The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1917-04-27
GUARDSMEN MAY /
BECALLEDOUTS SOON
Army Officers Confident That Va
canoles IN Ranks Can
Be Filled

--~~-~--
Members Of the guard Who have famis
lies dependent upon them win BE- honor
ably discharged from military seryice
under the terms Of a formal order ~
sued yesterday BY the Governor to Gen
sral johnson, commanding the national
guard Of the Territory,
This Is regarded as the first step 10
preparing the guard for modification,
and guard officers and officials Of the
regular army here alike expressed their
opinion that the guard would be called
out very shortly. "a ala ~
This order which Governor Pink.
ham has issued will mean that the
guard win be greatly reduced in num-
befs, said General Strong, commander
Of the department, yesterday. ut does
not mean, however, that the guard will
be omaeculated, or that fit win lose any
Of its importance TO the Territory. We
are confident that the Territory will i'm.
|mediately Gil up the vacancies and that
the guard will be recruited to fun war
numbers as soon as the orders FOR re-
|cruitinR are issuod.''
The formal order TO General johnson
by the Governor follows:
tSir. The commanding general Of
the Hawaiian Department requests
the following orders Of the war depart
ment, the chief militia bureau, be Inn
indefinitely put into force;
81. The secretary Of war authorizes
the discharge of all enlisted men Of the
national guard who have families de-
pendent upon them for support, the
members Of which would, while the sol
dier Is In federal service, be entitled 10
the benefits provided by the acts Of con-
gress approved August 20 and Septeni-
Der 8, 1916 General Orders Al, war de-
partment, 1870, whether the men de-
sire to be discharged or not.
q. Tho word family as used
above includes only wife, children and
dependent mother.
"s. No discharge should be granted
under this authority without investiga-
ton sufficient to determine fully the
facts In the case.
THE Hawaiian Department Is Of the
opinion mobilization may be ordered at
any moment, hence / direct the order be
transmitted to regimental commanders
BY wireless at once.
Guard officers estimated Yesterday
that the guard win lose between twenty
and twenty-five per cent Of its numbers
under the operation Of this order, and
that Oahu win suffer heaviest. Twen-
~ per cent Of the present strength Of
the guard Is approximately nine hun
bred men, and the loss Of them win
bring the militia down TO about thirty
six hundred officers and men. OF this
plumber certain percentage win nm
|ioubtedly be lost when put through the
physical examination BY the regular
army surgeons. Just how great per-
centage this loss will prove no one
knows, but the army officials believe
that il win be comparatively heavy,
and may bring the total loss TO the
guard up to an additional thirty per
cent, reducing the number Of guards
men who will prove available for sefv-
| ice to approximately twenty-five hun.
ired men.
II is unofiicially reported that there
are now more than one thousand men on
the other islands who are anxious 20
enlist as soon as the word goes out
from department headquarters granting
the necessary permission, and General
Strong believes that the remaining va
cancies In the guard can be filed with
lout difficulty, so that the Territory's
quota Of men will be more than met
| without the necessity of resorting
either to conscription or TO volunteers.
II is known that the army officers in
charge Of that work here have worked
out plans calling for five thousand men
additional over and above the actual
number Of men in the guard, but Gem
Il ~ A A
| it prove possible to I'LL the ranks Of the
militia, thus giving four full regiments
of infantry, a troop Of cavalry, an en-
gineer company and coast artillery
companies, that the war department
would be apt to feel that the Territory
has done all that could be reasonably
expected Of it under the circumstances.
Nothing is TO be done that will in
terfere in any vital way with the indus
tries of the Islands" said General
Strong.