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Show NEARLY MILLION MEN IE TO GO Second Army Draft Will Fill Up the Gaps That Now Exist. WASHINGTON, March 12. Eight hundred thousand men are to bo called to tho colors gradually during the present year, under the second army draft, which begins on March 29. An announcement today by Provost Marshal General Crowder of tho number num-ber to bo called was followed closely by nn order for the mobilization of 95,000 men during the five -day period beginning March 29, some 15,000 of them to be assembled under tho second sec-ond draft. Eighty thousand will bo men of 'tho first draft of 087,000, not yet summoned into sorvlce. Details of how the second draft Is to be applied will be mado public later, after congress has acted upon proposed propos-ed legislation providing for the registration regis-tration of youths attaining the ago )f 21 years and for basing state and district dis-trict quotas on the number of registrants regis-trants In class ono. In his first official of-ficial statoment on the subject, how-over, how-over, General Crowder assures the country that no sweeping withdrawal of largo numbers of men at one time is contemplated, and that care will bo taken to avoid interference with harvesting. har-vesting. The 95,000 now called, It is understood, under-stood, are needed at onco to fill up divisions di-visions and other units scheduled for early doparture or to take the placo of men transferred from other divisions to mako up such deficiencies. Newly organized regular divisions aro particularly parti-cularly short of men and heavy drafts on national array divisions to make these good have been necessary seriously ser-iously interfering with tho training work of tho national army divisions drawn upon. Tho call for new men makes it probable that no further transfers will be necessary. The 800,000 men to bo summoned this year represent the number necessary neces-sary to fill up all existing divisions, to create all the army corps and field army troops to fill out the war ma-chino ma-chino for which tho framework already al-ready exists, and to provide a quartor of a million replacement troops. When they have been mobilized, which will not bo completed before the first of next year, there will be moro than forty full Infantry divisions of 27,700 men each and ail the additional units necessary. No additional divisions of tho national army or national guard will be croated this year, although the program for the regular army, now composed of eight infantry and ono cavalry division, may bo enlarged. The first purpose of the war department de-partment is to complete the first field army In France. Probably tnls will be composed of five army corps of six Infantry In-fantry divisions each. It has been estimated es-timated that with that force and Its necessary auxiliaries at his disposal General Pershing would bo able to hold a 100-mlle sector of the battle front, relieving the strain upon French man -power during 1918 to that extent. What that would mean to France may be judged from published statements of French officials that on January 1, 1918, the Belgian army held about 15 miles of the western front, tho British forces about 105 miles and the French about 350 miles. |