Show BAKER REPLIES IN DETAIL TO URGES CHARGES HAR ES HALF f MILLION ILLION AMERICANS WILLBE WILL BE SE IN FRANCE SOON WITH S MILLION MORE READY Men Are Ready to Take Their Places at Side of Allies as Soon as Ships Can Be e. e Secured to Take TakeS S Them Ov Over r. r Washington m l. America Americal will l have an an arm army of ot half a million in France early this year with a million more trained and equipped ready to follow Coo a aft af quick quickly I ly as us ships can cnn be l provided e 1 to carry them them and and the outlook for Cor ships Is 18 not unpromising Secretary Baker r gave this information information tion to the tue world on nfl January 28 In a Ii statement ment before beCore the senate military c committee baring much flInch that until iio m has been carefully guarded with the army's military secrets In answering charges that the government has hns broken brok brok- en down preparing for war From ear early morning until late afternoon afternoon afternoon after after- noon the secretary addressed r the committee committee com corn anti and a crowd row including ing many members of or both hou houses es of congress gathered In iii a n bi big hearing room roon of or the senate office building lie ITo spoke extemporaneous extemporaneously ex ex- he beginning of the mammoth task of building au an army of a million and a half answerIng answering answer answer- ring r- r Ing such complaints of inefficiency as ns were cited by ly Senator Chamberlain In his recent speech an and declaring that such instances s were Isolated and no genera general The chief points in Secretary Bakers Baker's statement were S There will be half a million men in France France- early in 1918 There will be a 11 million and a n half hal f frend rend ready to go to France in 1918 The Amerl American n people will soon demonstrate dem dern- em upon the battlefields of Europe Europe Eu Eu- rope side able b by side with our allies our determination to win the war The or ordnance bureau has been letting contracts at the Uie rate of twenty a day We Ye could not deu delay gen sending ln men to cantonments until the tile last button n was con ron the la last coat S i t Major 1 General Wood advised me inc to send the thc men to the camps sa saying they would h have ve a lot ot to to learn before they would have haye J for rifles It was PershIng who caused rejection of or the Lewis machine gun The German government is still unaware un un- un aware of the tile number of men we have haye in France One railroad built h by Americans In France has Ilas COO GOO miles of rails It was not for us to to- decide the theatre theatre the the- atre of war war the the theatre was Fran France e. e It was n not t for forus us to decide the line Une of communications th communications the line Une reached across the Atlantic ocean with one onu end nd Infested h by submarines Our enemy en emy was on the other side of No Mans Maims r. r Land mJ and our problem em yas wast wasl to to get over oer th there re and get him While many things s disclosed im imir impressed im- im miH m- m I ir iH pressed the committee Jt wa was frankly l ly when told that he men men p pf f I two thirty two national guard nn and national I Iann ann lily army divisional are read ready Jo Jogo o ogo ogo go today at nee need When members Is I's wanted to know h why such things things' had hadnot hadnot hadnot not been given glyen publicity before beCore Mr Baker er spoke e of the Uie reluctance of f military mill mili tar tarS tary men to reveal their war plans and I quoted Gc German remarks remark's about Americas America's Amer Amer- leas lea's advertisement ement of her preparations Emphasizing that he was not there to defend himself or an anybody body else the these these secretary se urged the committee agnin ago in inand and again to la lay bare any shortcoming In ing or failure of the thc department that It might be corrected S |