Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 December 1898 — FUNDS FOR THE NAVAL MILITIA. [ARTICLE]

FUNDS FOR THE NAVAL MILITIA.

Congress Asked for an Annual Appropriation of $200,000. Lieut. W. 11. Southerland of the United States navy, who was in general charge of the naval militia during the late war, asks Congress for an annual appropriation of $200,000 to foster tl»is branch of our reserve force. In his report, submitted to the Secretary of the Navy, Lieut. Southerland gives a comprehensive history of the work performed by the naval militia in the operations against Spain. Of the total force of 24,123 enlisted men employed in the navy, 4,216 were mustered in from the na4hl militia organizations, of which number about 2,600 served in the regular navy, the remainder in the auxiliary naval force and coast signal service. The lieutenant praises the troops more for their zeal than efficiency. The war clearly demonstrated, he believes, the imperative necessity for the maintenance of a national naval reserve in the organization of which too much reliance must not be placed upon the merchant marine alone.