The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1893-02-10
call OUT THE MILITIA.
What Foe Is In Our Midst to BE Kept
In Subsection.


What Foe Is In Our Midst to BE Kept
In Subsection.
The commanding general of the
United States army in his last annual
report recommended that congress
increase the appropriation for the
militia from $4,000 to $1,00O,OO0
What hostile power threatens the ma
ton and jnstifies this recommends
ton? asks the Vanguard.
A general in command of an army
west OF the Mississippi recently said
in a public speech: cit is the present
policy to withdraw regiments from
points on the frontier and station
them near great cities like Chicago. :"
What foe is this, on our threshold, to
be kept in subsection by standing
army, now that we have practically
exterminated the red men our fathers
robbed? For what emergency was
the medieval fortress, the First regi-
ment armory, erected in this city !?
Major Logan, of the Second Illinois
Infantry, has recently, to quote the
daily papers, "made a good move. I"
He has had placed in his headquarters
large map.of the city and county,
showingsn the city transportation
lines. ald Tho location of every extern
sivesfactogy Essays the major:
Fan ofhcer'sduties are not only the
drilling of his command in the ar
mory, but include also the handling
of that command in active service,
and in md that my officers shall
learn, during times of peace, enough
about our most probable field, so that,
should we be called out for service, he
can act Understandings"
Evidently, according to the itali-
cized sentences, this militia major
considers the most probable field of
service for his troops will be at the
factories.
The experiences of the year past,
from Idaho to New York and
Pennsylvania, answer all these ques-
tions we have asked. Soldiery. reg
ular and militia, are to be used to
awe discontinued labor. and to shoot
down insubordinate laborers. Is this
necessary? Is it wise?
''Our lives and property must be
preserved" say the well-to-do, the
timid and the conservative. Oh, yes!
But shall we 'skeep'' the peace by
continually threatening war upon
one class of our citizens?
When the Chicago anarchists OBJ
served November IL, last year, a cir
cular was issued of wonderful power
considered as a literary document on
ly, but the danger of it's influencing
the minds of the workingmen to
whom it appealed lay in the fact
that it pointed to conditions and
events that were in themselves
enough to inflame the workers. Re-
viewing the history of labor since
1887. the circular said:
''There is no country in Europe,
no state in America, in which the
blood of wOrkmen has not been shed
in streams since then. towards
would be the workmen if they did
not comprehend that only a general,
international and pitiless revolution
can be the means to prevent the total
ruin of the people and to realize their
ideal of the future
The first sentence here is scarcely
an exaggeration. AS for the revolu-
ton, it is probably not imminent. 1t
is certainly not necessary. Equally
true is it that standing armies are
not necessary to settle labor troubles,
and that the perpetual threat to SO
| use them is not wholesome on our
archaeological air. Equally true
is it, that the answer of force to force
is as natural as the rebound of two
solid bodies brought in contact.
We are not moving in the right d.
rection in encouraging the use OF
| militia in labor troubles. It is
good time to think whether
we will not be wiser on this
point in 1898 than we have been in
1892. While we are thinking, the
labOring man who refuses to enter the
militia service is right, and the labor
organizations that advise against such
enlistment is wise.
A rhimble- Big Game.
american people are surprised to
learn that large quantities of wheat
will this year be shipped from Russia
| to English markets. Has Russia in a
| single season recovered from the fam
! inc and now has a surplus to spare?
It seems that way 1t will be remem.
bered that for long time last year
the car insisted that there was no
famine in his empire. A Mr.. Smith
who is the British consul at Kieff, in
a report to parliament now says that
the famine was not due to lack OF
grain, but to the failure of the rail
road system. He says that the re.
ports of the famine were gross exag-
gerations. He admits that the crops
/ turned out badly in certain districts,
but asserts that there was plenty Of
grain in other parts of Russia. The
whole scare, we are told, AROSE through
a breakdown of the railroad sys-
tenn, the result of which was that
while the people were suffering
from want in the districts where
the harvest had been unfavorable,
grain was being allowed to rot in
vast quantities in the Caucasus.
These statements of the British con.
sui seem to be borne out by official
figures from which it would appear
that at the beginning of June last
/ there was a reserve Of /. $40. 600 tons