Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-01-24

place an undue burden upon Maine
at the present time. From a letter
received by Gov. Baxter. it appears
that the federal authorities are not
going to call upon the states TO
furnish 450 men per Congressman, or
200 men for the state of Name by
June so, 1925, which is two and one
half years from now. AS the state
of Maine already has .2228 officers
and men, it means that the state mas
two and One-half years in winch 10
increase its military forces Az Of
ticers and men.
This decision of the war depart
mcnt is welcomed by Gov. Baxter
and is in line with his suggestions,
for he has advocated that the allot-
ment to the states be somewhere be-
tween 400 and 500 men per Congress
man.
Gov. Baxter has been in communi-
cation with the governors of all the
states and finds that Maine is lar
ahead of large majority OF the
states in the number OF officers ana
men in the National Guard. More
over. Maino pays certain allowances
TO its state troops. which is done by
but very few other states. one
state has no National Guard what
ever and several states have from
one-third to one half the number
called for at present.
Gov. Baxter intends to have the
Maine National Guard one OF the
most efficient organizations IN the
country and is proud of the ad-
vancemcnt that has been made dur
ing tho past two years.
Gov. Bakers Letter
Gov. BaXter's letter to Major Cen
! eral George c. Richards, chief OF the
| militia bureau, covering the matter,
! is as follows:
MY Dear General Richards:
| "Since | became governor of Malne
in January, 1921, | have taken a
| personal interest in our National
! Guard organization and have Dcen re-
sponsible for increasing the sue Oh
| the Guard from 1919 officers and men
| to 222S officers and men, a gain OF IS
per cent The state of Maine Is no
doubt in about the same condition as
| other states. Our expenses have IN
creased rapidly, our taxes are hISh
and we face a very serious proplcth.
THE allotment of 500 men per
! senator and representative III my
opinion places an unduly heavy bur
| den upOn the states of the Union.
understand that the Militia bureau is
now considerin" the reduction OF TINS
allotment. In my opinion if tie flg-
IRE 400 were substituted for 500. the
! State of Maine could properly mann
! tain it's quota which would amount
! to c40O officers and men. We couid
do this without embarrassment ana
without hampering many other ac-
! tivities of the state.
| "As q governor who has shown ms
deep interest in the work OF lhe
National Guard, am making
! this suggestion TO You asking
YOU to transmit it to the proper
! hoard. 1t seems to me that 1T IS
preferable to place this figure where
all of the states can and Will surely
comply with it rather than have inc
| figure so large that only lew OF the
| states will live, up to their obllSa-
tions. The burden of national de-
Tense should be distributed equltabiv
among all the states. If too much IS
asked, some of them feel that the
| burden is too great.
Later on in the winter l eXpect
to come to Washington and II do'
shall call upon YOU personally.
Faithfully yours,
| (SirnedD PcrciVal p. Baxter,
| Governor of Maine"
Gen. Richards Reply
! Cen. Richards replied to GOV. BaX-
ter's letter as follows:
"Hon. Percival +. Baxter.
| Governor Of Maine, Augusta, Name.
"NIy Dear Governor:
| II Rave the honor to acknowledge
recent of YOUR favor of the 10Th IN
| slant relative to the allotment OF
National Guard to the states. L
have watched very closely TIL, in
crease in the Maine National Guard
| during the past year and am more
than pleased with the increase in
both the strength and efficiency Of
Names troops.
"Relative to the allotment of 500
men per senator and Representatives,
F, will say that we are now working on
q policy that will not disturb this
allotment. but merely take from the
! Guards allotment q certain portion
of the troops, working into pro-
gram covering a period of approx
matcly two years. If this plan is
carried out. it will mean that each
state will furnish in the neighbour
hood of $50 troops per representative
in Congress on June %. 1925, leav-
ing the original allotment stand as a
quota to be called upon in an
emergency which may be taken up
after the final completion of this por-
ton of the program. SO that, for the
next two years. at least. we need not
be concerned with a quota exceeding
$50 per representative.
ST appreciatc VcrV much the work