The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1918. AMERICA'S WAR PREPARATIONS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 152, 16 March 1918, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1918. AMERICA'S WAR PREPARATIONS

The announcement that France has urgently appealed to America to expedite the" sending of troops to Europe and that America has .. responded by deciding to send a di- '. vision of drafted men without delay need not be taken at its face value. Many such appeals have been made in- recent weeks through newspaper correspondents, and their; purpose is obvious enough, in the light of what has been happening in the United States.. In January last Premier Glemenceau, in ; bidding good-bye to an American war correspondent on the eve of the lattor's return home, is reported to have said: "A terriblo.blow is imminent. Toll your Americans to come quickly." Such messages as this are liable to be interpreted as the imagination of . the- reader may decide. They may bo taken to indicate a natural anxiety that America should hasten her war efforts to the utmost of her capacity, or they may bo regarded as indicating that the •Allies are so desperately hard pressed that the early arrival of large forces of American troops alone can save them from_ giving way. The .common-sense .view, obviously, is that the % sooner America can ..take an active' and' weighty part, in the military operations the better, it. will be for the Allies, and ; for' America herself;.and.the sooner the war will be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. There is nothing .to suggest that the call for America's assistance is anything more than the natural desire that she should speed up her. efforts to'' the highest possible pitch. No doubt there is a further object _ in theso appeals, and that is to bring homo to the American people as forcibly as possible the fact that the time for talk has passed; that deeds should now replace words; that dalliance spells danger to the Allied cause. America did not fully realise, the' task ahead of' her when she entered into this war. This does not mean that she was unaware of the risks and ■ the responsibilities she. incurred, but that she did- not appreciate the degree of unprcparcdness in which she stood : or the 'difficulties which confronted her in the training'and equipping, of her manhood for military service . and for their transportation and'the! carriage of. munitions and supplies for their use ..overseas. America.has been handicapped, as Great Britain was handicapped at the beginning of the war, by reason of the fact that' she had not prepared for war. There has been a tremendous campaign against the military side of President Wil-. son's administration for many wepks past, and a Committee of Inappointed by the Senate, has investigated alleged shortcomings on the part of the military authorities. In some cases the charges made have been sheeted home. There have been astonishing instances of lack of foresight, failures to provide suitable clothing in adequate quantities; muddlementiover the type of rifle with which the infantry were to be armed; inability to provide artillery for the forces in the field; differences of opinion which have led to delays in providing aeroplanes of the best typo for service on the fighting front. Most of these weakness*? have been exposed and some admitted. France and England have been called on to supply artillery and aeroplanes for the American forces in France, and the United States Government has placed largo orders with British and French workshops for further supplies of this nature because America was caught unprepared. But these shortcomings are being remedied—rapidly remedied. As is customary in such matters the critics of the Wilson Administration have chiefly concerned themselves with the failures of those' in. authority and have given little credit for the quite remarkable achievements on record. ,'Mit. Baker, Secretary of State for War, in the courso of his evidence 1 before the Senate Committee, defended the work of his Department in some detail, and it is of particular interest to learn that dospite vigorous cross-examination he adhered to his original estimate "that, a million and a half American troops would be available for shipment to France in 1918, and that the prospect of forwarding them was not unpromising.'.' What is still more important, he was able to say that on January 1, 1918, "the United States had transported to Franco ' morn troops than our schedule had called for." .What the actual number sent was he declined to say. but the repeated inquiries made as to whether shipping was available to send a million more men during 1918 suggested that the impression, prevail-

Ed in the Senate Committee that something like half a million men had already been sent. Mit. Baker, who we were informed yesterday is now himself in France, also stated aat arms of the most effective kind, including artillery, machine-guns, and rifles, had been provided for every American soldier in France, and were available for every soldier who could be got to France this year. The total military forces of the United States in January last were 110,858 officers and 1,428,650 men, and presumably included in these totals were 86,020 officers and men in the aviation section. One of the defenders of the American Government summed up the position with some effect in these words: "We have an Army and Navy of nearly 2,0Q0,0C0 men, and they are nearer the desired state of perfee tion than' the armies and navies of cither France ■• or England were after a similar lapse of tima" The outstanding feature of the situation appears to be that America, so far has done remarkably well, but not so well in some respects as her own people or those of the Allies were I led to believe would be possible in j the time that has elapsed since America's entry into the war. The reason for this is to be.found in the fact that America, in order to fully maintain her,role of a neutral Power, did not make any preparations for the part of a belligerent. This is now admitted. The great problem which confronts her and her Allies is that of providing the necessary shipping, not only for the transport of hor,troops, but of munitions and supplies for the troops after they read)' France. Mr. Baker expressed the opinion that with. the assistance of the' Allies sufficient shipping would be forthcoming, and there is little doubt that this will be the case, though it may tax their resources to the utmost. America has the men—at the present time there are approximately a million and a half in training in the United States—and we .may be certain from what has already been disclosed that they will be dispatched to France as rapidly as circumstances permit.