The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-01-10
new YORK MAYORS COMMITTEE
ON NATIONAL DEFENSE REPORTS
NATIONAL GUARD plan FAIL URE
System Adopted During Mexican Trouble Was Econom-
ically Unsound Is Fin ding, and Guard Is De-
clared Inefficient For Defense
mes to meet an emergency"
Views of Employers


Views of Employers
The main body of the report is di-
vided under two heads, economic and
military. In the first part is given a
digest of information obtained from
Guardsmen and employers.
Out of the 431 employers who ex-
pressed an opinion upon military pre-
paration in general, 429 favored it
and opposed it. Out of $50 who ex-
preshed an opinion on universal SER
vice, 356 favored it and IS opposed it.
Communications were received from
only 4 employers who advocated a
continuance of the present National
Guard system, and two of these said
they believed also in universal service.
Next to the declaration for univer-
sal service, the most striking feature
of the employers replies was the en-
phasis they placed upon the need of
an equal distribution Of burden. They
said they were ready to give time off
to their men for training; but they
wanted the training to be governed by
some rational scheme under which all
employers, as well as all men of mill
tary age, would fare. alike.
The Plight of the Guardsmen
Guardsmen of New York State COM
municated with the committee. Their
replies showed most decided dissat-
isfaction with the present military
conditions and they dwelt upon the
hardships visited upon a few patriotic
men who did military service, in con-
trast to the advantages In business en-
joyed by those who stayed at home.
1t was to be gathered from the
Guardsmen's replies that it was not
rough military life they objected to
[tbut inequality Of treatment.
From the figures supplied by
Guardsmen and employers, the COM
mittee estimated the average earnings
Of a Guardsman at SIS a month,
which, the committee said, 'is GER
tainly not too high an estimate"
The Country's Resources in Men
Taking Census figures, the report
then proceeded to show the available
resources of the country in unmar-
ried men. The number of unmarried
men from IS to "a years old, inclu-
sive, is 5,756,674. And to offset those
who could claim an exemption for
physical disability or other reasons,
there are 4,271,011 unmarried men
from rs to A years of age. This is
not taking into account the 12,625, $40
married men and 477,716 widowed and
divorced men between 10 and A
years old, some of whom are so sit
uated financially that they would be
able to render military service with
out leaving dependents in want.
Military Aspects
On the military side. the commit
- rx% -
the data gathered by the War depart
ment about<the mobilization and adds
the results Of certain direct researches
Of it's own. In paying a tribute to
the motives and efforts Of the Ma
tional Guard, the report says:
"a military expert of wide repu-
tation, who visited the border as a re-
preventative of the Committee, sums
up the situation there in this SEN
|tence:'
Every time tried to run down a
fault found some man doing his best,
and usually a good best, under a sys-
tenn that left almost everything I'M
done until the last minute, and that
thrust upon officers who had not been
able to get experience tasks that the
most experienced officers would have
found it difficult to perform"
Failure of Recruiting
In view Of the fact that the Ma
tiona1 Guard could get only enough
recruits to bring it to within 114,000
of war strength, the Committee sees
no hope Of raising the Guard to the
strength contemplated in the new
law-440,000 enlisted men and H.
900 officers. The Committee does not
n I'D, 70 -
Guardsmen will serve to fill up the
ranks.
The equipment situation received
special attention in the inquiry and
the committee found that the system
fell down not only because the Fed
eral government failed to supply war
strength equipment promptly, but
also because the National Guard or
CARNATIONS did not have-as they
were required to have-their peace
strength equipment.
That the Guard in New York was
far better than most other States was
established as fact by the mobiliza-
ton, says the report but even here
the State troops cannot be said to be
anywhere near ready, in training and
equipment, for active service. The
widest variation in efficiency was
found among the organizations, some
of them being well provided with all
necessary equipment and others show
ing serious shortages
The Need of Defense
In the introduction to the report
the Committee discusses the new
and quite unforeseen status that the
great changes of the last few years
have forced upon the United States
Our isolation protected us formerly
but it does so no longer, and sit is
nothing more than common prudence
that the United States should pre-
pare to protect itselfP The question
that remains is one of method, and
the committee believes universal
training is the only satisfactory an
swer.
FRENCH FRONT QUIET
Paris, Jan. 10-There were no i'm
portant developments on the French
front last night the war Office an
nounces.