Evening star., 1899-03-11
THE NATIONAL GUARD
Meeting to Arrange Details of Camps
and Practice Marches.
ATHLETIC ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
DishonorabIe Discharges Not to Be
Revoked Hereafter.
MEMORIAL DAY PARADE

General Harries has called meeting of
the general staff officers at brigade head
quarters for Monday evening next when
several matters of more or less import
ance will be considered. Among other
things it is expected that at the meeting
all the details and plans connected with
the proposed practice marches and march
ing camps of the National Guard will be
settled. The dates for the marches viii!
be announced soon thereafter and all de-
tails as to rations. equipments, exercises
and the like will he prescribed.
Regulation of Discharges.
The unusually large number of discharges
for various causes that have been deemed
necessary during the past two months have
suggested 10 the military authorities the
advisabiIity of a more rigid scrutiny into
the reasons upon which applications for
discharge are based. 1t is, of course, wel.
understood that Just previous to the recent
war a large number of men enlisted in The
local military with the avowed in;ehtlon
of seeking transfer to the volunteer raai
ment. then about to be formed, for active
duty in the war. A number Of these men,
after enlistment in the National Guard,
were rejected for one reason or another
and number of others found il Impossible
to be enlisted in the fighting regiment. As
a result many of that kind of men have
settled down into class known as dead
timber. and naturally the service would
be better off without them All such reE
have recently been discharged iii the in
tereSt Of the service" Forty-eight Of them
have been set loose in the last two months
There were also fifty-seven men. who, ny
reason of removal from the District Or
enlistment in the regular service, had to
be discharged from the National tiuir.-
All such discharges were in the natural
order of things, but it has been observed
that more than the usual number of late
have been discharged simply on the "ppi-
cation of the soliier. and it is i'll respect
TO this class of discharges that the com
mandiug general has directed that q Close
end watchful scrutiny shall he hereafter
maintained The period for which men en-
list in the National Guard is dednc1 and
well understood by each man in the be
ginning. and it is not expected, except TOR
some extraordinary or urgent reason, tnat
he shall be discharged before the eXpirl-
ton Of the term of his enlistment. For
example. where an applicant desiring 70 re
discharged assigns n reason that ne
cannot attend drill or Il am weary OF
the service or any such trivih rircum-
stance, involving caprice. the purpose OF
headquarters seems to be at least not 20 en-
courage such Unmiitary conduct.
There is no disposition at anv tine to
cnrnDel n man to remain in the National
Guard to the prejudice Of his 00n ihd!-
vidual interest or welfare. but lnstruc-
tiOnS have in the past few days 1oen slVen
to several commanding officers that nero
after before forwarding an application for
discharge the company commander must
make such an investigation or the HlFCUnl-
stances involved as will enable him u state
briefly hut positively and in detail the e%-
act grounds upon which the discharGe Is
sought
As to DishonorabIe Discharges.
To the credit Of the National Guard it
should be stated that there has been only
one "dishonorable discharge from it since
the 1st of last January. Notwithstanding
that during that period more or less rigor-
vf0rCp1 I'm
of attendance at drills and strict perform
ance of duty. Time was. doubtless. when
men did not seem to appreciate the full
extent and consequences of dishon9rable
discharge. but il seems TO be dawnirS upon
SOME Of those who a few years ago were
disholorably discharged that it is better.
If no: decidedly advantageous. TO nave that
spot removed from an otherwise honorable
record of citizenship. At any rate, quite a
number of applications have recently been
made to the commanding general TO revoke
previous dishonOrable discharges and give
honorable discharges in their stead.
1t was found that in some instances under
the old regime certain men had been dis
hOuorably discharged for very light mill
tary infractiOnS. as, for instance. the nom
payment of dues in q civic organization,
and the nding general in view of the
recent active military service of such men
in the field during the war with Spain, fei
inclined To relieve them from the Odium of
dishonor. Upon reflection. however, he has
found that such action will be contrary to
as well as to repeated decisions of the
judge advocate generals office.
a dishonorable discharge once signed and
delivered to a soldier is complete and re-
garded as so finally executed that it places
the man discharged just as much beyond
the reach of the National Guard authorities
as though he had been dead and buried.
The commanding general has, therefore,
decided that hereafter no such revocation
of dishOnorable discharges will be made
In view Of the foregoing it would seem
20 hl A-.I FOR mo ehn r,at1 llJ-
shrink from the taint of even q military
dishonor to avoid any circumstances that
might lead To dishonorable discharge. which
IN future VIII he as inaI ana lrTeVocable in
the National Guard as it is now and al
ways has been in the regular establish
mcut IL might be we'll in this connection
TO quote from the military jurists who long
since proclaimed that a pardon can never
be retroactive. can a man once COM
pletely put out of the service be brought
into X except in the manner provided by
law-enlistment.
Prospective Punishment.
1t is understood that charges and speci-
ficatioas have been preferred against a
number of men in one Of the companies of
the 9Th Battalion and a battalion court
martial has been ordered for their trial at
an early day. The ofenses with which
these men are charged involve failure to re-
pair to the armOry for drill and inspection,
as We'll as repeated disregard Of positive
military orders.
Ii has recently come to pass that certain
men ordered To appear for trial by court
martial il company Of the I'd Battalion
refused or failed to appear. and the situa-
tion OF such novel and awkward ma
ture as TO require guidance from brigade
headquarters. Under the now generally ad-
mittCd defective military law of the Dis
tr.Ct Of Columbia ordering Il man before a
COurt-martial may prove Intellectual as
Summoning spirits from the Vastly deep
II they do not choose to appear. they sim
ply d. not appear. of course. il would be
impossible to try man by court martial
who iS not present To be arraiSned and
there iS no law under which a member of
the National Guard can be compelled 10
appear before a COurt-marIial for trial
But there is remedy. and it is prOpcseI
that II shall be resorted to in all cases
where the accused is inclined u be cont.I-
maCiOus defiant. The man who fails TO
appear when duly summoned will be re-
EaTded in default and Will as in the
civic courts, be regarded as guilty as
charged That being the case the court
through the proper commanding officer will
be required to make statement of the
facts To brigade HEADQUARTERS when the
mans dishonorable DISCHARGE will be or
dered just the same as if he had been ac-
tually tried found guilty and sentenced
10 be 6iShOnorabiy discharged from the