Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-12-01

aSSlRnlng
men to military service in time of
war, Mr.. Baker said, but compul-
sorry service in time of peace would
be "a poor substitute for the volur-
teer principle properly applied"
Raising standing army by financial
nducement is too costly to conteIn-
plate, he added. leaving only tie
method of making enlistment in
the army an educational oppor-
tunity' to furnish the troops
The recommendation for an in
creased standing army, he declared,
should not be taken to indicate q
disinclination toward the prospect
of disarmament.
The plan recommended. Mr..
Baker said, looks to the establish
ment of systems of schools teaching
the formal branches of education
and adding to them the skilled trades,
so that at the end of a term of
enlistment, the young man entering
in his nineteenth year will go back
to civil life with the physical set-up
which the open, athletic life of the
Army gives, and with the education
and training which will make him
more valuable in civil pursuits than
he could otherwise have been" So
cial and recreational opportunities
also must be supplied, he said, so
that the graduate from the Army
will bring back with him the social
virtues which result from education
of mind and hand acquired in an
environment made stimulating by
the presence of a high purpose and
sense of service. and generous as
sociation with his fellows"
The military policy recommended
by the War Department, therefore,
involves a new Army created with
a new spirit, having wide civic use
fulness, and of such size and organi-
zation as to be an adequate reliance
in case of need" the report said.
Mr. Baker said the operations in
France would be dealt with in the
special report being prepared by
General Pershing. Not even the
Allied war council, he said, had
realized the effect upon Germany of
the accelerated movement of troops
and supplies from the United States
and all plans had been prepared for
a vigorous campaign in the Spring
of 1919.
Had not the great troop move
ment of the summer of 1918 been
carried out" he said the prac-
tically continuous battle on the west
ern front from March to November
would not have been possible. Tie
saving to the world in thus shorten
ing the war is incalculable alike in
life and treasure"
The text of the initial order to
General Pershing which is quoted.
shows he was instructed to keep the
American army "a separate and dis
tinct component of the combined
forces the identity of, which must
be preserved" Tke method of CO.
operation with the Allies was left to
his discretion and, Mr.. Baker added,
that the authority thus conferred
was never in any particular modi-
fed or diminished"
There were elements in the prob
lem which might we'll have caused
grave apprehension" the report said.
The armies of France, Great
Britain, and Italy had borne for
three years the furious and deadly
assaults of the great German mill
tary machine, the toll levied by battle
upon the man power of these ma
tions had been appalling, and it
was becoming increasingly difficult
for them to maintain their divisions
at full strength. The submarine
peril menaced the supply of muni-
tions of war and of foodstuffs to
ClNll
Meanwhile the German armies
had crushed long planned offensives
by the Allied armies with apparent
ease, and by the collapse of Russia
were daily being strengthened by di-
visions of trained soldiers brought
from the eastern front until the
menace of superior numbers and ap-
parently incXhaustible supplies of
the munitions of war haunted the
councils of the Allied powers.
Overseas Task Were Done
But those who visited General
Pershing's headquarters during the
war; know that from the beginning
there was resolution and a clear
sighted knowledge of the size of the
task. 1t would lave been ilde to
plan for a small American Army.
On the other hand, it required
Imagination and daring to plan for
q large one-to take million Ameri-
can men to France, separate them
from home by 5000 miles of ocean,
and subject them to the hazard OF
the uncertain and diminishing food
supplies of Europe. And there still
remained the further question: If
these difficulties could be overcome,
could they be overcome in time
General Pershing and his asso-
clateS gave no room to doubt and
accepted no counsel except that of
determination. When the critical
hour came and the combined ener-
gies of the United States and Great
Britain did surpass all previous csti-
mates and land 100000 men IN
France, the arrangements made for
their reception and for their MAIN
tenance were found adequate; and
had the war gone on and the So
division program been carried out,
the Imagination and daring of these
early plans would still have been
adequate.
''It is wonderful story and ex-
hibits at it's best the confidence in
their institutions which Americans
may justly have"
Opposes Air Department
Mr.. Baker opposes creation of a
department of tie air because of the
state of the industry
federal regulation"
as well as because of military con-
1t would be Just rs
fatal to separate forces from the
army, he maintained.
Since June 80, 1918, the report
shows, it has been found necessary.
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