The Washington bee., 1888-10-20

u. A. FLEETWOOD.
(which was caUiare to the Gen.
eral."
From the beginning of the or
ganization of the District Militia,
the BEE has steadily opposed the
course of Its present head and only
ceased its opposition at the request
of the very men General Ordway
has now insulted. There is no
use in any colored officer attempt.
ing to disguise the fact that the
failure of Gen'l Ordway to invite
any one of them to the opening
of the headquarters was palpa-
BILE insult. His statement that
this was a personal social affair, is
either very paltry subterfuge or
else he has placed himself in a
very awkward position. The
invitations issued read as follows:
General Ordway requests the
pleasure of your attendance at the
''opening" of Headquarters of the
National Guard of the District of
Columbia, Wednesday, Oct. ;, 'ss,
8 to 10 o'clock p, m. 18th ST..
and Penn. ave.
Undress uniform, DithoM sUord or
beH'
The italics are ours. Now we
ask, eau any sane person under
stand how the opening of the
Headquarters of the National Guard
of the District of Columbia Mill
tia, can be personal social affair of
the Commanding General? IF it
were such, by what right did he
order his subordinate officers to
attend in uniform? Is it the GUS
tom for the host to dictate as to
the style of dress to be worn by
his guests? 1t won't do, General.
But this is not all. These invita-,
tions were forwarded by mail
undercover ofthe "Penalty Envel-
opes" of the government, on every
one of which is printed a notifica-
tion that any one using them to
avoid the payment of postage on
private matter of any kind, will be
subject to a fine of three hundred
dollars,
Now if this was a personal
social affair like "any other private
dinner or supper" as the General
says it was, he has violated his
oath of office and the laws of the
United States and should be dealt
with accordingly, i. e., removed
from his position as the head OF
the Militia of the District of Co.
lumbia and fined three hundred
dollars for using penalty envelopes
for private purposes.
If the affair was as published
for the opening of headquarters,
and for which he had right to
use the penalty envelopes, he has
attempted to shield himself be-
hind a cowardly falsehood. In
either case he is disqualified for
the position he occupies and
should be dismissed at once.
The members of the National
Rifles put proper estimate upon
the man and through their friends
in Congress have succeeded in
preventing the passage OF a Militia
Bill. We are deeply interested
in the success of the Militia of the
District and because this is so, We
shall use every honorable means
In our power from this day forth,
against any organization of the
same until Gen'l Ordway is out of
it. We believe him to be a STUN
bling block to the advancement of
the Militia organizations and
believe that the ends of justice
will be best served if the Presi-
dent and adjutant General will
revoke his commission and ap-
point in his stead gentleman and
a soldier
We a1e pleased to learn that
not an officer of the 9Th Battalion
was present at the Headquarters
of the (white) District Militia on
Wednesday night last to attend
the school. We are sorry to learn
that the officers of the 9TH Bat.
talon did not follow the example
of those of the 9th and remain
away also.
This is question in which all
colored officers are interested and
they should all act III the same
dignifed manner and thus show
that they resent the insult offered
them by this man who is too
small to be great. The colored