Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-07-11
MILLION DOLLARS Of
MILITIA EQUIPMENT
|. IS REPORTED MISSING
.WoefuI MiSmanagement of
State Guard Is Exposed by
Call of President to Mobilize
Now
RY =. M. KERRY.


management of the state militia or the
country is revealed by the call for ma
tional guardsmen to go 10 the Mexican
border
The brave boys Of the rank and file
answered the call, but troop movements
were delayed because the militia Is
Short of uniforms.
Short of shoes.
Short of equipment.
Cavalry are without horses.
Artillery are without guns.
Engineers are without wagons.
And there Is information on file here
that from January l, 1912, to June 80,
1918. property valued at $1,352, 761.14
furnished by the United States govern
ment the national guard disappeared.
And all this. in time Of crisis. despite
the fact that in 1914 the war department
issued a circular notifying the state au-
thorities that the men of the militia
must be equipped up to the minimum Of
requirements. that is, that they must
have at least one uniform and complete
outfit of rifle and kit. ~
Following this notication, the 1915
inspection showed that just one state
Washington-was uniformed and equip
ped as prescribed.
Upon being notified that federal funds
would be withheld during the fiscal
year of 1916, unless the defects were
remedied, 3S states FASTENED to provide
this minimum equipment.
Whatever other sins the regular army
may have to answer for. II cannot be
charged with inefficiency in handling the
militia, The men in the militia ranks
and, in a large part, the officers incom-
mand, are earnest in the purpose to
serve the country. They are not re-
sponsible
Commenting on the reports OF regular
army inspectors, directed to make actual
accounts of all federal property in the
possession of the state troops. General
A. L. Mills chief of militia affairs. says:
1.-THE figures proved beyond doubt that
contained no Information whatever be-
yond a mere statement of accountable
fly. The returns were without value
for any other purpose.
THE authorities of the organized
militia of many states have for years
simply failed and neglected to take ade-
quate measures to cause their account
ability to agree with the actual state of
the property"
The war department found some of
these conditions to be the result OF
years of mismanagement by politicians
long out of office.
Accordingly, there was nothing to do
but to drop from the property ac-
counts material valued at s495, S67SS.
Where this procedure could not be fol-
lowed the department allowed these
long-standing shortages to be dropped
from the current return and carried on a
separate list.
1913, twelve states took advantage of
this. and in 1914 the number has increas-
ed to twenty-five, with but one state
Gllinois) clearing up its shortage.
Matters were going from bad to worse,
so the department announced that this
privilege would terminate June 30, 1915.
AS a result, some of the states managed
to find" the lost property, and $685.
088.81 was recovered or the loss salts
factorily accounted for.
But the state officials got busy with
congress, asking for legislative action
granting them relief" from this short
age, and the governors of at least two
states appealed to the secretary of war,
asking that the charge for the property
lost be not made, as such action would
have a disastrous effect on their militia
NO EFFORT TO RECOVER.
Because congress was about to take
action to relieve the states, the secre-
tary of war extended the time for the
final settlement from July 1, 1915. to
July 1, 1916.
General Mills announces the result In
his last annual report: Nothing has
since been done in connection with this
matter, and as far as this office is in
formed the states concerned Immediate
ly ceased efforts to recover, account for,
or reduce the shortage concerned"
In addition to this property, a large
amount has been lost, stolen and de-
stroyed In the various states as result
of failure to exercise reasonable care
against theft, fire and the elements.
The only recourse the government has
is to charge the state out of the allot-
ment of federal funds for property which
disappears. This results in no money
for equipment and training of the mi
litia.
The trouble is that there is no eff
fective control over the guard by the
federal government.
The war department may request, ad-
wise and prescribe, but the state Of
fcials and the political adjutant gener-
ais appointed by the governors, are I'M
der no responsibility to comply.
And Uncle Sam has no recourse ex-
cent to stop the flow of federal funds
and thus cripple the training of the only
second line troops in the country.
Divided authority thus results in no
effective control.
Military funds are regarded by many
state politicians in the same light as
''river and harbor," and "postofice" and
"public building" appropriations; in
other words as pork" distributed by
the federal government