Evening star., 1923-11-28
DISTRICT MILITIA
DOUBLED SINCE 1879

| Public interest in the National
Guard Is increasing" says Maj. Gen
! G. c. Richards. chief of the militia
, bureau of the War Department, in his
annual report and the support ex-
! tended by the legislatures of the
| states, in the way of appropriations,
| has, generally speaking, been very
satisfactory. The National Guard, it
may be safely assumed, has the loyal
support throughout the country of the
conservative citizen"
! During the past year the militia
! bureau, he says, concentrated its eff
forts on the organization of infantry
land cavalry units, together with coast
iartillery units of the harbor defenses.
June so. 1928, the National Guard com
prised 9,675 officers and 150,923 enlist
ed men, an aggregate strength of 160,-
| 59S: on June 80, 1922, the aggregate
| strength was 1869. The principal
| gain was among the commissioned per-
sonnel, the enlisted strength remain
ing practically the same.
Strength of ID. c. Organization.
! The strength of the National Guard
| of the District of Columbia, as of
midnight June so. 1923. was BIB, con-
I
men, the report stated.
! The District organization consists
! of II officers and 394 enlisted men
| of engineers and officers and 50
enlisted men of infantry Especial al
| lotmenD and IL officers and l en-
| listed man in staff departments.
These figures show gradual in
| crease of strength in the federally
| recognized National Guard OF the
| District since June 80. 1919, when it
( of n
J listed men.
| The report says that during the
! fiscal year 1923 the District National
! Guard received $16,454 in payment
| arms, uniforms and equipment and
refunded $l52 for lost property. The
! grand total of appropriations for the
| District National Guard for the year
1 is stated at S19,3l3.
! Appropriations Inadequate.
while the development of the Ma
! tional Guard during the past year has
| ards, lit is believed that further prog
ress would have been possible had
| adequate appropriations been availa-
| BILE TO permit further organization,
under the approved program, of new
| units. Notwithstanding stringent
| economic conditions in certain sec
tions of the country, the National
| Guard units in those localities were
! successfully maintained. This fact
/ demonstrates that the continued eX-
| istenCe of National Guard organiza-
! tions is not entirely dependent upon
| favorable conditions, and that the or
| ganiZationS are SO firmly instituted
! that a reaSona BILE amount of adversely
! can be successfully withstood.
During the fiscal year National
| Guard organizations in twenty-seven
| states were called upon to assist the
| civil authorities in the maintenance
| of law and order. 1t seems to be
| well established that in all in
| stances where such calls were made
| the duties of the troops of the Ma
| tional Guard were carried out in a
| highly satisfactory manner, and that
1 there was a noticeable and mark ed
| absence of the criticism directed to-
ward the National Guard, which gen.
! orally attended the employment of
! troops, especially on strike duty, in
previous years.
Indicates Growing Confidence.
This plainly indicates a growing
| feeling of confidence on the part of
the public to the effect that the
National Guard when called upon to
perform duties of this character, may
| be relied upon to conduct its activi-
ties fairly and impartially In con-
| troversial matters which have made
1t necessary to employ military
forces.
The militia bureau is highly
pleased with the personnel now COM
prising the National Guard. 1t is
very gratifying to find that a great
majority of the officers had expert
ence in the world war and are con-
scientiously and earnestly devoting
their time and experience to build
ing up the National Guard on a
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