Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-05-07
The Need Of an Es:ien. Militia.

From Harpers Magazine, Tor May
Of course the primary object to each State
in sustaining its guard is the possession OF
power by which its laws may be enforced
social order maintained, and the safety and
prosperity of the commonwealth assured
against the sudden violence of popular fac
tons Mobs, riots and Instructions have
always, in every age and nation, ut times de-
fed government, and under Republican
form, where the citizens enjoy the greatest
liberty. they are the most frequent and dan
gerOus The terrible shock which the coun-
try received from the labor riots Of 1877,
which cost us doubtless over $50, ,OOO, 900 by
the complete paralysis of business in all the
departments of industry for the time they
lasted. and the feeling of insecurity which
followed, to say nothing of the millions actu-
ally destroyed, is too recent and too deeply
impressed on our minds to require reference
10 historical incidents. At such time the
Executive must have at his command Il force
capable of asserting and maintaining his aii-
thori'y instantly and uncquivocally- The
wisdom and craftsmanship of New York in
preparn for such Il trial at her leisure were
triumphantly approved by the result. Al
though the tecmiug slums of her metropolis
were in fcrmcnt and her great arteries OF
trade throbbirg with excitement, she was
able To take the insurrectiun by the throat,
with no thought of crying TO the President
for help and in three DAYS, without the de-
struction of property, and with the loss OF
hui single life, To suppress an uprising
which cost the people OF Pennsylvania more
than 100 lives and So, ,000, 900 worth of prop
eriy destroyed. For such an emergency he
military force is essential and that its action
may b. prompt and eifectnal, its organ =
zatlou should exist wherever the danger
threatens. under the immediate command of
the chief civil authority of the State. The
city population of the country had already in
1870 increased to 20? per cent of the whole
from the 80 per cent at which it stood in
1880
In case ot "A foreign war, which almost al
WAYS involves nation suddenly, and gencr-
ally UNEXPECTEDLY. the national guard is now
our only means of providing temporary de-
fence until an army can he enlisted, organized
aud instructed. Our legislators seem 10
ignore the fact that railroads, steamships,
tclcgraphs, and science have revolutionizei
modern warfare no less than they have nanu-
GaCturCs commerce and civilization. There
can lie no more Thirty years wars. Tie
possibilities of rapjl concentration, with the
whole world for Il base of supply, ami the
terribly destructive inventions ot the last lew
wears, have placed in the control of the ma
ton which is best prepared 10 utilize
them, which has officers and men trained, |
skilful and disciplined, an almost invincihle
power, before which numbers and tine or
dinary elements Of national strength may he
swept away like chaif There is no lodScr ,
time now for gathering and organizing after
the storm shall burst upon cur COASTS; not /
even the Atlantic is bread enough To afford /
us opportunity 10 prepare successful resist /.
anoc Ia military power II an ctllcitui ma
tiunal guard was necessary in the time oi .
Jefferson. or when the British ravaEcd our |
cuisls. and ., 400 OF them destroyed our CAPT /.
tai, il is Il Thousand times more so today, /
and the need grows more pressing each |
year.