The Legal Status of the National Guard under the Army Reorganization Bill

Abstract

This country has never been prepared for war, and today is likewise unprepared for strife. In the past we have always had to pay dearly in life and treasure for our negligent condition of unpreparedness. In the first war with England we melted the statue of the King for bullets; in the War of 1812 we builded our vessels on the shores of the Lakes from timbers newly cut from the forest; in the Civil War we lacked for everything, and in the war with Spain we sent our troops to certain death from disease in the slaughter camps of the south. Today, aside from the natural advance of ideas in connection with the science of war, we are but little better prepared to cope with a first-class power. All this is closely related to my subject, Legal Status of the National Guard Under the Army Reorganization Bill. Not only must we prepare with men, guns and munitions, but we must as well be prepared with laws to govern the assembling and induction into the forces of the United States of the troops which are not a part of the Regular Army. If we fail then, the whole scheme of defense is endangered. In the country today (August 28th, 1916) are found not to exceed 40,000 regular troops available for service against any foreign foe. The only reserve to this mere handful of soldiers is the National Guard of the various states. I use the words National Guard in the same sense that they are used in Section 58 of the Army reorganization bill where it says: