Arizona republican., 1916-12-21
GENERAL SCOTT |S SUBJECTED
 TO SHARP QU|z
[Republican A. ?. Leased wlreI

WASHINGTON. Dec. eu.-SharD controversy in congress over the in- ture of the national guard !n the federal military system was fore shadowed today al hearings before committees of both the house and senate.
 Major General Hugh l.. Scott. chief of staff of the army. encountered vigorous cross- examination by several members of the house military com nittee when he touched upon results of the mobilization of the state troops for border outy as shown in the general staff report Conclusions drawn from tho figures to support the contention that the guard system is incffciCnt and unreliable, were questioned. The sub committee in charge of the Chamberlain universal training bill decided To recal General Scott, who already has presented tne report on mobilization in full to that committee. and Major General Leon ard Wood. commandiEg tho eastern department. who described the mob ilization as "a tragedy" ip his direct hearing before tne committee Both officers have been asscd to appear for cross examination by Senator Flair Lee. a champion Of the national euard. An effort yesterday 0. lr' Maryland senator. who is not a mCm- her If the committee. to question Colonel W C. Brown. one of the officers, who compiled the report. re suited in a clash with Chairman Chamberlain. The latter determined today. however to give Senator Lee cyeTN opportaBi,g--I --Ia--hrinz osif the facts as to tte mobilization
 In preparation for the cress-cN- afntraf4sf7 Ia ffn1f s-.sf..r tHut st.fF officers familiar with mobilization will he present and he prepared 70 suhrnt the original reports from the inspectors including names of the or ganizntiOns examined The compiled summary of these reports avoids mention of any specific units of the guard
 The house committee did not go [ into the qcestion of universal mili- 1 tary service recommended hy the gen ! cral staff and Generals Scott and l Wood The chief Of staff had not | reached that portion of his statement at the close oc the days session. | Before the Chamberlain committee. { however Hcwari II. Gross of Chi cago, president. and Edward Harding | of New York representing the tni- versal Military Training League, out 1 lined their views They will be fal | lowed tomorrow bv members of the 1 chamber of commerce of the United | States and later by certains officers and enlisted men of the national ' guard, all of whom are expected to support the recommendations of the i general staff for a compulsory ser | vice system.
 1 Seeator Underwood of Alabama iu- ! jected the universal service discus ! sion into q debate in the senate dur i ing the day. asserting that he did mos ! favor compulsory military seryicc in time Of peace
 'I do believe" he added that We should have a sufficient standing army to prevent any nation from
 landing troops on our shores. able to act as q second line Of reserve io a great navy and defend the country
 until We could raise a volunteef army"
 When General Scott before thc
 house committee quoted from the
 mobilization report to show that oui
 of an enrolled strength of a5.000 men
 in certain units called for border duty nrly i7.06G actually were available for the federal service. Represents
 tive Anthony O. Kansas asked
 whether it was fair to judge the
 national guard system on mobilizg ton Of what was m reality the olt
 organized militia Representative
 Hun and Green joined in tEis view "Is it not a fact" insisted Repre-
 sentative Green, that neither tho
 national guaru nor the regular army
 IS contemplated by the national de
 fense act Of 1916 was ir eXistenc,
 when the border call came?
 General Scott admitted this wls
 true, as the act did not go into ef-
 feet until after the call was made
 He reiterated his opinion. however
 that completion of the new organiz1
 ton would produce little better re-
 suits
 Represe ntative Tilson Of Connecti-
 (CoDtinued on Page Two)