Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-05
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5. 1919.
Our Greatness in War.


feI. as details Of the American program
and it's accomplishment come TO light
through REPORTS being furnished TO Con-
grcss. With the perspective that IL
now possible, looking back on the days
of little more than year ago, men are
beginning TO understand the vast task
that vss set out for this government TO
sccnu,ufirh and the practical efficiency
With which the country met every essen
tiai demand, industrial or military, that
affected the success of the war.
What is looked upon as probably the
most dramatic touch of our two-year
yar experience is the governments tight
10 get the men 10 the lines and the bnid-
ing Of our military transport system from
seven occan-going troopships TO more
than 600 transports carrying our soldiers
across 5000 miles Of water at the rate
of more than 10000 month. Some Of
the details Of this battle for carrying
snaoe have iust come to light IN the annual
rerort of the chief Of staff of the army,
60 whose Office lsy the responsibility for
getting msn TO Europe IN sufficient NUM-
bers and with sufficient cargo and sup
plies.
In Nav. June, July and August Of 1918
the United States sent I,l2l, 900 men
overseas, making record that astounded
cur allies and which General Iudendorf
admits In his memoirs was the one single
incident of the war which above all others
forced Germany to call for an armlstice.
The traffic overseas during this period
u7s. 50 intensive that on July 9, one Of
the outstanding days in transportation,
IS transports were Europe-bound, bear
inc III go American soldiers 10 the
battle front. The embarkAtion for July
e1oeesied All expectations, 3O6,O00 men
sailing from Atlantic ports in that month
To meet this program the War Depart
nent had 10 obtain from the Shipping
Board and from cur allies millions Of tons
of vessels. This represented battle IN
itself. daily tussle IN which all interests
in the war were seeking all available ton
mage. and in which the War Department
won out only because OF the vital necessity
the German submarine menace on our
coasts. and our allies besought us to
change our ports Of departure. To have
embarked our troops from more southern
or from Canadian ports would have meant
serious delay in transportation at this
critical time. Realizing the German
military authorities would only hope for
such 2 result from their submarine cam
paign, We refused TO alter our operations
and trusting TO the navy, continued to
send our men from the middle and south
Atlantic ports II rs interesting now
10 recall that not single transport was
sunk during thus period on its outgoing
trip.
Then came the influenza, and the scare
that frightened the civil population also
made itself felt among the military II
was recommended that troop capacities
of transports be reduced 20 per cent, TO
aid In combating the epidemic. This
was considered for while, and when
authentic information on living conditions
aboard ship was obtained, II was found
T1dt z re0uct4ou o. 10 per cent HOI4Q
give all the sanitary precaution necessary,
and il was so ordered. When the cpl
dernic had spent itself, it was found that
the death rate aboard ship was below
that Of the camps, and the troop move
nent had not been materially iInpeded-
Of the millions Of tons OF shipping
that carried our men overseas going TO the
war, II per cent were American; 81 per
cent were British, 3 per cent Italian, and
2 per cent French The American ships
included the seized German liners and
100000 tons Of Dutch shipping was also
used On the return, however prac-
tically the entire transport system was
American. more than 90 per cent Of the
ships used 10 rehabilitation being fur
nished by the Shipping Board
Great was our record Of accomplish
ment during this tremendous war--un-
paraIleled in all the rest of the world
history. But even greater, certainly
far more practical and beneficial to man
Kind, may be our accomplishments IN
peace. To this end all our lllmitable
energies, all our vast resources, should
be vigorously and enthusiastically directed