To finance the war, and incidentally mark the beginning of the nation's second year in the war, subscriptions were opened on April 6 for the Third Liberty Loan of $3,000,000,000 at 4¼ per cent. These bonds are nonconvertible and will mature in ten years.
WAR DEPARTMENT'S GROWTH
The experience gained by officers who have been serving with General Pershing's army in France is becoming an influence in every one of the widely ramified branches of the War Department, while Secretary Baker's visit abroad to get first-hand knowledge of the requirements of the American expeditionary force has been fertile in new ideas.
One of the signs of the growth of the War Department is the appointment of a third Assistant Secretary of War. For this position Frederick P. Keppel, Dean of Columbia University, New York, was selected by the President. On April 12 the appointment was unanimously recommended by the Senate Military Committee. The nomination of E. R. Stettinius as an Assistant Secretary had already been confirmed. Dr. Keppel's duties include the supervision of the nonmilitary activities of the soldiers, their personal welfare and comfort, both at home and abroad.
To improve the work of the General Staff at Washington General Pershing, it was announced on April 12, is sending home certain officers who have become familiar with staff work at the front, and also some practical aviation experts to aid in solving the difficulties which have arisen in the production of aircraft. Other officers include representatives of the Quartermaster Corps who have acquired experience under modern war conditions in France. In this way a greater measure of co-ordination with the army in France is being obtained.
An order issued by General March, Acting Chief of Staff, on April 12, consolidated the Division of Storage and Traffic with the Division of Purchases and Supplies, the one division to be known as the Division of Purchase, Storage, and Traffic. The division was placed under Major Gen. Goethals, who continued to serve as Assistant Chief of Staff and Acting Quartermaster General. Brig. Gen. Palmer E. Pierce, who has been a member of the War Industries Board and of the War Council created by Secretary Baker, was made Director of Purchases in January, 1918, but under this scheme of reorganization it was announced that while remaining on duty with the War Industries Board he would give up his post as Director of Purchases and Supplies. His successor, under Major Gen. Goethals, was Colonel Hugh S. Johnston, who has been General Crowder's right-hand man in the office of the Provost Marshal General.
TWO BILLIONS FOR GUNS
There have also been important changes in the Ordnance Department, it being announced on April 8 that Brig. Gen. Charles B. Wheeler, who recently succeeded Major Gen. William Crozier as head of the Ordnance Department of the Army with the title of Acting Chief of Ordnance, had been succeeded by Brig. Gen. C. C. Williams, Chief Ordnance Officer with the American expeditionary force in France. General Williams was ordered to return to Washington to take up the duties of Active Chief of Ordnance.
A summary of the work of the Gun Division, Bureau of Ordnance, prepared for the Secretary of War, shows that it has been necessary to equip sixteen large plants for the manufacture of mobile artillery and that the total program of the Gun Division calls for an expenditure of approximately $2,000,000,000. At the outbreak of the war the Gun Division was composed of three officers and seven civilians. At the end of 1917 it had approximately 500 officers and 3,500 civilians, since increased to 1,500 officers and more than 10,000 civilians. The Ordnance Department has also established a comprehensive repair service for artillery, motor vehicles, and other equipment.
With the creation of a Construction Division in the War Department on March 16, to handle the largest single building program in history, aggregating $1,084,000,000, a board of eminent experts appointed by Acting Secretary Crowell took over the work of the Cantonment Division, which did the preliminary work of building national army camps. The building program, involving hundreds of thousands of workmen and extensive structures for the army throughout the country, is under the immediate direction of the Chief of Staff. Headed by Professor A. N. Talbot of the University of Illinois, President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the board includes representatives of leading architectural, engineering, business, and labor organizations.