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Show If; GREAT PLAN OF :: WAR MAPPED OUT j ' Railroad Systems, Ports Term- r inals and Other Facilities y ; Built on Enormous Scale. I BUILT SINCE JUNE Scheme Studied in France, P : the Scene of Activities and ji Theater of War. , ; ' WASHINGTON, Jan. 28. Many of ', !r' I the facts given today by Secretary 'j I Baker have been known to newspaper t 1 correspondents here In the capital , '1 1 but, under the voluntary censorship, j ' I they have not become known until J is.' j Air. Baker described to the coniinlt- , toe how the American army has built t -j great lines of railroads, one of them 1 j 600 miles long, up to Pershing's head- f t 1 quarters in France, with ports and ter- . I j minals and other facilities necessary 1, yl ; to handle the great quantities of sup- i plies and equipment which the army j k iVft will need on the fighting lines. All j jf ' this has been done by Americans and V Vtj ' since General Pershing's troops landed Vff j last June. E , ;'. ;j Baker Earnestly Addresses Senators. f j Leaning forward ami addressing the j j , I ; senators earnestly, the secretary of war told a story the general staff probably prob-ably would have given much to know. Ho approached the subject by departing depart-ing from the answer to criticisms and referring to It as "the plan for the war." "I think I understand why Senator Chamberlain thought there Tvaon't any plan," said Secretary Baker. "I don't know how the committee and the country feel about it, but I want to say there is a plan. It's the only possible pos-sible plan under tho circumstances. "It must be remembered that this war broke out in August, 191-1, nnd we went Into it in April, 1917. So that for two and a half years it had been going go-ing on. It was not as if an immediato plan could be made for the war's prosecution. pros-ecution. Coming Into War. "But we were coming into this'war which had been going on over two and a half years In which all the military capacity, the inventive genius and the industrial resources of these other greatest of countries had been engaged en-gaged on the problem of what the war was to be. "It was not for us to decide the theater thea-ter of war. That theater was in France. It was not for us to decide the lino of communication. It was 3000 miles uway with one end infested with submarines. sub-marines. It was not for us to decide whether maneuvers in the open should be attempted. Men were already in the trenches in a death grapple. Problem Is To Get Over. "Our problem was and is to get over and at the enemy. It was not for us to map out at the war college an ideal plan of campaign, a theoretical theoreti-cal plan. Our plan was to get into cooperation co-operation with Great Britain and France and other friends in the most immediate and efficient way. "That plan couldn't be decided here. It can't be decided in words. It Is so extraordinary and so vast that it must be seen and studied on the ground before be-fore It can be comprehended at all. Mr. Baker told of the coming of the British and French missions with Balfour Bal-four and Joffre. "These men were seen in the halls of congress but few people saw the staffs of trained experts they brought with them and how they divided themselves them-selves up through the -war department Most Brilliant Men. "They were the most brilliant men in their armies," he said. "Every country has sent us that sort of experts." ex-perts." Even as these experts talked, Secretary Sec-retary Baker said, the story they told grew old. Weapons they had helped to develop had become obsolete before they could be got to the front. , A Moving Picture. "This was a moving picture. It was necessary that we have oyes there to see and report and we sent General Pershing and the major part of the trained personnel of the army that pitiful handful of trained men." General Pershing now reports dally in cablegrams that run into hundreds and even thousands of words, he added. ad-ded. "We are using their eyes there to keop up to what they want us to do." Tho startling progress of the war in the development of munitions will bo I shown, he said, by the fact that weapons weap-ons devised by Amorlcau experts during dur-ing the last few months have been discarded. Then takfug up a copy of the Metropolitan Metro-politan Magazine for last August, Mr. Baker read a protest in Its editorial columns against tho supposed policy of tho govornment to make its contribution con-tribution to tho war financial and industrial in-dustrial "to hold off until the Allies win tho war for us." Col. Roosevelt Answered. A question brought out that Colonel Roosevelt was then associato editor of the magazino, which urged that "every nerve bo strained to got 150.000 to 200,000 men to Franco in 1917." "I am disclosing no secret," Secretary Secre-tary Baker said, pausing, "when I say we excoeded that number in 1917." Senator Chamberlain asked if the maximum had not been exceeded by August, 1917. "Not tho maximum," replied Secretary Secre-tary Baker. "Tho minimum was exceeded." ex-ceeded." "Wo will have 500,000 men In France early In 1918," he added, "and wo will have a million and a half more ready to go to Franco during 1918." Chamberlain asked the sccrotnry why he could not take tho public Into his confidence in tho matter. Afraid to Disclose Secrets. Secretary Baker replied that ho hesitated hes-itated to do that. He referred to a statement oy uenerai von i-nnuon-burg to the effect that America was advertising her intentions. "But Isn't it a fact that Germany has known all about this?" persisted Senator Sena-tor Chamberlain. "No," replied Secretary Baker. "Tho German government is still mystified regarding the number of men now in France. They know what is doing at the front, but Germany is still mystified mysti-fied regarding the number of men now in France." His statement,. Mr. Baker said, was made on the basis of most reliable confidential report- received by the war department. Confidential Information Kept.' Secretary Baker wont on to explain that such things all warring countries try to keep entirely confidential. "Why, I do not believe I could even get the number of men Great Britain has in France, or at home now, or could even get that Information from Franco," ho said. "That may be unnecessary un-necessary but it is a precaution that is followed by all military men." "If the whole regular Amerlcaii army had been sent into battlo at once," Sec-rotary Sec-rotary Baker said. "like England's, It would have been destroyed." Welcomed in France. In eloquent words, Secretary Baker described how France welcomed tho first American soldiers, peasants kissing, kiss-ing, ho said, tho hems of their coats. "Of course they welcomed tho British, Brit-ish, but then their need was not so great nor wore the ties to England so close," ho said. "So an Instant response re-sponse came from Franco and our soldiers sol-diers have continued to go over in an unbroken stream. At this hour wo have a fighting army in France, seasoned and trained to the warfare. Joffre said it might take some time for us to get a trained army over, but that wewero a great industrial country and could send artisans ar-tisans immediately. Regiments of RaJIroad Men. "Although not contemplated at the outset, we have organized regiments of railroad men which are building railroads, behind the British and French fighting lines aB they advance. Of such caliber were these men that at Cambrai, when General Byng was endangered, they throw down thoir picks and shovels, grasped rifles and distinguished themsolves. "Vory early in tho war Balfour and Joffre said: 'Send us nurses and doctors. doc-tors. Almost before wo were In tho war Red Cross nurses and doctors and ambulance drivers In great numbers woro sent ovor. Our early losses wero of these. Call for Mechanics. "But that was not onough. It was suggested further that mechanics were needed. Special studies were made. Wo found that railroads and other facilities of Franco had been kept in excellent condition, far better than we had thought possible. "But despite the condition of Fronch railroads," he said, "it was found necessary nec-essary to provide transportation facilities facili-ties for tho American army In Franco becauso of tho great demands upon thoso alroady there. "In other words," he said, "France was a white sheet of paper. As far as we wero concerned, wo not only had to wrlto an army on that sheet but we also had to provide maintenance We havo been building facilities and agencies in France just as much as In this country of the same character. WASHINGTON, Jan. 2S. To the report re-port on progross of shell making, showing 60,000,000 shells under manufacture manu-facture for delivery this year, Senator Frellnghuyscn of New Jorsay said: "From my Information I am inclined to challenge that statement," Secretary Bakor said it was hurriedly hurried-ly prepared by General Wheeler, acting act-ing quartermaster-general, but he believed be-lieved it accurate. "I want to make one iurther observation," obser-vation," Secretary Baker proceeded, taking up army food. "I think it is not unfair for me to say that in tho provision pro-vision of food no army ever assembled was fed so ably, so well, so nutritiously and appetizlngly as this army. While there have been complaints in other things, I thing It is the unanimous testimony tes-timony that the food has been of the highest quality with no suggestion of defect in its quality, or preparation and that generally the food proposition proposi-tion has been carried out with the most extraordinary success." Cantonment Sites Reviewed. Sites for tho camps and cantonments were next taken up by Mr. Baker, who detailed tho war college's study of the subject and Its recommendations that departmental commanders be required to select camps In their respective jurisdictions, with regard to healthful requirements, freedom of overtlow, or climatic conditions Interrupting training train-ing and other desirable and non-desirable conditions. |