an army Of half a million
nen in France early this year, with a
mlllion more trained and equipped
ready TO follow as quickly as ships
can be provided to carry them, and
the outlook for ships Is not unpromis-
ing.
Secretary Baker gave this informa-
tion to the nation and to the world
today in statement before the Sen
ate Military committee. revealing that
which until now has been carefully
guarded with the army's military Sc
crets. in answering charges that the
government has broken in it's prepar-
alton for war.
From early morning until late af-
terno0n the Secretary addressed the
committee and a crowd, including
many members Of both houses of Con-
gress gathered In q big hearing room
Of the Senate Office building. He
spoke extemporaneously. beginning
with details Of the mammoth task of
building an army Of q million and a
hGlf. answering such complaints of
inefhciency as were cited by Senator
Chamberlain in his ent speech and
declaring that sue 1stances were
isolGted and not g raj. Some Ques-
lions were asked and Mr.. Baker from
time to time had assistants to the
telephone for reports on specific
questions.
Then toward the close of the day
the Secretary delivered a dramatic
general statement OF the American
~ ~ xho L. ~ =
Allied missions, Of the day and night
conferences with men from the scene
OF battle In which the plans now be-
Ing executed were adopted and Of sue
cess beyond the most sanguine expec-
tattons In building the army and its
Industrial support atGafne, transport
Ing men across the ocean. construct
ing railroads In France and preparing
to~strike the e,.emy with every re-
source at the couptry's command.
Now, gentlemen, about the plan Of
the war. 1t will be remembered that
this war broke out in August. 1914.
We went into, 1t In April, 1917, SO
that for two and one-half years. the
war had been going on. 1t was not as
though war had broken out between
the United States and some country,
each Of them prior to that time hav
ing been at peace with one another
and with everybody else. SO that an
Immediate plan sh ouId be made &
the United States for conducting war
aRa.Iisu It's adversary, but we were
coming into a war which had been
going on for two and one-half years,
t. ~rx1~A Lob kh@ vr,fI 90
perts. all the inventive genius, all of
the industrial capacity of those great
est countries in the world had for two
and one-half years been solving the
problem of what kind of war it was to
be and where 1t was to be waged.
''It was not thing for us to decide
where our theater of war should be.
The theater OF war was France. 1t
was not for us to decide our line of
communications. Our line Of COM
munication was across 5000 miles of
ocean. one end of 1t infested with
submarines. 1t was not for us to de-
eide whether we would have the man
euvering Of large bodies of troops in
the open. There lay the antagonists
on opposite sides Of No Mans Land in
the trenches at a death grapple with
one another. Our antagonist was on
the other side Of that line and our
problem was and is to get over there
and ge. at him.
"It was not the problem of doing it
our way and letting everybody else
take care of himself. In the flrst
place we were going to fight in
France, not on our own soil and not
on our adversary's soil, and there
fore, at the very beginning. 1t was OBJ
vious that the thing we had to do was
not to map out an ideal plan Of cam
patgn, not to have the war college,
with its speculative studies of Napol-
soa and everybody else. map out the
theoretically best way to get at some
ether country. but 1t was the problem
~ studying the then existing situation
! an4 bringing the financial. the indus
fnlns and the military strength OF the
1sfee.in cooperation with
6tain and France, ir