Daily Kennebec journal., 1916-02-11

by the states. that were assumed 20
be military reliance for the nation.
when. in fact, they are no- and can
never De made 10 De. Under the con-
stitution Of the United States these
state troops mus: always be governed
differed and trained By the respective
states.
The very srst line 0: cleavage there
fore, which uus- Be encountered and dealt
With By the student OF the situation is be-
tween reliance upon a system OF state
troops, subject TO constitutional limits which
rendered them absolutely insecure a. re-
lance for the nation, or reliance upon ns-
sicnal forces raised oMeered- trained and
controlled BY tie national authorities. Up
OF iris subject there does not e1ist and
there cannot legit.ns,eiy exist any differ
ence Of opinion among those ~ho are un-
biased ard who believe IN real national Sc
curity and defense.
The policy recommended TO you and
adopted by you, squareiy placed tie nation
upon the sure foundation G. national forces
II that policy is made elective by legts-
lation there will be secured - he country
for the first time, real stable foundation
for the military part 0: its national &C.
Tense T. however. instead there OF poll
cy is adopted based upon the state troops
az the main reliance Of this country for It's
military arm. 10, oaly has 10 advance been
made from the deplorable ana ine1cussoie
situation il which we have 20 long been
but an effective block has been placed across
The pathway toward proper settlement
The adoption OF such z policy would serve
10 delude tee people TITO believing that tne
subject has been settled and therefore re-
CURED no further consideration upon their
part II would therefore, in -E judgment
be Infinitely worse than an entire failure
@, al! legislative enactment upon the sub
jac- The latter would a. least leave il
open :or future settlement
Il Of course. an no- advised as 70 m
statements OF intention made BY ny nay
20 YOU in the conversations hello witn you
,,ior 20 your message 10 Congress al tne
OK ming o. the present session. nave al
vsrs -e,- and have 80 expressed myself 20
you. that the situation in the Congress va
such that unless you personally e1ef'ec LHe
,owe- O. your leadership. you "ouia no'
obtain any worthy results IN this mater
"Nr Hav has now made open deciara-
zion of MS intention. He announces thaI
r. does not intend to press for the enact
men. Of the military policy advocated III
you- message with respect to the lesu-
lar army; he does not purpose giving uA
Tho organizations asked for and lmpe.a-
.;,s,v necessary IL the federal volunteers
fso.called continental army are to De
properly trained; he purposes aaoihs :
raT thousa nd men to the enlisted stfei1st"
~ the army in it's present organ!zatioh'
.bs adding OF a few regiments OF neio
,--iver,- 70 the existing organizations ot
,h. regular army. the entire aoancoh-
rnert of the idea q feoe'ai loEce -
,a.iona1 volunteers ard the passing OF 2
hi, granting direct federal paE 70 the en-
listed men and officers OF the state 'roofs,
az, nv judgment the effect o. TIE
enactment Of Mr. Hays program "oHif
he 70 SET back the whole cause OF iHs'''
s,e honest national defence in an cir
.;-s,,. ,riustieatle ami inexcusabie way.
7, ,o,,,s he. in ny Judgment. a betrayal
o< m. trust Of the people in this regard
It would be illtsory and apparent "i'H-
cut any reality or substance9 a.: :
There is. unfortur a tefy. VERY litae
l,nowledee and very' little intense person
al interest in any OF the menesrs or the
House concerning military affairs Apart
from the power that always resides IN
.~er. chairman Of committee, Nr. Hay
has tho additional power Of dealing with
a subject concerning which tHe rest OF
.he House has no knowledge and about
which il has never concerned itself IN
this particular instance his proposal OF
settling this matter by voting money u
the enlisted men and officers Of the state
troops appeals 70 the direct personal. po-
ut,cal interest Of the members
I'm these circumstances, it seems 10
me to he perfectly clear that unless
yo1. interpose your position as leader
Of the country on this great SUBJECT
the result will be the lamentable one
which / have just described
1T seems to me equally imperative
that this interposition should be I'M
mediate. If this proposed program o.
Mr.. Hay is accepted by the committee
and by public opinion and by the
House as a real solution OF this vital
matter, any position subsequently TAX
en- will be negligible SO far as substan-
tial actual results are concerned.
The issue must be clearly and plain
ly drawn. Ii has nothing whatever TO
do with the numbers of men to be
raised or with the means Of raising
them, as Mr.. Hay would have it ap-
pear that it has. 1t is between two alb
solutely different systems, one OF
which is based upon the nation taking
upon its own responsibility the raising
and management. of the national
troops; and the other Of which leaves
us in the position that we have always
been in since the institution Of the
government-to rely upon the states
doing this thing for the nation-a sit
uation in which the nation is relying
upon a military force that it does not
raise, that it does not officer, that it
does not train and that it does ont con-
troll A mere statement of the situation
shows that he two different proposals
are as wide apart as any two propos-
ais upon any subject possibly can be-
Mr.. Hays proposal to include draft
of compulsory provision SO that at the
outbreak of war the nation could bring
under its control these state troops ut
teriy fails to meet the essential objections
to the perpetuation of the militia sys-
tenn. The difficulty to be dealt with does