life. This would bring about the nearest possible approach to a personal bond between the officer and the enlisted man, without which no National Guard Command can be wholly efficient. With this help and a common understanding along strictly military lines, each enlisted member can eventually be depended upon to seek new recruits on his own initiative, a very necessary preliminary to the completion of the personnel of any command.

By the closest possible approach to a personal bond, is not meant personal friendship, or a chummy attitude between officers and men.

In fact, that would have a very negative result, far more harmful than beneficial. We enlisted men do not care to associate socially with our officers, any more than they care to associate socially with us, but we do want that undefinable spirit to exist which by its very intensity inspires confidence, and which is sadly lacking in many commands.

To get the fullest confidence of a recruit the Commanding Officer should deport himself strictly as a soldier, but

he should also keep an eye on the personal welfare and comfort of the man. He should know each man personally, and he should let each man know that he is being watched over carefully. In short, being taken care of.

Right here is where so many officers fall short of their possibilities and their duty. And when an officer lacks the respect of his men, his command suffers in exact proportion. Friendliness is not respect, and neither is respect dependent upon personal acquaintance outside the Armory. For when we enlisted men speak of an officer as being a "fine fellow" we place his personality ahead of his soldiering qualities, and the latter suffers in consequence, which is shown by the slack discipline, and the lack of snap and ginger appearing now and then in the ranks, and which like all other roads of least resistance soon becomes top heavy and presently completely over balances the military side, with the inevitable result of a poor company of soldiers, and a fine group of good fellows.

Field Artillery in practice, rushing into position to open fire on the enemy.

This relation between officers and men is, however, not the chief difficulty with which guardsmen have to contend. The principal problem is the securing of new recruits. The enlisting of men who expect to serve in the ranks and who look no higher perhaps than to become good non-commissioned officers.

This difficulty would be greatly relieved if some such recruiting propaganda or plan were employed as the following.

To some men patriotic arguments appeal more strongly than anything else. If he is the son of a Veteran of our Civil War, the brother of a Spanish War veteran, or a naturalized citizen, raised in Europe, love of the nation frequently overbalances all other objections, and an argument along patriotic lines will secure an enthusiastic recruit.

It is passing strange how many young men know nothing of the National Guard. Its purpose, organization and mode of conduct. Evil tidings always seem to gain credence while truthful accounts are shoved into the limbo of the past and quickly forgot

ten. So it is with the National Guard.

During a somewhat varied career of upwards of ten years as an enlisted man in the guard, I have had great occasion to observe the attitude of young men with regard to the service, and in a vast majority of cases the negative attitude was uppermost in their minds. They had to be educated along many lines, first, before they would even consider an enlistment and all of this required time, printed matter and much persuasion. It appears easier, at times, to sell a man a policy of life insurance which he does not want than to cause him to enlist in the Guard. His prejudices are frequently stronger against the Guard than against the insurance. Some prejudice must therefore be overcome by patriotic appeal, before the next step is taken, which leads more directly to the enlistment and the personal benefits to be derived therefrom.

Right here is a strange analogy, the most stubborn cases to persuade very frequently made the best soldiers after they are once enlisted, provided, of course, that the company has an efficient commander. The Captain is

The most successful attack of the day in the practice maneuvers -satisfying hunger.

Unpacking camp cases.

receiving an order their ego springs in the negative attitude, and it is with involuntary reluctance and sluggishness that they do obey the orders which come up in their daily lives. To these the idea of military discipline is a haven, for they know that in military life they must obey, quickly, promptly and without question, and they hope that such training will relieve them of the forced obeying of the day. This is quite true since the military mind is so receptive when they are in uniform that it catches and retains the "will to obey" far more easily than does the business mind.

Contrariwise there are numbers of possible recruits whose egos will permit of no dictation. They obey the mandates of the business world simply because by so doing they are assured of their livelihood, and while obeying outwardly they are disobeying inwardly. To this class the appeal of the military training is very repugnant, and has a tendency to keep large numbers of otherwise good soldiers out of the ranks. Experience has taught the wise recruiting officer or man to steer a wide path away from the suggestion of training when he approached one of this sort for an enlistment. Unless he does neglect to talk training, he may as well go on the great traverse, for he'll never land the prospect, no matter how he may view the service from the other angles. Obedience is the rock upon which many a prospect is lost, and perhaps it is just. as well, for no command wants insubordination in its ranks.

Frequently it is said that the art of shooting with the rifle is inborn with the average American male. That is reasonably close to the truth, for practically all prospects have the desire in them to shoot; therefore they will listen attentively to the argument that in the Guard they will have an opportunity to try their skill with the Springfield. A little subtle flattery, here, well placed, will frequently act as the closing argument with your man. For every American seems to think that he can shoot straight; that is, he thinks so until he gets on the range with the Springfield, when he frequently makes the interesting discovery that the rifle kicks like a mule, and the bullet is about the size of the point of his little finger, and has a pernicious habit of missing the target.

While extolling the delights of the target range it is well to refer to the annual State encampment. Those encampments appeal to the primitive in all of us. We like to picture ourselves as maneuvering among the grass out on scout duty and the like, and it is perhaps the strongest recruiting argument, which is borne out by the fact that recruits come easier just before encampment time. It is the appeal of nature, the call of the great outdoors, especially to the city man, and should be used a great deal stronger on the recruit idea than it is.

Securing recruits is really scarcely less than selling them the Guard service. Therefore, it should be approached in much the same attitude.