New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-05-29
FILLING Up THE REGIMENTS.

The wisdom Of the authorities AT Washing
ton In insisting that the volunteers under the
second call for troops shall be Incorporated into
the already existing volunteer organizations re-
cruiting them TO their full strength before any
additional regiments are formed. must be ap-
parent TO all One Of the chief obstacles with
which the War Department has had to con-
tend In organizing a fighting force has been
the unwillIngness Of Congress and National
Guard officers in various States to see regi-
mental formations adapted to the requirements
OF modern arms and tactics. The little reg-
ments Of our en- rlier years are as much out or
date as smooth bore guns Yet local pride and
the desire of militia lenders to he colonies In
stead of majors and captains have tended TO
the multiplication Of weak organizations. In
the Civil War we sent out regiments of COO
men. md the inevitable thinning out in camp
nv sickness. to say nothing OF loss In battle.
soon reduced many OF them to mere skeletons
and made them utterly useless. while II they
had had twice the number of men to start with
and been filed uINby recruits when depleted
instead OF having the recruits make new weak
regiments. they would have become lncreas
ingly effective as bodies OF seasoned veterans
We are likely to be saved from that mistake
IN THIS war. OWlup 10 llle ~ pe.ii'H'o anu ~"
teal sense of such men as Adiutant-G General
Corhin an officer who has recently received
well-nerted promotion. In his recommends
ton that the new volunteers be distributed
among the troops from their respective States
he shows that the enlisted strength OF the ex-
listing volunteer companies does not. on the
average exceed seventy. being thirty-six below
the prescribed maximum, while many OF the
regiments contain only eight or ten Instead or
the twelve companies Of a standard organ'za-
ton. He points out that this shortcoming may
affect the whole Army injuriously. The evil OF
n small regiment is multiplied IN the brigade,
which. though composed OF the proper num-
Der Of regiments may be so short OF men as
70 be entirely unfit for the operations expected
from Its formation. Not only do military rea-
sons demand the fully recruited bodies hut, as
General Corbn says the volunteer law specially
provides that no organizations shall be accept
ed In service from any State unless those al
ready In service from that State are as near
their maximum strength as the President may
deem necessary. Accordingly. the total strength
of a regiment Is fixed at 1926 or 1872 enlisted
men.
Under the new call New-Yorks quota IS 1907.
But Secretary Alger estimates that $3.50 Of
these will be needed 10 I'll up the bodies we
have sent forward in skeletonized form. The
men anxious to enlist who were not permitted
to do SO, owing TO the policy of transferring our
National Guard regiments bodily. so far as
might be. into volunteers can easily supply that
want The enforcement OF a uniform regulation
OF this kind Will put the troops OF the States
on an equal footing, while otherwise some States
which send fewer men than New-York would
far outrank her in the number OF officers car
ried on the Government payrolls. The country
wants soldiers for fighting not regiments for
paradng