Daily Kennebec journal., 1914-01-06
MILITIA MUST
COPY REGULARS,
Decision Says Nat. Guard
Must Conform to Stand
ards of Regular Army
Means Sweeping Change
In State Organizations.

Washington, Jan. 5.--A clean issue
has been made between the war de-
partment and the National Guard AS
sociation of the United States upon
the point of organization of the mill
tary forces of the United States. BY
direction Of Sec. Garrison, Maj. Gen.
Wood, as chief of staff of the army,
has issued a circular (No. 13) an
nounc the decision of Judge Advocate
General Crowder that the militia must
conform in organization to the stand
ards of the regular army, else they
will be deprived of all federal financial
support
This decision is of the greatest i'm
portance to the militia because few
If any of the state organizations are
now able to meet the requirements and
If the government Is to be able to
make use of the militia in an emer-
gency, there must be sweeping
change in the state organizations or
a radical modification of the existing
militia law
When the Dick militia act became
effective in 1908, a period of five years
was allowed within which the militia
of the states was to reorganize to
conform to regular army standards. In
most states excellent results were Sc
cured in the improved training of the
militiamen and the better equipment
of the Guard. But one important re-
quirement was ignored because imme-
date compliance with it was not in
sisted upon by the war department.
That hot ha CT 4
be organized into brigades and divis-
ions.
The brigade was to be commanded
by brigadier general and the division
by major general and when the war
department last August issued Circu-
lar No. requiring the militia organi-
cations to conform to the above re-
quirements, it developed the fact that
there was great surplus of high
ranking officers in the militia and that
major generals were commanding brig
ades and brigadier generals regiments
Enforcement of the circular would re-
quire many of these officers to lose
their high rank unless they were able
to recruit the rank and file sufficiently
to fill up the gaps in the organiza-
tions.
The National Guard Association has
fatty refused to comply with this re-
quirement on the ground that there Is
not sufficient authority in law for de-
fining the organization of the briga-
der and the divisions and that mas
much as it has been physically i'm
possible to secure these organizations
in the United States army and as like
conditions in many states make it also
physically impossible for these states
to comply with the provisions of the
circular" the secretary of war was re-
quested to revoke the circular
Judge Advocate General Crowder,
ruling upon the legal point raised by
the association, fully sustains the right
Of the war department to issue the
circular and points out that the sec
retary of war himself has no longer
authority to suspend the application
of this requirement. Secretary Garri-
sor has adopted this view in publish
ing the opinion
The decision concluded that the state
authorities would be warranted in
mastering out either a major general
or brigadier general and their staff
If they were without the necessary
number of men to compose a division
or a brigade.