Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-05-25
AGAINST GEN. ORDwAY.
Charges Preferred by the knights of Labor
to the Secretary of War.

to the Secretary of War.
TAKEN 20 TASK FOR HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO THE
oFFIcERs OF THE NATIONAL GuARD-wHAr Is
CHARGED
This morning a committee composed OF
Messrs. Paul r. Bowen. L. p. Wild and T.. W.
Hambleton, representing District Assembly No.
c. Knights of Labor called upon the Secretary
of War and presented to him charges against
Brigadier Gen. Albert Ordway. commanding
the National Guard of the District of Columbia.
The Secretary informed tine committee that he
would give his personal attention to the charges
and in case he found that they involved mat
tiers not in his Jurisdiction would forward them
to the President.
TIE CHARGES.
The full text of the charges is as follows:
This assembly is composed of delegates from
labor organizations of this city follows:
Plasterers carr enters. painters. timers, bakers
tailors. butchers. engineers. machinists, bar
bers plate printers. drivers, paper hangers.
molders, carriage makers, musiclan3. clerks
and five local assemblies with miscellaneous
membership
By direction of this district assembly we
charge that Gen. Albert Ordway of the District
National Guard in a lecture TO the officers OF
said guard. delivered the 4th instant. as re-
ported in The EVENING STAR of the 9Th instant,
a copv of which is incIoSed herewith. used lam
g,lage that was reasonable and incendiary and
calculated to create in the minds of the militia
officers a sense of their superiority to the law.
an excessive fear Of the dangers TO be encoun-
tered in the line of their duty and a bitter
hatred and bloodtbirsty vindictiveness toward
such people as they may be called upon to re-
strain in the interest OF peace and good order.
We charge that when he abandoned the
field of instructions in the proper military tao
tics to be used IN the suppression OF civil dis
order, to elueidate, compare and condemn
social, political and economic doctrines, he ex-
eeeded his proper function
We recognize the propriety of instructing the
militia as to their relations to the civil powers.
but we assert that they should be taught their
responsibilities to the law and not their indie
pendeuce of it. We charge Gen. Ordway with
reasonable utterances when he denied that the
law from its exalted throne judges both its as
sailants and its defenders and declared that
''the impression is TOO general and has been TOO
long uncontradicted" that military officer Is
responsible TO civil military courts for the
manner in which he performs his duties. and
that 10 admit such doctrine would paralyZe
the efficiency Of the military force and make all
their efforts weak and vaeilating-"
That to which Gen Ordway cannot agree"
and which he ventures to contradict' has
been general impression" long uncOntra-
dicted because 1t Is the law and the only law
Ill6I cOUlu De IOltTaItO DIV "a people, zen.
Ordway has given perverted and false instruc-
ton IN military law 10 his subordinate officers
and shown himself thereby TO be unit for his
position
We further charge that Gen. Ordway. in de-
picting country ''overrun with hundreds OF
thousands OF the most criminal and ignorant
Glasses o: Europe, in whose wake ''cOme the
professional agitators. who may be called the
pimps of the professional leaders," but who
have had a military education and ''expe-
If they ever have occasion to meet these men"
they viii be found no tyros in the art of Wal
and a match for the best intelligence that we can
bring to bear against them. /" has done what he
could TO excite alarm and panic where GOODNESS
and courage should prevail and to precipitate
the catastrophes in the shape of shooting
women, children, spectators and passers-bv,
which so often characterize the action of timid
and panie-stricken militia. We assert that the
picture Is almost wholly fanciful. and, so far as
this community Is concerned. is absolutely So
That it is 80 generally may be inferred from
the fact that IL Fourmies. France. where des-
perate and martial rioters might be supposed
10 abound If anywhere. the collision between
the troops and rioters" on Nav resulted in
the death of two score people. of whom eight
were women. six were children and the rest
were wage workers. THE lambs attacked the
wolves again.
We charge Gen. Ordway with unjus. dis
elimination IN the discussion of the characters
internal disorder" be should not have singled
out labor organizations. socialists and anarchists
Tor sole comment. What are the duties of the
militia when a mob led by lawyers. doctors and
policemen, after two DAYS advertisement of
their intentions. breaks in a iaii takes from
the custody of the law and murders eleven
helpless people? Is it the duty of the militia to
disappear with the mayor and governor! What
should soldiers do when a soldier mob at Walia
Malla breaks into Jail and kills a man?
IN Ia sNTfw rT1S
Plnkerton detectives invade a state with muir
derous INTENT What shall the militia do when
Two men, as IN Connecticut. or three as in
Nebraska, backed by their respective adhe-
rents, insist on being governors? What shall
the militia do when fraud. bribery. intimlda-
ton. violence and false counting return a false
result at elections and the real majority refuse
10 submit These are more important and
more imminent questions than the dangers
from Industrial demonstrations
These are internal disorders worth talking
about. but Gen. Ordway seems not to know
mat the militia has any concern with them.
We charge that Gen. Ordway gave a false and
malicious representation of the character of
labor organizations, and adroitly and with
purpose wove them in with his illusions to
professional rioters" and organizations with
unpopular names to convince the militia that
there are no differences between them. His
summing up IL that 'any mob which has been
organized under the plea of wrongs of labor 10
90 per cent OF roughs, trsmps. thieves. convicts
and anarchists" and that the soldier need
have no compunctions in effectuall eradicating
them He tries to show tina: suca members OF
a mob as may really be working people or
socialist "dreamers" the foil overs OF an
arehists and deserve the same fate and re-
lolces that ''effectually Graduating them"
which might otherwise be a duty Will become
pleasure"
Gen Ordway seems to have observed the
natural reluctance Of soldiers to shoot their
own neIghbOrs which Is manifested SO fire.
quently Of late in Europe Unless he had mis-
givlngs that respect for the law on one hand
and eompunctions against Graduating
people on the other would impair the efficiency
OF the militia his remarks had no point
He argued: First, thar the militia need have
no fear Of the law; second. that they need have
great fear Of mObs and their leaders, and third
that all the people in a mob are lit only 10 be
"efectually eradicated' not only without com
FUNCTIONS, but with pleasure
There two safeguards against the catas
trophies to which Gen Ordway's instructions
tend One il that we NAV reasonably hone flat
MS subordinAtes are 50 far superior to him that
they will ignore his foolish talk. The other il
that a street riot in Washington SO far as Labor
eerned, will never occur.
Another safeguard can be added by the War
Department in the shape of the removal 81
Gen. Ordway from the command of the Dis
trict National Guard and the appointment OF