TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1917.

SIGNAL SERVICE OF THE ARMY.

STATEMENT OF BRIG. GEN. GEORGE O. SQUIER, CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER.

Mr. SHERLEY. General, on page 58 of the bill, under the head of "Office of the Chief Signal Officer," there is the following item:

For expenses of the Signal Service of the Army, as follows: Purchase, equip ment, and repair of field electric telegraph, radio installations, signal equipments and stores, binocular glasses, telescopes, heliostats, and other necessary instruments, including necessary meteorological intruments for use on target ranges; motorcycles and motor-driven vehicles used for technical and official purposes; professional and scientific books of reference, pamphlets, periodicals, newspapers, and maps, for use in the office of the Chief Signal Officer; war balloons and airships and accessories, including their maintenance and repair; telephone apparatus (exclusive of] including exchange service at mobile army posts) and maintenance of the same; electrical installations and maintenance at military posts; fire-control and direction apparatus and material for Field Artillery; maintenance and repair of military lines and cables, including salaries of civilian employees, supplies, general repairs, reserved supplies, and other expenses connected with the duty of collecting and transmitting information for the Army by telegraph or otherwise, $3,000,000.

You had $1,000,000 in the Army bill and a deficiency of $3,817,766 in the June 15 bill.

Gen. SQUIER. Yes, sir.

Mr. SHERLEY. You are now asking $3,000,000 additional. What is the reason for requesting this additional money?

Gen. SQUIER. The reasons may be classified first under certain totally unpremeditated demands which have been and are now being made upon the Signal Service due to the war, and other lesser reasons may be classified as they are here, the motorization of our telegraph battalions instead of using horses, due to the roads in Europe, the supplying of an adequate depot in France, and the extra cost of machines in the organization of the Infantry. We are going to model our Infantry over to fit Europe, which calls for certain extra things, notably machine-gun companies, which will require a lot of glasses, and so on. That is a small item. The large item which alone more than meets this consists of certain unprecedented things. The demand for lines of information connecting our Army with Washington on a scale commensurate with the force we hope to put in France, and the absolute lack of any sort of material that we could get from France to do this, confronted the Signal Corps with the problem of creating and building in France a large number of lines of information which we had supposed would be furnished by France, and which it developed could not be furnished.

Mr. SHERLEY. General. Congress recently appropriated $640,000,000 in connection with the Aviation Service.

Gen. SQUIER. Yes, sir.

Mr. SHERLEY. Were any of the funds available for this purpose, or, to put my question in another way, was it not contemplated that a large part of this expense which you have generally designated would be borne out of the funds thus made available?

Gen. SQUIER. I suppose, strictly speaking, by law I would have authority to do that if they would agree to it in the Treasury, although that was an aviation measure, and if I started to build telegraph lines it would not be in conformity with the estimate furnished at that time, although I suppose I could do it.

Mr. SHERLEY. This expense, then, is exclusive of the expenses incident to aviation?

Gen. SQUIER. Yes, sir; this has nothing to do with aviation at all. Mr. SHERLEY. And relates to your regular Signal Service?

Gen. SQUIER. Yes, sir. It has nothing to do whatever with aviation. It is to provide Gen. Pershing's army with the absolutely reliable and necessary lines of information that he needs. We have also learned, to our surprise, that there are certain new highly scientific branches of war being developed in Europe, which are not infantry, cavalry, or artillery, which must be immediately developed, and we are inheriting those in the Signal Corps, because they are more or less assigned to that branch. There is no law for it. In the first place, there is the meteorological service. Suddenly Gen. Pershing has determined that he must have with him somebody to forecast the weather. For that purpose there is needed special equipment, which the French and English have. The experts sent must be soldiers. They can not be civilians. The General Staff immediately said that the Signal Corps would develop that staff and train them and send them over. No one could have foretold that. We did not know. We simply must do it.

Mr. SHERLEY. I notice, General, that you want to strike out the words "exclusive of" and insert the word "including," so that the paragraph will read "including exchange service at mobile Army posts." What is the reason for that?

Gen. SQUIER. For years this strange anomaly has occurred. The Quartermaster's Department has paid for the telephone service connecting all posts to the cities. The Signal Service has built all the post systems and why it should not provide everything I do not know. For many years that is one of the anomalies which has existed. In my judgment, the Signal Service should provide the entire service, including the connecting of the posts with the towns, because the Quartermaster's Department has no means of knowing whether the price is proper.

Mr. CANNON. Who keeps it in repair?

Gen. SQUIER. We do everything, except this item, which has been in the Quartermaster's Department. The Quartermaster General is very anxious to get rid of it. We think that it should be with us. Mr. SHERLEY. What does it amount to in money?

Gen. SQUIER. As I remember, last year about $36,000-a small affair. They keep an account over in another place that does not know anything about it. They do not want it. It is illogical. We build the line, maintain the telephone, and run the service connected with the town. How this started I do not know. It does not amount to much; it is a small item.

Mr. BYRNS. Does this include the services of the men?
Gen. SQUIER. No; this is a toll line.

Mr. SHERLEY. This has nothing to do with the personnel?

Gen. SQUIER. No, sir. We have to connect ourselves with the Bell system and pay so much for the trunk line. That operation should

be done by the Signal Corps, otherwise there has to be an account kept in the Quartermaster's Department.

Mr. SHERLEY. This fund is available for the payment of salaries of civilian employees generally?

Gen. SQUIER. I think it is.

Mr. SHERLEY. It says so in express language.

Gen. SQUIER. Yes, sir; "exchange service and maintenance of the same."

Mr. SHERLEY. Not only that, but further on when it speaks of maintenance and repair of military lines and cables, including salaries of civilian employees"?

Gen. SQUIER. Yes, sir. That means this, that at some of the larger posts the commander prefers to have civilians at the exchange instead of soldiers. That is gradually being displaced and will soon disappear. We are rather against that. We think the whole thing should be military at the posts. It is a comparatively small business. There have been, at certain posts, civilians employed.

Mr. BYRNS. That is the reason I asked the question, whether this was personal service rendered by the enlisted men or civilians? Gen. SQUIER. It is both.

Mr. CANNON. For instance, you connect up with Chicago?
Gen. SQUIER. That is a soldier.

Mr. CANNON. You can not have a soldier to receive the message; you may have soldiers at Fort Sheridan?

Gen. SQUIER. That is what I mean. The staff at Fort Sheridan is a soldier staff. That connects with the civilian staff at the towns, with which we have nothing to do.

Mr. BYRNS. It is contemplated to use this fund to replace the enlisted men who are now serving?

Gen. SQUIER. The older policy was to have a certain number of civilians. Now, under the new order of things, they are disappearing, with the exception of five or six, and they will be eliminated as fast as possible. In the old days we used to build the lines and sell them. There are, perhaps, two or three left still, but the present plan is to make everything military, as it ought to be.

PAY OF OFFICERS OF THE SIGNAL CORPS.

(See p. 380.)

Mr. SHERLEY. On page 62 there is the item "Signal Corps": For pay of officers of the Signal Corps, $21,870,833. There was appropriated in the Army bill $500,000, and in the deficiency bill of June 15, $1.629.167?

Gen. SQUIER. Yes, sir.

Mr. SHERLEY. The Quartermaster General, in his testimony touching the pay of the various departments, stated that you would be prepared to explain this item?

Gen. SQUIER. I think the only explanation is this: When the aviation bill for this large program was brought down here it was an entirely new thing, involving $640,000,000, and that estimate included the new activities and for the organization of something like 110,000 men into different sorts of flying organizations, and it

provided not only the pay for all the men but the kind of clothing, the kind of gun, and the whole thing was financed in one proposition. That is where the pay was put in. Normally it would have been sent down to the Quartermaster General and to the Ordnance Department-Gen. Crozier-but in order to get a concrete plan worked out the whole thing was put together and explained as one bill.

Mr. SHERLEY. Then, if I understand you, this item can go out, as it has been taken care of?

Gen. SQUIER. I do not think it has been taken care of. It is my understanding, Mr. Sherley, that this large item

Mr. SHERLEY. The Quartermaster General presented estimates here for the pay of officers, divided up according to the different corps of the army. For instance, we have here the Ordnance Department, the Quartermaster Corps, the Signal Corps, the Medical Department, etc.

Gen. SQUIER. Yes, sir.

Mr. SHERLEY. Now, when it came to an inquiry as to the needs for this additional money, as I recall it, the statement was made that that would be explained by the Signal Corps; and what we are trying to ascertain is whether this money is required for your officer personnel?

Gen. SQUIER. I see.

Mr. SHERLEY. You have had $2,129,167. Now, you had in your estimates going to make up your appropriation of $640,000,000 an item, which was No. 38, for the pay of reserve enlisted men and civil employees, and the travel expenses of the same when not traveling with troops, amounting to $37,347,862; and the question arose in the minds of the committee whether that sum embraced all or any part of the moneys in the $21,870,000 estimated for here-that is, whether there had been a duplication?

Gen. SQUIER. I think not; no, sir. I will have to look into that if you will allow me, and I will insert a statement in the record: Note by Gen. Squier:

The Regular Army appropriation act contains $500,000 for pay of officers of the Signal Corps, including the Aviation Section. The urgent deficiency act contains $1,629,167 for the same purpose. The general deficiency act now before the committee contains $21,870,833, also for the same purpose.

These three sums total $24,000,000. This amount will provide for 10,000 officers. at $2,400 each, of the regular Signal Corps and those temporarily appointed under the act of July 24, 1917, for one year. This is the number the Quartermaster Corps was asked to estimate for.

These amounts are not duplicated in the act of July 24, 1917. Item 38, mentioned before, refers to pay of officers of the Officers' Reserve Corps, Aviation Section; men of the Enlisted Reserve Corps, Aviation Section; and such enlisted men as may be enlisted in the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps under the provision of section 2 of the act approved May 18, 1917, but not officers of the Regular Army, enlisted men of the Regular Army, or officers who may be appointed in the Regular Army under the provisions of the act of Congress approved July 24, 1917.

COMMERCIAL TELEPHONE SERVICE AT COAST ARTILLERY POSTS.

(See p. 596.)

Mr. SHERLEY. There is a little item on page 59 that has been explained by the Coast Artillery people. You are asking $5,000 there for providing commercial telephone service for official purposes at Coast Artillery posts.

Gen. SQUIER. You see, the funny thing about this is that the telephone service for the mobile army is paid by the Quartermaster General, and the other is paid, as it ought to be, by us. This is simply an extra estimate due to the war.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 1917.

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.

STATEMENTS OF MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM C. GORGAS, SURGEON GENERAL, LIEUT. COL. HENRY C. FISHER, AND MR. B. B. THOMPSON, CHIEF CLERK.

MEDICAL AND HOSPITAL DEPARTMENT.

SUPPLIES, INCLUDING GAS MASKS.

The CHAIRMAN. For the purchase of medical and hospital supplies, including gas masks, you had an appropriation of $30,780,000, and you are asking $100,026,000. What is the necessity for this, General? Gen. GORGAS. The war conditions and the much larger force asked for. We are asking for this on the basis of a force of about 2,000,000 men. It is also due to the increased cost of things and all the changed conditions from the time we made the former estimate. The CHAIRMAN. Does this money and the previous appropriation provide medical equipment for an Army of 2,000,000 men?

Gen. GORGAS. That is the present estimate, as Gen. Sharpe estimated the other day.

The CHAIRMAN. Is that for the original equipment?

Col. FISHER. It includes the original equipment and upkeep also, such as the purchase of medicines, dressings, etc.

The CHAIRMAN. For how long a period?

Col. FISHER. The equipment, of course, is for the entire Army, and the upkeep is for a period of six months for a portion of the Army and for about nine months for another portion of the Army. The CHAIRMAN. Well, which portions, Colonel?

Col. FISHER. Our original estimate, Mr. Chairman, was simply for 1,000,000 men, and that is less than what the Army is, so we feel that by the time three months has expired the Army will be about 1,500,000 men, and therefore we are asking for a deficiency for 500,000 men for nine months, and then we estimate that there will be another draft of 500,000 men to come in possibly along in December. We do not know exactly, but we came as near as we could to it.

The CHAIRMAN. Let me see if I understand you. You figured on 1,000,000 men for one year?

Col. FISHER. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And 500,000 additional men for nine months? Col. FISHER. Yes; and 500,000 more for six months.

The CHAIRMAN. Then you anticipate having 2,000,000 men to provide for from the 1st of this coming January?

Col. FISHER. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. There is no possible chance of any such situation as that arising.