Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-02

TO contain not less than twenty-four cart
ridges. suited to the bore OF his musket OF
hreiock. each cartridge to contain a proper
q~usntity OF powder and ball; or with a good
rife. knspsaek. shot pouch and powderhorn.
twenty balls suited to the bore Of his rife
and a quarter bf a pound Of powder and
that each commissioned omcer shall be
armed with a sword OF hanger. a fusee,
bayonet and belt" etc. is is readily appre-
ciatsd bow little attention the American
people have paid to the subject Of properly
arming and equipping the militia.
what the New Bin Means.
General Dick, chairman Of the militia
committee, is largely responsible for the
passage OF the act which means much for
the future Of the nation. Back of him
was a united body Of men. who, while they
had their personal ideas as to verbiage
and construction OF the bill, yielded their
personal objections to the measure which
the president signed under exceptional cir
cumstances on the 2lst Of January. There
are in the several states, territories and
the District of Columbis about lis, 900 men
in the Several state organizations, and these
men are TO be fitted Immediately with the
latest arm Of the infantry service. There
are in the several arsenals at watervliet
and Springfield nearly 1000 Krag-Jorsen-
sen rifles, and these will be Immediately
turned over to the proper officers OF the
National guard Of the several states to be
placed In the hands OF the guardsmen.
Regular army regulations will obtain here
after in the National guard. They will
bunk the same as the regular. they will
eat the same ration as the regular and
they will be trained by regular army Of
hcers just as the regular army is trained.
80 that should any trouble come to the
nation In the future the thoroughly we'll
equipped and splendidly trained organlza-
tion can be at once thrown into the field
of active military operations. General Dick,
who is an enthusiastic supporter Of the
measure. end who believes II means much
for the permanent peace of the nation, said
the other day that he believed the passage
of the militia bill would not only increase
the spirit OF the guardsman, but would add
largely to the personnel Of the guard. He
said that the passage of the bill meant
that the milltiaman Of today would be the
soldier Of tomorrow, and that the benefits
to be derived from such o compact organ
ization would be fsr-reaching in character.
Europeans Interested.
when 1 was at West Point in attendance
l 1H0A a NNAlOhhAdA GANlGAcNb IL II aGdu-
envy said the general, II found that the
representatives Of foreign governments IN
attendance at the academy at the same
time knew more about the contemplated
militia bill than our own people; that
they were watching the trend Of affairs
more closely than we were watching them
at home, and hat II such an admirable
reorganization of the National Guard as
provided for In the bill brought out so
many inquiries from foreign diplomats, how
much more vital must such a bill be to our
wi people,"
Continuing along these lines he said:
Despite peace utterances, however, and
talk Of arbitration. human nature remains
the same. Wars are certain to occur agpin
and the nation would be very derelict II
It made no further provision for self-pro-
lection. The surest way to prevent other
nations from infringing upon our rights
and interests and transgressing upon our
territory is to be 30 prepared that wo can
take immediate and effective steps to pun
ish any violation of our national interests.
1t may safely be said that within the
boundaries OF the United States there are
between 10. OO0. 600 and II, zoo, 900 men able
to perform military service. The safety
OF the country in time of danger must de-
pend upon the volunteer soldier. Just think
of III For 40 years a law has been on the
statute books relative to the militia and
which provides weapons that are so prim-
tive and out Of date that som of them
could not be found today outside of the
walls OF museums Of military antiquities!
The passage OF the militia law is to my
mind one OF the greatest acts that has been
done by the Fifty-seventh congress, and as
1t has had the warm and earnest support
Of President Roosevelt and Secretary Root
confidently look forward to q tremendous
impetus being given for the reorganized
National Guard. Already Secretary Root
is preparing answers to the questions he
has asked all adjutant generals OF the sew
eral states in regard to the bill and 1t is
not so very far In the future when you win
have a volunteer soldiery at as high a rate
Of efficiency. II not higher, than the regu-
| lar army. in view of the general and mari