The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1916-03-24

irritation to the officers, and work
greater hardship on us, than the task
of drilling and trying to make the
guard proficient When Company HI
used to meet over the grocery store
on South Front street, the city of
Mankato paid us $500 a year for the
maintenance of a company. When
we moved in the new armory, they
politely cut off that allowance and
have contributed nothing since, not
withstanding the fact that our ex-
penses are more than double, COM
pared with the old armory But the
hardest blow of all was the fact that
at the same time, they by their ac-
ton, deprived us of the regular state
allowance of $3.50 a year, which is
available on condition that the city
in which a company is located, sub
scribes like amount. So that we are
left with only the revenue We can
get from rent of the building and
public dances, which we have every
week. The expense of running a
building of that size is no small item,
and you can readily see the position
we are in, with the conditions as We
find them, besides trying to pay off
loan of $4,000 that was made when
we completed the building.
What Other Cities Are Doing.
"Other cities are meeting the state
appropriation generously. The st.
Peter council recently renewed the
appropriation of $3.50 a year. When
the new armory was built in Ro-
chester, the city issued bonds to the
amount of $4,000 Austin furnishes
$3.50 a year with heat and light free.
In fact l do not know of a city in our
state that boasts of an armory, that
does not contribute to its support
except Mankato.
81 have been personally before the
city commissioners so many times
in the interest of this question, that
they probably consider me pest.
have so far been unable to get even
sign of success.
Next to the army and navy, the
national guard is recognized as the
only means of protection, and should
be recognized locally.
81 do not want to appear as a
grumbler and knocker. l simply want
to give you some of the facts as we
find them, and which | am sure you
know nothing Of. We are working
just as hard to get our company
proficient, spending two evenings Of
each week in the year in the interest
of preparedness, and that means
something for business man to give
without any remuneration, and
seemingly without the backing of the
city We often wonder why we do
it, but we do, and keep at it from
year to year. trusting that somehow,
sometime, we will come into our
own.
''Now that the subject Of prepared
ness is in the air, in the press, and
being quibbled over in congress, it
seems a proper time to consider it
from all angles and more especially
our own homes and holdings. Sup
pose that an invading army should
come over the Canadian border, the
condition of our great state of Min
nesota with it's wealth, and unpre-
paredness would be pitiable indeed.
Then you would hear the cry for the
guard, a body of men that was
scarcely noticed in times of peace.
New York Men Worried.
"The big men of affairs in New
York city are worried and rightly
so. They are worried to the extent
that they have recently appropriated
enough money to build 700 armored
motor cars for the guard, and are
contemplating a squadron of aero
planes for the Naw York o1lard Thel !
realize that New York city would
probably be the first point of attack
that would be made by an invading
army and they are taking things in
their own hands, while they are still
clubbing among themselves at !
Washington.
"The state of California is en-