The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-24
EFFICIENCY OF THE GUARD.
CONDITION OF THE MILITIA IN
THE VARIOUS STATES.
omeers ane Men Number 1la, soe-nauiprnent
ana Arms GOOD In y Few states. Nae In
R~Host-Timo Required for Mobilisatten-Dt-
-inIn. M thn anrrIcn ltn ANnilAblllty.

vtnion OF tho service It's hNhi's"'i'tS'
In the event of hostlitios between Spain and
tho United States the National Guard would at
once be called upon for service, as tho 2o,ooo
men who compose the regular army would not
begin 10 meet tho demands OF war and the In
crease Of two regiments OF artillery called Tor
will give only men enough to caro- for the new
ordnance in tho forts, but not to man them.
In the National Guard throughout the Union
there arc ia, 800 officers and men, whose gen
eral training is such as to admit Of their being
Mt onco put into the feld-provided the State
or National Government will furnish the nee
essary equipment. In some States the Guard,
SO far rs arms and equipments are concerned.
is totally unfit to take tho field. Tho artillery
force, us n whole. is very poorly provided for.
The authorized strength Of the National Guard
that is, the strength the force would have IL every
officer and enlisted man allowed by lawwerc COM
missioncd or enlisted, varies from 5000 In New
York to $50 In Montana. In five Stntes-Ar-
kansas, Maryland, Nevada. Tennessee, and Wy
oming-there Is no fixed limit to the strength.
The largest organized strength is that OF New
York-13,4O7-thc smallest that of Idaho-30s.
The highest percentage Of attendance at camp
was 99.3. in Pennsylvania; the smallest was
16, in Mississippi. Besides Pennsylvania, the
following States had an attendance Of over 90:
North Dakota. 0s; Vermont. U.S.; Connecti-
cut, 900; Mnssachuse tts, 81; Nebraska, 93.s.
and New Hampshire. 9l.S.
Georgia.. Illinois. Maine, Massachusetts New
syivania, and Rhode Island and in the District
OF Columbia, there are regularly organized hos
E Ei,Hl Or a% mishirSn. s Vermont lP S1 Rirs aali.or ana
Wisconsin moro or less instruction is given to
ffa%ilGa l mSn; in Iowa 5Msn Ryent stassslMA aHsian%.
S M'HnSso' ssw IH! s%psSRIR?s:. S &%sbs G%foli EsDS Ssr,h
ington, West Virginia, and Wyoming and three
Territories Arizona, New Mexico. and Utah
reported. The equipment varies greatly, being
best in those States that have regularly or
sa 6 3 s0F GP the qh Tn StllS's States sa Irmy m nre de.
states labama, Arkansas Colorado, Connecti-
Jersey. New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ore
gon: Psnnslylyamia, Rhode Island, Tenn n ons
Territory-Ctah and OF tho District OF CoiuIn-
b,a; Th g officer pr on I'D duty in the :, !. District Of Of Go TO-
National Guard. The duties OF tho officers in
this service vary greatly in the different states.
troops. whether for service within the state or
for service beyond its borders, is in most cases
b Myrf illinois sd 'S Indiana. 0 New w S FORK. and edS Psn n n
7enia. 1t is based on actual experience. when the
has been called upon suddenly. The time re.
quired for concentrating the entire m
ranges from three days in California and Ore
hours in the District of Columbia, for service
in Washington. although, twenty four, hours
would be necessary If the Guard were to be used
outside the District. The percentage of the en-
tire force that probably could be counted upon
f from rnr a5 1 in New ;er s YoEk' u Sort hF pafo sGrT aSd Y Penns
s%ylvania, 81 in Illinois and Massachusetts,. to
so in Minnesota and South Dakota. Except in
Statcs'that have had practical experience in mo-
biliZing their troops, these stimates are merely
the consensus of The opinions Of commanding
South Dakota. and the District OF Columbia are
reported rs having well-devciopcd plans for
have incomplete plans, but the majority have
New, York's, infantry is armed with Spring.
ming some Springfield rifles. calibre so. arc in
use. With these exceptions the infantry OF all
calibre .45, Of al! models. from that OF 1873 to
the latest. The condition of the arms ranges
Columb to very bad. As a rule. the condi.
tion is fair to good, but many arms ARE unser-
viceable from neglect. The arms arc frequently
Alabama. Arkansas. California. New JERSEY,
Utah the cavalry is armed with The sabre, car
bine. and revolver. Colorado, North Dakota;
New Hampshire has only the sabre. The arms
of the cavalry are OF the same kind as those
used in the United States Army, Except that in
New York the Springfield "arbinc. cnlibre As.
is used: in Oregon the Spencer .carbine; in
carbine. calibrc III, and in New Mexico ono
troop has the Sharp carbine. calibrc 80. The
condition of the cavalry arms is reported us
ranging'from excellent in Illinois, New Jersey.
ohio. Rhode Island. and the District of Column
The armament of most of tho artillery con-
In New YORK. PENNSYLVANIA, Vermont. and
with 3.2-inch brecch.loading steel.rificd guns.
all of which are in good condition. The Cat
most OF the field guns are old and obsolete, and
their, carriages are mostly rOttensand unit for
some have rcyolvers, and in a small number
OF batteries they are armed with rifles or car
bines.
The equipment of the troops varies very
much in the different States. both as to com.
pIIctenoss and condition. some states, notably
vania, and Utah. have their troops OF til arms
OF the service completely equipped. and their
York and Pennsylvania have completSi the re.
equipment OF their Guards and Utah has pro-
cured a complete new outfit for her recently
generally those OF the United States Army, but
most OF tho States have knapsacks of all pat.
in good condition. hut are not very complete,
except IN mineis MeT YORK. Psnnsylvania
ment, excepting that OF the men. is practically
worthless, except in those States that havo
S SsrDass the Il pe nsw guns nSs and and enjoyment s=a,tan emit This The
not stand any hard work. The artillery equip
ments. although old and worn out. are gener.
ally we'll cared for. In most States the equip
ment of all branches OF tho service is not com
plete enough for present needs. and would be
Insufficient In case Of field service.
Tentage sufilcient. for the present force is
owned by nineteen Stotesn1Alabama,. Arkan.
sas. Colorado, Connecticut. Florida. Illinois. In.
diana. Michigan. Montana, Nebraska, Now
Hampshire. New Jersey, North Dakota, Penn
sylvania, Rhode Island, Texas. Vermont, Wash
lngtOn. and West Virginia, and in tho District
of Columbia. Some tcnta2e. but not sufficient
for the present force, is owned by the following
nineteen States: California. Georgia, Iowa.
Kentucky. Maine, Maryland, Msssachusetts,
York, North Carolina, North Dakota. Ohio.
Oregon, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wiscon.
sin, and by one Territory, New Mexico. Two
TERRITORIES, Arizona and Utah, own no tentagc.
Most of the stats use tine hospital and wall
tents almost exclusively. Very few States
have field mess outfits.
The personnel of both officers and enlisted
men Is reported as being generally very good,
and IL is said that nothing but practical OK.
pericnce Is needed 10 give excellent results. The
officers are generally well selected. but very
largely lack experience, and do not in some
States sufficiently control their men. In some
States many OF the men are said TO be NOT
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