Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1916-12-13
SOME INTERESTING WAR FACTS.
Gen. Scott Not Favorably Impressed
With Recruiting Efforts.

|
itself failure and should be rele-
gated to the past, declares Major
Gen. Hugh l.. Scott. chief of staff Of
the army, in his annual report made
public tonight. Basing his cOnclu-
sion q" Hte showing Of the federal
lied national guard when modified
for border duty, and the fact that
| strenuous recruiting campaigns for
both the regulars and guardsmen
have produced negligible results.
Gen. Scott says:
In my Judgment the country will
never be prepared for defense until
we do as other great nations do that
have large interests to guard, like
Germany, Japan and France, where
everybody is ready and does perform
military service in time Of peace rs
he would pay every other tax, and is
willing to make sacrifices for the pro-
lection he gets and the country gets
in return. There is no reason why
one woman's son should go out and
defend Or be trained to defend ano-
| ther woman and her son who refuse
to take training or give service. The
only democratic method is for every.
man in his youth to become trained
in order that he may render efficient
service if called upon in war"
Training Period Inadequate.
Taking up the question Of the ma
! .tn{,
Gen. Scott declares the training per-
riod Of 75 days in three years, pro-
vidcd by the new national defense
act, is wholly inadequate.
"In my Judgment" he says, "it
precludes this force from being made
fit for war service until it has receiv-
ed at least six months additional
training in time Of war"
| The report reiterates the opinion
that it takes a year OF intensive train
ing to make soldier, and adds that
the country and Congress appear to
have a vital misconccption Of the
facts in this regard. Unless the fed
eralized guard which Congress sub
|
army advocated by the general staff
can be given greater training, Gen.
Scott says. the country faces a seri-
oue situation.
And it is very doubtful" he con.
tinues, "if we will be able to do so
and keep the force recruited. The
| difficulty that is now being expert
enced in obtaining recruits for the
regular army and for the national
guard in service on the border raises
sharply the question of whether we
would be able to recruit the troops
authorized in the national defense
act"
Still Below Minimum Strength.
In spite OF the fact that the pre-
paredness agitation stimulated inter-
est while the effort was being made
to bring the border forces up to war
strength, Gen. Scott asserts. three
months Of recruiting left many ma
tional guard units still below mini
mum strength. Every effort was
to house canvass being conducted III
some sections.
The failure" says the report,
SHOULD make the whole people real
iZe that the volunteer system does
not and probably will not give lis
either the men we need for training
in peace or for service in war"
Gen. Scott gives at length statis.
tics on the national guard mobi!iza-
ton available when his report was
written, September 80. He shows
that in II States, with 1G,600 en-.
rolled guardsmen at the time OF the
call, more than 10 per cent failed to
respond. and 20 per cent Of the re-
maindcr could not pass required
physical tests, making the force 43
per cent raw recruits when it went
to the border. Brought up to war
strength, he says, the force would
and useless for war purposes for
many months.
These figures probably hold good
for the entire body Of the national
guard" the report adds
An aggregate force Of 15l ,096 Of
iiccrs and men of the guard were
mustered into the Federal service un-
der the call and about 110,957 were
on the border a month and a half af-
ter the call was issued. The general
commends highly the efficiency Of
the railroads in handling the mobili-