The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-29
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
WHAT THE GUARD rs AND WHAT
IT ISN'T IN VIEW FORK STATE.

On the sidewalk In the crowd rs the regi-
ments pass is q group of ~younRish mon, who
~orlticise the mon in the ranks unfavorablT.
Paper soldiers" one Of them says; q second
echoes the romark. and addsi
'They must want something 10 dol" and n
third sums up the opinion or the group in the
remark that they're only fair weather SOL
oilers, no good anyhov-mammhs darlinEs
who like to strut around with gold lace on"
Some time later, one winter morning, before
the town IL we'll awake. these young men, per-
haps. see n long column of men In blue, KNAPP
sacks IN backs, cartridge boxes pulled around
TO the front. trudGinE swiftly through the snow
and slush TO n riot-held city near by. And be-
fore one column 10 out Of sight another SINH
lar column appears, and then perhaps q third.
Damned fools!' says one OF them; " catch
mo e~nlisting to be driven around like that
A day or so later these critics read that some
Of the paper soldiers have fred upon q crowd Of
rioters; and then thew say angrily;
Damned cowardsl Shooting down un-
armed menu
That's tho way SOME people feel about the
National Guard.
But the National Guardsman In this State Is
not O paper soldier or o fool or \ coward. He
10 q patriotic young man as q rulo, though
often he Ia o patriotic middle-aged man. who
gives MP some of his time, some of his money,
and sometimes hazards his life or at all events
his health. to protect his State; who some
times finds himself in positions where absence
Of body IL to DO preferred.t to presence Of mind;
and he Is just as disinclined to walk through
tho snow in the early morning, or to shoot at
unarmed men, as his critics probably moro
disinclined to shoot ut unarned men.
1t isn't only the uneducated that revile the
Guard. Even the so-called better element"
has u way of looking down on the Guard.
Some Of the elements Of the better element"
discharge men who enlist In the Guard. or re-
fuse TO hire men already in the Guard; and
no period of riot duty ends without some mons
losing.their places because Of their absence
with their regiments. OF course the better
element" will not admit that it discharges
men because they served with their regiments.
Employers always explain that the discharged
men had not given satisfaction. and were to
have been discharged any way; and that 1t is
only q coincidence hat their discharge fol.
lowed their riot service. This explanation is
known to those who use slang as "a song and
dance" Such persons by such language mean
TO intimate that they do not accept the explanR-
ton as satisfactory.
The National Guard Is the ultimate reliance
Of tie State in case of disorder or invasion. and
Il should be better known to the New Workers
AL large Inan IL 10. Wherever tueTo Is an or
Eanizstion of the Guard. the best men of the
place have been in 1t or are In It. and q list of
the veterans of a company astonishes an out
names figure in It.
Back In the dark ages the National Guard
consisted on paper of eight divisions, each of
four brigades, and each brigade had ut least
regiments. One brigade in this city was
entirely OF cavalry; or. rather, was
made up OF cavalry. For there was nothing
composed about it. especially whom the COM
mand was given Forward. trot. marca."
Each division commander in those days
as a Major-General. and had q staff
composed of one Colonel and an assortment of
observation-disclosures, and each brigade Gen.
eral had. as he still has. a staff of one LIeuten-
ant-Colonel. six Majors and two Captains.
Each regiment had a top-heavy staff, too: SO
that 1t Is not improbable that in some divisions
there were almost as many staff officers as there
were enlisted men in the smallest regiment.
Nowadays things have changed. Aug. 8.
1885. was q fatetul day for the National Guard.
for on that day the eight divisions were apol-
ished. AID all but four OF the brigades disap-
peared. too. Great was the slaughter of Col
onels. Licutenant-Colonels, and Majors; less
IVES the number of reGimental Off
GERS who fell, and the s"upernumerary list
waxed fat like a turkey buzIard after O Mis-
sissippi flood. And now the Guard is on bed
rock, With four brigades, composed of thirteen
regiments. one be ttalion. and forty-eight sepa-
rate companies Of infantry, five batteries of ar
tillery, three troops OF cavalry, and four sig
nal corps. The top-heavy Governors staff
still exists, but except for n few members IL
is only technically a part of the National
Guurd. 1t wouldn't be polite to nama the ex-
ceptlons.
OF the regiments, seven are in this city. four
In Brooklyn. two in Buffalo, the battalion is
In Albany. and the forty-eight separate com
panies are scattered through the State, Almost
ali OF them representing defunct regiments.
Two batteries are In this city. and one battery
each in Brooklyn, BinghaInton. and Elmira.
The cavalry is in this city and Brooklyn, and
the signal cops Ia this city and Brooklyn. AL
bany and Buffalo. The Constitution of the
State requires that the National Guard shall
be maintained at not less than 10 1000 mon,
and a law fixes It's maximum for the time being
At 10000; there are about Ii 900 men now
In the Guard.
All the top Of the Guard is permeated by
politics. Places on the Governors stan-even
those which require ability. and bring their
holders into direct contact with the Guard
are filed without much regard for the needs
Of the service. Luckily for the service, most
Of the STAFF are not expected to do any work.
For example. there is n Quartermaster-Gen-
eral, and there is a Co nmissary-General, but
the work of the Quartermaster's and Com
missary's departments is done by the Chief of
Ordnance. who. though on the staff. Is under
bonds. and therefore sees that his subordinates
are competent
Permission TO recruit a company of any arm
OF the service is obtained from the Governor
rs Commander in Chief; and IT.. too. depends
on favor. But when the Headquarters stan Is
left. the business end of the Guard is run as
o whole on business principles.
What has "a man to do who enlists In the
National Guard OF this StaJef
In one or two regiments, and In practically
all Of the smaller organizations except the bat
teries. q man who wi shes to enlist must DO
elected a member. exactly as TO a club. In
the other regiments and the batteries, the
Captains enlist applicants direct. without CIV
ing tho members u chance 10 pass on them.
Under tho law, the Captains have tho right TO
do 80. When a man IL enlisted. he Is sent be-
fore tho surgeon of the organization. Tho ex-
amires him with more or less care. There Is
. long list OF questions 10 be ans wered by the
applicant: .,
Have you ever had thatI' NO"
Have you ever had the otherf" No"
did you ever suffer from this?' no."
"Did you ever suffer from thati' no"
DO you consider yourself In good health?"