Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1918 — “Our Present And Immediate Task.” [ARTICLE]

“Our Present And Immediate Task.”

It is reported that the President is satisfied with Mr. Baker. Mr. Baker is satisfied, he says,with Gen. Crozier and Gen. Thorpe. Mr. Baker is satisfied with the supply, equipment, and condition of our troops abroad. Mr. Baker is satisfied with the progress of our preparation made up to this time and with the prospects of further progress. Mr. Baker is, finally, entirely satisfied with Secretary of War Newton D. Baker, with his action and inaction, with his judgments and policies.

Perhaps this satisfaction is natural in an official who is three thousand miles away from the battle front, but we do not think it is shared by (1) the French and British governments which have had to supply our troops with machine guns ana artillery and much of the ammunition for them; (2) by the Italians who need artillery and munitions which must ' be drawn by the help given America; (8) by the men at the front in Flanders, France and Italy who are awaiting "the offensive of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies reinforced ’rom the abandoned east front. We do not think Mr. Baker’s satisfaction s shared by (1) the officers and men in the cantorpnelits who, after four months in the army, are still without the rifles, the machine guns, or the artillery they must learn to use with the highest skill against the veteran troops of the central powers, (2) nor by the parents of the youth who,, in the midst of the resources of the richest land in the world, died for. lhek of clothing, proper shelter, and unfit sanitary conditions. i Finally, we do not think Mr. Baker’s satisfaction will be shared by any American who realizes that the continued destruction of shipping by the submarines and the increase of enemy strength in the west by reason of the disappearance of the Russian army and the retreat of the. Italian army brings the need for our active military aid into the immediate present. We do not think Mr. Baker’s satisfaction will be shared by any American who has cherished a belief in the American genius for resourcefulness, for freedom from hampering conventionalities, for swift practicality and masterful organization. We do not think it can be shared by any American who is realizing now what procrastination, red tape, bureaucratic prejudice and muddling, and want of foresight have done for our military preparation through nearly ten months of actual war. v . „ . „ Mr. Wilson may be satisfied, Mr. Baker may he -satisfied. The enemy ought to be more than satisfied- But we think neither the nation nor the men it has called to throw themselves in the path of the greatest military organization in history will share that satisfaction. —Chicago Tribune Editorial.