New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-05-15
PROMISES NOT FULFILLED
EQUIPMENT or THE NATIONAL GUARD BY No
MEANS WHAT HEADQUARTERS PEOPLE
SAID WHEN CALLING TROOPS
WAS FIRST TALKED.oF

When with Spain w.s nrst,enokc, q, AVA =
call for the National Guard seem-l assured hesd.
quarters NJ Albany was besieged by anxious per-
Sons VINO wanted 10 know whether tho troops Of
N" National Guard were available FOR active SER
vice The answer came prompilya and the neo,is
o, the State were assured thar tho S,o,s ,orcos
could be modified within n day Con,manters -,
regiments bhttalions and separaps companies ,ola
IN" newspapers or the perfect equipment and good
condition Of their commands. and most Of them sois
that the organizations which they represented could
10 sent to the front lat once" us far as counr,o,
was concerned. These statements caused gar.ro,
satisfaction. and when tho call csmo from hea1
quarters at Albany for National Guard orzon,za.
Hons 70 proceed 10 camp at Hampstead and Peeks
XII the general impression was that the various
commands would 60 fully and perfectly equipped
But the promises OF those officers who uo-o l.,
charge at headquarters were not fulfilled and roc,
menis went 20 camp so poorly uniformed and so
imperfectly equipped that their commanders usro
ashamed of them The 9Th Regiment marched into
camp at Peekski with three hundred men IN tha
ranks who carried nothing In the way q, sr,,s
uniform or equipment By which one could tell tha,
they were members Of Colonel Stewards command
and they had been preceded by abou, four hundreg
men o; the same class. who came as uernhers .,
the sth Regiment. The same spectacle was u,,,
messed at Camp Black. and the had weather which
followed Immediately on the occupation OF the
camps. the discomfort o. the men and the utterly
n
them were In strange contrast with the statements
from Albany which had been repeated many times
10 the erect that oil provisions had been made FOR
the mobilization OF the Guard. Reports from the
two camps show that hundreds OF men who were
taken there as members OF regiments did no, re-
ceive as much as blanket on arrival there An
armful OF straw on the naked ground was all that
those men found and although the nights wcr.
cold and a blanket would havo been n source ~
great comfort there was little complaint on
the part OF the men. but officers who had the com
fort of their men at heart criticised tho system
which made the condition possible
For the year ending October l. 1897 SAT 900 w,.
appropriated for the maintenance OF the National
Guard. besides special appropriation OF $50 900 for
uniforms and equipments Besides this the State
drew from the National Government S3lO546 in
military stores and equipments.
In his last report to tho War Department Major
j. y. Burbank. the officer who represents the United
States Army at the office OF the Adjutant- General
In Albany. said:
AZ the development OF the Guard in professional
knowledse and general efficiency from year to year
Is so manifest as TO be beyond question, II is con-
hdenty believed that In the near future a broader
win be soush, beyond the a Of
the srms.y drlll fioor and tho limited area allowed
IS ted as NewYork for manuv He s on
grand scale.
When the opportunity many OF the men
had neither uniforms equipments and many
people who had read accounts OF the drills reviews
and pardes OF tho National Guardsmen and OF their
work In camp believed that the officers al the
head OF the States military affairs paid more at
tenion to the spectacular and the ornamental feat
lures OF the service than to Jhe points necessary
TO active duty
In his report Major Burbank said also that the
practice marches Of the men would be conducive
Of much good; and the prime condition OF the 5th
Regiment and the members OF the separate com
panies when they came to camp demonstrated the
se p his seSsy ThSss
er camp necessities.