The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-07-20
A wAR-REPoRT MASTERPIECE


III n UR COMPLIMENTS to Col Leonard p.
w Ayres, chief of the statistics branch Of
- the general staff of the United States army
HA That word "statistics' sounds unpromisinl
~ when one looks into the book Of 154 pages en-
[ titled "The War with Germany" just received
by The Ardmoreite along with AIN engraved
col card of the secretary of war; but CoiOne
da Ayres knows how to transform statistics into q
~; piece of illuminative literature from which fu
.l' ture historians will CLEAN facts of permanent
W. human interest. In his letter Of Transmission
~ to Secretary Baker, Colonel Ayres says: "ln
accordance with your instructions there is
~, transmitted herewith a statistical summary OF
m the larger steps in the military preparation and
W. action Of the United States in the late war
~ But the colonel has been able to make his
~ Statistical summary" one Of the supreme mas
os terpieces of war reports.
ot We learn from this report that about A.
100000 men served in our army during the
7 war and that the total number Of armed forces
n of the country including army, navy, marine
n corps and other services, amounted to 4,SOO,-
600 men. The comparative figures show that
v in the recent Cor presenD war we raised twice
q as many men in actual numbers as the federal
government raised for the civil war but that
in proportion to population raised only
half as many. 1t took three years for the Brit
ish government to reach strength Of 2,O0O,-
600 men in France, while we accomplished it in
one-half the time
When we entered the war there were only
100000 men in our army tWo-thirds Of them
being regulars and one-third national guards
men who had been called into federal service
for duty along the Mexican border. When the
war ended, this force had been increased to
twenty times its size. In the enlargement Of
the army, more than 100000 came in through
the regular army and nearly 100000 through
the national guard. More than threefourths
of the entire army force came in through the
draft OF every 100 men, 10 were national
guardsmen 13 were regulars, and II were
drafted men.
"The willingness with which the American
people accepted the universal draft, says the
report, was the most remarkable feature in
the history of our preparation for war. Then
comes this happy statement: 1T is q note.
worthy evidence Of the enthusiastic support
given by the country to the war program that
despite previous hostility to the principle OIL
universal liability for military service, few
months after the selective service law was
passed, the standing of the drafted soldier was
fully as honorable in the estimation Of his
companions and of the country in general as.
was that Of the man who enlisted voluntarily"
We learn that during the war with Ger
many raised twice as many men as we
raised during the civil war; and at one-tWen-
teth Of the cost. "In this war 60 per cent Of
all armed forces were secured by the draft
compared with per cent i'm the case Of the
civil war" The large sums paid i'm bounties
for civil war soldiers in the hope that recourse
to draft might not be made necessary. explains
the huge difference in the cost It is pleasing |
to learn that Oklahoma and Texas are amongst
the states which gave the highest percentage
of drafted men passing the physical eXamina-
ton.
AS stated, we had about 200 600 men in the
army when we entered the war. When the war
ended, about 100000 men had received Off
GERS commissions-as many as there We're men
III the army at the start Less than 5000 com
mlsslOned officers were in the army when we
accepted Germany's gauge Of battle. 1t is /
somewhat surprising, to the layman, to learn
that in the American army there is one Of =
fcer for each 20 men, More than two-thrds
of our line officers graduates of the of
fcers' training camps-a vindcation of the
Plattsburg experiment Of pre-war days.
In the last six months Of the war a million y
and half men, approximately, were trans
ported to France During the first thirteen
months half a million were sent over Tbe|;
| growth of the transport fleet was astounding
The war department surely had not ceased to
Junction., since it made ready and shipped for
the fighting front many as 10000 men a
day, not to mention the vast quantities of SUP
plies sent over. |;
Here is a statement to bear in mind when
the carping critic mentions "unpreparedness"
again: '"Out of every 100 days that our com I
bat divisions were in line in France they were !