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

such vacancy. not below the grade OF
major shall be filled by the appoint
ment OF a person from civil life, not
less than touy-ilvc nor more than NJ
ty years Of age. who shall have been
Tor ten years judge OF the supreme
court Of the Philippine Islands snail
nave served for two years as n cap
tain in the regular or volunteer army.
and shall be proficient in the Spanish
language and laws"
The Evening Journal, of Richmond,
va, after quoting this section, I'M
burdens itself as follows:
Just one person In the world can
comply with these conditions. This
person is Judge Carson. of Virginia.
resident of Mir. Hays district This
clause was drawn obviously ana
shamelessly TO make Job for Judge
Carson and to make 1t impossible that
anybody else, under any administra-
ton could be placed in that job. Mr..
Hay, on the floor OF the House, ayowed
his responsibility for, this clause and
practically acknowledged that its pur-
pose was to provide for one of his
own friends and constituents"
The World-News, of Roanoke, Va,
deals as follows with the subject:
III 1t were possible we should like
TO see the Democratic Cstate) conyen-
ton in session here this week go on
record in some way as repudiating and
condemning Congressman Hays
shameless triCkery in using the army
bill to provide an office for Judge Car
son. 1t is not pleasant to Virginia
people to let this monumental piece
OF chicanery go before the nation as
specimen of what Virginia con-
gresham stands for. The conyeu-
ton could do nothing that would leave
sweeter taste in the thoughts Of peo-
pie of this state than the adoption
of a resolution dcnouncing MIR. Hays.
joker in ringing and unmistakable
terms. II would thus announce 10 the
world that debauching n great and
vitality important public measure with
the tricks of war heller is not in ac-
cord with the spirit OF convictions
of the commonwealth whose proudest
boast is the unimpeachable faith in
its leaders,"
Petty Pork.
This one example of petty pork suf-
tciently illustrates the general spirit
in which the bill was conceived and
framed. We leave Section VIII and
advance to consideration OF the vast
new political system provided in Mr..
Hays bill Here the details are more
intricate than those which concern
mere private pork.
For one hundred and forty years we
fef . I.. i
to grant political power to our pro-
tessional army. We have until now
decreed that its members should not
hold public Office; they are not al
lowed TO sit in legislative bodies; they
are not eligible as councilmen. may
ors, or governors: they are not per-
mitted to participate in civil business
or to practice any profession other
than that OF arms. In most cases the
of military life make 1t i'm
possible for army men TO vote at cleo
tons. Our fear Of giving them any po-
litical power has been so great that
we have denied the right of free speech
to our regular army officers even in
matters of vital national importance.
Thus our professional standing army
has until now always been deprived
of political power.
Moreover. its very existence lies at
the mercy of our civil government, for
Congress is called upon bi-annually
to vote the appropriations which alone
permit its continued existence. 1t can
at any time be reduced or altogether
abolished by the will Of the people as
expressed through Congress.
In I,Ftn
tude toward our paid armies until the
present day. when Mr.. Hay has tried
cunningly TO pull the wool over our
eyes and hopes to saddle upon us
most pernicious union Of political and
power.
He based his army reorganization
scheme upon the assumption that our
various and sundry state militias, al
though composed Of the most admlra-
bic citizen soldiers, are, as now con-
sttuted, of small military value, This
Is perfectly good assumption. The
several state miltias have existed
upon their present basis ever since
the Declaration OF Independence, and
all our intervening his
tory they have not rendered effective
service in actual war until they have
been removed from state control and
been retrained. rearmed and reorgan-
lied under national supervision.
No DlscrCdit to Guardsmen.
The record of the militia, while far
from inspiring, is no discredit to the
men. They realized only too well how
ineffective were the militia organiza-
tions 10 which hey belonged. How
ever, they knew, too, that 10 send bad
ly prepared troops against thorough
ly equipped, trained and organized
army as they had always been sent
can lead only to their useless slaugh-
ter.
Our present-day state militia do
not differ materially from those of the
past. In 1916 the total theoretical
strength of our militias was nearly
two hundred thousand. After two
weeks, only forty-fve thousand badly
equipped militamen had started for
the Mexican border, and a large pro-
portion of this small number were
raw, unframed recruits, who had new
er fired an army rifle. In 1914, Ger
many and France each modified one
million trained, eQuippc0, and organ
lied second-line troops along their
borders in two weeks.
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