Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-01-30
THE GUARD.
Report..of Inspector Gen.
Chas. {. Davis,
Showing Condition Of National
Guard, State Of Maine.
Guard Contains I07 Officers and 1858
Enlisted Men.

Following is the report of Inspector
General Chas. l.. Davis for the year
ending Dec. IT, 1908, which has been
submitted to Adjutant General \. E
Farnham:
The present organized strength of the
National Guard Of Maine is two rcgi-
staff, non-commiSSiOntd staff. band and
Il companies eacn. and 4 ships COM
pany Of naval reserve. consisting of
tWo divisions, commanded by li"u-
tenant and having Il staff consisting of
an executive officer and adjutant, IN
assistant surgeon ana Two chief petty
Offices. The minimum strength -
| quired by law is 1UI officers ANA i."I'
enlisted lntn, an aggregate ri l.sG,.
There is also Il staff of the commanders
in-chief, consisting Of l. officers; these
are not strictly speaking considered :,
part OF the National Guard and are not
| included iii tn" above figures.
Sine" my inspection the organiZa
ton known as the ambulance corps To-
| Gated AZ Lewiston has been diSbandrd
| III accordance With general orders No.
| Il. state nf Maine. a. G. o., dated July
{, 19t5; this di:>hamd!nont WIS in no way
| due t. incIlicicncy on the part Of the
| organization but was owing 10 the
| change in the Militia Law which l:o-
| vi,ird for n hospital detachment with
| each regiment Of infantry but did not
| authorize an ambulance corps as a
| separate organization.
| Attendance--As a whole 1 am very
well satisfied with the attendance at
inspections. The number reported as
| absent without leave is very small in
| deed. 1t is true that in :, few of the
| companies. notably Go. X. First In
f;ntry. and Co. NJ. Second Infantry. it
! would seem that better attendance
| could have bc"n secured by a little eX-
| ira effort on the part of the officers and
| nOn-commissoned officers.
General Obscrvations-Indiv In
Struction-I was most impressed
| throughout the Guard by the evident
lack Of individual instruction of the
| men in the school of the soldier and the
first rudiments of military knoWl-
edge. \ man who is started
wrong and only learns the several
movements of military drill in a gen
| cral way. without explanation or in
| Gividual instruction, never makes ar
| efficient soldier and if the time ever
| comes when he is called upon to wear
| the cnevrOnS of nOn-cOmmiSsiOned
| officer he will be found entirely unfit
| for the position because of his inability
to impart to others knowledge which
he does not himself possess.
| Eon-Commissioned offiCerS-Anothey
thing that is very noticeable is the
fact that a large majority of the non-
| commissioned officers seem to have alb
solut .iy no appreciation of the i'm
portancc Of their several positions OF
| what IS expected of them as cOrpOrals
| and serg2antS. This ! believe IS large
ly due to the failure of company com
mandcrs to insist upon the perform
ance of certain duties supposed to be-
long to non-commssioned officers and
to properly impress upon the men by
prec"pt and example the fact that d
corporal or sergeant is as much Al
officer in his respective grade as is 4
lieutenant or captain and is entitled tC
the same respect and obedience from
his interiors in rank.
There should he as sharp 4 distnc-
ton been the private and the non
commissioned officer as there is be-
tween the enlisted man and the com
miSSiOned officer. In this connection
believe the establishment Of the squad
| system i'm each organization would b.
of great benefit to the non-commis-
stoned officers; by the squad system
do not mem the squad for drill pur-
poses only but that seven privates, pre-
ferablv those that live in the same sec
ton Of the city or town. be assigned tC
each corporal TO look after and that the
company commander hold him per-
sonally responsible for the attendance
instruction, discipline. soldicry ap-
pearance. neatncss and military cour-
tesy of these men.
This gives the nOn-cOmmssiOned
officer something definite to do. endOws
him with feeling of responsibility and
authority and furnishes an incentive
for study and example on his part that
cannot fail to result in an improved
efficiency. In the few companies
where / have seen this system in force
it has resulted in a friendly rivalry
among the corporals to have the best
souai and in some instances I have
known of a small prize. such as cigars
or a supper. being offered by the com.
| D1iIN " tflc Studu TlaV1ng
the best average in attendance, neat.
ness. military bearing, discipline drill
etc. for n given period.
Soldierly Appearance-SufTicient at
tention is not given to the matter OF
neatness and uniformity of dress. par.
ticularly at ceremonies. Men are per.
mitted to appear in ranks with hand.
kerchiefs around their necks in place
of a collar. some with colored sweaters
showing above the coat collar, some
with black. some with russet shoes
SOME with. some without gloves. many
with shoes not brushed and clothing
dirty and wrirkled from being thrown
upon the floor Of lockers instead OF