Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 308, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 January 1918 — GUARD DIVISIONS LEAVE SHORTLY [ARTICLE]

GUARD DIVISIONS LEAVE SHORTLY

MOVEMENT. TO FRANCE WILL BE COMPLETED EARLY UNDER PRESENT PLAN*. Washington, Jani3,—Movement of the national guard in the'fifteen camps in the United States toward Europe " may be expected at any time. In the last few week every national guard division has been thoroughly inspected and the order in which these divisions will go to France has been determined by the war department, the most proficient to go first and. the less proficient to remain until they have had more training. ' When the divisions will go to France Can not be revealed, but it, may be said that the movement of national guard troops will be steady from this time. It is expected that the entire movement will have been completed by early summer and that approximately 420,000 men, the total strength of the national guard, organizations will be added to the American expeditionary force in France. ■_ , The call for men in .the second draft, including that per cent, of the first draft, which has not been sent to camp, 1 will depend on the movement of the national guard troops. Men from the second draft call will occupy the cantonm'ents to be vacated by the 'national guard troops.. Whether the drafted men of Indiana will occupy the camp at Hattiesburg, Miss., that has been occupied by the Indiana national guard can not be learned, . Assuming that the second draft call will not be made until practically all of the national guard camps have been vacated, it, would appear that the second call will not come until some time in the late spring. The war department is casting about to find some means'of taking care x>f the* men of the second call. Since the national guard, minus certain organizations which went to France some time ago, contained only about 400,000 men and since approximately 700,000 men are to be included in the next draft, counting those left out of the first call, accommodations will have to be Provided for approximately 300,000 more men than the cantonments house now. Whether to build new camps to shelter these men or to reduce the size of the second call ■to include only 200,000 men plus those left out of the first call is the situation the war department has to face. It has been suggested that some of the men for the second call be sent to the national army camps, some of which are still far short of the number of men that they can accommodate. It has been pointed out, however, that these men, inexperienced and green, would in that manner be grouped with men who have had several months’ training and that a serious disruption of the training plan of the camps might result. ' Some announcement m regard to this subject will be made by the war department before the second call is issued.