Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-11
Declares Quarters Are IMAGE
quate for Troops Com
fort and Care.
STATE FORCES FAR BELOW
PRESCRIBED Minimum
Recommends Reserve to Supply
Army With Trained Recruits
in Time of War.

Renewal of the recommendations for
a suitable armory for the National
Guard of the District of Columbia are
contained in the annual report of Brig
Gen. Albert l.. Mills. chief of the divi-
sion of militia affairs of the War De-
partment, made public today. Although
the chief OF the division does not give
much space to the discussion of this
question. in view of the fact that he
so strongly recommended last year the
provision for the construction of a
suitable armory for the District mill
tia. he stands on his previous recon-
Inendations.
There is nothing new 10 be said on
this subject. The need is still felt and
will continue to be so until the want IS
supplied, he says.
Discussing the general subject OF ar
lnory needs, he says that 1.-The subject
OF armories is an important one. being
closely related to those of instruction
and the care and preservation Of prop
erty. The handicap placed on instruc-
tiOn by Inadequate armory facilities is
exceedingly difficult to overcome. Also
where the armory is poor, the care and
preservation of property will be found
usually to be unsatisfactory. There
still exist a large number Of armorieS
i'll which the protection from fire and
theft is totally inadequate.
Quarters Are Inadequate.
Following the paragraph on armories
is a table showing the armory condi-
lions prevailing. OF the District of
Columbia, out of twenty-nine organiza-
tions. including infantry companies,
battery. field artillery. field hospital
and signal company, there are eight
whose drill hall is not adequate for
N Cf r1rC % II, Job
not equipped with facilities for indoor
gallery practice" and two which have
neither equipment for indoor gallery
practice nor room therefor
Figures in the report covering the
years from 1908, when the militia law
was enacted. to 1914 show that in the
latter year the National Guard of the
District of Columbia had the largest
enlisted personnel in it's history re-
ports showing ISIS men, an increase
over 1909 of sol.
I'm no state is the prescribed mini
mum peace strength of all organizes
lions OF the organized militia MAIN
tanned. and in many instances the de-
ficiency has reached such a figure as
to leave the corresponding organiza-
tions such in name only-organiza-
tons of no value as military asset
to the federal government" Gen. Mills
declares.
Gen. Mills points out that this criti-
cism is entirely impersonaI and is
made mot for the sake of criticising
the organized militia or any portion of
IT, but for the sole purpose of setting
!orth an accurate statement of the ex-
listing condition. with the view and in
the hope of leading to a needed re-
form.
Deficiency Is Serious.
One method OF providing this reform
is to be found. in Gen. Mills opinion.
in the passage of bill for the COM
government.
tants general of the states rendered at
the end of the last calendar year Gen.
Mills finds that an examination re
veais the fact that the organized mill
tia as a whole is deficient in strength.
and that this deficiency reaches the
serious hgure of nearly 5000 men, or
an approximate equivalent of the in
1antry component of complete infan-
try division at war strength
Below Prescribed Minimum.
TT will show that more than 60 Nor
cent of the infantry and engineer com
panies. 30 per cent of the cavalry
troops, SO per cent of the coast artiI
iery companies and practically all of
the field artillery batteries are below
the prescribed minimum-and in all
cases the former and lower prescribed
minimum is referred to-"
Referring to the much controyerted
Circular No. 8" sustained by the legal
authorities of the War Department and
which called for the reduction of the
number OF generals and other higher
ofhcers IN the militia to a number more
nearly corresponding with the total
enlisted strength, Gen. Mills saws:
IN industrial organization it is a
principle that fixed or o,,aria
charges should be made as small as
possible in proportion to the value of
the output In military oreanizations
,ne same rule applies. In this case the
weapons or. since these weanons -
actually in the hands of enlisted men
II is the total of properly trained, nron'
cry equipped and properly led enlisted
cofnoatants. available in action.