The Washington herald., 1911-10-22
NOTES OF THE DISTRICT MILITIA
By RUSSELL M. McLENNAN.
First Lieutenant, Signal corps, n. G. D. C.

regular army officers. It will give the
National Guardsmen of various States
standing with reference to regular army
service which they do not now possess
and will assure every enlisted man ana
Officer of his equivalent rank IN the
army should he ever be called into the
service Of the United states.
1t will also probably have the effect
Of establishing a system OF the survi-
val of the fittest. Not every National
Guardsman will receive pay from the
Federal government if this bill is enact
ed into law. Only those who qualify as
to fitness for military service will be
paid. The judges of that fitness will be
the Secretary Of War and the National
Militia Board which is composed of
five officers from the National Guard,
representing different sections of the
country acting in advisory capacity to
the Secretary of War.
But to draw pay from the national
government a Guardsman must not only
pass in fitness, but he must also do
a specified amount of military duty each
year. This, it is believed, will inevitably
have its effects on the personnel of the
Guard. Men who are unable to qualify
or who do not perform the required
amount of duty may continue in the
Guard, but most of them are not likely
to.
While. so far as State service goes,
they will be on an equal footing with
their fellow-Guardsmen, in the eyes OF
the national government they will not
be up to the military standard. In time
Of war they would not be taken. This
discrimination is pretty sure gradually
to weed out the unfit who will not care
to remain in the State service when they
realize that they are not classed by the
ra1r ~
their comrades, and that they cannot
earn the Federal pay.
The militia pay bill was drafted last
year by the National Guard Association,
at its annual convention in st. Louis. 1t
passed the House in the last Congress,
but was lost in the Senate. The bill is
sure to receive consideration next win
ter, because it has very strong backing.
The bill provides that officers of the Ma
tional Guard and enlisted men shall re-
ceiYe certain percentages of the pay grant
ed to those of their equivalent rank in
the regular army, provided they attend
forty-fve drills or equivalent military
duty during the year. They will receive a
proportionate amount of pay for any
number of drills not less than twenty,
but no Federal pay for less than twenty
drills When called into the regular
service of the government they Will re-
ceive the same pay and allowances given
to officers and enlisted men in the reg
ular army. They will also be mustered
into service as they are organized in the
various States. so that there will be no
breaking up Of commands. This now
applies to the District of Columbia
Those who receive pay from the gov
ernment during time of peace Will De
subject to trial by Court-martial by the
Federal government II they tah 10 pre-,
sent themselves for muster when called
by the United States. The paragraph
which is expected to weed out the ineff-
cent men provides:
That no money appropriated under the
provisions of this act shall be paid to
any person who fails to qualify as to
fitness for military service under such
regulations as the Secretary of War and
the National Militia Board shall pre-
scribe"
The rates Of pay which guardsmen will
receive under this bill if they perform
forty-five drills or more will be per year:
Privates, $45; corporals, $63; sergeants,
$50; first sergeants, S10S: second heuten-
ants. s225; first lieutenants, $500; captains,
$3.50; majors, $3.50; lieutenant colonels,
S525: colonels, $500; brigadier generals,
$500: major generals 1920.
1t is estimated that the ultimate ex-
pense incurred by this bill. based upon
the present national guard strength of
10000 officers and men, will not exceed
SSOOO,OOO a year. 1t is not expected that
guardsmen will make any money out of
it. but it is believed that the small
amounts which they will receive will
only reimburse them for the expenses
which they are now under.
In addition to Capt. J. B. Allison, Z. S,
A, Capt. o. L. SpauldIng, jr., Z. S. A,
and Lieut.. B. D. Foulois, L. S. A, as
Observation-Disclosures, the District Ma
tional Guard is fortunate in having five
regular army sergeants as instructors.
The benefit of their knowledge is already
TO be seen in the increased efficiency Of
the enlisted personnel of the District
Guard. In some quarters it is contended
that more benefit is derived from the
detail of regular army enlisted men for
instruction purposes than from any other
source.
The men Of the Guard feel no hesi-
fancy in asking questions and feel more
at ease with an instructor who is not a
commissioned officer, whether Of the reg
ular army or of the militia.
These are the regular army noncom-
missioned officers detailed to the District
Guard: Sergt. George NJ. Bessemer, Com
pany I. First Infantry, L. S A; Sergt.
Gustave Schoening, Company D, Fourth
ilILoAlSB - .. a, SeTBl- "lllldm NJ.
Wells, Company c, Fourth Infantry, L.
:. A; Sergt- Herbert Benjamin, Third
Field Artillery, L. S. A, and Sergt.
Clarence A, Bradford, Company B, Twen-
ty-fourth Infantry.
Sergts. Bessemer, Sohoening. and Wells
are assigned for instruction purpose to
the First and Second regiments of the
District Guard; Sergt. Benjamin to the
First Battery, Field Artillery, and Sergt.
Bradford to the First Separate Battalion.
the District Guards crack infantry or
ganization.
From a private in the High School
Cadets to a major in the District Militia
is the record Of Maj. wallach A. Nc
Cathran. He enlisted as a private In
Company D, First Battalion, First Regi-
ment washington Light Infantry, No
IA. 1894 He was promoted to a
corporal in May, 1885, and to a sergeant
in July, 1896.
Maj. McCathran entered the commits
stoned personnel as a second lieutenant
in 1897, and was promoted to a captain
in 1899. He resigned his commission in
1900, and year later accepted a COM
mission as first lieutenant in Company !
A of the First Infantry. He served as
adjutant of the First Battalion of the
First Infantry for some time, and on
January 4, 1907 attained the rank of
major.
Maj. McCathran was in the High
School Cadets in 1888 and 1889. Since at |
tanning commissioned rank in the Dis |
trict Guard, he has served on several |
general couTts-martiaL He is an expert |
with the pistol and a marksman with |