The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1916-06-24
Guard Needs 1850 Men.

a I
! Guard Needs 1880 Men.
Michigan's National Guard needs
rebuilding at once In ORDER -
conform to the new militis law paesed,
by congress and signedfby President
| Wilson. y * *
AS the law is read hyg tho QfAcers
at. state military headquAtters here.
the guard needs at ouce mi the
neighborhood of 1850 naHn. nearly ALI
in the infantry arm. $500
Ultimately, when thee state guard,
reaches the maximum provided for by
the new law, its present size will be
trebled as to numbers and doubled as
to units. Now 1t consists Of $500 Iment
in one entire brigade Of linfaptry. one
troop of cavalry and two batteries OF
artillery. with the accompanying hos
pital and signal corps units. When.
the maximum Of $4,000 men is
reached some time in 1921, there will
betwo brigades, of infantry, two troops
of cavalry and four batteries of artil-
lery. $50, .tNg-A pnq ~, isY
At the start, the Michigan guard is.
above the minimum prescribed. by the
law as to units, but has not enough
men to I'LL those units to the compile
ment demanded by the law. Each
company OF infantry, under the new
law, must contain 100 men. Mich!
gar's now contain 65. This means an
addition Of .35 men to each Of SO COM
panies right of the feei-L260 Hen
that 1t willibe necessary to recruit at
once, or as soon as the. new regula-
tons are promulgated by the. secre-
tary Of war. ..l,1.. ,c- ..,,.e
Numerically speaking, the. law
makes three Important changes in the
Michigan guard. First it boosts the
infantry companies to 100 men. Next,
1t Increases the cavalry from 65 to ~
a troop; and it drops the artillery bat
terfes from 1913 to 1913.
These changes, along with the re-
arrangement of the entire system OF
infantry personnel, must, of neces-
sity. be the first to take place.
The most vitally important feature
of the new law, however, and the one
on which military officers rest the as
surance that within the next five years
the Michigan National Guard will be
built up, to an effective fighting unit
of double its present strength, is the
federal pay provision in the new law.
Hereafter members OF the National
Guard, no matter what their rank,
will be paid for drilling. They must
hold As drills year and each drill
must be 1 " hours I'm duration, but for
those drills the militiamen will get
real money.
Privates are no longer privates, un-
der the makeup OF the companies,
troops and batteries. Part of them
are to be known hereafter as first
class privates." Just what the requi-
sites for first+class private. are does
not show in the law, but there is a
difference in their favor of about SO
a month in pay in time OF peace. or
as the law puts it, when they are on
duty at the home station.
First-class privates will be paid
Wiz Tor drills, while ordinary pr1vates
will get SO cents for the same work.
Noncommissioned officers willbe paid
in proportionate increases. the pay of
the enlisted men being always based
upon 25 per cent of the regular army
pay. These prices Of course. only zap.
ply to times OF peace; when the Ma
tional Guard is in the field in the
service of the United States its mem
bers will be paid at the same rate as
soldiers OF the same rank in tho rsgus
lar army. = - -
In time Of peace under the new law.
state guard officers, from captain up,
will receive $500 year. First Heu-
tenants will get $40, and secondIieu5
tenants 5000. y . = - -.