The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1914-01-16
GOVERNORS MESSAGE
In RE STATE MILITIA
TRANSMITS RECORD TO THE GEN
ERAL ASSEMBLY.
Sets Out Whole History OF COntrO-
yersy by Which Regiment Was
Saved to State.


( Columbia, Jan. Ex-Governor Blease
on Wednesday transmitted to the gen
eral assembly the following message
dealing with the military situation
Gentlemen of the General Assembly:
| herewith transmit to you the en-
tire record in til mart" rf tce ef-
fort which was made to muster out
certain companies Of the militia OF
this State. 1t is little long, but in
view of its great importance l thought
4 best to give :ou in detail the entire
transaction, from the receipt by me
of the adjutant generals letter re-
ouesting that the companies be mus
+ tered out, up to the present time
! have no apologies to make for
the course l pursued in tois matter.
There is not word in one Of my let
ters or interviews that would re-
tract. meant every word l wrote
to the secretary Of war and to every
other person connected with the
transaction, and every word | said
that has been published in interviews.
| still maintain and will continue to
maintain that the Dick law is an I'M
proper law for the government OF vol
unteer militia. When l was in the
senate fought it hard ] believed
then and l believe now that the only
purpose in the passage Of this law at
that time was to sec'lre some money
from the United States government.
dislike to say it, but do not believe
that the interest of the volunteer SOL
der was taken into consideration.
10 not believe that the interest or the
rights Of the people Of South Carolina
were considered. l believe that the
entire transaction, from its incip-
iency to the signing Of the bill, was
solely with the view Of obtaining
money from the National government.
deplore this kind of principle in
some of our people; think it not only
silly, but contemplate. regret to
say these things, but said them on
the floor Of the senate, as senator
from my county, and 1 say them today
as commander-in-c of the militia
OF South Carolina.
Now, gentlemen, any man Of any
observation knows that the volunteer
militia can not be held to the rigid
rules and requirements of regular
army. A man in the regular army
has nothing else to 70. 1t is his busi-
ness. He lays down everything else,
and the government pays him for
every minute of his time, He gets up
| IN the morning at the call, just as the
farmer does to his work, or the mer-
chant, the banker, the mill operative,
! the lawyer, or the minister, to his.
That is the way he makes his living;
that is the way he 1upports his fam
ily. 1t is his took in trade. But the
volunteer does not get one cent for
his services. Disabuse your minds.
gentlemen, of any idea that the Volun-
teer militiaman gets copper. 1t
costs him to belong to the militia,
rather than pays him. The young
man in the militia who works III
store has to attend to the merchant s
business; the young clerk in the bank
or in the lawyers office or in the rail-
roads office, who is a member Of the
militia, must attend to his employers
business. The captain Of the COM
pany, who is an attorney or mer-
chant, or a farmer, or occupies some
other position in life; the majors, fol-
| lowing their vocations; the lieutenant
colonies and the coIonels-even the
brigadier general-all have 10 make
their living Independently Of the army.
Therefore, you see, gentlemen, they
can not lay down their business and
walk off at any minute and devote the
time and attention to military training
that the regular soldier can. | could
go on and give you other reasons. l
could spread them over several pages.
But you know it; you see it in your
every day life, and why waste your
time and mine telling you about it?
What I want to impress upon you is
that the volunteer militia can never
be made to comply with the rigid
rules and laws of the regular army,
and, to be honest with you, they would
jse a set of men lacking in reason and
| Judgment if they were to enlist ex~