Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-02-04
ARMS FOR NATIONAL GUARD
History of Efforts to Supply OitiSs
,s sOldiery with Weapons.
CHANGE WITHIN PAST TWENTY VEAL
Demand for Same Arms as Used by
the Regulars Becomes More and
More Hnsistent as Country
Grows Older.
tFrom a Starr correspondent.l


WASHINGTON, Feb. 3.-(Special)-It is
the theory of our government that in case
OF war the government must rely on its
citizen soldiery for defense, and that
large standing army is not, and never can
be necessary That being the theory II
would naturally occur to the least OBJ
servant that the militia should constantly
receive the appreciation and encouragement
OF the governing authorities Until within
comparatively few years, Congress has
been remiss In its treatment Of the militia
Except in most of the wars with the In
dams and the recent war with Spain, it has
been the volunteers and not the regulars
that did most of the fighting. not that the
regulars did not fight well, but because
they comprised but a small portion OF the
forces of the government In all the wars
the government has been engaged in 1t
has been handicapped greatly by the want
Of a well organized and trained militia.
Militiaman Buys His own Arms.
! Congress early recognized the need Of
an organized militia and took steps toward
| encouraging such an organization, but lack
of means made these steps small and in
| adequate for effective work. The first law
on the, subject will prove curiosity, in
these days of great achievements. Ono
section reads as follows:
Every citizen so enrolled and notified,
shall, within six months thereafter, provide
himself with a good musket, or hrelock,
| sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare
hints and knapsack a pouch, with l box
| four cartridges, suited TO the bore OF his
musket or firelock, each cartridge to con
or with a good rife, knapsack. shot pouch
and powder horn. twenty balls, suited TO
the bore. of his rifle, and quarter Of
pound Of powder.
This act was passed in 1889. In those
days nearly every man had a rife or mus
| ket as II was necessary for the defense
| OF his family and the community against
| Indian raids. But the section In regard
! to the arms and equipments of the officers
! is more of curiosity than the other. and
refers to some equipments the National
guardsman of today would be at loss to
know the use of.
Another curiosity in the section Is the
provision that the militiaman should hold
his arms and equipments exempt from
taxes or payment Of debts.
A few years later there came breath
OF war with France. and the sum of $4OOOOO
was appropriated to procure $1,000 stands
| Of arms to be sold to the several states
| for the armament OF the militia.
Fund to Provide Arms.
AS early as 1908, when relations between
this country and Great Britain became
strained, a law was enacted making an
annual appropriation OF 100000 for the
| purpose of providing arms and military
equipments for the whole body OF the
militia of the United States" The arms
and equipments were TO be purchased or
manufactured at the government arsenals.
In 1916 congress made this continuing APP
preparation, providing that the unexpended
balance OF any year should not be covered
back into the treasury, but carried for
ward TO the credit Of the fund, to be eX-
pended In the future. This condition OF
affairs continued for about forty years
without material change. But the militia
spirit was not strong among the people, and
the arms were distributed just as they
might be called for. or as the secretary
Of war thought best.
In 1866 an act was passed regulating the
method of distribution. Under this act,
some Of the states did not draw their
quota, while others drew more than their
quota Thus the arms were still I'M
equally distributed. When the war between
the states came some Of the states had
hardly a musket in their armories. What
they did have, however we're practically
the same class as used in the regular army
at that time.
The vcivil war was slow in producing re-
suits Favorable TO the reorganization OF
the militia, and II was not until 1887 that
a change was made In the law OF 1855, max.
ing the quota Of arms distributed TO q
state department upon the fact that the
state have an enlisted and organized
militia equal in numbers TO 100 for each
senator and representative in congress. II
was not until after the Spanish-Ameriean
war that the people and congress took the
interest in perfecting the organization OF
National Guard commensurate with its
Importance.
Keeping Pace with Regulars.
BY 1897 the government had accumulated
large reserve supply of arms and tn,
militia began clamoring for a better equip.
fment and every army oficer began tC
recognize the importance OF training the
militia to use the arms that would be II
actual service In time OF war. In 1Ssi
congress authorized the secretary OF wal
TO issue TO governors OF the several states
} and territories sufficient Springfield breeeh
7 loading rifles TO arm all the regularly
organized and equipped militia of each STATE
) and territory not already supplied with
this arm.
In 1893. and again In 1904. new models
: having been adopted by the government
for the arming Of the regulars the milltis
) were again put at a disadvantage. and
congress placed them once more on al
equality 20 far a. armament went BY re