New-York tribune., 1900-05-01
REGIMENT OR CLCBg
sponSe.

The famous 23d Regiment, of Brooklyn is the
| latest of the National Guard organizations of
! this State to be convulsed and materially in
| Jured by intestine wrangng. 1t is not the first
| thus to suffer, and it would be Oyeroptimistic
| to expect 1t to be the last More than one other
regiment within metropolitan bounds has been
rent asunder. its usefulness has been all but de-
| stroyed. and Its very existence has been men-
aced, by almost the identical conditions that
! have now made the honored name of Ours"
little better than byword. The prominence of
the present victim, which has stood among the
three four finest militia regiments in the
United States. and the extent to which IT has
suffered-for whereas IT used to have its roster
filled and a whole company or more on the wait
Ing list, 1t Is now company or two shOrt-make
this case especially worthy of notice and pro-
woke some pretty earnest questions TO the de-
STABILITY of a radical reformation of National
Guard organization.
1t said that the British House of
Commons was the best club in London SINH
lar remark has been made about the Senate Of
the United States. Probably there is truthful
ground for both charaCteriZations. and there is
no good reason why there should not be. In
deed, so long as 1t is not permitted TO interfere
with public duties the social side of parliament
tary life Is commendable and beneficent But
IL I
curse. In the National Guard too, the club life
element has largely entered. Many a man has
Joined regiment much as he would join a club
for social reasons. An effort is made to make
the armories and the company rooms AS much
like fashionable clubs as possible And that
too, is all right so long as it does not interfere
with the public duties Of the regiment. with its
numerical strength, its discipline and its gen
eral efficiency. But 1t is a grave question
whether in some regiments the club or social
spirit is not becoming predominant above the
military spirit.
The trouble in the 23d Regiment is over the
election of n colonel One man was elected re-
Gently by handsome majority, but declined to
serve because the vote was not unanimous and
because some of the officers voted and worked
against him. There Is apparently certain
amount of "regimental politics" The regiment
is divided into parties factions. The same
thing is common enough in club life, and is
there inevitable and usually harmless, If not
actually benefcent. IT is found in military or
ganzatiOns simply because they have become
so imbued with the club spirit and are so largely
conducted according to club methods But there
need be no hesitation in saying that in them it
is altogether mischievous. 1t has long been a
truism that there should be no politics In the
army. So in the militia there should be not
only no politics, but no social politics, no fac
tions cliqucs. What effect it must have
upon discipline for n colonel to he elected hy
a bare majority and to have a large minority
of the officers opposed to him. Such state of
affairs Is the open gateway to favoritlsm on the
one hand and to lnsuhordination the other
The question is being seriously asked by
thoughtful men who have the welfare of the
National Guard at heart whether the time is
not ut hand for the abolition of the elective
system and the substitution in its place of a
system Of appointment and promotion similar
to that in the Federal Army. It certainly seems
fitting that regiment should be oicered from
its ranks. and that men should rise to of
fees including that of colonel, not on the
strength of personal popularity and votes Sc
cured through canvassing and solicitation but
on the ground of length Of service and general
merit. That would abolish these frequently re-
curing elections, which are so often produc-
tive of disSension, chickering's and demoraliza-
tion and would correspondence conducc TO dis
cipllne and loyalty. Nor should it lessen the
attractiveness Of the service and repel men from
II. On the contrary 1t would probably improve