The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-04-26
THE NATIONAL GUARD
II Was Placed i'm a Ridiculous
Position Yesterday.
GENERAL HARRIES CRITICISED
He Places the Blame Upon the Sec
Rotary of War, and That oheer
Insfnuates That lie Was beeetNea
by Misrepresentation Troops
Are Disappointed.

There is a-shifting of responsibility Tor
The ridiculous position in which the Ma
tional Guard was placed yesterday by be-
ing ordered up the hill and then ordered
down again.
General Harries states that the Secre-
tary of War was responsible for the is
suance of both orders.
ON the other hand, Secretary of War
AIger explains that the Guard was or
dered into camp through a misunder-
standing. This was caused by improper
representations being made both TO the
President. as to the condition and readl-
ness of the militia, and to the men, as to
what was expected of them General
Harr.ies is said to have conferred with the
authorities before Secretary Alger deter
mined upon calling the troops into camp.
Upon statements made the secretary then
issued the following order:
Rv direction of the President. the troops OF
tie, District OF Columbia National Guaid VIII Z"
into camp in accordance with sn'h oloets a
may be issued by BTlgadier Geiltfai 'Ieotst n n
Harries. commanding the District OF Nosnmo-a
militia. n a ~ ".
Special attention is called to the fact
that the troops were to be ordered out
i'm accordance with orders issued by Gen
Harries. II is announced on good au-
thofty that the War Department had one
understanding as to what these orders
were to be and Gen. Harries had anoth-
or II is a fact however, that when the
s,,ard WAS sent into camp by Gen. Har-
ries il vas not in the manner thar ha1
been indicated to Secretary Anger anu
fhp President Secretary Alger has gone
- far as to say that when orders were
issued Saturday il was the understand
ing that Gen. Harries should select the
ouota of men TO go to the front ana re-
tlrn the others to their homes. Contra
~ 70 this Gen Harries ordered out the
entire guard. and ii is said, inJlmated
rbar II least le00 Of them would 90 into
the regular service.
Men i'm the departments secured leave
of absence on this impression and II was
in this way that il came TO ears OF sec
ratary Alger. Department clerks in
formed their chiefs and in turn il reach
ed the secretary. He FASTENED to correct
the idea and the only proper way 10 DO
II WAS to order the men back 10 the
armory where they could be dismissed
until further orders.
General Harries processes TO be ignorant
of The reasons for the return. He IN
formed Times reporter today that all
be knew was that the Secretary Of War
Rad ordered the troops into camp. and had
tEon ordered them back to the armOry.
The latter order was as follows;
TO the commanding officer District Ma
tioual Guard, Sir: The Secretary OF War
directs that the assembling Of the Ma
tional Guard. under his order of April p,
be suspended until further orders. Very
respectfully, II. c. Corbin, Adjutant
General"
This is said to be the true state Of af-
fairs Secretary Alger has no objection
TO the encampment Of the men selected
to fill the quota Of volunteers to be call
ed from the District of Columbia, but
believes Il was entirely unnecessary yes
terdaH 10 call out the entire Guard when
there was no reason to believe il would
70 in service. This is where il is claimed
the blame rests on General Harrfes. and in
military circles he is Icing severely criti
CiSed.
II was even suggested yesterday that
the commanding general of the District
militia was not a naturalized citizen, but
this belief has no foundation in fact. as
Il is known that he was naturalzed in
this city. General Harries was approach
ed yesterday by Times reporter on the
subject and he referred to the records Of
the District of Columbia Supreme Court
to attest the fact that he had procured
naturalization papers.
Concerning the present situation Gen.
Harries said yesterday that he had re-
ceived no order from Secretary Alger
sending the men back into camp. He
admitted. however that he had been Civ
en- verbal permission TO again call the
men out should he desire. Gen. Harries
stated that his policy would be not TO
order the men into camp again, unless
ordered to do so by the President or Sec
etay Of War. AS to the selection Of the
number Of men from the district and the
possibility Of more than the quota be-
- IIaa Z 41,o
matter is entirely with the Secretary Of
War and at his discretion, also that the
selection viii not be made until specific
orders to do so are received.
The selection of the quota, however. will
be entirely at the discretion of the COM
manding general of the militia. As yet
he has no policy other than a desire TO
get the best soldiers ready for service.
The District is entitled to one battalion.
but IL is not certain that an existing ma
9or will be chosen to go with the battalion.
''Nill you reduce a colonel to send him
with a battalion a reporter inquired.
Il cannot say was the reply: i may
promote lieutenant"
You can say that no private nor Of
ficer will know who is selected until the
official announcement is made by me. All
statements on that point are purely spec
ulative.
AT the armo-y today all was quiet A
few struggling soldiers lounged about in
their uniforms, but regimental and bat
talon headquarters were closed and the
officers had resumed theIr civil aVocat tiOns.
They are not expecting a CALL and it is
announced that II need not be expected
at least for two days.
Says Hsrries Is incompetent.
To the Editor Of The Times:
I address this letter to nv comrades
OF the National Guard and fellow-citi-
zens of the District OF Columbia. and
select your valuable paper as the medium
OF making known my sentiments
1 wish to ask my brother Guardsmen.
who volunteered their services to the
President in defense Of the flag. to bear
up and not be discouraged Everyone
knows that we are ready and willing to
protect the Cuban people from the Span
iards and more than willing to avenge
the death of the sailors and officers of
the Maine. But, as member of the
National Guard. I ask the militiamen
not to be vexed or disappointed over the
treatment we were subjected to because
of the awl0wardness and needlessness of
a command given our superior officers
by General Harries. cCmmander-in-chief
OF the u. c. N q.
He is thoroughly incompetent to iii