Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-11-02
ELIMINATION OF
DEAD TIMBER IN
ARMY IS FAVORED
Gen. PerShing Says Officers
Who Have Passed the Stage
Of Usefulness Should Be Re-
placed With New Blood.
IsY senMne IounnAL sptel., .sAsso- az

tsY MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED wiRsI
Washington, Nov. Elimination
of dead timber" among army Off
GERS was suggested by General PERISH
ing before the senate and house mill
tary committees today as one of the
steps advisable in peace time reor-
ganization of the military establish
ment.
In nearly every grade, the general
said, there were a few officers who
had passed the stage of usefulness
and should be replaced.
In reducing the army from 200
to 300, coo men, the general said, only
a small reduction could be made in
the number of staff officers.
I'VE had $50 on our staff in France
| for an army of :, 100000 men," he said.
I'VE should have needed the same
number for half as many"
Nearly every army officer goes
around with reorganization bill in
his vest pocket" said General PERISH
| Ing, land if you examine them, you'n
find each has one arranging good pro.
motions in his own service,
ain France we assigned officers 10
duty without regard to what their
| previous service had been and they
p6IlOGIileu elLlCleil service. B.
Chairman Wadsworth said some re-
cent promotions had created fifty-nine
| colonies for sixteen cavalry regiments.
General Pershing said his scheme
would prevent that.
Staff Officers Grab Good Jobs.
staff officers have been able 10
come to congress" General Pershing
| added, land get promotions to the ex-
clusion of promotions for officers of
| the actual fighting arms"
| When the proposed consolidation of
| the chemical warfare service with the
! engineer corps was taken up a COM
| mitteeman asked if use of poison gas
! should not be eliminated
I'D be glad to see that" General
Pershing returned, "but somebody
else might use it and leave up in the
lurch. | would continue preparation
for chemical warfare"
1.-THE national guard performed ex-
cellent service in the war considering
| its limited opportunity for training"
said the general "Its officers and
men had the feeling, and quite proper
| ~ SO, that they had not had completes
| support from the regular army"
| Volunteer Reserve Forces.
Men who have served in the pres
ent war should be allowed to enter
volunteer reserve organizations, Gen
eral Pershing said.
Il would classify and assign them
| to service" he said, with divisional
units complete by localities, ready for
instant call"
National guard divisions should be
| utilized in the same manner as far as
possible, he said.
! II don't know how far the forty
! eight states are going in re-establish-
| ing their militia for local use," he
continued "but the governors might
be allowed to call on these reserve or
CARNATIONS for help in case of emer-
| gency."
General Pershing was asked to ex-
| plain exactly what his theory was for
utilizing the national guard in con-
nection with the military establish
| ment.
81 think it would be wise to take all
| troops that have seen war service in
national guard units and induct them
| into the federal reserve units" he an
sWered THE national guard could
| he kept as part of the training serv-
| ice.
Guard system Defended.
you will always have forty eight
different units to deal with in con-
| nection with the national guard. The
states have control over the guard, but
the federal government has some au-
| thority to enforce regulations over
| it.
IF no system of military training
vas adopted we shall have to fall
back upon the national guard, but I
should hate to see it."
Several committee members came
| to the defense of the guard system
and its results.
This law provides that every man
II aimed shall be automatically called
into service in case of war" said
Representative Miller, republican, OF
Washington. what are your views
as to that"
General Pershing said he would
| favor passing the trained men into
re serve organizations and calling them
into service automatically when then
unit was needed.
| You would not have a selective
draft, then?" Representative Miller
| pursued
81 think the other would be the
better plan said General Pershing.