The San Francisco call., 1895-12-29
O'Connor and Tilden Cannot Be
Legally Commissioned
After All.
ALL WAITING LIKE MICAWBER.
Amid the Suspense the Old Organiza.
tions Are Getting Private Prop.
erty Together.

New complications have arisen to IN
crease the muddle into which the local Ma
tional Guard was thrown by the reorgani-
zation orders of two weeks ago.
1t is nowhere considered likely, or even
possible, that Colonel ]. G. O'Connor Of
the old Third will become lieutenant
colonel of the new First Regiment, or that
Captain Tilden, retired, of the old First
will become major of the First Battalion.
The orders under which an election
for colonel of the new regiment were held
week ago Thursday night directed that
at the same time the officers voting should
designate their preference for lieutenant
colonels and majors, and intimated that
such preferences would have weight with
the Governor when he came to assign Off
GERS to these commands. The orders did
n OF so definitely state, but the natural sup
position was that the expressions OF pref
erence would be confined to the three lieu
tenaut-colonels, Geary, Smith and Crocker,
and to the six majors of the three old regl-
ments.
But during the hot campaign over the
colonelcy, when pulls and combinations
were working fast, this supposed require
ment was ignored and successful COM
bination was effected by which Colonel
w llidm MdCuOHdlu WdS eIoCtCu COiOici
and by the same vote Colonel O'Connor
was declared the preference Of the major
ity tor lieutenant-colonel and Captain
Tilden was designated as the choice for
one of the three majors, the two others
being Majors brady and Huber, already
serving in that capacity.
Now it is pointed out that the command
er-in-chief could not commission O'Con-
nor and Tilden if he wanted to. The mill
far laW nf hQ Sfa ta hQf q 10
officers must be elected, and the Governor
has no power to create a major out of
captain, active or retired, or anyb Ody else
and put him in command of a battali on
Neither, it is almost universally conceded,
can he make colonel ont of a job lieu
tenant-colonel and give him command.
So it is generally conceded that O'Connor
and Tilden will get nothing but the honor
of plimentary vote.
Had OConnor and Tilden been actually
elected the thing would have been settled.
1t is thought to be a pretty certain thing
that Majors brady and Huber will be COM
missioned. The doubt as to the legality of
the Governors action in proposing to de-
tail lieutenant-colone and three major
to permanent commands during their un-
expired terms remains as widespread as
ever, the great majority of guard officers
holding that it is as necessary to elect
them as to elect the colonel. 1t is rather
expected that the Governor will say no
more but permanently detail Geary, Smith
or Crocker to be lieutenant colonel of the
new regiment, and that he will simultane-
ously detail one of the existing and wait
ing majors to the battalion for which Til
den was named.
Besides these uncertainties there is that
of the protest against the field officers vot-
ing at the election for colonel. This was
filed in advance Of the voting. Just after
the vote Its withdrawal was asked, but the
presiding brigade officer said that it was
gone on to Sacramento with the election
returns and will have to be acted upon in
spite of the fact that nobody now wants it
to be. II it should happen to be held to
have been well taken new election for
colonel might be ordered. What the re-
suit of such an election might be is va
riously predicted, and as new pulls and
com binatiOns would set to work, Macdon-
aid might win again and he might not.
1t is those who filed the protest who are
now most actively interested in nullifying
its effects.
So the whole local situation is in as big
muddle as ever or a worse one. Mac
donald will not be in command of the
new regiment or anything else until he is
examined and commissioned. Nobody
knows who would command the local
forces should occasion arise in this tran
sition period. The new regiment has been
created by general orders, but the three
battalions are each under lieutenant
colonel and a major. If there is First
Regiment now it appears to have three
lieutenant-colonels, of whom Geary is the
senior but nobody ever heard of regi-
ment having three lieutenant-colonels. If
the guard had to be used in an emergency
just now some officers would have to be
ordered to get out of the way so that the
soldiers could move.
The armorv question is as doubtful and
unsettled as ever. Most of the guard smen
who are not bitter enemies of the Nation
ais think it pretty certain that two COM
panies will be ordered to the Nationals
armOry on Ellis street. and that the eight
other companies and the signal corps will
be concentrated in the armorv of the old
Second at Page and Cough streets.
The destruction OF the old regimental
organizations has set af1oat many thou
sands o. dollars worth of personal property
belonging to the old regiments and to
companies. Each regiment had furnished
handsomely its regimental headquarters,
and now there will be one in place of three.
There are expensive carpets, furniture,
fixtures, decorations and SO on worth sew
eral thousand dollars. Much equipage
and paraphernalia is the personal property
of the old organizations. The First had
about $1,000 worth of camp equipage alone
not belonging to the State.
Official possession of surplus State prop
erty has been taken and now the officers
of the old organizations are taking inven-
tories of the personal property and won-
dering what to do with it. When things
get settled a little, and the new regiment
gets pulled into shape, portions of all this |
property will probably be turned over to the |
new regiment on some business basis and !
the rest will likely be sold. Old homes
are being broken up and new one started |
Colonel Fairbanks reelected to the COM
mand of the Fifth Regiment, was passed |
night before last by the examining board |