Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1915-10-08

penn upon lCS militia, not IN the sense |
of the organized militia of to-day but on |
the citizen soldiers who are ready to |
fight but who must be trained.
The great difficulty in the success of
the militia of the State is to keep the
men in its ranks, which may be partly
due to the lack in its personnel, but
which is largely accounted for by the
fact that the employers are not willing
in many instances to allow the members
of the militia their time off to attend
the State camp, which duty they must
perform if they are to serve. Some
employers are willing to give the men
the time to go to the camp if they will
use that time as their vacation, which
is not always what the young men desire
to do with their vacations. General
Tillotson made special point of this
feature and asked the employers to see
that their employees were given an OPP
portunity to attend the State encamp-
ment, citing instances where large cor
porations made a rule that every man
who wished to become a member of the
militia would have the time to attend
the encampments held each year. In
this way the business men are given an
opportunity to assist in the building up
of the national defenses.
Colonel H. T. Johnson of Bradford,
commander of the Vermont regiment of
| r,,ilitio Ibid o1 ~ L.
of public sentiment to build up the mill
tia. The young men should have every
influence for joining the State defense,
the chief reasons for the sentiment
against the militia being Indifference
and ignorance. He spoke of the evolu-
ton in the State encampments which
has come about since the federal gov
eminent has taken charge and made
appropriations for the instruction. At
one time the chief inducement to the
young men was that they would be able
to strut around the streets in uniform
and attend the encampments, which
were then considered one general big
hilarious time, with little real work
The case is different now, however, the
men being put through twelve hours of
hard work during every day of camp
life, with strict discipline. This has
tended to weed out those men who went
only for pleasure and the ranks have
been filled by men who are really inter-
ested in the military. In closing, the
speaker gave it as his opinion that a
compulsory term between the age of Is
and % would be great benefit to the
young men of the State.
Captain l.. J. Bond, United States in
t spector-instructo of organized militia
in Vermont. was the next speaker anc
he paid fine compliment to the militia
e as he had found it in the State. He
j told of the benefits of the military life
to the young men of community who
. during such training would receive ar
e education which would help in bushes.
life later Much depends upon the per
d sorality and magnetism of the captain
of company, who in turn needs thu
r support of the community back of him
g We do not know when we may have {
e call for trained men who must have tn,
n military knowledge if we are to win.
I There are companies at Rutland, st
Adams, two in Burlington, St. Johns
bury, Bellows Falls, Northfield, Win
s ooski, Montpelier, Brattleboro, Spring
field and Newport, besides the head
S quarters company and supply company
It The companies have in times Of peac
65 men, which may be swelled to Is
men in war times. There is also tn
1st Vermont cavalry at Norwich Uni
l. versity and the attached sanitar
y troops. Captain Reeves then in yer
: witty vein introduced the various OF
J. fcers of the National Guard present