Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-21
THE NATIONAL GUARD
A SPLENDID APPEARANCE
Made by the Guard at the Funeral of Admiral
Porter-Communicationa to Dishonorable
Disehsrgcs-Intereat I'm Rifle Practice In
ereasing-Bull's Eyes.


eour.e of lectures from which officers Of the
Distric. National Guard have drawn SO much
of information and inspiration. Each Lecturer
has had the pleasure which every speaker feels
In tho presence o. . large and thoroughly SYM
pathetic audience. Last Monday night i. was
Col Oscar y. Longs turn TO talk and he
utilized the opportunity 20 srch effect that his
hearers were more than delighted The adju-
tant generals broad subject was Marches"
and he did such Justice TO tho theme as could
only be the work Of one thoroughly acquainted
with the matter under discussion. A few
words from Col Long introductory remarks
will show the trend Of his ideas. IAN
attempt" said he, lis being made to give
TO rsgimental and company officers, and
to non-commissioned officers particularly, that
which is necessary to meet the daily require
ments of actual field work without burdening
them with scientific details which they have
not the time IL the inclination 20 acquire. No
attempt is made to instruct the officers of
higher rank. The individual soldier is taken
IS . unit. but the soldier may become an
officer, and the company officer the battalion,
regimental or even brigade commander.
Hence explanatory references are briefly made
- suddenly called to the responsibilities Of
highest rank"
THE CARE OF THE woUSDDED.
On Wednesday evening next there will be .
special lecture on . most interesting theme:
The preservation Of health and the care of
the wounded" The lecturer will be Surgeon
General Henderson, guarantee of satisfaction
Maj Henderson is thoroughly conversant with
his subject In its most practical phases. He fit
into the late war" and was very badly wounded.
He has been both doctor and patient and there
fore knows all about it. The lecture like all
the others. will be delivered at the head
quarters CT the first battalion.
TIE BRIGADE LIBRARY.
very natural sequence to q course Of lee
lures is a library, a place where literary sun
shine and dew may assist the vocally dropped
seed in the process of termination and growth.
The absence Of a military library has been felt.
even in this city, where there is no telling the
number Of books. but the vacant place
will socn be filed up with a collection of just
such works as the majority of National Guard
officers really need. Within few days a tenn
porarily sufficient quantity of shelving will be
against the walls of the adjutant generals Office
and on these shelves the library will start out
with about 200 volumes. Secretary Proctor is
going to lend material aid by contributing extra
and duplicate volumes from the rich store
house Of military information under his con-
troll. From other sources will come many
valuable works, some of them already promised.
Appropriate contributions will be thankfully
received
HOW DOES THIS STRIKE YOU?
A great many men are deeply interested in
the subject of dishonorable discharges. The
matter has been discussed in the armories to a
very considerable extent. and now a member
Of the guard presents his ideas for general con-
thinking are at liberty to continue the argu-
ment in this column He writes:
As the National Guard of the District is
comparatively new organization it is to be ex-
pected that some conditions would exist which
Ill rr~x %r...n .y.I a.
Already this has taken place in many directions,
but would like to call attention to one poin.
which seems to demand improvement at Onco.
1refer to the subject of dishonorable discharges.
The quarterly publications of the list Of these
for 1880 show an aggregate OF 231, which for a
force averaging perhaps 800 men during the
year is certainly out of all proper proportion.
Under the law a man shall be discharged dis
honorably - upon expulsion from his COM
psny in accordance with its bylaws or regula-
hons."
The trouble arises largely from the power
thus given the members OF a company being
abused. Disho ,orable discharges are applied
for on Insult :. a. grounds, such non-attend-
snes ct drills and non-payment of dues. OF
course such action by the offender is reprehen-
sible and should be punished, but should not
subject a young man Who in most cases does
not really appreciate the extent Of the punish
ment he Is bringing upon himself, to blot
upon his record which can never be removed
life and prevent tho attainment of some i'm
portant object
soldier Of the regular army is under severe
discipline and makes q business of military
work Any breach Of trust or orders must
necessarily be severely punished.
In the case Of the National Guard however
the conditions are quite different, the man
joining simply for his own pleasure. The dir
ference should be met therefore, by a moditi-
cation Of rules and penalties.
Nv exDeFie,afe has hat IL ia al wis hla
TO reduce discharges Of this kind to a mini
mum, such apparently harsh measures have
tendency to keep men from entering the
ranks.
vious knowledge OF military customs and rules
eniists IN the service and for time keeps up
the proper interest in his work. Before long
from some real or fanciei cause he begins to
lose interest and stay away from drills, at the
same time emitting 10 keep hi. dues paid up
and also running up n list Of fines for absence.
As soon as these have amounted to enough to
have his case come up for action be Is notified
OF bis shortcomings and admcuished to settle
up.
From reasons OF inability. shame or indifYer-
ence. he negleets TO do this and soon finds him
self with q discharge. which viii. always be a
reproaeh, the circumstances OF which may in
after years be hard 10 explain to justify himself
IL y also liable to stand between him and a
desirable position, civil or military. The re-
suit 10 dine largely to lack Of instruction while
in his company, in the unfortunate results Of
such action.
Under existing circumstances this instruc-
ton Is not impressed upon the majority Of men
and u seems TO me advisable TO change the
scale Of punishments To 1t the circumstances.
Why not adopt the methods OF some states and
give dlshonorable discharges OILY on the SEN
teHce OF a court-martial and be LEES severe with
men whose principal fault Is that they do not
know how TO Sc. out when they have got
enough?
IT Was FINE PARADE.
The DONG. never did a more creditable
piece Of parading than that which they dis
played at the funeral OF Admiral Porter. In
fantry, cavalry and artillery We'd with each
other for popular favor and added TO the popu-
arity OF the brigade while individually adj
vancing themselves in the public estimation.
A conservative estimate places the number OF
guardsmen IN line al l, 100 but the probabilities
are that there were at least one hundred more.
Both cavalry and artillery had decided adj.
vantage over the foot soldiers in the matter
OF Uniform; there was nothing more gorgeous
IN the entire column than the fulidress
outnts Of the artillerymen. unless, perhaps,
" was the yellow and blue of the troopers.
One OF the things upon which army officers
most commented was the ease with which
both the mounted commands controlle,
their horses, and these same officers were
astonished when informed that the horses
we're perfectly green in the matter Of
military maneuyers Alignment was precise
feet than we're the wheels made by Capt Bar
hnf1 md AZ ~. "