The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1919-12-01

the accelerated movement OF trOOp3
and supplies from the United s'ates,
ana all plans ha1 been prepared for
ing the war Is incalculabIe alike in
Of 1919.
"Ead not the great troop move
ment Of the summer Of 1913 been
icarried out" he said, the praCti-
cally continuous battle on the west
ern front from March to Noyember
would not have been poGs bic. The
saving TO the world in thus shorten
ing the war in incalculable alike in
human 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" The 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 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 military machine, the
! toll levied upon the man power Of
these nations had been appalling,
and II was becoming increasingly
difficult for them to maintain their
divisions at full strength. The sub
marine peril menacad the supply of
munitions of war and OF foodstuffs
20 great civil populations.
"Meanwhile the German armies
had crushed long-planned offensive8
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 men
ace Of superior numbers and appar-
emily inexhaustible supplies OF the
munitions OF war haunted the coun
ellis of the allied powers.
But those who visited General
Persh!ng's headquarters during the
war know that from the beginning
there was resolution and a clear
sighted knowledge of the size of the
task. II would have been idle to
plan for small American army.
On the other hand, it required i'm
agination and daring to plan for a
large one-to take a 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. Aud there still
remained the further question:: II
these difficulties could be overcome,
could they be overcome in time?
General Pershing and his asso-
ciates 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 es-
Inmates and land 100000 men in
France, the arrangements made for
their reception and for their main
tenapce were found inadequate; and
had the war gone on and the 80 di-
vision program been carried out, the
imagination and daring of these
early plans would still have been
adequate.
1T is q wonderful story and ex-
hibits at it's best the confidence in
their institutions which Americans
may justly have"
Mr.. Baker opposes creation OF a
department of the air because of the
undeveloped state of the industry,
necessitating federal regulation"
as well as because of military con-
siderations 1t would be just as IA
tai to separate forces from the army,
he maintained
Since June 80, 1918, the report
shows, it has been found necessary
to use federal troops on 16 different
occasions to preserve law and order.
The incidents listed range from In
dustrial Workers of the World ac-
tivities in Arizona to recent move |
ments in the coal fields. Mr.. Baker |
cocludes his report with an appre-
citation of the service of General
Peyton c. March, chief of staff.
II would be wanting" he said,
the unremitting ener-