New York State Adjutant General's Office Documents Relating to Proposed Amendments of Military Law

In early 1908 the Militia Law, Article 2 "National Guard" was amended in order to bring it into full conformity with federal law. That caused considerable dissatisfaction and as a result two bills were introduced in the Legislature to further amend the Militia Law. The first bill was drafted by the Temporary Legislative Commission to Investigate the Condition of the National Guard of the State of New York, established in May 1907. The second bill was prepared by the National Guard Association of New York, a private organization. A legislative hearing on the bills was held on March 24, 1908. Comments on the bills were received, prepared, and compiled by the Office of the Adjutant General. The entire Militia Law, or "Military Law" as it was now titled, was reeanacted later in 1908. The amendments to Article 2 passed early in the year were repealed. The recodified Military Law was incorporated in the Consolidated Laws of 1909, Chapter 36.

This series consists of one volume of detailed comments on and comparisons of two bills presented to the State Legislature for the purpose of amending the New York State Militia Law. The volume also contains copies of correspondence with the U.S. War Department concerning the amendments. At the end of the volume are extracts from or summaries of other New York State and federal statutes and directives relating to state military organizations; and a detailed description of the legally authorized allocation of officers and enlisted men in organizations of the New York National Guard, as of 1908. Those organizations included not only infantry, but also the coast artillery, cavalry, signal corps, and hospital corps.

This volume was transferred to the State Archives by the Division of Military and Naval Affairs circa 1983.

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