The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-10-22

Going to the border without training
ESSEX troop of New Jersey.
the national government, and refuse
to turn over his militia. exactly as so
many governors have done In our past
history.
The national government, after sub
sidizing the state armies for years.
will find itself deprived of their serv-
ices the moment a crisis arrives. OF
what avail. then, to cut on appropria-
tions?
Mr.. Hay perpetuates and builds up
at great cost system which has al
ways failed in the past, and which
is certain 10 fail again as soon as the
exigencies OF a national calamity
bring into conflict the opposed author
tiles OF nation and state.
A hypothetical case will serve as IL
lustration. New York is believed to
possess the most effective of the sew
eral state militlas. Under the Hay
bill the nation would count upon It
as an important part of the second
line Of defense.
Let us suppose that war becomes
imminent. The governor then realizes
that successful attack upon New
York City's water supply by enemy
spies, armed with explosives would
entail more disastrous results than
the loss OF great battle. 1t requires
nearly all the New York militia ade-
quately to protect that single utility.
The governor is thoroughly copvers-
ant with this fact. The nation feeling
1t necessary to mobilize its second line
of defenses, calls upon New York s
militia for federal service. Five mil
lion inhabitants of the biggest city in
the world urge the governor to defy
the order and to keep his militia at
home for their protection. Whereupon
the governor promptly exercises his
prior constitutional right, and dis
tributes his militiamen to guard public
utilities.
Can he be Justly blamed? Or can
the individual milltiaman be blamed
II having the two halves of dual
oath to choose between, he elects to
obey the governor rather than the
president? Governors have in the past
frequently insisted upon keeping their
troops at home in time of war, very
notably in the cases of Vermont in
1872 and Massachusetts,. in 1861; and
their miitias obeyed and heartily in
dorsed their orders.
Governor Refuses.
In the mobilization of 1916 no ser
ious crisis existed. yet the governor
OF Michigan reaflirmcd his prior right,
and declared that the president could
not order out the Michigan militia
unless it chose Of its own accord TO
leave the state He fatty refused TO
mobilize his troops for national serv-
ice until he had obtained an express
sion Of willingness from the militia
men themselves.
The futility Of Mr.. Hays system will
not become fully apparent until after
the outbreak of war. Meanwhile the
nation is urged 10 rely upon the mi
Titles as second line of defense. and
to pay over TO them fifty million dol
lars every year The failure of the
system Is postponed until calamity
but the payment Of funds be-
gins Immediately, and may even sur
vive subsequent refusals of the STATE
authorities TO forego their constitu-
tional rights by obeying orders Weju-
dicial to their own interests.
Mr.. Hay hopes TO create the impress
sion that he has federalized the mill
tias. when the sole liberalization he
has brought about is the payment of
federal funds TO eight hundred hand
picked constituents in each congress
sional district.
The governors will continue to con-
troll the militia, just as they have in
the past Doubtless they will in the
future receive from politicians much
acceptable" advice as TO the appoint
ment of officers and the distribution
Of federal funds.
Herein lies the "joker," which
threatens to make the army reorgani-
zation bill q vehicle for the distribu-
ton OF pork by congressman to an Or
ganiEed body Of their henchmen. When
citizen soldiers are paid for military
service they cease to be citizen soldiers
and become professionals, and the pro-
fessional character is commensurate
with the scale of payment. Mr.. Hay
evidently does not believe in half mea-
sures: he makes the professional char
acter very marked. His bill provides
for instance, that each militia captain
shall receive $500 year.
Great Political Power.
Thus Mr.. Hay has actually set up,
and proposed to perpetuate, forty
eight new standing armies OF small
value, but with great poliu-
cal power; their members, although
professional soldiers will neither BE-
invested with the disabilities which
have heretofore characterized our
country's professional soldiers, nor will
they be denied any Of the privileges
10 which citizen soldiers are alone
The members of our forty-eight new