New-York tribune., 1886-07-17
,fp pOUDERLY ON TIE MILITIA.

According TO the Constitution OF tile United
States wel-regulated militia Is necessary 10
tbe security of free State But Master Woik-
man Powde1ly does not appear to hold this doc
triue. In his address to the Eastern Green
Glass Bottle Blowers Association, at Atlantic
CITY. he denounced the militia and held them up
to odiun and contempt. He said of them that
"when workingmcn demand their rights with
"Out violence these men are called up to stand
"as menace to them. They stand Us barrier
between labor and capital. Where
Labor has had room and time to assert itself
" that array of bayonets has stood between la
"borers and their rights" Now this is the
most objectionable dcmagogism, and Mr. Pow
derly ought to be ashamed of himself for hav-
ing uttered such mischicvOus nonsense. There
is no truth in his statements. 1t is emphatic
ally untrue that the militia have ever stood " be-
tween labOrers and their rights" 1t Is cmphar
ically untrue that the militia have ever been
called out "when wOrkingmen demand their
rights without violence And no one knows
better than Mr. Powderly himself that these
statements are untrue.
The militia have never been called upon save
to maintain law and order against violence and
vond the capacity of the police to put down.
As rule, so reluctant are the authorities Ill
this country to employ harsh measures, that the
public safety has been seriously menaced DelOle
recourse has been had to the State troops. AT
the Southwest this spring the local authorities
had been defied openly for days, private prop
eity had been destroyed wantonly and anarchy
was in full blast before the militia were called
on. But the facts are notorious that 1t would
be absurd to treat Mr. POwdeIly's Wild statt-
ments seriously, did not his position enable
him to lead many ignoIant men astray by mis-
representation The truth is that the militia
are simply the American people, organized and
disciplined for the common defence and protec-
tion They are not, and i'll the nature OF Amer
lean institutions they cannot be, the enemies ol
any bat such as are Themselves hostile to the
Republic and to law and order.
Mr. Powderly is assuming very impludent
tone. He talks as if he believed that the work
ingmcn whom he officially represents were Ill
some wav.at enmty with the mass OF the
American people That is not only foolish,
but wicked No such enmity exists nor can
exist. The workingmen are either American
citizens. in which case they stand on level
with all the rest of their countiymen, or they
are foreigners, in which case the best thing
they can do is to become citizens In eithe
case all their interests require that they should
obey and support the laws of the State and ma
ton, and nothing warrant them III hos
tility % the institutions which insure them
freedom and opportunity to improve their con-
| dition. Nor has any class a more direct inter
est in the maintenance of the militia, for with
.ln f.ln MT
might periodically palalyze industry and com
merce, and Mexicanize the country, with the
immediate result of throwing Labor out OF en-
ploymcnt and stopping the circulation of wages
Mr.. Powdelly should be careful how he teaches
un-Ame1ican doctrines to the Knights OF Labor
The American people know too well the value
and necessity of a well-regulated militia ever
to dispense with it, and they will not look with
approval upon leaders of labor who attempt to
breed bad feeling among their followers Ill this
matter