Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-02-11
Unpublished War Speech

J CIldTdCI0T, LIlO EIOSluSllL vi I11S
iii day Of April, 1918, addressed the
oreign correspondents at the Whitt
louise concerning Four resolutions
nd actions in the WAR" The speech
, as fbllows:
IT am very glad to have this
opportunity to meet you. Some OF
you I have met before, but not
all. In which am going to say
would prefer that you take it
in this way, as for the private
information of your minds and
not for transmission to anybody,
because I just want, if l may, In
a few words to create back
ground for you which may be
serviceable to you. ! speak III
confidence.
L was rendered a little I'M
easy BY what Mr.. Lloyd George
was quoted as having said the
other day, that the Americans
have a great surprise in store
for Germany. I don't know in
what sense he meant that, but
there no surprise in store. I
want YOU to know the sequence
Of resolves and of actions con-
corning our part in the. war.
Some time ago it was proposed
to us that we, if l may use the
expression, feed our men into
the French and GEnglish armies
in any units tina might be ready
companies or regiments or bril-
gades-and not wait to train and
coordinate the larger units of
our armies before putting them
into action. My instructive jEdg-
ment in the face of that PROPOSE
ton was that the American peo-
pie would feel u very much
more ardent interest in the war
if their men were fighting under
their own flag and under their
own general officers, but at that
time, which was some months
ago, instructed General Perish
ing that he had full authority
whenever any exigency that
made such a thing necessary
should occur to put the men in
any units or in any numbers or
in any way that was necessary
lust as he is doing. What
wanted you to know was that
that was not p new action, that
General Pershing was fully in
structed about that all along
AS to Rushing Troops Across
Then, similarly with regard TO
the impression that we are now
going to rush. troops to Europe.
OF course, you cannot rush any
faster than there is means OF
rushing, and what ] have SAID
recently is what / have said all
along: that we are getting men
over there lust as fast as we can
find the ships to transport tnem'
We are doing that now ana we
have been doing it all along.
Let me point out some OF the
circumstances: Our first pro-
gram was to send oyer 9O,p00
men a month, but for several
months we were sending over
only 10000, one-third of the pro-.
gram. Why? Not because we
didn't have the men ready; not
even because me didn't have the
means Of transportation, but be-
cause-and. there is no criticism
of the French government IN
volved in this-because the ports
assigned to us for landing
couldn't take care of the sup
plies we lad to send over. We
had to send materials and engl-
neers, and workmen, even, over
to build the docks and the piers
that would be adequate to ham
die Hhe number Of men we sent
over Ebecause this was happen
ing: We began with the 90,OOO
program and the result was that
cargo ships that we needed were
lying in those ports for several
weeks together without being
unloaded, as there was no means
Of unloading them. It was bad
economy and bad practice from
every point of view to have
/, those ships lying there during
period when they could have
made two or three voyages.
There is still this difficulty.
which I am afraid there is no
means of overcoming rapidly,
that the railroad communication
between those ports and the
front is inadequate to handle
very large bodies of men. You
may notice that General Perish
ung recommended that Christ
mas boxes should not be sent to
he men. That sounded like a
pretty hard piece of advice, but
f you could go to those ports
md see those Christmas boxes
which are still there you would
5now why he didn't want them
ient. There was no means of
setting them to the front. Vast
y combinations Of these gifts were
lied up there with no means Of
oring them adequately even.
Planning to Send Men
y just wanted to create for you
lis picture, that the channels.
ave been inevitably choked.
low we believe that, inasmuch
the impediments on the other
side are being largely removed,
We can go ahead With the orig
inal program and add to it in
proportion as the British can
spare us the tonnage, and they
are going to spare ius the ton
mage for the purpose. And with
the extra tonnage which the
British are going to spare us we
will send our men, not to France
! but to Great Britain, and from
sthere they will go to the front
through the channel ports. You
see that makes a new line where
the means of handling them are
o1raadx, acto l,Iicood opd whara
they are more abundant than
they are at the French ports.
) Now, 1 want to say again that
none of this involves the least
criticism of the French authori-
ties, because I think they have
done their very best in every