When told that much speculation is in the air in regard to Mr. Coolidge’s decision to reduce National Guard pay for officers and men, Captain St. Julien Springs of the local unit remarked: “It might affect this branch of the Armed Forces only in the case of a man who became a member of the National Guard just simply to be paid in money for his services. This effect can only be applied for the term of this man’s enlistment. There are a number of men among the old as well as the new members of the National Guard who for patriotic and educational reasons joined and who will not be influenced by the reduction in pay.
“I am of the opinion that this branch of the Nations’s Armed Forces can render the quickest service to the Nation in case of internal uprising or conflicts, because the units are so well distributed in the states. North Carolina, for instance, has an organization placed so that an emergency anywhere within the borders of the state can be reached quickly. National Guard units are subject to call at any time during day or night and nowhere throughout the whole Nation is its influence lacking. If our National Government maintains an organized body of Regulars distributed throughout the nation so it could render the same amount of protection as the National Guard, you can imagine what a tremendous cost it would be to the Government. So then, the $1,300,000 allowed by Congress for maintenance of the National Guard, is a small amount in comparison, and I predict that Mr. Coolidge will rescind his order and permit the full pay the officers and men are entitled to receive for their service.
From the front page of the Smithfield Herald, Wednesday morning, April 1, 1925
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073982/1925-04-01/ed-1/seq-1/#words=APRIL+1%2C+1925
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