The San Francisco call., 1898-04-19
Congress to Enact Legis- lation Relating to
 VOlunte CTS.
Indefinite Increase of the Mill tary Force of the United
 States.
Move Made Necessary by the Pres
 ent Constitutional Status of tho Militia.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

NEW YORK, April 1S.-The Herald's Washington correspondent sends the following: Congress will be called upon within the next few days to enact com- prehensive legislation which will pro- vide for the indefinite increase of the United States military forces for for eign service. The proposed legislation will settle the vexed question of the power of the President to use the State National Guard for such service, should they volunteer, by entirely obviating the necessity of depending upon the State organizations as such to aid in fighting an enemy outside the United States.
 Senator Hawley, chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, and Representative Hull, chairman of the House Military Committee, will in- troduce the proposed bill probably to- morrow. The measure has been pre- pared at the War Department, and meets the approval of Secretary Alger and the military authorities of the de- partment.
 The bill is intended to meet not only the present emergency, but to provide for all future emergencies. The bill, while it seeks to provide for theincrease of the United States army in time of war, does notconflict many way with the army organization bill recently amend ed by the House Military Committed The new bill provides that the mili- tary forces of the United States shall consist of the regular army and the militia of the States when called into Federal service. The term militia" in this connection is not intended to mean National Guards, but every able bodied male citizen of the United States between the ages of IS and 45 The army is thus defined as the regu- lar standing army, which shall exist during peace and war, and a volunteer army, which shall be called into ser vice by ethe President whenever Con- gress shall declare that a state of war exists, and shall be mustered out of service at the close of hostilities.
 The volunteer army is to have the same organization of officers, regi- ments, brigades, divisions and corps as the regular army. It is to be speci- fically a part of the United States army and all of its officers are to be commanded by the President and it's recruits to be enlisted by the United States recruiting officers. Every vol- unteer or recruit is to be enlisted in- dfvidually in the United States ser vice and Is to be amenable to no State Jurisdiction. Organizations called from the different States may, at the discre- tion of the President, bear the name of their State for distinctive purposes and the Governor of the State may recommend to the President the names of officers up to the rank of colonel, who may command troops raised in his State, but the President Is not bound to make such selections.
 No limit Is set as to the size of the volunteer army. That Is left for Con- gress to determine, in order to meet the contingencies that may arise
 The necessity for the proposed bill is found in the provisions of the consti- tution affecting the militia, which as such may be used only within the limits of the United States to repress instructions and repel invasions. It can in no sense, under the constitution, be considered part of the army of the United States for foreign service. It is held by the War Department author- ities that should the State militia vol unteer as organizations to serve the Federal Government in a war carried into foreign territory, they are still State troops and cannot be bound un- der the constitution to remain in the United States service, nor can the Fed eral Government compel them to fight outside the limits of their State It is to remove the necessity of the Federal Government being left to depend upon organizations over which it cannot con- additionally have exclusive jurisdiction that the proposed legislation is to be Int