Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-16
CONTROL OF THE MILITIA
Governor Lewslling Of Kansas Has q
Plan.
He Would Put the Sheriff in Charge
in Each County, All of Them Under
the Gubernatorial Direction.
Special Correspondents of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondents of The Evening Star.
TOPEKA, Kan, April IA. 1894.
The recent refusal Of the militia of South
Carolina to obey the orders of Gov. Tillman
has caused Gov. Lewelling Of Kansas to
give this question a great deal Of considera-
ton during the past ten days. The expert
ences Of the governor of South Carolina re-
call to his mind the fact that he once had
body of militia who refused to recognize
him as their commander-in-chief. Then.
also. Gov. Waite of Colorado and the gov
ernor Of New Jersey have had some expert
ence in the same line, all Of which have led
Gov. Lewelling to thesconclusion that the
system on which the National Guard is
founded Is all wrong and that it is high
time 1t Is changed; that the military forces
of the governor may be of a character to
be relied upon when, in his judgment, an
emergency arises that requires them to go
into action.
In a conversation today with a party Of
friends Gov. Lewelling discussed this sub
Ject in detail II have discovered" he said,
that the militia Is very apt to be guided
more by Its political sympathies than by
the orders Of its commander. Within a
year the militia of four states have refused
point blank to obey orders issued by their
commanding officers, and all because the
members of the companies were, almost
without exception, affiliated with political
parties OF an opposite faith to that of the
governor in command OF them. In three of
these instances the governors have been
affiliated with the new political movement.
which consider very significant. l will
have at least one more message to present
to the legislature before my term Of office
expires. for next January will be one of the
times when the legislature will meet before
the governors successor will qualify. In
that message l propose to make some rec
concentrations In regard to the militia
laws. Ny experience and that OF other
governors has taught me that the militia
Is wholly unreliable. and that at no time,
under existing laws, can a company or reg
iment be organized in such a way as to
make 1t safe for a governor to call upon 1t
to enforce the laws.
The Sheriff to Control.
"In my next message I will recommend
that the military laws be repealed and that
the arms and accouterments furnished by
the federal government be turned over to
the sheriffs of the several counties, each of
whom shall be authorized to organize COM
panies, or posses, of from twenty-five to
fifty men each. In Kansas this arrangement
would give us a force. in round numbers, Of
$500 men. II only twenty-five men were
allowed to a county, 1t would be a sufii Gent
force. We now have but 1000 men all told,
and they ale unevenly scattered over the
state. 1 take it that governor of a state
stands for principles advocated by a major
ity of the people of that state. else ne would
he should have the power to enforce his
mandates and put in practical operation
those things which he was elected to do.
This being true, he should have forces back
of him that will stand by him. regardless OF
the wishes of his political opponents. IT. as
have suggested, the armed forces Of the
state are evenly distributed, the governor
could call about him a force that could be
depended upon. / would have the law so
drafted that the men should at all times be
at the call Of the sheriff. and all sheriffs
way governor could select his forces from
among men known to be his friends and the
friends of the principles for which he stood,
and he would stand in no fear OF traitors
predominating in his own camp"
Gov. Lewelling Is very much in earnest
about revolutionizing the militia laws Of the
state He Is ambitious to have absolute con-
troll of the states armed forces. Under the
existing law the governor of Kansas has
not the authority to call out the militia I'm
less requested to do so by the sheriff of a
county in which their services are needed
the sheriff having first exhausted all his re-
sources to maintain the peace. As soon as
the peace officer becomes convinced that his
power Is inadequate to cope with the emer-
gency, he may call upon the governor, who
Is then required to call out the militia to
assist and act under the direction of the
sheriff.
The governors idea would change all this.
The sheriff would be the commander Of the
militia in his own county and might call IL
out at will and without the intervention OF
the governor. On the other hand, the gov
ernor would be the commander of all the
sheriffs of the state for military purposes and
might call on any or all of them whenever he
desired. He might call on a sheriff in one
county, perhaps. to bring his forces into
another county, where the other sheriff's
IDEAS and his own might conflict.
The Governors Topeka Fiasco.
In Governor dwellings military troubles
in the winter of 1898 he called out the mill.
tia, ostensibly to maintain peace and en-
force the law in Topeka. In doing this he
did not consult the sheriff of Shawnee
county. After his forces were all massed i'm
and about the state house square he ordered
the colonel In command to attack represen-
tative hall and remove the republican house
then in control of it. The colonel was a re-
publican, and refused to obey. About this
time the sheriff Of the county, also a re-
publican, sent notice to the governor that
he was the peace officer of the county, and
that he needed no assistance in maintaining
the peace. He also ordered the governor to
disband his militia and organized force Of
1900 deputies to enforce his demands and
incidentally to protect the republican house
in its position. Finally, q compromise was
H.
The Topeka legislative war would have
resulted very differently, Governor LEVEL
ling now admits, had his plan then been in
force. Since that time the militia Of the
state has undergone a thorough rcorganiza-
ton, and should occasion again arise for the
governor to require their services, they
could be relied upon to shoot whenever he
saw fit to give the word. The companies
that showed the governor the most disre-
spect during the legislative troubles and
those that were known to be in direct and
open sympathy with the republicans were
disbanded at the earliest possible moment.
All of the staff officers and brigade COM
manders were removed and friends CT the
governor, both personal and political, were
put in their places.
Should the republicans win in Kansas this
fall, and should a republican governor need
the services Of the militia under similar
circumstances, he will be compelled to call
to his aid force made up almost entirely
Of populists and their sympathizers. In q
political disturbance, then, the present
militia of Kansas could no more be depended
on to help the republicans than the old
militia could be depended on to battle for
the populists.
Candidate for Reelection.
Governor Lewelling will, in all probabil
ty, be a candidate for reelection. 1t Is un-
doubtedly true that he had about made up
his mind to retire from active politics and
again become a private citizen. but his ene-
ragged him so much and attributed to him
ambitions Of a selfish character, which he
really did not possess that he has about de-
cided to stay with them There are many
reasons why he should be a candidate. His
has been an eyentful admfnist rat ton He