St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-06-01
TILE MILITIA WAR.

In our local military circles there seems
to be a disposition to open to debate the old
question (Which is the mightier the pen or
the sword?" It must be conceded that if
the prominent officers Of military rank in
the service of the state can use the sword
with the same dexterity and incisive effect
as they WELD the pen, our citizens can con-
graduate themselves that the safety of the
state will never be jeopardized as long as
we preserve our present military organiza
ton We publish this morning the reply Of
Adju ant General MACCARTHY to Col.
BENDS letter. which appeared in Sun
DAYS GLOBE. The correspondence has
developed all that is in the matter until
Gov. HUBBARD returns. who will prob
ably be called upon to act as
umpire in deciding the differences
of opinion betwSn the commanding
officer of the First regiment of the National
guard and the adjutant general of the state
relative to the matter of precedence. To
an ordinary observer who is unfamiliar
with the technicalities of the military code
it looks as if both of these officers were
right and both of them wrong. Each one is
right in being jealous of the honor and dig
nifty of his respective station. AS long as
there is National guard and the First reg
iment is part of it Col. BEND is perfectly
justifiable in asserting for his command all
the rights to which it is entitled. If he did
not do so he would be unworthy the conf
dence of his regiment. On the other hand
it is the duty of the adjutant general, as the
principal military officer of the state, to be
equally jealous of the rights and dignities
of the commonwealth. In the discharge of
these duties both Col. BEND and Gen. MAC
CARTHY are to be commended for the quick
appreciation displayed by them of the respon-
sibility attaching to their positions. From
an interview with an eX-army officer pub
lished in this mornings GLOBE, the infer
ence is that so far as authority goes Col.
BEND has had the advantage in defending
his position as to the precedence the infan-
try were entitled to. 1t is, however, doubt
full whether he had right as a soldier to
question the authority of the war depart
mant OF the state as presented to him
through the medium of Gen. MACCARrHY,
who, as adjutant general, is the head of the
department in the absence of the comman-
der-in-chief.
But where both of these officials erred
was in squabbling over such small matter
on such great occasion. Paying honor to
the memory of our dead soldiers is of more
consequence than any question of prec-
edence that could be raised in the matter of
forming parade. 1t should be the pride
of any living soldier to contribute In any
capacity his share of respect to the memory
of heroes who fell fighting in their coun-
try's service. When Col. BEND had en-
tered his protest to the indignity which he
imagined had been offered to his command
and that protest had been oyerruled, or
even ignored, he had the satisfaction of
knowing that he had discharged his duty
to his regiment. and, without danger Of
compromising either himself OF his regi-
ment, could have proceeded to march his
command in the procession at whatever
point in the line he could have found a