Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-08-18
olamorIng Coz q s.analns army.

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CIamOring for Standing Army
Knoxville Tribune.
Moralists and political philoso
pliers find, just now, fine opportu
nifty for the exercise of their gift
and the qualification of their tastes
The great strike is suggestive of in
Vulnerable lessons" !" and it is quite
manifest already that the American
people will not be left untaught
through lack of public teachers
There is one "lesson," however, now
sought to be inculcated by a noisy
sort of interested politicians, that the
strike does not teach and that does
not deserve to be learned by any
body. We refer, of course, to the
demand now conspicuously made
by Republican journals of the old
Grant school, for the immediate
raising and maintenance of an inn
mense standing army. As we sta
ted the other day, the preteXt for
any such demand is the assumed
inability of the militia to enforce
! obedience to law, as illustrated i'm
| the inefficient service rendered by
militia-men at Pittsburgh and else
where. The New York Graphic,
pointing to the law1essness that has
recently prevailed in the Northern
States, clamOrs for a standing army
of at least one hundred thousand
regulars. 1t assigns the following
statistics as furnishing a reason for
its demand: .i. a...
"The total available militia force of the
United States today 70 quell any further
extension of the railway riots, Is given In
Men.
New York, six divisions i2j
Connecticut, one brigade rs
Massachusetts,. two brfl1tdes...... 1858
Vermont, regiment and battery .............. $40
New Hampshire, regiment and battery, 750
Total
Pennsylvania was supposed TO possess o.
900 men before last week, which showed the
rottenness of her militia system. Her avail
able force to-day is inside of $50 men, while
that Of Maryland is only two regiments, or
less than 500 men, already fully worked. OF
the Western States, Illinois, Indiana and
Michigan have passed militia laws within n
year, but have not five regiments between
them of reliable troops, Virginia has one
regiment at Richmond Tie rest OF the
country is utterly defenseless till we reach
California, which has two brigades, in num-
Der aggregating 1900 men. This is theactual
total of the dispOsable force of the Union,
outside of the regular army" tf,
Commenting on this showing by
the Graphic, the Courier-J ournal
very fifty says "NOw, instead of
urging an increase of the National
army, it is perfectly evident that
should every State proceed at once
toorganize it's militia, as i'm the States
named by the Graphic, there will
not be a particle of necessity to work
up an imperial army of regulars. In
fact, the American people will en-
dOrse no journal which advocates
such measure. They don't want
a large standing army, for obvious
and historic reasons. There is every
evidence, however, that the States
are realizing the necessity of perfect
ing their militia systems, and if the
idea is carried out the strike will
have performed one good office, GER
tainly. There is no reason why
Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Mis-
souri,, and other deficient States,
should not have as well seasoned
soldiers, ready for every emergency,
as New York or Massachusetts. At
present that seems to be the notion
in Kentucky, and weshall doubtless
soon have an efficient militia force"
Manifestly, the urier-Journals
''lesson" is the true one as regards !
the special subject under considera-
ton. Though its reserved guaran-
tees of popular liberty have been SO |
long disregarded by our National |
rulers that it has well nigh been con- |
signed to oblivion as an obsolete |
chapter of political literature, our |
ancient Bill of Rights possesses to-
day the full measure of its early vir- |
tue. 1t declares: "That the sure |
and certain defense of a free people |
is a well regulated militia; and, us
StaRdiRg armies, Gi time Of peace, are |
dangerous to. freedom, they ought to |
be avoided, as far as the circumstan- |
ces and safety of the community |
will admit and that in all cases the |
shall be in strict subOrdin- !
alton to the civil authority" This |
embraces one Of the fun |
damental ideas of our republican |
The men who formu- |
lated it had realized the dangers of |
a standing army, and had reason to
know that it was necessarily n per- |
petual menace to the liberties of a
free people. The sooner we get back 1
to some of the basis doctrines of the
the better for the present |
and coming generations. The sug-
gestiOn of our Louisville contempo-
rary is timely one. The times are
full of admonitiOn that each State 4
should take steps at the earliest day
for the organization Of a
sufficient militia force for any emer-
gency rendered probably by expert
ence. There may be no reason to /
that thepresent Congress
will unduly increase the regular
army. Possibly a moderate increase
may become desirable, but it should
not be made with any view to its
use as a national police force.
Two years ago, under the inspira-
ton of the approaching Centennial
era, the military spirit of our young
displayed itself very
conspicuously. Volunteer compa-
nies enough to constitute twoor three
regiments sprung into organization
and a number Of them became pro-
ficient In the drill of the soldier.
How many of these companies still
maintain their organization we do
not know, and we trust we will not
soon have any occasion requiring
the Adjutant General to ascertain
how many of the gallant Centennial
are ready for duty. Mere
volunteer military organizations are
well enough for parade purposes,
but, for all practicable uses, such
bodies need to be raised by special
law, and so organized as to be sub
ect at all times, and ready to re-
spond, to the call of the Governor,
acting within his constitutional au-
thoritY, The statistics relied on by
the Graphic, in support of its de
mand for a large standing army,
furnish "less0n" that not only
but every other Southern
State ought to study.
u Would Be Fatal,
The peril to constitutional gov
eminent, of large increase in the
regular army is obvious. Such an
increase would be another danger