The overseas fighting forces of the United States have been increasing at a much more rapid rate than the public was aware of. Early in May the number of our men in France was in excess of 500,000. A great increase in the ultimate size of the army was further indicated when the War Department asked the House Military Affairs Committee for a new appropriation of $15,000,000,000.

Mr. Baker, Secretary of War, appeared before the committee on April 23 and, after describing the results of his inspection of the army in France, said that the size of the army that the United States would send abroad was entirely dependent upon the shipping situation. Troops were already moving to France at an accelerated rate.

President Wilson, through Mr. Baker, presented the House Military Affairs Committee on May 2 with proposals for increasing the army. The President asked that all limits be removed on the number of men to be drafted for service. Mr. Baker said that he declined to discuss the numbers of the proposed army "for the double reason that any number implies a limit, and the only possible limit is our ability to equip and transport men, which is constantly on the increase."

The Administration's plans were submitted in detail on May 3, when the committee began the preparation of the army appropriation bill carrying $15,000,000,000 to finance the army during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1919. Mr. Baker again refused to go into the question of figures, but it became known at the Capitol that the estimates he submitted were based on a force of not fewer than 3,000,000 men and 160,000 officers in the field by July 1, 1919. The plan contemplated having 130,000 officers and 2,168,000 men, or a total of 2,298,000, in the field and in camps by July 1, 1918, and approximately an additional million in the field before June 30, 1919.

Mr. Baker said that all the army camps and cantonments were to be materially enlarged, to take care of the training of the men to be raised in the next twelve months. The General Staff had this question under careful consideration, and the idea was to increase the size of existing training camps rather than to establish new camps. These camps, it was estimated, already had facilities for training close to a million men at one time.

The Secretary of War also made it clear that the total of $15,000,000,000 involved in the estimates as revised for the new army bill did not cover the whole cost of the army for the next fiscal year. The $15,000,000,000, he explained, was in addition to the large sums that would be carried in the Fortifications Appropriation bill, which covers the cost of heavy ordnance both in the United States and overseas. Nor did it include the Military Academy bill. It was emphasized that, although estimates were submitted on the basis of an army of a certain size, Congress was being asked for blanket authority for the President to raise all the men needed, and the approximate figures of $15,000,000,000 could be increased by deficiency appropriations.

It was brought out in the committee that the transportation service had improved and that the War Department was able to send more men to France each month. It was estimated that if transport facilities continued to improve, close to 1,500,000 fighting men would be on the western front by Dec. 31, 1918. The United States had now in camp and in the field, it was explained to the committee, the following enlisted men and officers:

Provost Marshal General Crowder announced on May 8 that 1,227,000 Americans had been called to the colors under the Selective Draft act, thereby indicating approximately the strength of the national army. Additional calls during May for men to be in camp by June 2 affected something like 366,600 registrants under the draft law. These men were largely intended to fill up the camps at home, replacing the seasoned personnel from the divisions previously training there. With the increase of the number of divisions in France, the flow of replacement troops was increasing proportionately.

In regard to the number of men in France, Mr. Baker on May 8 made the following important announcement:

In January I told the Senate committee that there was strong likelihood that early in the present year 500,000 American troops would be dispatched to France. I cannot either now or perhaps later discuss the number of American troops in France, but I am glad to be able to say that the forecast I made in January has been surpassed.

This was the first official utterance indicating even indirectly the number of men sent abroad. The first force to go was never described except as a division, although as a matter of fact it was constituted into two divisions soon after its arrival in France.

An Associated Press dispatch dated May 17 announced that troops of the new American Army had arrived within the zone of the British forces in Northern France and were completing their training in the area occupied by the armies which were blocking the path of the Germans to the Channel ports. The British officers who were training the Americans stated that the men from overseas were of the finest material. The newcomers were warmly greeted by the British troops and were reported to be full of enthusiasm.