The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-08-21
PRESENT CONDITION
OF THE A GUARD
Serious Faults and Elements of Weakness in the National
Cuard-Paucity of Numbers a Bar to Efficiency-Mil>
tary Spirit Before the Civil War-The Wonder
fl West Point Cadets.
For The Messenger.

wilmington messenger
nave awakened the people of North
State Guard. That condi-
Satae Guard. That c0ndi-
lions IS not such as to give satisfac-
uon either to the state pride Of the
people, or TO their reasonable expecta-
ZION that this military force would
prove an efficient and legitimate ad-
JunCt Of the government. The best in
1ormation that outsiders can collect
leads them to the conclusion that the
last emcampment at Morehead City
Just fell short Of being a farce. One
al read between the lines Of the Mes
S2ngerS articles, and can see that the
information on which it's structures
were based was furnished by an in
telligent eyewitness OF the misman-
aSement and incompetence, all the do
lngS and happenings in camp. That
the high military officials should not
know until they got into the field that
they mad funds for only eight instead
OF ten days service exhibits a depth
OF ignorance almost Incredible; and
the appeal Of the cOmmiSsary general
to let the troops stay two days without
pay, that they may eat up the provis-
ions, and prevent a loss, is, when you
look at its true inwardness, ~irresis-
tibly funny. The most striking and
pleasant feature about the MOrehead
City encampment, which Gov. Glenn
himself relates to a newspaper cores
%pOndent, is hat three cheers were
proposed for the governor and the SOL
diers gave them with a will" SO, you
G none Of this mismanagement
is C~hargeable to the cOmmander-in-
chief, who, like Macbeth, can eXclaim:
Shake not thy CORY locks at me!
Thou canSt not say, | did it,"
But there are serious faults and
dement's Of weakness in the National
State Guard, over and above the acct
dental Or occasional Developments at
some particular encampment. So far
as North Carolina is concerned it's
pancity of numbers is a serious bar to
its usefulness or efficiency. 1t is pain
full to see an average company on one
OF its I~nfreQuent parades, on account
of its thin ranks-the whole command
hardly making up a decent %cOrporals
guard. 1t is we'll known that just be-
fore the time for each annual encamD-
GftTt the officers Of the different COM
panies are obliged to bestir them
selves to keep the men up to the mark.
appealing for reenliStment n new
enlistment. lest they fail of the per-
centage requisite to keep them in the
organization. Even in Wilmington,
the largest city in the state. the pa
perS made known the sore straits Of
the Wilmington Light Infantry; and
the fear that it would fail of the ne
cessary percentage just before the
time for encamping, This straining
every point and stretching every
nerve goes on, too, just before every
annual inspection.
Then the esprit de corps Of the ma
tiOnal guard has fallen to a lamentably
I0Gr ebb. though this is mainly due to
the decline and extinction of the mil
itary spirit in the people among whom
they live. The great civil wal nearly
that spirit, and the Span
iSh-American war, coming along, put
it clear out. Fight? Yes, the southern
people will still fight, as they have
always done, and as no people ever
done before. What | mean by the de-
cline of their military spirit is that,
so far from taking any interest in
peace soldering, they lOok upon it
indifference, being too intent on
material and Industrial affairs to con-
Germ themselves about the guard,
they consider an arm of the gov
eminent. and none of their business.
w where the ranks
O ia are we'll filled, it is
very difficult to induce employers to
leave of absence to young men,
$1,000 -Ef~rI thn rj-f- of 1nSInO
positions.
The Messenger of the 10th inst, in
a leading. able and thoughtful! editorial
has the following: The only means
of checking the growing sentiment IN
favor of lynch law on slightest provo
or without any p~rovocatlon. as
was the case in the Salisbury lynch
ing, is for the military to do its stern
duty when called on to uphold the law
and protect life. AS sure as the prac-
tee of lynch law continues 1t Will
come to that and when 1t does come
the soldiers will be doing nothing
more than their sworn duty, and
averse as they may be to do that duty
they will have the satisfaction OF
knowing that they have put a stop to
this mob rule which has brought the
state into such disgrace. When the
soldiers take this course they will
put a stop to lynch law. One such
fatal encounter will teach the mob a
lesson that in future the law and the
of the courts will be res
pected."
The guard by it's presence in con-
siderable numbers, may avail to over
awe a turbulent and lawless crowd,
a rio by timely dispersion, or
scatter a mob not yet organized and
without a leader. But I much DOUBT
that great reliance is to be placed on
it to stop a riot onc begun, or check
a wild mob after the first blow has
fallen-not from it's lack OF ability
but from it's lack Of will, especlali!
If the rioters be of their own commu-
nifty, or the mob composed OF whites
Of their W class. The history OF
national S1,ards pOiOtS m this cOQclu-