Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-01

EST sATTAIloNs-THE HILTON TRoPHY-NoTEs.
Now for little more criticism. The gentle
man who pointed out and commented on GER
| tain conditions which he believed existed in
the District National Guard and which he
thought should be amended or removed has
again made his appearance. Apparently he is
in nowise discouraged because Gen. Ordway
demolished some Of his more important ale
cations and without attempting to make any
rejoinder to tho generals clever reply he
marches off in search of fresh fields and pas
| lures new
| This is what he saws:
FEW MORE REMARKS.
The interest which my first communication
seems to have excited and the fair-minded
spirit with which it has been received lead me
to offer few more remarks on similar subjects
Although the opinion has been expressed
mat no methods have been adopted that have
be mentioned which will be admitted as up
| holding my argument. Perhaps, however,
| they are better described as sins Of omission
| rather than OF commission.
| One place where improvement seems to be
| needed IS In the enlistment and discharge OF
| enlisted men. An examination of the ''act es-
| tablishlng the militia" fails to show any way by
| WHICH company commander can get rid of
poor material by honorable discharge without
| asking permission from his company to do so.
As lie is held responsible for the condition Of
ms command he should certainly be unre-
| stIlcted In Its management, especially in case
where heroic measures may be necessary to
| prlng up company from a poor condition
| when II might be difficult to obtain the required
action. The power is given O captain in sew
| eral states to obtain the honorable discharge of
an enlisted man on his (the captain 81 own re-
quest, the reasons for SO doing being, Of course,
approved by higher authority. 1t may be that
| such action can be taken now. but there is
nothing can find which prescribes it.
AS to enlistments l am in favor of the present
! plan OF allowing companies to select their own
members by proposal and ballot, as that seems
advisable as the service is SO purely voluntary.
but it should not prevent a captain from exer,
cising his military right to keep his company
| in proper condition. provided it falls below a
certain minimum and fails to be filed by the
present method. l can see nothing in the act
| to prevent this the principal obstacle being in
the company constitutions and bylaws. think
| provision should be made for such cases. which
| occur occasionally everywhere from various
causes and are provided for in some states.
THE QUESTION OF PAY.
| Another point of difference between this
| force and those of other states is in the aues-
| ton of pay. OF course there must have been
some good reason, perhaps that of economy,
| for emitting to make provision for partial re-
| muneration OF the officers and men for the SER
| vice they render the government, but it seems
| to me serious and unadvisable omission.
| Those men in the civil service are supposed to
| get leave with pay when on duty with the
| guard. but they do not constitute the entire
| force and those III private employ are in posi-
ton where they not only get no pecuaiary re-
! turn for their military work. but have in re-
aiity, to pay for the privilege of being soldier
as in nearly all cases they lose their time.
We see. occasionally, accounts in tie papers
OF cases where the militia have been called out
! Tor riot or other service and no provision made
| for their pay. The public imm ediately asks
! why man is SO foolish to run the risk of be-
| ing knocked in the head with brick or blown
| up with dynamite for the sake of being allowed
| to parade around in uniform and seemingly
| have good time.
or course the reason is that there is IN inhe-
rent taste for military life in the natures If
soiae men, but the justice of the case is that
| they should be given some return for the sacri-
! nee OF life or health they are liable to make 1t
any time.
, AS it Ia at present, in this brigade. the only
men who receive pay are those of the least i'm
| portance III military sense, namely. the musi-
| clans.
| ALLOWANCES TO OFFICERS.
While On the subject Of pay on duty another
point comes to my mind. In few states the
| plan Is adopted Of making the financial burden
| of an officer lighter by granting him an allow
aiSS W cover NJ least the cost OF UNI
! forming and equipping himself. And this is
done where officers are paid in addition when
On duty.
1t can be done by either allowing the whole
| amount on receipt of commission. or better, bv
making an estimate of the average life of a uni
| form and dividing the amount into annual in
| stallments. This Is a suggestion which think
| most officers will accept favorable to their
interests and to the interest of the service, and
am sure that its adoption will remove strong
fhn II
desirable men. This is an important point to
| be thought of before the adoption Of full
| dress uniform for the brigade.
RESPONSIBILITY OF COMPANY COMMANDERS
Another point of criticism which 1 have to
make is on the manner of running the internal
affairs OF many companies. The impression
made upon me is that there is a tendency to too
| much civil business too many civil committees.
i'll short, too much OF the club and too little of
the military company. BIZ this method the re-
sponsibility for cOmpany's condition cannot
| be placed where it belongs, on the military ad-
| mnistration, but is lost in the intricacies of a
mixed civil and military organization. think
the fault lies largely with the company COM
! manders. who are either unwilling or afraid to
assume the responsibility which really belongs
! to their rank and position.
The above remarks are made in n spirit of en-
| tire good will for the District National Guard
| and desire to be of some benefit by impartinp
| number OF years connection and intimate ac-
| quaintance with the militia service.
THE RESULT OF WARNING
Quite number of those who entered IA COM
| pe1itors for The Sunday Herald and '.Tappan"
prizes failed to put in an appearance on Thurs
| day morning when the roll was called. Some
| of them could not possibly have been present.
| but there were others who would have been on
| the range had it not been for the warning
! which appeared in The STAR of Wednesday
evening. The regulations of both matches
| made it imperative that all contestants should
| be qualified marksmen, l. G., having a certified
record OF G5 out Of possible 100 at all the ranges
| Entries were made by men who were far short
of the record, but nearly all Of those SO stu
| atcd knew enough not to appear. The records
will be in in a few days. and then there will no
| longer be doubt of any mans status.
few men who were down as competitors in
| The Sunday Herald match did not arrive on the
ground until after the roll had been called and
the men assigned to targets. Very properly
Capt. Cash refused to allow them to shoot The
hour set for the opening was 9:30 and no one
not at the firing point at that time had any
right to complain. 1t was argued that proceed
ing competitions were not conducted SO strictly
but that remark fails of force Precision and
prOmptncss are military features of no little
Importance.
AS TO THE HILTON TROPHY.
resting place has been found for the Hilton
| trophy. Arrangements have been made with
Secretary Proctor for the location of the great
shield just inside the main entrance to the War