Birmingham age-herald., 1895-06-11

cept as such regulations may be changed by general or special orders of the com mander-in-chief or may be inapplcable." The army regulations fixes it' in ar ticle 3, section 9, which reads:
 officers of the regular army, marine corps and volunteers when commits stoned or mustered into the service of the United States, being upon equal footing, take precedence in each grade by date of commission or appointment"
 l submit the lost records which de- termine the date of commission" con- Sequently the rank as required by the Alabama code, section TYP, and the army regulations, section 9, quoted above, and challenge a denial of the correctness of the orders or records"
 Camp Forney, June 27, 1894. General Orders No. 10:
 l. The resignation of the following named officers of the First regiment Alabama state troops, are accepted, 10 take effect today:
 Col. Price Williams, Jr., Lieut-Col J. Wade Cox, Maj. T. w. Peagler.
 By command of the governor.
 JAMES E. ERWIN, First Lieutenant Fourth United States Cavalry, Acting Assistant Adjutant General
 Headquarters
 Alabama State Troops
 diuthnt-Generals Office
 J 0, General Order No 14
 l. An election for colonel. lieutenant colonel and major of the First regiment Alabama state troops having been held as provided for by section 1S1 of the code, the following is declared the result; Price Williams, Jr., colonel.
 R. B. Dumont, lieutenant-colonel. J. $. McMullen, major.
 The officers elected will forward at once their oaths of office in order that commissions may be issued
 By command of the governor
 CHARLES P. JONES,
 Adjutant-General Official JAMES B. ERWIN. First Lieutenant Fourth United States Cavalry. Acting Assistant Adjutant- General"
 The first excuse for overthrowing the rulings of the past was the records were lost" and Colonel Williams resig- nation could not be proved But. To, when a publication of the records reached Montgomery the next "sDeciar' reported section IFS, but left out No. 172 Why did not his-then-exceliency re- quire the presence of Colonel Williams in Birmingham during the trouble last summer if he was still an officer of the state militia? SOLDIER I have been an officer in the state troops for many years. and I do not re- member a single instance before where an officer who resigned was allowed his old rank upon his reelection to succeed himself, though statute 173, referred to, has been in our law books all these years, and has always been understood to ap- ply only to officers whose term of office had expired.
 Now, in the army an officer is elected for life, but in our state service he is only elected for three years, hence it becomes necessary, in order for our ofIi- cers to retain their rank, to have a stat ute bearing on that subject, but that stat ute has never been applied to officers re- signing. If so, officers would be contin- ually resigning for trivial causes and consequently keep our state troops in an everlasting turmoil which is doubtless the reason why officers who have here tofore resigned and been elected to sue ceed themselves were denied their for mer rank.
 In writing this letter I do not wish to Vbe understood as rejecting upon any one especially Colonel Williams whom I hold in high personal and official esteem, but it is dangerous thing to overrule prece- dent and practice of the service. inas- much as good discipline is the most es- sential element of success in quellng ri- ots. etc, and such cannot be maintained if the authorities do not stand by prac- ltiees that have been tried and proven to rbe good. MILITARY