Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1918-01-30

DAAtAoht Uut thCh UlSA1 IlCOU WIS HOl
SO great, nor were the ties to Eng
land 80 close" said he. $50 an in
stant response came from France,
and our soldiers have continued to
go over in alr unbroken stream.
!, AT this hour we have fighting
army IN France, seasoned and traina
ed to the warfare. ,Joffre said it
might take some time for us to get
trained army over, but that we were
a great Industrial country and could
send artisans Immediately.
although not contemplated at the
outset, we have organized regiments
Of railroad men who are rebuilding
railroads behind the British and
French lines as they advance. OF
such quality were these men that 1T
Cambrai, when Gen. Byng was ell
dangered, our men threw down their
picks and ,shovels, grasped rifles and
distinguished themselves.
Very early iii the war BaTfour
and Joffre said Send us nurses and
doctors!' ALMOST before we were in
.the~'war Red Cross nurses and doc
tors and ambulance drivers in great
numbers were sent over. Our early
losses were of these.
But that was not enough. 1T was
suggested further that mechanics
We're needed. Special studies were
made. We found that railroads and
other facilities OF France had been
kept in excellent condition, far bet
ter than We had thought possible"
But despite the condition of
French railroads, he said, 1t was
found necessary to provide transpor-
tation facilities for the american
army IN France because Of the great
demands upon those already there.
In other words.' he said,
France was white sheet Of paper.
As far as we were concerned we not
only had to write an army on that
sheet, but we also had to provide
maintenance. We have been build
Ing faciiities and agencies in France.
Just as much as in this country. of
the same character. We have built
nocks, terminals, sent over dock ma
chinery, cranes, even piles, ware
houses at ports Of Decentralization for
the storage Of vast supplies needed
before distribution. We are taking
over and are In. process OF rebuild
ing railroad 600 miles long from
our ports of embarka kation to our base
Of operations" IN. y,t~
Problems to Re Met. &
Not only were the transportation
and erection of vast quantities of ma
terials problem, Secretary Baker
said, but also be- emphasized that
they had to be manufactured in this
country
''We had to build barracks for the
soldiers over there, billeting them
until this could be done. But build
ing barracks over thera is entirely
different from building them in this
country"
American troops, he said, even had
to go back to the planting of corn
and to the forests Of France, as we'll
as build hospitals.
The war, Secretary Baker contin-
uad, had been Of more or less of a
set character until the Russian
situation developed. The Italian de-
feat caused a further change in
plans. AS a result what may have
been perfect plans had to be changed
accordingly.
This Is a faint picture of what
has been going ON over there. gentle
men" said the Secretary. ION this
side all that had to be done, and
many other Things besides, but in
aadition we had to build up an
army. ~
NOW, let us be frank with each
other. Has amy army in history
since the beginning Of time been 80
raised and cared 70 as this army
has been?'
When the selective. draft was pro-
posed, Senators told him, he said,
that an army by THAT means could
not be raised.
"And yet" he asked, 'thas any
great enterprise been carried on with
more unfailing justice and patriot
ism ON the part of the American peo-
pie, or has greater change In our
mode and practice been accepted by
the public than under the selective
service system?"
Secretary Baker went into the ef-
forts to surround the army with
moral and physical safeguards. A
condition had been produced, he
said, where the soldiers were vel
conled into the homes Of communi-
'tles IN WTlch they were qllartered.
No such relation" he said, "has
ever existed between an army and
the civilian population. I've gone
from camp to camp. l have asked
each commander: What about your
disciplinary problem? Men old in
tho army all say they have never
seen anything like this; that the dis
ciplinary problem Is negligible"
In the War to Hit Hard,
when the story has all been
told" he said, "it will be a story
which am sure your committee will
be glad to report to the Senate as a
tremendous response to o tremen-
dous responsibility. We are in the
war to hit and to hit hard. Our
problem is not one of star playing,