New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-11-03
National Guard Officers Say
Governor Dix Did Not
Consult Them.
"sIMPLY TALKED HOT AIR"
Some Express Opinion That the
Whole Thing Was Planned
in Interest of Gen
eral Verbeck.

dec with him on important national
onord affairs are wondering why they
zero asked to make the journey and eX-
nress surprise that the military fund of
.bs state should lose close on 500 for
what they consider in the most part an
absolutely useless missioa.
officers had been led to believe that the
Governor had decided to ask them to eN-
Drsss their views on matters OF vital III
,.rest TO the national guard, looking 10
,,s future welfare, but the returning OF
Acsrs assert that the Governor ala not
osS them a single question, nor dld ne
,nvi,s any opinions whatsoever. The
nn,nion is generally expressed, unofhcial-
ly of course, that the trip was the great
est farce in the history Of the guard ana
the private opinion is that 1t was orlgl-
Souv intended to be solely in the interest
:, General William Verbeck, the adJu-
", general. chief Of staff. officers who
I'VE no personal feelings for or against
aI,hsr General John f. Organ, the de-
nosed commanding general or Geheral
yarheck express these opinions.
An officer, describing yesterday what
toOk Mace in AlpdllN lttoS o AAN'N'''
Their Presence Surprise.
.rhera were some thirty-one command
ting officers present from the nauohaA
r,srd. and these represented organza-
t,ons all over the state. Before the meet
,.a was called TO order the officers had
oood opportunity TO discuss matters III
To,u,Iy. Our first surprise was "heh
lieutenant Commander Eckford {. De
voy military secretary to the Governor
ros fairly dumfounded at our presence
VI. a. once asked General Verbeck why
the assembly was called without MS
rnowledge, as he, the military secretary
20 the Governor, De Kay stated shoulu
have been informed of the meeting oeIoie
), vvas ordered. This young naval militia
,s,cer fairly jumped around like a cat Oh
hot bricks. o,.o,
"In order to appease his wrath General
v.rbsck explained to the irate commander
,,ot the Militia Council at recent ses-
sion passed resolution favoring the
meeting. Even this statement did not APP
near TO satisfy the Governors military
secretary for in order to confirm his
,,.,smept General Verbeck called three
members OF the Militia Council present 10
Inform De KAY of the action the council
had taken.
.Botb General Verbeck and De Kay
went in 10 see the Governor, but what
happened there we do not know, but we
we're kept waiting some thirty minutes
before the return of General Verbeck.
General Verbeck, in addressing the
meeting Of officers referred TO the pleas
ure ne had derived in holding Office when
dsjor General Charles r. Roe was COM
handing the New York National Guard,
and he also spoke in no uncertain terms
OF the very unpleasant six months he had
served with. Major General Organ in
command.
Resolution Was Misguided.
Upon the assurance Of General Yer
beck that he had not been planning for
the major generalship, the officers accept
ed the resolution offered by Colonel c. II.
Hitchcock, lst Regiment, Of Binghamton.
The resolution was adopted also on the
further assurance from General Verbeck
mat ne udu DGtH WI Nib III AllC AAANNA ~
Of the national guard as he saw it, and
not with any ideas of personal advantage.
This resolution as given out to the press
was incorrectly stated. 1t did not read
we have the utmost confidence in all that
General Verbeck has done as having been
done for the best interest OF the national
guard, but II should have read what he
ennRfdars fpr ha hoo tpfaraQfC Of the
guard In other words, the command
ing officers were willing TO say, upon the
sdtutant generals statements, that he
had acted in good faith.
Governor Dix made Us an address
which was full Of hot air. He asked no
advice from US or any expression Of
opinion on national guard matters. He
made no reference as TO why he had re-
moved General Organ from the COM
rand OF the national guard, and we had
looked upon this as one Of the star events
OF the meeting. You can judge Of the
surprise Of the commanding officers when
they realized that their trip 20 Albany
had been only for the purpose of passing
resolution in favor of General Verbeck
and listening TO very thin hot air from
the Governor"
Colonel Hitchcock Explains.
Colonel c. II. Hitchcock. of Bingham
ton, said over the long distance tele-
phone last night that his resolution
had been given a great deal more sig
niicance than was due It, and also that
It's meaning had been decidedly miscon-
sirued. The council, he said, could not be
understood 10 have criticised or even
eommented upon an official act Of the
Governor or of General Verbeck, and he
would not have offered q resolution to
hst effect.
My resolution" said the colonel,
Voiced the sentiment Of the meeting that
General Verbeck had acted in good faith
aud with the good OF the organization at
heait which Is a very different thing from
saying that he had acted for the best in
'frests Of the organization. The published
reports Of the resolution omitted three
very vital words They should have read:
What General Verbeck has done, has
oeen done with a view" 10 the best In
'srests Of the national guard The omis-
! son Of the words with a view TO entirely
Shanged the meaning of the resolution.
This resolution however, Is a mere
Noe issue from the real object Of our
Journey 10 Albany, which was 10 answer
governor Dix's question as to what we
thought Of his plan 10 rcorganize the
guard. We answered that question
through Colonel George w. Wingate 5