Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1919 — “BE PATIENT!” BAKER’S PLEA [ARTICLE]

“BE PATIENT!” BAKER’S PLEA

WRITES NEW YEAR’S NOTE ON THE DELAY IN DE- • MOBILIZATION. —■-—7—- - ■. 7 1 --7— ——7 Washington, D. C., Jan. I.—-An ap; peal to bear with patience the delays of demobilization constiuted the New Year’s greeting by Secretary of War Baker, which was read to the soldiers at all army camps today. The secretary’s message is in effect an answer to Senator Chamberlain’s charges in the senate Monday that the war department has no comprehensive, systematic plan of demobilization and (that the administration is as unprepared to return the soldiers to civil life as it was to send them to war. Mr. Baker had written one New Year’s greeting to the army which was issued by the war department Dec. 24 for publication this morning. After reading Senator Chamberlain’s charges, however, the secretary of war decided he had something more specific to say to the soldiers, and he composed the following: “To you who have fulfilled the promise of the nation overseas and you who stood ready in reserve at home I send greetings for the new year. “The year of 1918 has shown what America can do; 1919 will show what America is. “Your part in the great accomplishment has been a vital one. The part you will bear in the days to come .will be no less important for our country. “The process of demobilization is moving swiftly, in order and according to plan. Clearly, everything cannot be done at once, and patience will be needed. Each step must follow the step before, and some units will go quickly while others may be held a little longer for reasons that are very real though sometimes not apparent on the surface. ‘‘As America made her power felt more quickly than the foe thought possible, so she will return that -power to the pursuits of peace with all due speed. As you have shared in the pride of the first accomplishment, so must your patience aid in the present adjustment to new conditions. “The privilege of having stood in the ranks of the army of victorius 'democracy will be your pride through the years to come. If fortune has decreed that only weeks or months remain for you to stand in those ranks, instead of bloody years as,our allies have done —then bear yourselves thr'ough the remaining days in a way t ©increase that pride. “The best wishes of the country, for 1919, and all the coming years, are yours. To these I add my own heartiest good wishes, and the confidence that in the future as ex-sol-diers, as you have done in the past as soldiers, you will continue to reflect the highest honor on our country.” Complaintsthat the war department demobilization process is not producing the desired results are numerous. It is alleged that there are thousands of soldiers with jobs awaiting them in civil life who are encountering great difficulties in obtaining discharges while thousands of others recently discharged soldiers 'have been unable to find employment. With outdoor work scarce in the next few months, Nathan A. Smyth,assistant director general of the United States employment service, said it may become necessary to release only those soldiers who have peace time positions waiting them. American troops operating in Archangel were fitted out in England with special clothing and other equipment to meet the rigors of the Russian winter climate, Secretary Baker said today in discussing statements made in the senate Monday that the troops were not ptoperly equipped. “While I was. in London, General Biddle went over with me the details of their fitting out and assured me that with the assistance of the British government they had had every attention paid to their equipment, and that carefully selected medical personnel accompanied the Archangel forces,” Secretary Baker ity could make it when it left for plete in every way as human ingenusaid. “The expedition was as comArchangel. “I have not had a special report as to unusual severity of influenza there.”