The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-09-14

A Successful EnCampment
sour National Guardsmen have at
tended the annual encampment at tt.
SILL and have returned to their fam
lilies and their everyday affairs.
Il can say without hesitation that it
was the most successful encampment
it was ever my good fortune to at
tend, and probably the most success
full ever attended by any Oklahoma
guardsman. The work done and the
progress made were characterized by
our senior Inspector Instructor as won
derful' In the honors obtained, Ard
more with its two companies, had its
full share.
A True Soldierly Spirit
"The success attained at that en-
oampment was due primarily, to the
sodierly spirit of the officers and men
OF the two regiments, who entered will
lingly and enthusiastically into the
program, and who counted not the cost
in hard work, while learning the duties
of the soldier. We owe a debt of graft
tude also to our instructors from the
army who We're unanimous in saying
that they had never seen troops SO
Ia earnest and so eager to learn as were
IAS'he Oklahoma Guardsmen. Where they
4 Md expected an unpleasant drudgery,
they found a pleasant comradeship in
common service and they went away
|. filled with admiration for the Oklaho-
ma Guardsmen.
A Fitting Climax
fittipp
climax to year or more of hard work
and preparation, ut the home stations
of the various companies, a work and
! preparation little understood and appre'
ciated by many of our citizens. Yet
this preliminary preparation for the
past year was not preparation for the
encampment solely but the encampment
itself is merely one step in the pro
| gresSive instruction of the Guard for
other and sterner duties.
The record of the past year is cred
liable alike to the guardsmen them
selves, to the cities and towns whence
they came, and to the state of Okla
homa. The future needs earnest and
thoughtful consideration.
A TwO-Fold Duty
The duty of the National Guard is
two-fod. First, to our country. and
second, to the state. OF the first |
shall speak but briefly as the duty
is well understood. Suffice it to say
that the National Guard is subject to
I the call of the president of the United
States at any time in his discretion.
The Guard was called into service on
the Mexican border in 1916, and again
in the Great War just closed where
the Guard won imperishable renown,
Many of the boys in the Guard were
from our own homes. Most of them
have returned to us covered with glory
and with a new appreciation of the eX-
alted privileges of American citizen
ship. A few are among our unforgot'
ten dead in France.
~ Another Paramount Duty
"The second great duty of the Ma
| fional Guard is in the preservation OF
peace and order and the protection OF
life and property within the boundar-
les of the state, when called upon by
the broperly constituted authorities.
The statutes of this state provide that
a district or county judge, a sheriff
or the mayor of a city may call upon
the governor for military aid; and when
so called upon. the governor, or the ad-
iutant general, will use his discretion
in ordering out troops, and in such
numbers as he may deem necessary.
"Strike Patrol Unpleasant Duty
This duty is perhaps the hardest
and most disagreeable that the Nation
al Guard is called upon to perform
very largely because of n misconcep-
ton on the part of citizens as to the
nature of the guards duties. Particu-
larly is this so in the case of so-called
strike duty In case of a controversy
between an employer, on the one side
and the employees on the other, where
acts of violence are committed or
threatened, it is not the duty of the
National Guard to take sides between
them.
Represents the People
"The Guard is there to represent the
third party to the controversy, viz;
The People of the State. The Guard
is there to take care that the laws
of the state are enforced, and to see
that both sides to the controversy re-
frain from any acts of violation there
of. With the merits of the controversy
between employer and the employee
the guard has nothing to do.
Simply Peace Officers
The duty of the National Guard in
>such case is analogous to that of
1,oliceman, who, when he finds two
men fighting in the streets, arrests
| both, and takes them before the muni-
cipal judge. The judge investigates
the merits of the case and gives his
decision accordingly. The fact that
the Guard is called in only when dis
| turbance is caused or threatened by
a larger number Of men, does not
La, lllet rEhn