Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-08-22
WANTS VETERANS
IN PA. GUARD
Backbone of Nation, Governor
Sproul Declares in Speech
at Conference


Salt Lake City, Utah. Aug. 22.-Gov-
ernor William C. Sproul. OF Pennsylva-
MIA, was the principal speaker yester-
day at the closing session OF the Gov
ernors' Conference. Speaking on Tex
pansion of the National Guard system
as a basis OF national defense" Gov
ernor Sproul urged that the returned
soldiers be enlisted in the guard OF
the various states to form the defense
! reserve of the military forces. The
Governor said that he had already be-
gun to put this theory into practice in
Pennsylvania and that the Guard can
be made enc OF the most effective
forces with which to combat the un-
rest Of to-day. for the knowledge ot
the radicals that there exists such a
prepared and trained force would be a
strong deterrent should any desire to
start trouble.
SprOuI on Executive Committee
! Governor Simon BamberGer, of
Utah. was chosen a member of the
Executive Committee of the Govern
Robertson. of Oklahoma, and Govern
or Srroul. of Pennsylvania, are the
other members Of the Executive Com
mittee. Governor Townsend, of Della
ware, was elected treasurer. and NJ. c.
Reilly was reelected secretary of the
conf1l Cnce.
The three members of the Executive
ICommittee will choose their chairman
and select the meeting place for the
1920 conference.
The Governors yesterday visited the
copper mines at Bingham. near here.
and now are in n special car for
three days tour of Yellowstone Park.
Opposed to Large Standing Army
"I cannot believe that the people
will ever authorize or maintain an
enormous standing Army, but Will
and always must depend upon their
citizen soldiers for Defense" Gov
ernor Sproul declared.
"A large standing Army makes
professional soldiers of large num-
bers of our best young men, takes
them away from their vocations, re-
moves them from the industrial
army, lessons production, and in
many cases places young men
among men only, just at the time
when the average young man makes
a home for himself and becomes a
producer and family man.
THE National Guard, while it does
not give man the maximum
amount of training that the regu-
lar Army does, gives to the average
man sufficient military training to
make him an available soldier, and
at the same time enables him to con-
tinue his daily occupation, does not
remove him from the army of pro-
ducers, and leaves him to follow
his vocation and to settle on a life's
work and future career.
GloricS of the "Iron Division
"As evidence of our faith we have
started activity to reorganize and
recruit our National Guard of Penn
sylvania. You may recall that our
guard was taken over as a unit
and after the long vigil on the Rio
Grande, was sent to Camp Hancock,
Augusta, Ga, became the 2Sth Di-
vision of the Army, and in France,
as the Iron Division it saw activity
of service comparable only to the
three first regular Army divisions
To our eternal pride in Pennsylvania
our guardsmen won a place among
the very foremost of our national de-
tenders, and justified gloriously in
time of peril all the patience,
trouble and expense which the State
had expended upon the National
Guard in the past half century.
The traditions of the National
Guard and of the Iron Division be-
long to the people of the State and
we do not propose to lose these ira
ditions, nor the spirit which made
them possible, although we have
had to go down to Washington with
club to keep the appreciative
staff of the Army from appropria-
ton of the name, number and even
the red Keystone insignia of our
division for future use in the Army
ablishment.
Under the national defense Act
as at present in force, we are au-
thorized to establish our guard with
Federal aid on a basis of 200 men
for each member of Congress- in
which proportion the State with
thirty eight members of Congress, is
entitled to 1900 men. Under this
estimate. we have already made a
skeleton organization of four regi-
ments of infantry, one regiment of
artillery, one squadron of cavalry,
on battalion of signal corps and
trains. including four field hospitals
and four ambulance corps.
30,400 Men States Full Quota
This organization is to be in
creased 70 per cent. annually until
the full quota of 500 men for each
member of Congress is reached,
which would give us 30,400 men in
Pennsylvania.
I'VE have worked out a plan to
organize, as soon as we can, a full
division under the 1917 table, or
table of organization, with two brig
AIDES of infantry, one regiment of
cavalry one regiment of engineers,
one battalion of signal corps, with
the necessary trains. This, we be-
lieve, will be accomplished by the
middle of next year.
"The War DeDa rtment at pracapt
figures 100 men per company. We
trust Congress may permit of the
reduction of this number to sixty or
sixty five, which would permit of
the organization of companies in the
smaller communities, and will give
us an opportunity of training more
officers, which was proven to be
the great need during the late
war"
Governor Sproul paid high tribute
to the Twenty-eighth Division (the
Keystone Division), stating that it
had contributed some of the most
glorious pages of Americas part of
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