Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-01-26
PRESIDENT REBUKES
NATIONAL GUARD CRITICS
Maryland Defense League Told Ian
guage Employed in Memorial Is
"Offhand Condemnation"

| President Wilson yesterday afternoon
| rebuked criticism of the National
Guard when a memorial was laid be-
fore him by the Maryland League for
National Defense advocating universal
military training. The memorial re-
ferred to the guard on duty along the
| Mexican border and declared it tut
terly and absolutely inadequate for
the defense of the country" and also
! to the spectacle now presented on the
Mexican border" The President told
the committee from the league which
called upon him that he considered the
| language "unrestrained." The Presi
dent then addressed the delegation.
| Not Opposed to Universal Training.
His remarks, which, the White House
states, are not to be taken to mean
that he has made up his mind in OPP
| position to universal military training,
We're as follows:
"I do not need to prove to you or any
| body my deep interest in this subject"
| said the President. Il will frankly say
to you I would have been more i'm
pressed by this memorial if it had been
expressed in more restrained language.
From some of the unqualified state
ments in this paper l must frankly
dissent. l think it due to my col
leagues on the hill (the CapitoD t. say
so at this offhand condemnation of the
system which they adopted after long
debate upon the urgency of many of
the leading citizens of the country; it
is the least that 1 can do. You do not
command a cause which deserves the
most serious consideration by present.
inc
Compulsory Service Discussed.
These things impress me the more
after what we have heard from the
/ medical societies PROFESSIONALLY,
| physical training is needed and will &C
! complish great deal, but it can be
| had without compulsory military serv-
| ice. and compulsory military service
| does not meet the difficulties which
YOU have alluded to. Any brief service
| in the army of the United States with
| draws men from civil pursuits just. as
| much as the recent service on the Dor
der does. No service except stand
/ ing army with professional soldiers
| prevents that occasional and frequent
| withdrawal of men from civil pursuits.
| That may be inevitable. but what you
are proposing does not meet the diff
| ficulty which you condemn. These
! difficulty and are not to be settled ex
! cathedra.
Will Earnestly Consider Proposal.
and yet. notwithstanding the fact
that ! think you have gone too far, ]
| viii say to you that, of course, this will
! have my most earnest consideration. It
| is receiving serious consideration with
the country, and we in Washington, of
| course. share and feel the great tides OF
| opinion in the United States I am sure
| that. speaking. if 1 may speak. for the
| members of the House of Representa-
| tives and of the Senate. We are all de-
sirous of doing the wise thing for the
! defense of the country, and it must and
| it will be done. but must not close
| debate by having too dogmatic an
| opinion to a method.
| Il know that you will understand the
| spirit in which make that protest and
/ this statement -
| Senator John Walter Smith of Mary
land accompanied the delegation.