The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-13
NATIONAL GUARD
 IN ENCAMPMENT Mississippi Troops Gather .ss Annual Meeting At Jackson FEDERAL TROOPS ON HAND Soldiers Enjoy Themselves at the Dancing Pavilion in Spite of Hot
 Weather-City of Jackson
 Raised Money
FEDERAL TROOPS ON HAND

, Jackson. Miss. July 12.-(Special. )-The
 Mississippi National Guard, 15oo strong, l went into annual encampment here today, l also a battalion of regulars and the Sew 1 enteenth United States Infantry band. To-
 night the dance pavilion is being used for l the first tme and hundreds of couples
 made up of the most prominent society
 folks of Jackson and from over the state
 are seeing that the soldiers have great l time in spite of the hot weather
 Actual work begins tomorrow, though the regulars gave an exhibition drill this
 afternoon that was witnessed by hum
 dreds from the city.
 The camr is under command of Gen. $.
 R. Keesler and Adjutant General Fridge
 and lasts 11 days
 There has been some criticism here on the National Guard for the reason, as was
 alleged, that the taxpayers are called upon to pay for the erection of dancing pa
 vilions, where the young folks may meet
 in the interest of the devil when the fact
 of the business is that the taxpayers of
 the state do not spend 1 cent on the
 amusement features of the encampment,
 and precious little on any other
 The city of Jackson has raised the
 money necessary to build the dance pa
 vilion by private subscription, and the
 taxpayers of the state are not out as
 much money for all purposes on this en-
 canpment as are the enterprising citizens
 Of the community.
 The stete of Mississippi appropriates
 $1o,000 per annum to the support of the
 National Guard, and that is supposed to
 pay all theA expenses of transportation of troops, subsistence etc. But for the
 assistance received from the federal gov
 ernment there would be no encampment
 of the National Guard. The government
 appropriates about four times as much
 for the National Guard of this state as does the state, but none of either state or national appropriation goes to the erec- tion of dancing pavilions. The state fund
 is available only for encampment pur- poses. in assisting the civil authorities and in paying the travelling expenses of the troops. Small sums were used re- cer1tiy in moving a few companies to Vicksburg to participate in the exercises attending the unveiling of the Lee mon
 unlent. and s125 was expended in getting the Vicksburg companies down to YaZoo City few days since on the occasion of the unveiling of the Confederate monu- ment there. The governor gave the troops permission to go, but he could not order them to attend such functions, and when
 there is no order there can be no pay, | save for transportation, and the troops l that went to these places were on their | own expense save for railroad fare. ] The encampment is now on in full blast. 1 about HOp troops, counting battalion or
 regulars, being in attendance. The en- l equipment lasts 10 days, and 1t is expect xl.- It. .f<s% l. l during that time. There are few homes,
 even now, in which there are not from 1 one to half dozen visitors, and all Jack 1 son will keep open house for the 10-day l period
 Farmers Union Campaign. The executive committee of the Farm | CTS union, or,- as some call 1t, the execu- 1 tive council, has been holding a secret
 meeting here during the past week, one i covering a period of several days, but very little in the way of information as to 1 what was done was given out.
 President Hightower stated that the 1 committee had been discussing conditions l generally and ways and means of in- creasing the membership. It had been l decided to put their lecturers in the 1 field at once, and to keep them there l for the balance of the summer. It was
 boasted some months ago that the mem bership of the union in this state was l about 70,000. but 1t Is not believed it is anywhere near that figure now. A great i many of this 10000 were women and chill ! dren. and numbers of them, as well | the men folk, have been dropped from the rolls for the non-payment of dues, and l for other reasons. This large member l ship is wanted back, and strong effort 1 Is to be made to secure It. before the next cotton crop begins to move. l It is known that the committee while here was organizing Its big warehouse ] company, the charter for which had been l filed a year two ago. and which had l but a few hours to run when this or 1 ganization was perfected. It was the l last day of grace, and 1t has leaked out | that all was not harmonious at this meet 1 ing. There is one member of the organi-
 zation who has stock in several of the
 county warehouses of the state, and who
 naturally supposed he would be selected 1 as one of the directors of the big com l pany but he was not. Having good deal l of money at stake it is not surprising that
 he feels little sore and that he does | not like the way the State Warehouse | company was organized and officered.
 However, President Hightower seems
 to be well satisfied with the progress be-
 ing made and predicts that the big ware
 house scheme for financing and holding
 the cotton crop of the state will be a
 great success.