of thousands to Europe. The wonderful way
in which American shipbuilders had made it possible to transport these
soldiers is told later. But before leaving the subject of raising an
army, let us first see by means of figures just what the United States
had accomplished in this work. In August, 1918, the overseas force
alone was seven times as large as the entire United States army sixteen
months before, at the declaration of war. In this time she had
transported a million and a half troops overseas and had the same
number on this side, with the numbers always increasing. In September,
1918, she had another draft and registration, calling men between the
ages of 18 and 45. This gave thirteen million more men.

The colleges of the country had suffered a great deal because of the
two draft laws, as practically all men of college age were liable to
military service. To overcome this difficulty, the government
established in the fall of 1918, the Student Army Training Corps. This
plan allowed all students of military age, who were physically fit, to
enlist in the army and receive military training, and at the same time
obtain a college education. From these men the government planned to
choose future officer material. Although the war came to a close
before the plan could be fully carried out, it gave every promise of
being a success.

It must be evident that perhaps even a greater problem than raising the
army was how it was to be transported to Europe. At the beginning of
the war, the United States had no ships to use for her necessary task
of transporting men and supplies. The ships that were sailing from her
ports were all doing their capacity work and could not be used for the
new demands. The Shipping Board immediately looked around for yards to
place orders for new ships; but there were no yards to fill the orders,
as the few the United States had were all overburdened with work. The
only remaining solution of the problem was to build new yards. America
did it.

The United States went into the war with something like thirty steel
and twenty-four wood shipyards, employing less than eighty thousand
men. In a little over a year's time, there were one hundred and
fifty-five yards turning out ships and employing over three hundred and
eighty-six thousand men. These men turned out more tonnage every month
than the United States had ever turned out in any entire year before
the war. Of the new yards, th