The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1916-06-07
Our Uri'i Unpri'si,pi;,siri,sd ,i;,ii,d Militia

The startling unpreparedness Of
the National Guard Of the Southwest
to guard the border while the regu-
lar troops are in Mexico. makes more
than one editor ask how much better
or worse conditions are in other
States. Some think the revelation
blessing in disguise, as showing the
need of compulsory military train
ing. Ten days after President VIII
sons call, press dispatches relate, the
mobilization and assignment of the
Guardsmen were far from complete:
The Texas companies responded
promptly, but in the other two
States the response was not as speedy
as Washington officials expected. In
cidentally, 116 Texans refused to
muster and are to be tried by court
martial, altho, as Washington cor
respondent of the New York Tribune
informs US, under the existing law
the Government can do no more than
fine them, after which they are ex.
empt from Federal service" In all
three States many companies are be-
low their proper strength, and in
stead of the $500 men the War De-
partment had counted on for, border
patrol it does not expect to secure
more than 5000. A Washington
correspondent of the Philadelphia In
quifer says that the chief effect Of
the militia's failure to meet the en-
ergency will be to afford new basis
for the attack in Congress on the Ma
tional Guard. But spokesmen for
the Guard, he tells US further, point
out that the Government called upon
the; organizations in poorest shape,
and claim if the call had gone forth
to the Eastern States there would
have been a different result. This
informant cites as instances of fail
ure," first, that fourteen men in one
company asked their discharge when
called, because their families are in
destitute circumstances" and three
companies and the band of the New
Mexico National Guard regiment re-
quested that the regulations be set
aside "because Is per cent. of their
number car not speak English" The
serious side" of the situation, as
War Department officials see it, we
are told, is that If they don't make
over the regulations to suit the mil
iatiamen, political influence will be
brought to bear, and this would be
s'blow t. discipline"
The Chicago Tribune observes:
"The New Mexican National Guard
was not listed among the even fairly
efficient State organizations, but
when it was found turning out at
the Presidents orders in derby hats
and with feather beds for officers, the
springing to arms had some OF the
aspects Of funny fall downstairs
into rain-barrel. "
,"Other States would spring to
arms without derby hats and feather
beds, but practical demonstration
of what the Guard regiments would
lack merely in equipment probably
will not be had until war puts the
test of greatest need upon the organi-
"Three State Guard organizations
will be put to the test of border-duty,
and it will be the best thing that ever
happened IN their existence. y The
sad thing is that the whole organiza-
ton the country over needs it and
will not get it."
(, Some statements in disparagement
of the National Guard, remarks the
Jacksonville Florida Times Union,
merely show that it has already
reached the efficiency of the regu-
lar Army."1f it took ten days for the
militia to mobilize, we are reminded
that it was six days after the raid on
Columbus, N. NJ, before the Army
of the United States crossed the bor-
der. Moreover, in the latter case
Immediate action" was imperative,
and "every days delay added to the
probability that the expedition would
fail of its purpose, as it has failed;"
and this journal adds:
"There is no such occasion for
haste in the assembling Of the State
troops of New Mexico and Arizona.
Under the circumstances their ten
days' delay is not as important as
was the six days delay OF the regu-
lar Army.
"The troops of the three States
are said to be 500 short Of their pa
per strength. This is about seven per
cent. short. The United States was
supposed to have an army of 10000
men, but when thirty or thirty-five
thousand were assembled in Mexico
or along the border it was said to be
all in. 1t seems to have been about
seventy per cent. short, or, making
allowance for troops not in the Un-
tied States, it proved to be very much
more than seven per cent. short"