had been wounded twice at the front, assumed command. He found a filthy camp with practically no morale. Segregation was everywhere and prejudice was intense. At once he issued the following order: “The restrictions against visiting towns in this district by colored troops are hereby removed until further notice. It is the desire of the Commanding Officer to place the colored troops on the same status as the white troops.” This was dated March 26, 1919. Colonel Ham also issued an order forbidding the use of the word “nigger” in the camp. All officers attended officers’ meetings when they were held; previously colored officers never went, for they did not know when the meetings were to be held. Lectures were given on the treatment of the soldiers; military discipline was enforced in the case of both officers and men; and the Colonel himself pulled down some of the discriminatory signs. The result was that within three weeks the number of men in the guardhouse was reduced from three hundred to fifty; sometimes several days would pass without a man’s being placed there. Complaints were reduced 60 per cent within the first week. Interesting also is the fact that the rate of venereal disease in the camp was also lowered. The general attitude of Colonel Ham changed the spirit of both officers and men, and before long the feeling of racial antagonism gave way to one of comradeship. PIONEER INFANTRY ORGANIZATIONS There were fourteen other organizations in France, known as Pioneer Infantry Regiments, which did mainly stevedore work. These were composed largely of men who were drafted during the summer of 1918 and who were given from one to three months of intensive military training in American camps and then sent overseas. The commissioned officers were white, and the enlisted personnel colored. In France a small number of colored dental officers, chaplains, and band leaders were assigned in some of the regiments. It appears that the idea of the War Department in forming these organizations was to have men trained to fight, if needed, and also to have sufficient men to do the work necessary for the maintenance of a big army.