The record-union., 1895-02-07
CommIttee Nraetlnns

! day afternoon and considered 8. B. 24O.
by Mathews, which approprates SOC, 900
to purchase a house for the Governor.
| and prepares for the appointment Of
| three Commissioners for the purpose
Tie bill was ordered reported back ad-
| versely.
S. b. 2S1 by Arms, which grants per-
mission for the city of san Francisco to
erect Home for Inebriates, was ordered
back with favorable recommendation.
The President of the Woman's Relief
| Corps was before the committee and pre-
! sented reasons why 5. B. 377, appropri-
ating $1,000 for the erection OF a ward at
the Home, should be passed. She stated
! that in case of the illness of any Of the
inmates the nearest point at which they
! might be cared tor was distant seven
miles. The committee reported back the
| bill tayOrably.
| skThe Senate Finance Committee met
yesterday afternoon and decided to re-
| port adversely upon the bill apprOpriat-
Ing $4,000 to pay the claim of ID. Jordan.
The Committee on Corporations met
! yesterday afternoon and considered,
among other bills, that of Tibbitts, pro-
hloltlng the carrying of treasure, by
armed guards, on stages. After listening
TO statements by Felix Tracy, of Wells,
Fargo " Co., and others, it agreed TO
report adversely on it. North's bill for
The incorporation of mutual associations
for accident and fire insurance by assess
ment, was also considered, amended, and
recommended for passage.
! The military was out III force before the
| Joint Committee on Military Affairs last
night. Among those present were General
Dimond, General Dickinson, Colonel
Bush, San Francisco; Colonel Nunan,
Stockton; Colonel Guthrie, Sacramento;
| General Montgomery, Chico; General
Alien, Sacramento; Colonel Henshaw,
! Chico; General Muller, Fresno; Lieuten-
ant Lazalle, Vallejo; Major Barrett, Los
| Angeles; Lieutenant Martin, Assistant
! AdJutant-General Murray, Sacramento;
! Major Prescott, Redlands; Colonel Cutler,
! Lieutenant Heller, San Francisco.
| >. b. Z93, by Gleaves, was taken up for
| consideration. The bill provides that an
officer commanding troops that have been
| called out to suppress an insurrection or
| quelI riot shall have full power to order
his men to tire at will, and shall not be
under authorities when in the presence
OF danger General Dickinson, General
Allen and Colonel Henshaw addressed
the committee concerning the bill, and
asked its favorable return. General
| Dickinson stated that, as the law now
stood, Philadelphia lawyer could not
untangle 1t. He stated that the duty of
| the commander should be made clear
and that the bill under consideration, if
| 1t became law, would make it so.
| On motion OF Senator Gleaves, the bill
mendation favorable to passage.
| a general discussion of the different
| bills was then requested by the commit
! Lee from the officers present. General
Allen believed that each brigade COM
mander should visit each company in his
brigade at least once each year, which
was impossible at the present time, ow-
ing to the great distance between them.
His idea was to bring the National Guard
down to war basis. At present the num-
ber of staff officers was twenty-five to ey-
cry 70 enlisted men, which he considered
absolutely unnecessary. He thought the
number of staff officers should be re-
duced, and the fancy men cut of, and
that Colonel should have as many mon
under his command as Brigadier- Gem
eral now has.
General Dickinson said the bill reuuir-
ing the reorganization of the Guard into
four brlgades was the result of the con-
suItatlOn of the National Guard Associa-
ton. lie thought the mum Der of officers
was not too great, and believed that the
more educated officers the State had the
safer 1t would be IN case Of danger. In
particular was this true when it was con-
sidered that the officers bought their own
uniforms and paid their own expenses.
Popular clamOr demanded economy. yet
| the guard costs the State only $50 to the
man, as against $50 in New Y ork and $50
IN Massachusetts. There were, he adj
mltted, too many officers in time of peace,
| but not too many in time of riots, and
that was when they were needed. What
was needed was an ample force of both
officers and men, thoroughly organized
to speedily put down any riot which
might break out. If the popular clamor,
however, was correct, no officers were
necessary at all, only a we'll organized
body OF men. He would suggest to the
committee that the State keep its edu-
| Gated officers, and be careful in making
any reduction of their number.
General Dimond said his criticism to
the bill, 292, was that it attempted too
much. Then there were a number of
! bills TO organize the troops into one, two,
three, four and six brigades. Everything
did not, he thought, depend upon the
relative number of officers to mon.
General Montgomery stated that he was
for economy at any cost. He retrained
from making a speech for the reason that
he commanded the Fifth Brigade, which
it was proposed to cut out.
Almost every officer present followed
and the question of the proper number of
brigades varied from one to six.
The opinion prevailed, however, that
the force would be moro efficient COM
blned into one brigade than a greater
number
The committee asked that the officers
present send in their written opinions for
reference. and then adjourned without
further action.