Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-01-05
NATIONAL GUARD /
GETS ULT|MATUM
Must Conform With Army
Standards or Lose Federal
Financial Support.
GARRISON TO ENFORCE
DECISION ON DICK LAW
Action Makes a Clean Issue
Between War Dept and
Militia Assn.

WASHINGTON Jan 5.-A clean
issue has been made between the
war department and the National
Guard Association of the Unitedrs
States upon the point of organiZsY
ton of the militia forces of the cornf
try BY direction of Secretary Car
rison, Major General Wood, as chief
of staff of the army, has issued a.
circularLNo. 13-announcing the de-
cision of Judge Acknowledgement
Crowder that the militia must cons
form in organization to the stand<
ards of the regular army, else they
will be deprived of all federal finani
cial support.
This decision is of the greatest ims
portance to the militia, as well as to-
the government, because few, il any,
of the State National Guard organi-
cations are now able to meet the res
auirements, and if the government
is to be able to make use of the mis-
litia in an emergency there must -ba
a sweeping change in the State orr =
CARNATIONS or radical modificaa
ton of the existing militia law.
surpIusage of officers.
When the Dick militia act became
effective in 1908 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
secured in the improved training OF
the militia men and the better equip-
ment of the guard. But one imports
ant requirement was Ignored be-
cause immediate compliance with 10
was not insisted upon by the war de-
partment. That was that the State
militia should be organized into bri-
gades and divisions.
The brigade was to be commander
by a brigadier-general and the divi-,
sion by a major general, and when
the war department last August issued
circular No. requiring the militia
organizations to conform to the above
requirement it developed the fact that
there was a great surplusage of high
ranking officers in the militia ana
that major-generals were commands
ing mere brigades and brigadier-gen-
erals simple regiments. Enforcement
of the circular would require 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 organizations.
I Guards Flat Refusal.
| The National Guard Association has
| fatty refused to comply with this REL
quirement on the ground that there is
not sufficient authority in law for de-
fining the organization of the bri&
gades and the divisions, and that
| inasmuch as it has been physicallyt
impossible to secure these organizaf
lions in the United States army, and
as like conditions in many State9
make it also physically impossible fo4
these States to comply with the pro4
visions of the circular" the secretary
of war was requested to revoke th9
circular. IL
Judge Advocate General Crowdeft
ruling upon the legal point raised by
the association, fully sustains tha
right of the war department to issue
| the circular and pointing out that the
| secretary of war himself had no longer
authority to suspend the application
of this requirement Secretary Garrf-
son has adopted this view in publishs
| ing the opinion
| The decision concludes that the
State authorities would be warranted
in mastering out either a major-gen-
eral or a brigadier-g general and their
staff if they were without the necess
sary number of men to compose q
| division or a brigade.