The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-06-08
100 YEARS Of MILITIA.
hncisnt Phrassology Of The First
General Laws on the Subject.
Passed 1892.
rhe striking system Devised BY
cen. Knox, Which Never
Was Acceptable
,r.AI6oatisna Of tho Early Systems Urged
~ sueoesdiag Prssidsnts-Voiua-
tssrs and state Soldiers

t.,n. 20 keep himself provided WIZ . Rooa
-r.L.A q frelock, Of a bore sufficient Tor
hallr i the eighteenth part OF . pound"
- .n.ra fiints, and twenty-four eatsridRea
81 elas with - good rife, shot pouch. pow
Az horn. tWenty balls, and . quarter OF .
round az powder" The quaint 'nstruc-
t,nrs for rrenadisrs and bonbardisrs are
still 10 10 psrused, and also the dirsosions
Is commissioned officers to provide then-
salysa With - sword or hanger and spon-
AEON. y OF. If mounted, to have their mol
nara covered with bear-skin saps." From
dina 10 time efforts have been made to re-
moye this venerable chapter from the
statute books, or at least to modernize II.
until now. q last. il seems to derive q sor'
81 protection from its age,
But the fact 10 that the law was never
o,rried ont. No sooner Was it enacted than
efforts wore made to repeat some provisions
and amend others. Under the plan OF Gen.
Knox, which had been drawn up IN !'so,
younu men between Is and u years OK
we're 10 serve thirty days in = camp OF IN
$ltruction during each Of tho first two years
and ton days OF the third year; citizens be-
twean q and 45 years we're to drill TOUR
DAYS annually; those between IS n ~
were to bs enrolled in the reserve, which
Vac 10 assemble semi- annually for a simple
inspection Of arms. This was = very str,k-
ING. and. under the circumstances OF the
country at that time, not . very onsrous
systenn, while ;ts %seriousness was shown by
I provision that no person reaching the z
81 q should exercise the rights OF . citizen
nnless he could show . certificate Of the re-
0uired service In the militia. Bat the act
81 May 8, 1792. widely departed from knox's
plan, and tho very next year aver II was
nut in operation Warrington asked con-
rress "vhether your own experience in the
several states has not detected some lmper-
fections in the scheme, Thu story OF the
Vay in which numerous and fruitless at
teunpts to amend this system resulted at
length in it, frank abandonment IL H.
structivs and interesting.
Two years after it's adoption a bill was
reported for organizing q selecs corps OF
mslitia. 10 be- armed and equipped by the
general government and to be paid while
serving in annual camps Of instruction.
This. Of course, would have been a radical
departure from tho general law. which re-
CURED the citizens to arm and equip them :
selves and put them all on tho same foot
ing. Il is not unlikely that. had this
measure prevailed, it would have been in
force to the present day, and might have
made Z vast difference in the history of the
country. II would, in fact, have founded a
national militia of an effective character.
However,, wears passed without securing
the notifications desired. The chief step
gained was the snactnent Of the law of
April %, 1908. making n appropriation Of
$4,000 annually to provide arms and
acurious fact bv the present house com
mittes on militia, whose careful history of
the subject il here briefly summarized. that,
even when this new appropriation had been
made, the old requirement that each
citizen should arm and equip himself was
not repealed. Even then the reluctance
TO remove the old law was manifest.
Jefferson and Madison followed Wash
ington in urging year after year a modlica-
ton Of the militia system; the latter in 1906
desired such "a separation of the more
active part from that which is less so, that
We may draw from il. when necessary, an
efficient corps, fit for real and active ser
vice, and to be called to it in regular rota-
ton" He thought that it was quite
enough to subject the population between
10 and rs years OF age to military duty IN
time of peace. Madison's most noticeable
contribution to the subject was a proposal
of annual camps of instruction for the com
missioned and non-commissioned officers.
In 1876 Secretary Graham, by the direo'
zion of congress, prepared a new plan. II
divided the militia into three class, accord
ing to ages, Of which the two younger were
to assemble in annual camps Of instruc-
afterward president, proposed as a substi.
tute military drill for all the schools and
revived Madison's plan of annually in
structing officers and observation-disclosures
officers in camp. He estimated that the
cost TO the government would be 81, SOC, 00(
year. In 1926 a board. on which Scott
and Zachary Taylor were prominent. re-
snorkaI that %La rran$ Iaf1ck ~ %ha Ia W.T. xro
the excess Of numbers it held to service
They suggested as q substitute a brigade O.
militia in each congressional d~istrics, to b.
instructed in camps for ten days each year
and paid for their time and expenses.
The drift toward a select body instead O.
q general organization had thus beef
clearly manifest through all these years
yet two additional elements, volunteering
and state organizations, were needed be
fore the desired reforms could be secured
jackson recommended the former, Will
Secretary Poinsett in 1910 made an ap
proach to the latter by a proposal Of 100,
GOO active militia, apportioned among th
states, each Of which could keep its quot
filled either by voluntary enlistment Q
draft. One-fourth would 60 out of servic
annually into the reserve, while the presi
dent could put them in camps under pa
for a month annually. In 1876 still anothe
plan was reported, that Of maintaining j
each state an active militia between twer
ty-one and thirty years OF age, whose of
GERS should be instructed annually in cam
by the general government.
But by that time the new idea Of volul
teers and state organizations had not on
become rooted, but had borne fruit. SUI
militia bodies we're sprinRing up all ev
the union, and in fact formed the basis
that body of volunteers who achieved di
tinction In the Mexican war. After tn
war greater interest than ever was taken
the state volunteer system, and its grow
put an end to the long series of abe
tive efforts to form a nation
militia, congress practically accepting it
substitute. In 1861 the outbreak Of &
civi! war gave = new opportunity for th
modern system to show its value, a
the lesson has never been forgotte
For while, during the quarter Of a oentu
which has succeeded the war. ma
efforts have been made to revi
the old idea of . federal militia, they hs
all failed. Meanwhile even the value
such a militia has become less and loss {
vious, because the state forces have grea'
improved. rifle practice and sxcsllent can
of instruction having done q great work
them.
The principal service rendered by Q,
gress during the last twenty-five years !
been its comparatively recent increase
the annual militia appropriation to $40
GOO. Even that has been Of little imp
tancs to some states, 10 small - their Oh
Of II in comparison to their owA appropr
tioas. Bat 1t 10 Of real value to states :
otherwise would neglect their militia; I
this 10 really the best argument for the
further Increase OF the appropriation VII
tsnow Wopossd.
Good I,ooks.