Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-04
BY GENERAL I. J. WISTAR.
Citizen Soldiers Should Be Called Out
Oily as a Last Resort
A TRIBUTE TO THE STATE GUARD.
Discipline Stern Necessity, and No Room
for Fine Sentiment
IN SUCH CASES As PRIVATE IAMS'

Wistar, of Philadelphia, a veteran of the
late war, has written q long letter to Gov
ernor Pattjson relative to the National
Guard and the Homestead affair. The letter
was made public this evening. 1t is as fol-
lows:
Recent events having inspired high ap-
precia tion OF the valuable qualities that our
State Guard has shown itself to possess,
have seen with regret some structures on
minor but essen tial points of its administra-
tion, such as the punishment Of worthl ess
and unsoldiery members, which seems to be
O poor return for O self-sacrifcing patriot
ism of the body at large, Notwithstanding
they do not appear to come from persons
whose pursuits or experience indicate any
special fitness for an Intelligent criticism Of
military government. For my part, be-
lieve that citizen should not be called to
perform such work as they are nov doing,
except after all other reasonable expedients
have been tried and failed.
The proper instrument would be paiu
State Constabulary of military organiza-
tions, trained for both preventive and re-
pressive service, and rigidly protected from
the interference of party politics. Such
force, quite moderate in numbers, would un-
doubtedly prevent a large part of current
crime, to the unspealzable relief of our farm
ers and wage earners, and would detect and
subject to punishment most of the re-
mainder.
Military Duty Only an incident.
incidentally, it would perform the equally
necessary duty of preserving order on a
large scale, and in the present case would
have prevented resort to private police,
and probably avoided any riot at all.
1t is a hard thing to call on young men, the
generous flower and hope of the State, to
abandon their employ1nents without notice
and remain absent an indefinite time,
with nothing deserving the name OF compen-
sation, to perform duties properly belonging
to a paid and pensioned police; a shining
mark for the hatred of the lawless and the
abuse of sentimental and other cranks.
There would be no necessity to demand
such q sacrifice If the Legislature had per-
formed Its duty. Surely the imperial State
of Pennsylvania can afford, like other civil
lied countries, to pay for and assure pro-
lection to all Its poor and Industrious citi-
gems who cannot afford to hire private police
to protect their own homes.
Yet when in the absence OF such just and
sensible legislative precautions, the State is.
compelled, as now, to array its ultimate
strength, the honor and safety of the Com
onwealth requires that such strength
should be o we'll disciplined and irresistible
military body; and every soldier worthy OF
discipline, uniform and unbending toward
individuals, can alone produce and main
Noone is more .orrowfully aware than
myself of the decline and failure of criminal
jurisprudence in our country, where almost
the only justice administered to the most
homicidai criminals has come to be by extra
legal bodies Of outraged neighbors.
M Cornstalk Militia Wanted.
In civil NE the total failure of this feature
of Justice fails mostly upon the poor and de-
fenseless, who must, perforce, endure it un-
til some patriotic and fearless statesman
shall devise a. remedy; but in military or
ganization no such failure can be endured
an instant without the destruction of dis.
cipline and efficiepcy, and the reduction of
our military strength to the worthIessness
of the old "CornstSlk Militia"
Treason and dislQyalty are among the
vices which not only render any soldier
wlther the arm OF Executive power, selected
by the people to assure peace and order. To
By or
root out such fatal cancers, would be a
simple waste of money, for nosmf!itary body
is worth its rations that cannet be trusted,
and none can be trusted that tolerates dis
cordant and rebelltous units inclined to i'm
pose conditions on their fidelity.
Those who have seen the real Comparative
value in war Of different military organiZa-
tions tested and contrasted on a large scale
will assuredly rank the habit of discipline
second in Importance to no other quality OF
troops. More and better courage is COMMON
to the mules of most animals, but discipline
Is the flower and fruit of long associated Of
fort, the object earnestly soughtb by all great
commanders. Under its stern yet benignant
Influences the citizen becomes a soldier; de-
votion lends zeal to ordinary duty: the COW
eted post Of honor is in the charging column
or the blood-bought sally; and a noble and
proud obedience becomes the easy and in
seperable habit of the soldier of all ranks
Soldiers Should Not Even Vote
It has not been numbers or noise or the
clang of arms or even ill-regulated individ-
ual courage, but discipline and unity of pur-
pose that have made great the celebrated
armies of the past and covered with glory
those people and leaders who have best
known how to cultivate, cherish an MAIN
tain their quality.
War is a trial of strength, and its argu-
ments must necessarily be rude. For mere
sentimen talism it has no place. Specula-
tive opinion must be left at home by the SOL
dier when its trumpets sound and even the
voting habit Is best postponed when the vo-
elected to be a willing unit in his country's
martial strength, and in obedience to his
oath of service must accept those rules
which all accumulated human wisdom and
experience have found best adapted to make
that strength effective.
When theimistress of the world opened her
gates to Alaric, it was not to reap political
advantage nor to crafty sentimental yearn.
ings, but because his firm legions stood
, torch in hand by her granaries, and offered
to her people the stern alternative of death.
Such ere and must ever be the arguments of
war and no people of our conQuering race
can ford to brush aside its approved rules
to fft the caprice and sentimentalism of its
old women of either sex. Strength al one is
for the moment the object to be cultivated,
and that is only to be found in discipline.
for which there is no equivalent. This Com
monwealth is now, through no choice of its
own, at war against lawlessnesS. disorder
and the cruel tyranny of associations over
individuals.
Individual Thumbs Versus Discipline.
Therefore, its law-abiding and liberty.
loving citizens should seek strength by and
through discipline, and join hands in sup
port of those gallant men and officers who
know how to prize it and strive for it in the
field. or what consequence are the thumbs,
or, for that matter, the mock of any single
member or "coffee boiler" whose insubor-
dination or treachery might betray the
Commonwealth or cost the lives of a hun.
dred OF its faithful soldiers and the bereaye-
ment of as many families.
As far as am aware, am personally ac-
Quainted with Few or none of our defenders
at Homestead, who belong to a younger
generation; but as one who prefers indiyid-
ual liberty to the caprfcious despotism of
devotion to unsough and unwclcome Duties
and, most of all, their quick perception and
willing adoption of those rules of discipline |
which alone can convert citizens into ef- |
fective troops
1t is the fatufty of mere Ignorance to |
sneer at such soldiers as "rnilitia" Their |
nobility, promptness, endurance, accept |
ance OF discipline and ready support OF |
their officers. all proclaim to every compe- |
tent eye that they are soldiers who will |
carry the States flag nntarnished and give |
3 good account OF themselves in front Of |