Evening star., 1913-12-21

lumbia who are members of the National
Guard shall be entitled to leave OF alb
sence from their respective duties with
out loss of pay or time on all days OF
any parade or encampment ordered or
authorized under the provisions of this
act"
The Attorney General concluded that it
was not the duty of a member OF the
militia to question the lawfulness or the
orders of his superior officers and to have
refused to have left the District Of CO.
lumbia when ordered to Omaha.
"Soldier Not the Judge"
1T would be subversive of all discipline
and cannot be seriously contended that
a private is required to refuse to obey
the orders of his superior officer COM
ments Mr.. Miller, 'in order to escape the
loss of few days pay, and then subject
himself TO military trial and the risk
and expenses incident thereto. soldier
is not the judge in such cases. His first
duty is obedience.
'"The answer to this and the suggestion
that the civil service might be greatly
impeded by long-continued absences, by
orderNN the commanding officers, Is the
concluding sentence In his opinion. most @
pertinent to the present occasion, '.iS
found in the presumption against official
misuse of power. The danger may well
be considered remote when, as in this
case, the commanding officer is subject
to the orders and dictation of the Presi-
dent as commander-in-chief. who would
doubtless remedy any abuses of the kind
suggested"
The act of July J. 1902, relating to the
militia of the District of Columbia, con-
strues the act of March 1, 1889, as cover
ing all days of service with the National
Guard which the National Guard or any
portion thereof may be ordered to per-
form by the commanding general.
Different Views Held.
While the administrative attitude has
been that a guardsman has no choice but
to obey orders of his superiors, there
have been different views held by bureau
chiefs and other officials as to whether
absences for militia duty should affect
the official standing of members OF the
n. G. d. c. IL such military service
should be regarded as initiating against
members of the National Guard, the sug-
gestion was made to Mr.. Williams, Off
cial notice ought to be promulgated to
that effect
Judson Harmon, Attorney General of
the United States. May %, 1896, sub
leaves of absence to government en-
ployes belonging to the organized mil
itia of the District of Columbia
1T is not to be presumed" says Mr..
T1dI lHdl SoHsItSS intSIucd tS
the latter act MAY 3. 1898. section 50
to exclude from the militia of the Dis
trict of Columbia the large proportion
of it's citizens in the public civil st w
ice, yet this result would FOLLOW from
any other construction than that which
L have given it.
Employees Not Exempted.
THE earliest act required that all
a ble- bodied male residents of the Dis
trict of Columbia be enrolled. The ex-
emptionS recited do not include civil
employees of the departments.
Members of the militia are required
not only to engage in active service
when called upon, but also to prepare
ing drills, etc The latter duty 10
quite as important as the former, and
there is no more reason for holding
that section 40 (act of March 1, 1Ss9)
is repealed. which exempts members
from civil duty without loss of pay or
time. than for holding that the sections
are repealed which require obedience
to cal for active duty
'It is absurd to suppose that Con-
gress intended by its provisions to en-
power or direct heads of departments
to neutralize the order of the President
as chief of the militia,
or that of the other commanding Of
ficers. or to compel employees to put
in the leave allowed them for rest and
recreation in the discharge Of military
service"