The Benson signal., 1917-11-17
State Guard Is Eliminated
In The New Army Plan

Guardsmen have suffered disintegra-
ton. For instance, the men Of the
First New York Cavalry and Squadron
A find themselves today mere "dough
boys" as in the past they termed the
infantry. They are bidding final fare
we'll to their horses, and the parting
is sad one, for many Of the farmer
cavalrymen have had the same mounts
for several years.
The officers and men of tie old First
Cavalry are being split up among
three units. The One Hundred and
Sixth Machine Gun battalion will claim
$50 of the enlisted personnel and the
One hundred and Second Trench Nor
tar battery, the first Of it's kind to be
organized in this country, takes One
Hundred and Eighty One. The One
Hundred and Second Ammunition
Train will also claim a number of Off
GERS and men of the old regiment.
Squadron A, too, has lost it's mounts
and the organization is now the One
Hundred and Fifth Machine Gun bat
TALON.
In the Spartanburg camp of the
Twelfth and Seventy-first regiments,
there are not enough men left to make
decent sized company. The historic
commands have been drained of
their men that more fortunate regi-
ments in the first line might get their
war quotas.
In some instances units from two
states have been combined or are
about to be thrown together. These
are extreme cases, and they tend to
stir up even keener resentment than
the combining of units within a single
state.
Missouri Protests.
The Fourth Missouri and Third Kan
sas furnish striking illustration.
Both of these regiments were below the
strength required by the new organiza-
tion. Both contained a large number
of veterans.
When it was decided to combine
them, Missourians Immediately rose
and protested the case in person to
justice to both states and the damag-
ing effect on the morale of the officers
and men.
He said this was true, also, of the
Second Missouri, which was slated to
be carved up and transformed into ma
chine gun battalions.
Governor Gardner used all of the ar
gumentS he could muster, but wound
up by declaring emphatically that if
the government could not do other
wise Mr.. Baker could count on Mis-
souri, supporting him and doing it's
duty to a man. This case has not
yet been finally disposed of, but it is
entirely probable that Governor Gard
ner will lose.
Mr.. Baker personally regrets the
necessity for breaking up state units.
Ohio, his own state, has some crack
regiments, and the Buckeye state is
being treated exactly as every other
state. The first consideration is a
military one. The government wants
the best possible military machine and
only efficiency was considered in per-
fecting the organization plans.
After the War.
If there are any definite after-the-
war plans for the National Guard
they have not. been revealed. Mill
tary experts who discussed the matter
declared that after the war the Ma
tional Guard naturally will revert to
it's status under the national defense
act, which was passed with a view
to federalizing the Guard and max
ing it more responsive to national au-
thority.
But what will be left of the Ma
tional Guard If the war lasts long
time, it is asked? When the Guard
was shaken together after it's service
on the border it numbered approx
mately 10000. Since that time many
thousand Guardsmen have been dis
charged on account of dependent rela-
tives. Its strength at the time the
United States entered the war may be
put at 125,000 officers and men.
Men who have enlisted since that
time did so "for the period of the war.
and will be automatically discharged
when it ends. Meanwhile, it is fair to
assume that many Of the veteran
Guardsmen will appear on casualty
lists. At best, therefore, the National