The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-04

The question of pay to the men or the National Guard while in annual en- campment is coming to be most seri- ous one in many of the States Tn some of them the men are paid rom the State treasury, though an aPPIo priation made for the express purpose, but some of them, like Alabama, nave paid them from the appropriatlon maus | by Congress for the equipment oo Smo nno maintenance of the militia of S2,ooo'ooo ! a year, of which Alabama's share. m round numbers is about $22.ooo. Under the Dick law-the Judge Advocate Gen- eraI of the Army has decided that upon requisition of the Governor this fund can be used for paying the men while | in camp, used in that way instead or TOT equipment as in the past. As l nave before stated, all of the commands m
 Alabama except the 2nd regiment nave aye used the best part of the fund for the year 1S04-05 for paying the men ana |. has been squandered-that is. the men show for 1t. Tn no instance. did the men receive more than three dollars and forty-four cents for eight days,
 sse tbs snsss tms a it n msy aey said that none of this fund was put to good use. Take the case of the ar tsry in Samp Tnn mea as ans o cers were paid in the morning ot breaking camp. How many of the men got out of Montgomery or away ron ron
 
 Of what earthly benefit was it to them? Crap games were to be seen going on in the woods and in many tents. ana
 they were kept up as long as the money lasted and until 1t went into the pock- cts of only one or two. Those who did not engage in these games went 10
 money in very few hours after re- ceiving 1t.
 I happen to know that the command: ! ing officers of the 1st regiment ana the cavalry and artillery battalions hes | itated to the very last moment upon the wisdom of paying out this money Tn
 the adverse criticism of the ranks and yielded to the pressure. Colonel du Mont, the commanding oficer of that
 excellent orsanisation anS ,nsrs regarded tSs ss
 service of the state" said to me that
 the precedent had been established for
 paying the men at Birmingham and
 down down i on his head the cen.
 sure and condemnation of the cause of the trouble in the End regi.
 ment The opposition to Colonel
 Graves took advantage of his wise and
 brave act, in refusing to use his money
 upon @ himself the condemna-
 tion of the men. but, as I have
 viii commend him for 1t. Next year
 the End regiment will have all that
 money to It's credit for equipment and none of the other commands will have
 but little. The difference is sure to be
 apparent and the praise of the colonel will surely be sung. There is not an 1 officer or member of the National
 Guard in Alabama who does not re-
 gret this rupture in this splendid com
 mand. and they all hope and trust that
 it will be settled in such way as will the regiment. All want to see 1t set tied this way and If necessary the in- dividual ambition and wishes of any one man or set of men set aside to ac- compush this result. The 2nd regiment
 has in Its membership some of the young men from some of the best fam lilies In Alabama; they possess all the qualities for good soldiers and the or ganization should be preserved for the future good name of the Guard and to the service of the State.
 And I believe 1t will be. The cleo tion has been postponed for this very
 reason and the officers and men of the regiment should see to 1t that all diff ferences and troubles are settled and
 obstacles removed to the future ad-