Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1919 — GENERAL AND STATE NEWS [ARTICLE]

GENERAL AND STATE NEWS

Telegraphic Reports From Many Parts of the Conntry. SHORT BITS OF THE UNUSUAL IlnmwningH in the Nearby Cities ami Towns—Matters of Minor Mention From Many Localities* ALL TO BK HOME BY CHRISTMAS Says the War Department of the American Men Oversea*. Washington, May 3.—" Plan to get everything out of Europe by Christmas." Thia la the import, If not the precise wording of a cablegram from Secretary Baker, who has been conferring In Paris with President Wilson, General Pershing and representatives of the British, French and Italian governments, In regard to the disposition of the allied armies after the formal declaration of peace. It la to be the policy of this government, it is said, to get every American soldier home just as quickly as it can be done after the release of the army of occupation in Germany. As yet there Is lack of definite Information here as to what the peace treaty will provide, if anything, with respect to any allied military occupation of the west bank of the Rhine.

Members of the general staff say, in the absence of any definite Information, they assume that if there should be any allied military occupation required by the peace terms, the military force required would be provided by Greats Britain, France, and possibly Italy. There has been no hint from any quarter that the American delegates to the peace conference would agree to any arrangement under which American soldiers could be held for police duty along the Rhine or anywhere else in Europe for any considerable period after the establishment of peace. The notice from the secretary of war to the various branches of his (department that everybody must work toward getting the United States forces out of Europe by Christmas, is interpreted to mean that the army of occupation will not be held long after the peace terms are agreed to. The conference in Paris during the last 10 days, attended by the secretary of war, General Pershing and military representatives of the major European powers, has resulted in a general agreement with respect to what may be described as the after-the-war cleanup.

Rapid progress has been made during the last two months, according to the war department, with the disposition of the property which the United States government owned in France when the armistice was signed. The holdings of the United States Included railroads, with railroad rolling stock, docks, warehouses, camp Improvements, wireless stations, etc. It has been necessary to dispose of much of this property at a sacrifice, but no one expected anything else under the circumstances. If all goes well, it was said today, most of the holdings of the United States that could not be brought back to this country would be disposed of before the Ist of July. The government of France Is buying much of this stuff with money lent her by the United States. France was glad to take over the railroads the United States had built, as well as all the rolling stock owned by this government. According to the transportation experts off the war and navy departments it will not be an impossibility to get all the American soldiers back by Christmas. If 300,000 «nen are brought home this month and 300,000 next month, as planned, fewer than a million men will be left on the other side by July 1. Fixing the number still there at 1,000,000, the government would have to bring fewer than 300,000 home a to get the entire force back by "Christmas. As already noted In the dispatches, the plan agreed on in Paris recently provides that the United States shall cease to use

French j>orts In the movement of troops after July 1. The transfer of all the debarkation business to Antwerp, Belgium, will have some effect on the troop movement, for it will not be possible to handle as many troop ships out of Antwerp In the course of a month as are now being handled out of the French ports. However, under this new circumstance, it Is asserted. It will not be a difficult matter to get everybody home by Christmas, provided all the men can be spared. Officers recently returned from France say the “two bottle necks'* through which practically the entire movement must pass, the embarkation camp at Brest and the debarkation station at Hoboken, are now operating at a remarkable speed. The system Is said to. be so precise that a unit or even an Individual officer or man who loses step with the system’s stride has a difficult time and probably never succeeds In catching up with the main flow. General Pershing will come home with the last unit of the army of occupation. He was the first over aifter the United States entered the war and he Intends to be the last back. His admirers are already talking about the reception that will Inevitably be accorded him when he lands In New York city, about next Christmas time, they hope.