The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-01-10
(By the Mayors Committee on Ma
tional Defense, New York City,

tional Defense, New York City,
Following an inquiry that began
soon after the call for State troops
last June, the Executive Committee
of the Mayors Committee on National
Defense issued yesterday its report
upon the mobilization of the National
Guard. The report embodies the
main substance of a mass Of infor
nation both economic and military,
gathered from both official and un-
official sources. In. addition to a
staff of trained investigators who OBJ
tanned data from the War Depart
ment, from State headquarters and
from officers and men in the Guard,
the committee retained a military ex-
pert and critic of established reputa-
ton to visit the Mexican border and
report upon conditions there.
Giving the officers and enlisted
men Of the Guard full credit for their
enthusiasm and spirit of patriotic sac
rifice, the report says, nevertheless,
that the mobilization has proved uni
versa1 training under a single Fed
eral control to be the only satisfactory
solution of the Nations military
problem. But inasmuch as the per-
lection of scheme Of universal train
ing will take time, the report says an
immediate need is to provide an ade-
quate standing force for the protec-
ton Of the country's borders and 9TH
err similar service.
The committee merely presents
facts and draws from them the con-
clusion that voluntary enlistment and
dependence upon the dual Federal
and State central have proved a fail
ure. 1t does not attempt to recon-
mend any particular system Of de-
tense, holding that the details should
be worked out by the military ex-
perts whose knowledge and expert
ence are at the disposal of Congress.
BY direct inquiry of Guardsmen,
the committe ascertained that IS per
cent of the men had to give up their
regular civilian income when they
went into service. Many of them, in
addition, lost their positions and were
unable to get them back when mus
tered out. There has been much sur
mise about enlistment in the future,
but the committee went direct to the
Guardsmen and asked them whether
they. intended to re-en1ist. Eighty
four per cent. of those who answered
this question said mo" A great num-
Der declayed emphatically for univer-
sal service, and said they would not
do military duty henceforth under
any other system.
Economic considerations received
the main emphasis in the committee
inquiry. Letters and blanks were
sent out to employers as we'll as
Guardsmen, and in this way infor-
nation Of kind not contained in
public documents was acquired.
Guardsmen told about their pecunfary
losses and the suffering caused. their
dependents; and employers told OF
the effect of the mobilization on bus
mess, and gave their conception of a
sound National military policy.
Summary and Conclusions.
The summary of the committees
report, and the conclusion drawn
from the study of the mobilization
were expressed as follows:
'erhe facts established by the com
mittee's inquiry may be stated under
two heads, economic and military, as
follows
81. Economic-By bringing into
service men with heavy family and
business responsibilities, although
there was available in the country a
far more than adequate number OF
unmarried men who had not attained
a high economic value, the mobiliza-
ton showed that the National Guard
scheme of defense was economically
unsound. It caused widespread dis
tress to the dependents of Guards
men, and it took mature men from
positions where they had established
their usefulness to commerce and in
dustry. The burden it threw upon
employers was inequitably distribut-
ed, in that some employers continued
to pay their men during service while
others cut off their mems pay. Under
the prevailing system of voluntary en-
listment, it was not possible to select
from the National Guard, either be-
fore the mobilization or afterwards,
the class Of men most easily to be
spared for military duty.
az Military-The mobilizat ton
showed that the National Guard was
not to be depended upon for defense.
Reports Of the Secretary Of War, and
of bureaus of the War Department,
show that only enough recruits to
bring the Guard to SO per cent. of the
required war strength had been OBJ
tanned by August 81, and that the
Guard troops gathered on the Mexi-
can border and in State camps on that
date were only 1000 officers and men
above their prescribed minimum G.
e. peace) strength, Under a control
divided between the Nation and the
States. the troops could not be prop
erly equipped. modified and concen-
trated. Three months after the call
the organizations of the border did
not have the equipment required for
action in the field; and, chasing as
recruits the Guardsmen who had had
less than three months service previ-
Gus to June 18-that Is, whose whole
training had been less than a dozen
armory drills-63 per cent, of the
force consisted of unframed men.
"a body Of troops such as the Ma
tional Guard, the control of which is
divided between the Nation and the
States, and the ranks Of which must
be filled by voluntary enlistment, can
not be expected to assume the re-
sponsibilities and perform the duties
of National force. To impose upon
it such service as it was called upon
to render last summer, or such as
might be necessary in any National