The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1874-10-03

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Constitution has been furnished by
Governor Moses and Attorney a snerai
Williams. Mosee made application 10
the President. on Friday, for troops
to suppress. domestic VIOLENCE in tie
town Of EdgeAeld. The Attorney.
General replied on Saturday, inform.
Ing him that ono company wns already
there. and was deemed sufficient. The
grotesqne absnrdity of confersing that
the Whole militia of South Carolina is
Incompetent to cope with u loo i dis
tnrbaHcc. which single company Of
Federal soldiers suffices to bold in awe,
needs NO words to set it forth. l. is u
bnrlesqne on that part of the Consti-
tuition which declares 'hat "a we'll regu.
lated militia being necessary to the
security of free State, The riehr of
the people to keep aud bear arms shall
mol be iu!ringed." Tho South Caro-
itun mi itia atfords wonderful "srco.
rlty" to that ''fre g Stnte," when it. is
c0ufessedly Ut equal to an exigeucr
for which one Company of tue regular
armyl amplei But this correspond
enco has its sad ns well us it's ridiculous
side. It is shame and scandal thuy
an Amnrican State is orgun'z"d on so
false aud unsafe busis that n petty
local enaeute threatens 10 topple it into
ruins. Moses gave as his reasou for
applying for Federal troops, that II
am powerless to enforce my orders ex.
cept by the use Of the inexperienced
State mltltia"-a confession that the
negro militia il utterly worthless in Il
State where the negroes outnumber the
whites IN the proportion OF nearly two
to one. BY tn. last census, the white
population Of South Caro!ina WAS only
2S9. 667, and the negro population was
4l5,8l4. And yet Moses qnivers with
fear, and fclcgruphs TO Washington for
| aid against q small local disturbance in
d rural town!
We should be slow TO cast upon him
tho imputatiou of cowardlco His es-
timale of the value OF his negro militia
is probably correct. Nor Is it ut all
surprising that a militia composed Of
e1.slaves is worthless array of or
ganlzed imbecility. They huve never
been accustomed to the use of arms.
They are oowed by their conscious lu-
ferlorily to their white ow.citizens,
almost every man of whom is veteran
soldier. trained in the rough school of
war. The negroes have ths military
qualities of an army of sheep called to
contront small number OF lions
Negro soldiers behaved we'll enough In
the WAR, because they were veil drllled
before .aey were put into battle. and
fought i'll injunction with supporting
white troops, who inspired them with
confidence. But raw and undici
pined negro m,Iitin, suddenly called
To oppose war-scarrsd white veterans,
Without white regiments on their right
aud left, and supporting white force
IN their rear, are little better than nn
army of sheep. 1t is uot cowardloe,
but sagacity. which forblds Governor
Moses TO place the slightest reliance on
them "A similar perception Of their
utter worthlessness caused Kellogg to
act what seemed the part of u poltroun
III tue recent uprising In Louisiana.
DE made the Instructive confession
that lis Governmeut cunnot stand
day without + derhl propping. When
our fathers declared that IL well regu-
lated militia is the proper security of IL
free State. they did not intend to make
either themselves or the militia ridlcu-
lOus They had strong faith in what
Wv 'V"1a "tVL hhCJ ulAo0 tblh oSCtht IL
tlou part Of the Consultation. They
lnteudea to bear their emphatic testl-
mony to the sell-su=taiuing power Of
State Governments which are remlly
republican,.
BY the theory of republican institn.
tons they express the will of IA mn.
jorlty Of the citizens. They Imply
that every man who casts IL vote Is Gu
tltlod to carry IL nusket, and that the
prepondsrunco OF physical strength
goes With majority OF tho voters.
Surprising this To be the cnse, tho oc
cusious must be rare indeed when the
government Of IA State Gun need any
outside assistance III enforcing ObedI-
enco to its authority. Aud, IN point
of tact, there has never been, in the
whole period Of our history, un insur-
reciiuh aguiust Stute government
which was not promptly suppressed by
the State itself, until the reconstructed
governm. nts Of the South were or
ganlzed since the wur. The nearest
upproach to Federal lnterference was
III the Dorr rebellion in Rhode Island;
but, us Gov. Seward said in his next
message to our Legislature after the
overthrow Of Dorr: 1.-The people of
Rhode Island nobly sustained their 60
vernment without the aid tAey had
right to expect from the Federal Ex-