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Show MAY CUT IIVSPDRTS i TO MOVE SOLDIERS DANIEL3 BACKS PREDICTION OF HALF MILLIAN AMERICANS IN FRANCE SOON. Plan to Use Neutral Ships for Supplies to United States and American Vessels for Troops Movement Move-ment Being Considered. Washington. Secretary Dnnlels on . February 4 authorized the statement that the navy is assured of euough transport facilities to make sure that there will be 500,000 American troops In France early this year, as was stated by Secretary Baker recently before the senate military committee. A 50 per cent reduction in the volume vol-ume of imports Is one of the measures under consideration by the administration administra-tion to make available ships for transporting trans-porting troops to France. Estimates of the amount of tonnage necessary to keep an army supplied vary all the way from four to seven tons In continuous service for each man engaged. The United States now has in all service about 4,000,000 tons of shipping, of which probably one-fourtn one-fourtn is engaged In Importing materials mate-rials heretofore regarded as essential to the national Industrial life. . Will Use Neutral Shipping. If negotiations now under way with, neutral countries are concluded successfully suc-cessfully a large amount of neutral tonnage will be used to supplant American ships engaged in the non-hazardous non-hazardous trades. It is regarded as entirely en-tirely likely that the entire 1,000,000 tons of American ships engaged will be put into the trans-Atlantic service, and that the neutral ships will supply about 50 per cent of the resulting shortage. In addition, the "government expects soon to take over all American sailing ships and a large number of French sailing ships, all of which will be put in the non-hazardous trades. This move will add some tonnage to that available for bringing in imports. , If a cut In imports is made the government gov-ernment will select for. .elimination ,a list of articles which it regards as not essential la the prosecution of the war. . |