Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-05-09
IN CASE OF A RIOT.
ANARCHY AND SOCIALISM.


There we're no anarchists in the audience that
listened attentively last Monday evening to
Gen. Albert Ordway - that scholarly soldier
delivered . lecture on street Riot Duty" The
instructive talk was unanimously aud noisily
applauded, and that fact proved eonelusively
the truthfulnsss Of the statement that there
were no anarchists in the first battalion
oincsrs room on the ocessiou re-
ferred 70. The subject was Que
Of which the District National Guard
naturally knows but little and the general com
manding had come to the conclusion that few
remarks on such an interesting topic might
be productive Of much good. A large number
OF the more enthusiastic officers were present
and when the lecture wns ended did their beet
70 tumcfently thank Gen. ordway for the
amount Of information and doctrine which he
had 50 freely given.
THE DISTRICT RIOT ACT.
Some little time WINS spent by the general in
asserting the general sovereignty Of the civil
power and the consequent subordination of
the military forces, and then he went on 10 dis
cass legal mstters, quoting the riot section Of
the District law. which is A. follows:
THAT when there is in the District Of Column
oss tumalt, riot, mob or body OF men acting to-
gether by force, with attempt 10 commit a fel-
ony or TO offer violence to person. or property.
OF BY force and violence 10 break and resist
the laws, or when such tumult riot or mob Is
threatened Il shall be lawful for the Commits
sioners OF the District Of Columbia or for the
United States marshal for the District of
Columbia to call on the commander-in-chief
70 sad them IN suppressing such violence and
enforcing the laws; the command er-fn-chief
shall thereapon order. out 90 much and such
portion Of the militia rs he may deem necessary
to suppress the same, aud no member thereof
who shall be thus ordered out by proper au-
thority for ANY such duty shall be liable to civil
or criminal prosecution for any act done in the
discharge OF his military duty"
THE LAW AND THE auARpsxAS
The question Of civic control of militia when
60 ordered out wa then discussed az some
length and in q most entertaining manner.
numerous cases being cited Interestingly The
seizure and use OF private property for public
purposes was talked Of for awhile and then,
aSys an. 1s0n rss ss Snssti0n o, Of o sse
GERS, the general said: Il have seen it
stated BY one writer that If assailed BY
force too strong for its ordinary processes the
law calls force to its defense; but from its ex-
allied throne Il judges both its assailants and ite
defenders 1 cannot agree with this writer.
! believe that when law calle upon force to de-
fend 1t that law viii protect those il calls to its
defense so long the means employed by
force and the results Of employing those means
are kept within the pre-estabiished pre-
cepts laid down BY law itself. The
impression is too general. and has
been too long uncontradicted. that a
military officer puts himself in great jeopardy
OF civil or criminal punishment on the one
hand or court-martial on the other in the dis
charge OF duties imposed on him by law.
cannot assent to this doctrine: in fact. venture
to contradict Il. To atmi. it would paralyze
the efficiency OF the military force and make
all their efforts weak and vacillsting."
TIE NECESSITY ron PREPARATION.
The duty of officers in case Of riot was then
eiesrly summed up and the general proceeded
as foil ,ws:
''Hayfng considered the legal aspect OF riots
and relations that exist between the military
and CIVIL Authorities in suppressing them il
now remains for Us to consider the equally i'm.
portant military questions involved in the
methods OF applying military force to this
practice.
1T is fully a. important in this country to pre-.
pare for internal disorder Is for external dam
ing riuts AZ to provide FOR coast defense. Our
people seem to be wholly blind to the lessons
OF the past the dangers OF the present or the
possibilities Of the future.
I'm 1877 an Insignificant trouble at the small
town Of Martinsburg in West Virginia. sud-
denly developed proportions that overshad-
owed the whole country. In less than forty
eight hours $1,000 miles Of railway were inop-
erative and great sovereign states were appeal
ing In the most AFFECT manner TO the federal
government for protection. Millions of dollars
worth of property destroyed millions of
dollars worth of human labor lost and the
fabric OF lawful order received a severe blow
Ii all of this was done in 1877 without premedi-
tation, and without definite purpose in view for
which previous organization under competent
leaders had been made, it is fearful to con-
template what might occur IN the future
Since that time our country has been overrun
with hundreds OF thousands of the most
criminal and ignorant classes of Europe, who
can neither assimilate with our people nor APP
preciate or understand the meaning of our in-
stitutioas or the force Of our laws: men who
know no law but force and can appreciate no
punishment less than death.
THE Professional AerrAroR.
Following in the wake Of this horde of i'm
migrants have come the professional asitators,
who may be called the pimps of the profess
sional leaders. who have come TO live on the
tolls they levy on these ignorant people while
they organize and train them for their own
diabolical purposes These professional lead
ers are by no means to be dcspised. They are
generally men who have had q military educa-
ton, have held rank and position in various
armies. have had eKperisnee in war,
have been dismissed from all honorable
service and ostracised from respectable society
and though having been reared TO despise
those who labor make dupes of them, that they
may live upon their contributions and the
possibilities of the future. II YOU ever have
occasion to meet these men you will find that
they are no tyros in the art of war, aud will be
match for the best intelligence We
can bring TO bear against them. The
hand Of these people Is not shown in ordinary
affairs. but we know enough of them, Of the
organizations they control, of their purposes
and Of their means of accomplishing these pur-
poses, to know that when the time comes that
they consider favorable the riots Of 1877 will be
what will then confront US.
THE DANGERS OF THE FUTURE.
ANY thoughtful person, and especially q
military observer must realize the fact thar riots
in the future will be more frequent and more
formidable than In the past inasmuch Is when
honest but misguided men may be brought to
the sudden frenzy OF resisting lawful govern
ment the opportunity will be seized by the
professional rioter and anarchist to ACCOMPLISH
their own purposes This view is amply
sustained by many facts known to he
police authorities, and Is clearly in
iicated in the brief cablegrams contained
in our newspapers describing recent
riots in Europe. A few weeks ago the cable
account of q riot In Bradford. England. said
that the rioters not only barricadcd the streets
in their 'front.' but that they also barricaded all
the ode streets on their hanks. II was Ger.
tainiy no novice who conducted that defense.
The cablegrams Of the past few DAYS. describ-
ing riots that occurred In various cities in Eu-
- So - -