Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-08-25
THE NATIONAL GUARD.

The National Guard of the state of
Kansas, in a general way, and in ma
jority Of special particulars, is most
likely the best body of troops of the
same number in the United States. |
have been an officer in the corps since it
was organized. lay some claim to a
knowledge of the subject from predilec-
ton, experience and study. Take such
a body of men, drilled and equipped as
they are now; place them in active SER
vice and with the few
achievements and promotions that
would Immediately come under
a competent commander brigade and a
battery would be in the field worth,
from every economic point, a division
of the sort which usually rush in at the
first of wars alarm. This is saying
great deal. But it is true, and l should
not care if its truth were denied from
any source.
Such soldiery as the National Guards
should be maintained and improved
upon in every state. They should be
brigaded, divisioned and thrown into
corps and grand corps-de-armie. Every
year such and such states ought to
muster into the national service for one
o. two months service, enough of
these guards to receive general
evolutionary training at full pay;
provided, not more than one grand corps
of all arms should be the national SER
vice for any purpose at once in time of
peace. There could in that case be from
one to five hundred thousand guards
subject to the orders of forty odd state
governors, fully equipped, with only
fifteen to thirty thousand in the national
service at the same time. The staff
corps Of the entire national guard should
be composed of commissioned officers of
the regular army in proportion of about
one TO each battalion and brigade, and
one for assistant adjutant general of a
state in state service. But III the corps
undergoing modified national instruc-
ton the staff in every branch should be
doubled and composed half and half of
guards and regulars, serving together.
When corps was to be modified
requisition by mail or telegraph should
be made to the several state governors
and the troops of all arms thrown to-
gether in such a way that the march to
the rendezvous would embrace every
possible variety of travel and military
experience, A competent general officer
should be detailed as corps commander
and the result of the naturalization and
maneuverspublished to the whole nation
al guard, the regular army and the pub
lie press. The mobilization, manuver-
ing, firing, raiding and passing of rivers
and mountains and many other expert
ences would at trifiing cost provide us
with quite different force to what we
ever had before IN every essential point.
The cost of ignorance in life and treas
ure has been, in the past, a greater one
than we can afford under the eXigencies
of the future, possibly.
One thing, however, it gets frequently
to be the habit, as 1T was recently in
Kansas, for the people of county or
state to rely on its military TO preserve
the peace before eXhausting every local
resource in its power. This is opposed
to the local interests Of free people and
wrongfully saddles an unnecessary ex-
pense upon those not offending. Laws
ought to be enacted In every state, and
Kansas in particular, that where
county did not preserve the peace with
out the aid of the military that the whole
cost of such aid should be assessed
against that county, and an additional
fine to be paid into the state military
fund. If that had been the law in this
state in the past several years the coun-
ties of Pratt, Labette, Hamilton, Stevens,
and one or two others. would owe the
state from one or two hundred dollars to
probably twenty-five thousand each.
which the state has paid, or will have to
pay. W. t. HUTCHINSON.