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MILITIA PAY BILL.

JULY 30, 1912.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed.

Mr. PEPPER, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the

following

REPORT.

[To accompany H. R. 8141.]

The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8141) to further increase the efficiency of the Organized Militia of the United States and for other purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that all after the enacting clause be stricken out and the following substituted therefor, and as thus amended that the bill do pass.

That under such regulations as the Secretary of War, after conference with the National Militia Board, shall prescribe, commissioned officers on the active list belonging to organizations of the Organized Militia of each State, Territory, and the District of Columbia, participating in the apportionment of the annual appropriation provided by section sixteen hundred and sixty-one, Revised Statutes, as amended, shall receive compensation for their services, except during periods of service for which under existing law or the provisions of section five of this act they may become entitled to the same pay as officers of corresponding grades of the Regular Army, at the rate of certain percentages of the pay of officers of like grade in the Regular Army, not including longevity pay, as now provided by law, namely: Five per centum to all colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, chaplains, aids de camp, and officers of the General Staff. Fifteen per centum to commanding officers of companies, troops, batteries, and ambulance companies, and to adjutants and quartermasters of regiments, independent battalions or squadrons or Coast Artillery districts; ten per centum to all other officers belonging to regiments, smaller tactical units, or Coast Artillery districts, including medical officers not above the rank of captain, detailed or assigned to and doing duty with regiments or smaller tactical units or Coast Artillery districts, medical officers serving with field hospitals, and veterinarians.

SEC. 2. That under such regulations as the Secretary of War, after conference with the National Militia Board, shall prescribe, each enlisted man on the active list belonging to organizations of the Organized Militia of each State, Territory, and the District of Columbia, participating in the apportionment of the annual appropriation provided by section sixteen hundred and sixty-one, Revised Statutes, as amended, shall receive compensation for his services, except during periods of service for which under existing law or the provisions of section five of this act he may become entitled to the same pay as an enlisted man of corresponding grade in the Regular Army, at a rate equal to twenty-five per centum of the initial pay now provided by law for enlisted men of corresponding grades of the Regular Army: Provided, That such enlisted man shall receive the compensation herein provided if he shall have attended

not less than forty-five regular drills during any one year, and a proportionate amount for attendance upon a lesser number of such drills, not less than twenty: Provided further, That the compensation provided herein shall be computed for semiannual periods, beginning the first day of January and the first day of July of each year, in proportion to the number of drills attended; and no compensation shall be paid to any enlisted man for the first semiannual period of any year unless he shall have attended during said period at least twenty drills, but any lesser number of drills attended during said period shall be reckoned with the drills attended during the second semiannual period in computing the compensation, if any, due him for that year: And provided further, That when any man enters into an enlistment other than an immediate reenlistment he shall be entitled to proportional compensation for that year if during the remainder of the year he shall attend a number of drills whose ratio to twenty is not less than the ratio of the part of the year so served to the whole year; and when any man's enlistment shall expire the compensation, if any, to which he may be entitled shall be determined in like manner: And provided further, That periods of any actual military duty equivalent to the drills herein prescribed (except those periods of service for which under existing law or the provisions of section five of this act members of the Organized Militia may become entitled to the same pay as officers and enlisted men of the corresponding grades in the Regular Army) may be accepted as service in lieu of such drills when so provided by the Secretary of War.

SEC. 3. That all amounts appropriated for the purpose of this act shall be disbursed and accounted for by the officers and agents of the Pay Department of the Army, and all disbursements under the provisions of the two preceding sections shall be made as soon as practicable after the thirty-first day of December and the thirtieth day of June of each year upon pay rolls prepared and authenticated in the manner prescribed by the Secretary of War: Provided, That stoppages may be made against the compensation payable to any officer or enlisted man hereunder to cover the cost of public property lost or destroyed by and chargeable to such officer or enlisted man.

SEC. 4. That no money appropriated under the provisions of this act shall be paid to any person not on the active list, nor to any person over sixty-four years of age, nor to any person who fails to qualify as to fitness for military service, under such regulations as the Secretary of War, after conference with the National Militia Board, shall prescribe, and who has not voluntarily, in addition to his oath as a member of the Organized Militia, also agreed to render military service to the United States as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 5. That the President, with the consent of Congress, in time of war or when war is imminent, or in other grave emergency, requiring the use of troops in excess of the Regular Army beyond the limits of the United States, may by order transfer to the Army of the United States any portion of the Organized Militia receiving, or entitled to receive, the benefits of this act, to serve therein for the remainder of their respective terms of enlistment or commission, unless sooner released by order of the President, and any Organized Militia so transferred shall from the date specified in the order of such transfer become for the time being a part of the Army of the United States and subject to the same laws in so far as the same may be applicable to them during their service under such transfer, excluding the retirement laws, and be entitled to the same pay, emoluments, and allowances as officers and enlisted men of the Regular Army of the same grade and the same prior service, and shall be available for any duty for which the Regular Army or Volunteer Army may be employed: Provided, That any member of the Organized Militia who, having agreed to render military service to the United States under the provisions of this act, neglects or refuses to present himself for service when so transferred shall be subject to trial therefor by a duly constituted court-martial under such regulations as the President may prescribe: Provided further, That when, in the discretion of the President, the necessity for their further use no longer exists, he shall release said organizations and the members thereof from liability to render further service under said order of transfer, and said organizations and the members thereof, when so released, shall cease to be a part of the Army of the United States: Provided further, That before the discharge of such organizations from the service of the United States there shall be a physical examination of each member of such organizations by the medical officers of the Army and a record thereof kept in the War Department.

SEC. 6. That whenever organizations are called into the service of the United States under existing law or are transferred to the Army of the United States under the provisions of this act those organizations only must be taken into such service or transferred to such Army which have already received compensation under the provisions of this act; in addition thereto such other organizations as have become entitled to receive compensation hereunder between the time of the last semiannual

disbursement and the time when such call or transfer is made. Organizations which, at the date when called into the service of the United States or transferred to the Army of the United States, are, in the judgment of the Secretary of War, organized so far as practicable as prescribed by law and regulations for like organizations of the Regular Army and are entitled to pay under this act shall be taken by regiments, brigades, divisions, or independent and separate organizations, as the quota of each State, Territory, or the District of Columbia or major fraction thereof may require, including all regimental, brigade, and division staff officers authorized by law and regulations for the corresponding units of the Regular Army or specially authorized by laws for the Organized Militia.

SEC. 7. That when the Organized Militia is called into the service of the United States or by transfer, as herein before provided, becomes a part of the Army of the United States, and is employed in conjunction with the Regular or volunteer forces of the United States, and military operations require the presence of two or more officers of the same grade in the same field, department, or command, or of organizations thereof, the President may assign the command of the forces of such field, department, or command, or of organizations thereof, without regard to seniority of rank in the same grade: Provided, That in the absence of such assignment by the President officers of the same grade shall rank and have precedence in the following order, without regard to date or rank or commission as between officers of different classes, namely: First, officers of the Regular Army and officers of the Marine Corps detached for service with the Army by order of the President; second, officers of the Organized Militia transferred to the Army of the United States or called into the service of the United States; third, officers of the volunteer forces: Provided further, That officers of the Regular Army holding commissions in the Organized Militia in the service of the United States, or in organizations transferred to the Army of the United States as herein before provided, or in the Volunteer forces, shall rank and have precedence under said commission as if they were commissions in the Regular Army, but the rank of officers of the Regular Army under their commissions in the Organized Militia shall not, for the purpose of this section, be held to antedate their formal entry into the service of the United States under said commissions.

SEC. 8. That all expenses necessary to the enforcement of this act, including the actual and necessary expense of travel of officers of the Army when traveling on duty pursuant to orders issued by the governors of the several States and Territories or the commanding general of the Organized Militia of the District of Columbia, shall be payable out of any appropriation made to carry out the provisions of this act.

SEC. 9. That the Secretary of War shall cause to be annually estimated the amount necessary for carrying out the provisions in this act, and no money shall be expended hereunder except as shall from time to time be appropriated: Provided, That this act shall take effect July first, nineteen hundred and thirteen.

The bill in the form in which it is presented in the foregoing substitute is the result of careful and painstaking labor on the part of the committee after extended hearings covering a period of over a year. Representatives of the National Guard as well as officials of the War Department and others appeared before the committee and have given it the benefit of their views.

In some instances there was considerable difference of opinion between the War Department and the representatives of the National Guard. Practically all differences, however, have been satisfactorily adjusted, and the good faith and sincerity of both the officials of the War Department and the representatives of the National Guard are demonstrated by the fact that the bill in its present form meets with the approval of both.

Many difficult problems were encountered in working out the final draft of the measure. The question raised by the Secretary of War as to whether or not under existing law the National Guard could be used outside the limits of the United States had to be met. The opinion of the Attorney General upon that question will be found in another part of this report, and deserves careful attention. The bill in its present form meets that question squarely, and in the opinion of the committee solves satisfactorily a very difficult statutory and constitutional problem.

In fixing the rate of pay for the various grades of officers and men, considerable difficulty was encounered. Conditions in the guard differ very widely in different sections of the country. For instance, the work of a major with his command located entirely within a city is entirely different from the work of a major where his command is made up of companies located in different towns.

The committee has attempted to fix the rate of pay upon as near an equitable basis as possible. No doubt many instances of apparent inequitable ratings will develop. It is impossible, however, in writing a general law to avoid this.

The bill presents two propositions for consideration:
First. Federal pay for the National Guard.

Second. Perfection of the intent of section 5 of the amended militia law. Each of these subjects is taken up in detail in the report.

PRESENT MILITIA LAW.1

The act of January 21, 1903, commonly known as the "Dick bill" (32 Stats., 775), has been in operation for a period of over nine years. Under the provisions of this law, as amended by the act of May 27, 1908 (35 Stats., 339), and the act of April 21, 1910 (36 Stats., 329), the various States have equipped their National Guards, and, with few exceptions, have trained their forces to such a high degree of efficiency that the National Guard can now be mobilized without serious confusion or delay, and the organizations thus made available for Federal service are organized according to the standards prescribed for the Regular Army.

The increase in the general efficiency of the National Guard has been rapid, and an inspection of this force now shows conclusively that the officers have been trained in their practical field duties and that they have undergone thorough instruction in the handling of their men in all manner of practical exercises in the field, and that they understand the care of their men in camp and on the march. The Medical Department of the National Guard has increased and developed, and we now have a large number of trained medical officers throughout the United States who understand practical camp sanitation, the care of the sick and wounded in camp and in the field, and they have undergone training which will enable them to protect our soldiers so as to give us the maximum fighting power for any given. force. But all this has not been accomplished without sacrifice to the individual officers and enlisted men of the National Guard, nor have the provisions of the present militia law been broad enough to meet all requirements as they are now understood, and this brings us to the objects of the bill under discussion.

GENERAL OBJECTS OF THE BILL.

That we need a larger well-trained military force for national defense can not be doubted. Endowed with wonderful natural resources, developed by a virile people, our country has become one of he wealthiest and most powerful nations in the world.

Our domains extend from Porto Rico to the Philippines and from Panama to Alaska. Our commercial interests have developed to such

The Federal laws governing the militia are published in Appendix 1.

an extent that our products are consumed by every nation of the world.

The Monroe doctrine has been strengthened and enlarged. We have assumed a protectorate over Cuba; we have guaranteed in perpetuity the integrity of the Republic of Panama; we have become leaders in world diplomacy. Consciously or unconsciously, therefore, we are one of the great world powers, with all of the obligations and responsibilities, as well as the dangers, which such power brings.

On the east are powerful nations with great armies and navies; on the west an already awakened Japanese nation, forging rapidly ahead in commercial power, and an awakening Chinese nation, which may eclipse all modern civilized countries.

The ocean, once a barrier, is now, with modern steamships, a broad and easy highway for the use of all.

Our small standing Army is scattered widely over our vast domains, leaving only a handful of soldiers for our own defense.

With our present complex relations, territorial, commercial, political, and diplomatic, it is not surprising that military students view present conditions with grave alarm. The question is constantly uppermost in their minds, What shall be our national defense? What shall be our military policy?

Turning back more than a century to the very foundation of our Government, we there find clearly marked out, with what seems to have been almost a prophetic eye, the real source of our military strength, the courage and patriotism of our people. Our Constitution therefore indicated two forms of military force a national army, either regular or volunteer, and the militia. Apparently it was never contemplated that our Regular Army should be materially larger than was necessary for peace purposes and to form the advance forces in case of war. It is clear that the stress of war must fall upon the citizen who in time of peace devotes himself to the ordinary vocations of life. This is inevitable in a nation founded upon the principles of perfect political freedom. The perpetuity of our institutions and the maintenance of our principles properly fall upon those who enjoy the blessings of them. The important question therefore arises, how shall we prepare these citizens to meet the emergencies which any day may bring forth?

If the citizen soldier is to be used in war service he must be trained or else we must face the frightful loss of life due to imperfect training in the early stages of war. Economy as well as humanity, therefore, demand that this training should be accomplished in time of peace.

The old militia system, which required every able-bodied citizen, with few exceptions, to arm himself and to appear at an annual muster, proved a failure. In the course of time, however, well-defined volunteer organizations have been evolved out of this system, which are now known as the National Guard. The National Guard furnished almost the entire first call of 125,000 volunteers for the SpanishAmerican War. The experiences of this war disclosed evident defects, the most important of which were that they had not been trained especially for war service, and there was a lack of uniformity in organizations, arms, and discipline. Since that time new national legislation has been enacted, which has resulted in bringing about the needed changes.