The Daily News. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1917. AMERICAN HELP.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1917. AMERICAN HELP.

The b test official figures issued by the United States show that its army in : France and the United States composes and including marines find auxiliaries, one and a half-million. Last week we were told that "tho Government of the United States expects to have 99,818 officers and 1,606,000 men in the fighting line by June, 1919." In the July American Review of Roviews, under the title "The War Waits on America," Frank Symonds, one of America's ablest writers on war matters, wrote: "We should have, to play any useful part next summer, at least half a million men on the Western line. And if the war goes into 1919—as now seems probable—wo shall need a million. For this, I think, the French and British will wait." Further on in the same article he said: "The belief that American aid is indispensable to a real defeat of Germany goes hand-in-hand with the belief that America cannot be ready next year, that we shall take as long as the British to get large and well-equipped armies in France. The Battle of the Somme opened just twenty-three months after the outbreak of the world war. Twenty-three months from April this year (the date of America's entry into the war) would mean March, 1919. And 1 it was only at the Somme that the 'a»w' British armies began." What is of immediate concern, in view of the cessation of hostilities on the eastern front, is the number of men America has now in France and the number likely to be there soon. Of the million and a third enrolled, 657,000 are raw recruits that have; just come into the cantonments. Th» Regular Army stood three months ago at 300,000 men; and the National Guard at 350,000. Possibly 200,000 of the Regulars and National Guard are In France now, and the-number should be doubled in three months' time. But the chief difficulty is transport. According to Sir Joseph Maclay, the British Shipping Controller, the United States must build the ships to transport the army and supply its needs. The tonnage required to transport 1,000,000 men he put down at six millions, and it all has tb be built. This will keep half a million men fully occupied in shipbuilding alone. It is a mighty task, but one which the Amerieane are capable of carrying through successfully. Officering the new army is another difficulty. The officers have first to be specially trained, and probably will have to go to France for the purpose. It is i> lengthy and intricate business. The ' men themselves can be turned out to

take their places in the trenches in six months, as we know from our experience of training in our own military camps. If America, can put in the field, and support, an army of three: quarters of a million men during the coming spring- and summer she will have done well. If she can double the number in 1919, as is suggested in the cable referred to above, she will have performed wonders. Germany is aware of the time it must take America to exert her full strength on the, Western front, and it is only natural to expect Hindenburg to strike with all the force at his disposal before the American legions arrive, in the hope that he can reach a favorable decision. There is evidence that he is preparing the stroke now. The collapse of .the Russians has enabled him to pit against the Anglo. French a greater concentration of men and guns than ever. Any day we may hear of the attack being launched. We need not fear the result. The AngloFrench must have quite as many men and guns as the enemy can muster; perhaps more. In a way the attack can I be welcomed, because it will hasten the end by weakening the enemy. He will inflict great losses on us in the process, no doubt, but we arc able to draw on resources in men and material, that are not available to him. The collapse of the Russians and the defeat of the Italians have given «. new lease of life to the Germans, who fondly believe they can still force the Allies into a peace agreement, but they will find the opposition in the West a trifle different from that experienced in the East and on the Italian front. They will meet armies that have already proved themselves to be more than a match for their picked divisions, and armies whose morale will not be affecte* by the knowledge that enemy reinforcements are pouring across from the Russian front. This may be the last phase of the war, but it is bound to be intense and sanguinary in an unparalleled degree. We can rest assured that our generals arc ready for tnc most desperate assaults the enemy may make and confident in their ability to defeat them.