The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-05-24
REASONS FOR
MOBILIZATION
OF N. Y. GUARD
Gen. Organ Tells What He
Believes Public Knows
About Militia.
EFFICIENCY OBJECT
OF MANY

. Meet OF dresdnoughtS, destroNers ana
submarines as gathered last week IN the
North River IL To stimulate enlist
ments when Won show the young man
q great floating machine shop where he
can get paid for learning any ono Of the
dozen trades while he II al the same
time serving his country the chances
are that q considerable number Of Young
men will get into that service. The
ssme thing happens when tho public gets
the OCCASIONAL chance to sec the men of
the regular army.
II IL with such an idea in mind that
MsJor.Gen. o'Ryan. commanding the
National Guard Of the state Of New
York. has planned the mobilization Of
the New York division next september
In this city. Rue he doesn't merely want
to show NJ young men that tho Ma
tional Guard Of this state should draw
them 10 Its ranks. lie wants to prove
also that under prevailing methods the
National Guard IL prepared 10 take its
place Immediately in that first line
army which would he called upon to
defend this country in the event OF war,
and 10 defend II for q considerable
period until. In fact. the young men
OF the land who would swarm to the
colors az the FIRST call could be drilled
and trained for field service.
1t Is the idea Of Najor-Gen. bryan
that there should he more work done on
the National Guard and less talk about
increasing the size OF the regular
army. He believes the number Of Of
hcers In the regular army should be in.
creased. but only because under present
sA-.F,. 49, 49, .A r.-t..
army are the instructors of the vari-
ous divisions of the National Guard.
He believes II possible to bring the Ma
tional Guard TO such a point Of prepar-
edness that its members will not have to
don their caps to anything In the reg
ular army, and he proposes To prove his
contention by the Van Cortlsndt Park
demonstration. He was asked hy THE
SrN 10 say what he believed the people
OF the state knew about the efficiency
and existing activities OF the National
Guard.
Gen. O'Ryan's Views.
MY W opinion is" he said. that the
public generally know less about the
New York division than they do about
the navy. base this conclusion on
statements made 10 me and questions
asked Of me by people whom I meet at
tNftAA> 'AAa hftt,lth - ~
persons I find that frequently the most
ignorant are those who have at one
time served in the National Guard and
who know nothing OF the gigantic strides
which have recently been made in its
development.
Perhaps this 4, natural. and the
psychological principle involved IL util-
lied by the newspaper cartoonist who
frequently illustrates this point by the
pictorials entitled They all look good
when they're far away The same prin-
c!ple is illustrated by the people on the
opposite shores OF Long Island Sound
II Ii said that the people on the north
shore OF the Sound always row over
10 the Connecticut side 70 get better
fishing. while the people on the Connecti-
cut side row to the distant Long Island
side under the belief that the conditions
there are much better.
II believe that tho Demonstration
which is planned for September IS will
draw the attention Of those really inter
ested in the national defence from many
OF the fanciful and costly projects now
holding their attention. to the existence
Of this nghting machine in their own
state. The same methods which have
been used for the development of the
New York division will bring about the
same results throughout the country,
S''e - FNA'' N''' nv '
Is no more economical way of providing
for the completion of efficient first line
troops than by the development of the
Militia Divisions with provision for
greater Federal control and a substan'
tial increase of regular officers for ser.
vice with the Militia Divisions"
Inquiry at Division Headqua rter.
showed that the progress made durinG
the last few years i'm tho DEVELOPMENT
NJ fhs 4 q mn md tho atntn n -
ganizations il ba sed on some radical de,
partures from the old time Nstiona
Guard conditions. These may b.
0ummed IN as follows
Depends On Ontcrrs.
First. II was realized that tho EN-,
cheney of organizations depends upor
the officers. and that the officers canno'
acquire professional training by thei'
own unaided initiative. The Command
Ing General of the division. who is Z
graduate Of the Army War College. es
tablished a school OF officers, known a,
the New York School OF the Linz AM
Stan. The course prescribed Is one GOV
ering a period of four years. involyinl
a written examination at the end of eacl
year TO advance to the higher class $. T.
carry on the work OF this school and I,
aid In the training OF organizations. tn,
War Department. at the request of tn,
Commanding General. detailed twent,
onfcers OF the regular army. selected TO
their special capacity and fitness, I,
serve az instructors Of this school. Thi
corps of offcers Is supplemented h,
specially selected officers OF the New
York division possessing similar quail
hcstions.
In addition to this school tho higho
education Of officers % the division wa
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