Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-15
such articles as had not been furnished
to the militia prior to that time.

The following extracts from the edi-
| torlaI page of the Army and Navy
journal has been commented upon ia
vorably by many officers of the local
| National Guard
THE National Guard of the District of
| Columbia has been unfortunate in being
| made the victim of newspaper misrepre-
sentation. One of the oldest dailies Of
| Washington the other day announced
| with fiarfng headlines that there was a
''dearth of National Guard recruits that
| the National Guard enlisting officers of
| the District are facing a problem, and
that 1.-The old men are dropping out" 1t
was asserted that ''the strict require
ments of the reorganization act were re-
sponsible.' If such state of affairs
| existed in an organization having at it's
! head 50 enthusiastic. energetic and capa-
! bic officers as Brig Gen. George III. Har-
| r1es, commanding the militia of the Dis
trict; the adjutant general, Lieut.. Col. S.
| f.. Smiley (major. 2d United States In
| fantry); Col. Charles II. Ourand, 1st In
| fantry. and Col. Richard ID. Sinlns, ID
Infantry. District Militia, and those as
ISOLATED with them, one would naturally
expect that the National Guard generally
would be in bad condition.
| Inquiry by a representative of the
Army and Navy Journal shows that just
the contrary result has come from the
reorganization. Instead of a falling off
there has been a marked gain in actual
| strength in efficiency and in esprit de
corps. The recent inspection showed a
! gain of 80 officers and men over the in
| spectlon figures of year ago. The re-
organization went into effect in March,
1909, SO that il has had practically
| year to make its influence upon the men
felt. The large gain shows that the in
f1uence has been entirely a good one The
! most serious phase OF the reorganization
has been the courtmartial proceedings.
oh. hoe
changed.
Formerly little could be done to bring
| to book those who failed in their drill
attendance. except by holding out some
OF their pay. which. i'm the case of the
enlisted man, amounted to about SIG a
year as compensation for doing full duty
Under the new law the delinquent can
be court artialed. and witnesses COM
PEELED to attend and testify under pen
altieS executed by the criminal courts
of the District. Section 81 OF the new
law says, specifically: THE sentences of
said courts military courts), whether of
fine or imprisonment, shall be executed
by the United States marshal for the
| District of Columbia in the same man
ner are sentences of the criminal
courts of said District
Gen. Harries, with his wide knowledge
| of National Guard conditions and senti-
| ment. very wisely decided to proceed
slowly in bringing the new system of
| court procedure into operation. He
deemed the change sufficiently radical
to warrant its being placed clearly be-
fore the men. and this he proceeded to
do in G. o. 6, dated April Z, 1909.
| This order set, forth the existence of
a certain amount OF tlaxness in the per-
Torrance of military duty Then came
| a statement as to the value of obedience
to ORDERS and it's effect lin molding mil
itary character, followed with a tabulated
list of the date of drills of each com
| mand and an explanation Of how leave
could be obtained After this. as sort
| of climax of ominousness, was printed
| in full the section of the new law dealing
with the power Of the military courts
to execute their sentences.
| "A copy of this, order was put in the
! hands. of every enlisted man in the
brigade. and ample time. was given for
| the proper digestion of it's contents. The
! result has been that no complaint against
| the law has been made by the duty
doing men of the brigade Whatever
| of protest has been heard has come from
| the duty dodgers the class that would
never be satisfied with any. law. In two
| trials the military courts had recourse
| to the new law to enforce their au-
thority. and the effect. in each case was
salutary and beneficial in the highest de-
gree.
zation was made each officer was asked
| whether he desired to continue in view
| of the altered conditions, and a reply
| in writing was received from each, con-
| tinuing his service Considering our
armory accommodations" said Gen.
| Harries, L consider our gain in the past
year not only excellent, but in sense
remarkable. That we are two hundred
and fifty ahead of last year is an indi-
cation that the reorganization is not
going to injure recruiting. IL that were
to be the effect, it would show itself
the first year. The reorganization began
in March, 1902 and in the August ma
neuyers five months later. we had 300
more men than we had at the inspec-
ton In March. The present strength
represents the splendid aggregate Of LAO
officers and men,