The morning call., 1894-07-06
MILITARY OPINIONS.
What Is Thought of the Militi:
.Maneuvers at Sacramento.

,Maneuvers at Sacramento.
General Dimond's realistic imitation of
the great feat that brought such lasting
fame to the French general - that of
marching up the hill and then marching
down again-was a subject of much dis
cussion and criticism in the city yester-
day.
AS d military maneuver, having for its
purpose the exhausting of the army stores,
an acquisition of a shade and a half or
two shades of weather. beaten appearance
10 the military accOuterment of the men,
90 or.even TO the men themselves. there was
bRt one opinion, and that was rather favor
able than otherwise to the general
The. newspaper man who made a consci-
entious endeavor to get a serious opinion
upon the matter had difficult undertak-
: ing. Curiously enough he was successful
only when he found a group of old SOL
diers. Old soldiers, like doctors Of kin
dred school, are shy about criticizing a
coup d'etat.
Colonel c. Mason Kinne. for instance,
said: 1--WE only know of this thing what
we see in the newspapers, and it is impos-
slble to judge of the situation. A man on
the ground is Influenced by circumstances
that we at distance may know nothing
about We must take il for granted that
be did what good judgment dictated. At
any rate it is no part of my business to
criticize his action"
"E would not care to express a decided
opinion upon the action of the State
troops at Sacramento until l have more
definite inf0rmation as to really what
occurred" said Colonel w. r Smed berg,
q =
in discussing ths Sacramento situation,
hut from what I have read it appears TO
me that the handling of the militia was
very queer. Just who is to blame is a
matter which depends upon the actual
facts.
you. see a soldier is compelled to act
upon his judgment and not upon impulse,
aud unless all the circumstances are
known it is hardly fair TO criticize his
acts. What struck me as queer in this
particular business is the fact that the
members Of the National Guard were
allowed to come in such close contact with
the strikers and mob that they could not
use their guns. Then, again. the with
dra wal of the order by which the men
were to fire was bad piece Of work. 1t
only confused matters and weakened the
power of the soldiers.
81 am a strong partisan Of the National
Guard" continued the colonel. "and all
day long have been defending the boys
against aspersions which l have heard cast
Ep0n them. They were not to blame.
Perhaps Marshal Baldwin was at fault in
countermanding the order which he gave.
but 1 would not like to say so unless l
knew moro Of the affair. This whole
thing is a bad piece of work and will, l
hope, soon be ended. I think it will not
last long. The hotter it gets the sooner it
will come to head and burst"
The boys should not get all the blame
for that Sacramento business" said a
prominent official of the Third Regiment
last evening.
They were all right, but the affair was
badly managed from the first. Many of
the men left here with empty stomachs.
and upon their arrival there they found
that no arrangements had been made to
. supply them with provisions. What with
the heat and exhaustion from not eating
is it any wonder that some of them sue
Cumbed? General Allen was to blame for
the state of affairs.
Then there was another thing and that
is the way in which the troops were han
died. They should never have been al
lowed to approach near enough to the
strikers TO hold any sympathetic conVersa-
tion with them.
Personally maintain that the railroad
men have considerable right on their sids.
But duty is duty and when it comes to
milIsaTy work 1t must be carried out, no
matter what the consequences are. |
q don't blame General Dimond so
much as do Marshal Baldwin.
The latter was too vacillating. He
gave an order TO clear the depot of the
strikers and then recalled it and made
monkeys, as you might say, out of the
men. If l had got that order from Bald
win 1 would have seen that it was
carried out, and Mr.. Baldwin would have
had no chance to take 1t back. |
don't care to criticize General Dimond
either. Maybe he lacked decision at
vital movement when it was most neces-
sary, but perhaps, too. it was for the best,
oOkng at it in other than a strict military
sense. With a man of decision in charge
that depot would have been cleared. l
would not be a bit surprised TO see trouble
in this city within the next few days, and
If it starts there will be worse element
In it than there has been at Oakland or
Sacramento.
Among the mlitiamen generally there
is a disinclination to discuss or criticize
the work Of the National Guard at the
capital in any way for publication. The
milittamen find it good food for gossip
among themselves, and some speak rather
disparagingly of Generals Dimond and
Sheehan as military leaders.