Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 57, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1915 — TO PAY THE GUARD [ARTICLE]

TO PAY THE GUARD

Uncle Sam to Be Paymaster for State Militia. Proposition Receives Unanimous Approval of Senate Committee — Will Help Solve Problem of Military Un preparedness.

By EDWARD B. CLARK.

(Staff Correspondent Western Newspaper Union.) Washington.—The senate committee on military affairs has given favorable and unanimous report to a bill which will make Uncle Sam in part the paymaster of the national guardsmen of all the states in the Union. This means that every Republican and Democrat holding membership in the committee is in favor of paying the state troops out of the funds in the United States treasury, for the actual military work which" they perform. Army men hold that this will increase largely the efficiency of the National Guard, will help solve the problem of military preparedness and will largely increase the enlistments in the military organizations of all the states. This federal pay bill for the militia may not become a law at this session, but members of congress seem to think that its passage virtually is certain in the near future. Under this bill the enlisted men in the guard will be paid 25 per cent of the pay of a man of their rank in the regular service, but of course-the money will be given them only for the hours in which they are engaged "in necessary military drill, book instruction and the like. For years the officers of the National Guard from nearly every state have been advocating this measure. The government’s division of militia affairs in the war department has recommended it time after time. Congress was opposed to it, but recently seemingly there has been a complete change of sentiment, the vote in the senate committee showing this conclusively for it has been said every Democrat and every Republican in the committee gave the. measure his sanction. Regular army officers and guardsmen alike have urged that nearly all men when they are paid to do a thing, no matter how small the payment may be, feel an obligation to do IL They say that drill attendance will be increased largely, that interest in the guards’ work will be keener and that

the relations between the state troop* and the regular troops will be closer than ever. In truth the unanimous vote of the senate on this bill and the approval which has been expressed of the measure go to show seemingly that this legislation is considered to be one means of making the country more thoroughly prepared to defend itself if the occasion ever should arise when defense will be necessary.