The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-02-25
SECRETARY BAKER TELLS THE SENATE MILITARY COMMITTEE
 OF THE DEPARTMENTS WORK

The following statement has been made by Secretary of War Baker be. fore the Senate Military Affairs Com. mittee:
 am glad to lay before the com. mittee and the country certain facts with reference to the war depart. ment's work. Not all of it is new to you. but it is well to have some un- deriving facts freshly in our minds at times when the consideration of details, however important in them; selves. might otherwise obscure the real progress made in the central task.
 The war department is eager to profit by all helpful criticism, and thank the committee for the inquiries which 1t has made and for the CO., operation which it is giving and will give in making our preparation in- creasingly adequate and speedy. Personnel of the Regular Army,
 National Guard, National Army.
 On the 1st day of April. 1917. the regular army comprised 5,791 officers and 121.797 enlisted men; the Ma tional Guard and federal service, ap- proximately 3.733 officers and 76.713 enlisted men. and the reserve. 4,000 enlisted men. There were also at that time approximately 2.573 officers in the reserve, but as these were on inactive duty they can not properly be considered in estimating the strength of the army of the United States at that time. On the 31st day of December. 1917 the regular army consisted of 10,25O officers and 475,- 900 enlisted men; the National Guard of 16.031 officers and 4O0.9OO enlisted men; the national army ot 480.000 men. and the reserve of 84.- 575 officers and 72.750 enlisted men. In other words, in nine months the AASA SooC AeAo OCCA AAOAA SpoSf OAhSCA Q to 11O.856 officers: from 2O2,510 to 1,428.650 men.
 During the war with Spain the army of the United States at its maximum strength aggregated 272,- 900 men and officers. The army now in the field and in training is, there fore, roughly six times as great as the maximum number under arms in the Spanish-American war.
 One and a Half Times as Large
 as Any Ever Mobilized by U. S..
 The total number already in the military service is one and a half times as large as any force ever mo- bilized by this Nation.
 A substantial part of our military forces was selected by the operation of draft law, the execution of which has demonstrated both the economic al and the efficient way of selecting soldiers. The law itself was drawn. it's execution carried to a successful conclusion. and the theory of the law. novel to our people. explained and made popular. because of it's demon strated fairness both in plan and exc cution.
 For the training of officers two series of training camps were held, from which about 45.000 officers were commissioned from civil life. This number is nearly eight times as great as the number of officers in the regular army on the first day of Apil.
 For the training of these soldiers sixteen cantonments have been built costing $134.00O,O O,O00, with an average profit to thes contractor of 2.98 per cent. ..
 These cantonments contain water and sewerage facilities. refuse-dispos- al plants, laundries, storehouses, bar racks. exchanges. postoffices and prac- tically all necessary conveniences, comforts and safeguards for soldiers. The health of the men in training in them is beyond comparison better than that of any similar number of soldiers in our history.
 Death Rate 7.5 Per Thousand
 Against 2o.14 Rate in 1898
 The death rate in our forces in the United States. from mid-September to the end of December, averaged 7.5 per thousand and is slightly less than would have been the death rate of men of the same age at home. In 1898 the death rate per thousand was 20.14. or nearly three times as great Our death rate in the army during the year 1916, just before the war was 5 per thousand. Leaving out the deaths due to measles and its com plications, our rate among all troops in the United States, since Septem Der l, hask been about 2 per thous and. These figures are properly comparable. The 5 per thousand fol 1916 means for the whole year. The |2 per thousand for this year means that if the number of deaths since the 1st of September from all causes ,rt, zR .v.vl