The Mena weekly star., 1916-12-21
MOBILIZATION OF
 MILITIA A FAILURE.
If Real Troops Were Met Guard Would Never Know What Hit Them'-3,OOO,0OO Men Required
 Would Dispense With Guard.

Washington, Dec. i9.-Th mobili-
 alton of the National Guard for bor- der service was described as a mili- tary failure, emphasizing the urgent necessity of abandoning the volun- teer system as the nations reliance for defense, in the statement yester- day by Major General Hugh L. Scott, chef Of staff of the army, and Major General Leonard Wood, commanding the Eastern Department, before the Senate subcommittee, considering the Chamberlain universal military training bill.
 Both of the generals advocated universal training. General Wood said that the country is now utterly defenseless against a well organ ized foe; that the mobilization was tragedy and that if the guardsmen had met good troops they would never have known what hit them" Gneral Scott told the committee that lessons drawn from the present war proved that in case of war with a first class power the United States would immediately need trained force of i,500,000 men, with another 100000 available within 90 days.
 Fisher Thinks 500,O00 Enough.
 On the other side of the question the committee heard Walter Fish CT of Chicago, former secretary of the interior, who opposed universal service, though he stood for ade- quate defense measures and suggest ed a regular army of half a million. He thought if the pay of privates were raised to S30 a month the serv- ice would be more attractive to re- cruits.
 General Wood, from whose de- partment went 85,000 of the guards men sent to the border, said of the men enrolled when the call came, an average of 30 percent of each con- pany had to be dropped for physical defects and the organization went to the border filled up with green men.
 Its been a tragedy" he said, but worth all it cost if we only profit by it. It was not the fault of the ofli- cers or men, but of defective sys- tenn. If we had been compelled to meet good troops down there, it would have been a scene of carnage. The guardsmen would never have known what hit them"
 What should we do with the Na- tional Guard general?n Senator Brady asked.
 Tt should be replaced as rapidly as possible with men trained under a universal service system" General Wood replied. When the system is we'll started, I would drop the Ma tional Guard entirely from any cheme of national defense, although we want every officer and man of them in the new plan. But it must be a straight out federal force.n
 Yet the states must maintain the National Guard or some other force?" Senator Brady suggested.
 T believe a constabulary should be maintained by each state, not a military force explained the gen. eral. "The police are trained to con- trol, while troops are trained to kill. There is less resentment when men are handled by the police than when troops are called out. The people feel it is policeman's business.
 General Wood outlined his own plan for universal service which in effect would be a combination of the Chamberlain bill, itself an adapta- tion of the Australian system and the French General Staff plan. His scheme would provide that all phy- sically fit men be given six months training during their nineteenth year, passing them into the organ ized reserve, to be available for the first-line duty only between the ages of 2i and p, after which they would be passed into the morgan ized rserve until 29. The result would be constant force of trained men with full equipment of more than 100000, he said, in addition to a standing army of 25O,000 composed of men who are professional sol diers.
 q do not think any nation would attack us" he remarked.
 Senator Thomas asked what the general thought of the feeling of i the nation toward universal service proposals.
 'I believe the people would en- dorse it today" General Wood an- swered. Labor is with you when you make it absolutely certain that all men, rich, or poor, will share alike in military service"