As  the  war  went  on  and  our  output  of  war  materials
and  man  power  increased,  it  became  evident  that  the
neck  of  the  bottle  was  transport.  Men  or  materials,
which  were  to  have  the  right  of  way?  The  question  was
finally  settled  in  favor  of  fighting  men,  with  the  result
that  2,100,000  soldiers  landed  in  France  before  the
war  ended.  Consider  that  this  was  accomplished  in  the
face  of  an  original  program  that  called  for  the  delivery
of  less  than  half  that  number,  starting  with  100,000  in
the  month  of  July,  1918.  This  month's  quota  was  an-
ticipated by  the  delivery  of  240,000  in  the  month  of
May,  or  two  months  ahead  of  schedule,  and  in  the  month
of  July  306,000  men  were  actually  transported.
In  the  meantime,  the  nation's  total  military  establish-
ment had  been  increased  from  190,000  men  in  March,
1917  to  3,665,000  in  November,  1918.  As  to  the  ex-
tent of  the  war  machine's  draft  on  industry,  less  than
eight  months  after  we  entered  the  War,  the  Secretary
of  War  reported  that  "of  shoes  more  than  2,000,000
pairs  have  already  been  purchased  or  are  in  the  process
of  delivery,  of  blankets  17,000,000,  of  flannel  shirting
more  than  33,000,000  yards,  of  melton  cloth  more  than


110  YEARS  OF  PLUNDER

50,000,000  yards,  of  various  kinds  of  other  goods  for
shelter  tents  and  other  necessary  uses  more  than  135,-
000,000  yards".  In  addition  to  this  the  War  Depart-
ment bought  82,500  trucks,  16,000  motor  cars,  27,000
motor  cycles  and  2,137,025  rifles.  Total  purchases  of
clothing  and  footwear  amounted  to  $514,000,000.
