Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1886-02-26
" Does it Pay!"


the last meeting of the Capital
Guard, when it disbanded February
9th. contains the following sentence:
" That as citizens of this Territory
we rcaret that our Legislature, in
wisdom, was unable to realize
that our Territory has reached that
state Of civilization and progress
where capital demands the protection
of militia" etc.
1t was to be presumed that we
would be taken to task for daring so
to reflect upon the wisdom of the
Legislature, but by events our pre-
sumption was turned into history
within twentyfour hours. 1t is not,
and ought not to be a very pleasant
thought to those members of the
lower house of the last Legislature,
who secured the defeat of all bills for
the organization of q militia force,
but it is nevertheless true, that at
least some Of the blame for all riots
and damage by riots during the
next two years rests upon them.
And it may be hero said that the
lives lost and the property actually
destroyed represents but a small part
of the real damage done by a riot.
But it may be said, militia would
not prevent riot, and that we have
a militia at Seattle. deny both
propositions. If man says that he
will go out upon the street and up
hold the peace, does that clothe him
with the authority of law? Certain
ly not; and neither do those young
men OF Seattle, by huyine themselves
uniforms and borrowing rifles, be-
como vested with the powers of real
militia or the authority of law.
They may become vested with sort
of indefinite authority by being (after
it is too late to play the part of real
militia) sworn in as deputy sheriffs;
but discipline, that discipline of the
mind that makes soldiers invincible,
does not and cannot exist where
each man in the company has it with
in his power to think and act for
himself. Under our present system
each man is law unto himself.
Whether a good militia will pre-
vent riots or not, we have but to
look around us and to reason: sup
pose tha: we had within the limits of
our Territory 500 soldiers, of as eff
cient and reliable grade as the best
United States troops, and located in
small companies in all the large
towns of the Territory, and so Or
ganized that at the military call of
the fre-bell they would assemble
and be as one man in the hands of
their officers and under the direction
of the civil officers, would riots as
semble then? Let us reason: A
few years ago, Gen. Hawley, of
Connecticut, while on the floor of
Congress, objecting TO the enlarge
ment of the standing army, said that
Connecticut had two thousand troops
in it's militia, as good as any in the
service of the United States. ]
think any one who knows anything
of that militia will agree with him.
And what has been the result?
In tho State of Connecticut, with
its six hundred thousand people,
and with Us vicious class as
to be found anywhere, there has not
been n riot whero life was taken or
property destroyed for twenty years.
To be sure they paid nearly $50, 900
for their last encampment of about
three thousand men, but does it not
pay? Capital is safe there and it
knows it, and speak that whereof I
know, when 1 say capital had rather
stay there and get four and five per
cent. per annum than TO come here
and get from ten to fifteen per cent.
Let the intelligent reader for himself
say what would be the depreciation
in value of the city property OF that
State, if the militia should be dis
banded, but let no reader place it
below the millions.
Is it any wonder that we have hard
times and that poor people suffer?
We do not guarantee to the Eastern
manufacturer the protection that he
depends upon at home, and there
fore keep capital away, and where
capital is timid the laborer will
starve.
Five hundred such militia as those
referred to above, and at the cost to
the Territory of about twenty-five
dollars each would make this Terri
tory, if not the " land of steady hab-
its" q land of law and order.
AS to the comparative merit of the
bill presented to the Legislature, we
will not discuss that now. Nothing
is perfect, and the bill probably had
its faults. 1 have only heard two
objections, urging that it was too
long ard that it implied too large
an expense TO the Territory. As to
the first, it is sufficient to say that q
good militia is not to be found that