St. Paul daily globe., 1895-02-10

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state militias, into disrepute with
the Iaboring classes. The soldiers
it is said, having been invariably ar
rayed on the side Of the employers
of labor as against the employees
when called upon to interfere in easeI
of collision between the two. have 3
come to be looked upon by the toll
ers. constituting the bulk of the peoS
pie, as the protectors of the rich and
influential, and as the oppreSsors 'of :
the poor and of the humble. Ii this
alleged feeling of the masses were
well founded, it might be potent
argument, if not for the reduction
or disbandment, at least against the
augmentation of the national and
state forces. For, though both, es-
pecially the former, are primarily
kept on foot to defend the country
against foreign attacks, fact which
seems to be largely lost sight OF,
still, if either branch could be shown
to have been used even as an un-
willing instrument for the subver-
sion of the liberties of the common
people, it's claim to encouragement
as an important and valuable part
of federal or state machinery might
well be questioned.
A moments reflection cannot fall,
however, it is thought, to convince
any intelligent and fair-minded
worlingman that this feeling, if it
really prevails, is utterly devoid of
reason. That law and order are as
essential to the happiness of the poor
as of the rich, of the men who per-
form manual labor as we'll as of the
employers of such labor, and that
laW1essness in every form aff1icts in
a greater or less degree all people Of
whatever condition will not be gain
said. Liberty, or freedom from un-
necessary restraint, must not be con-
founded with license to do 1awless
acts, with which, indeed, it is utterly
incompatible. 1t is also the truth
that the high respect in which the
law is now held throughout the civ
ilized world is largely owing to the
conviction. that it is the only effect
i've bulWark of the weak against the
aggressions of the strong; of those
who are straightforward and honest
against those who are winding and
doubling in their ways and methods.
History teaches us that the princi-
pie that the law cannot be violated
with impunity, even by the SOW
I. T., oIr,o
served to break down cast privilege
and establish equality of rights.'The
liberty and prosperity so pre-emi-
nently enjoyed by the American peo-
pie as a nation is directly traceable-
to the strenuous inSistence upon this
principle for centuries by their En-
glish. ancestors, whose system of
laws they have inherited. 1t is this
liberty which authorizes fellow work.
men to combine against what they
may conceive to be hard conditions
imposed upon them by their employs
ers. But such combinations, per-
fectly lawful as long as nobody's
rights are infringed, become crimi-
nal the moment they seek to control
the conduct of others by violencey
A citizen may properly refuse to
work or to continue to work, except
on terms agreeable to himself, and
he, may also endeavor to persuade
others to join him in such refusal.
To this right corresponds, however,
the obligation that he submit to the
act of his employer in discharging
him, and that he refrain from injur-
ing the man who voluntarily takes
his place. The validity of these prin-
cipleS is in effect conceded by labor
organizations engaged in strikes, as
is evidenced by the disclaimers of
responsibility for acts of violence
which they are wont to put forth.
1t must be clear that if the persons
engaged in such acts are so numer-
Gus that the police cannot cope with
them, the chief magistrate is bound
under the power vested in him by
law to have recourse to the use of
troops for their suppression, and
that the latter are bound to respond
to the call with promptness. The
troops may dislike such service,
which, while subjecting them to
hardships and indignations of every
sort, brings them no glory or distinc-
ton, the highest reward to which a
soldier looks forward. But what
candid and just man will dispute
that, in carrying out the govern
ment's mandates, they are only do
ing their plain duty, and that their
detection or their affiliation with the
lawless element would be rank
treason? Thoughtful men have
long ceased to apprehend danger to
law and to freedom from the license
of troops, and to regard them as a.
possible instrument of laWleSs power.
To the contrary, they have ever
proved themselves to be the cham
pions of lawful government and of
legitimate labor. It is, for example,
a well-known fact that, during the
late labor riots, the soldiery not only
protected the property and the
rights of corporations against whom
strikes were in progress, but de-
sands of laborers whose only offense
was that they did not belong to and
! were setting at naught the aims of
labor unions.
A question which has latterly ar
rested public attention is the utility
of engrafting a military organiza-
ton upon the high schools of the
country, and Of teaching the pupils
military drill, the use of military
weapons, and the elements of the
art of war. AS long ago as 1866 the
detail at colleges or universities of
officers of the army as instructors in
military science was authorized by
congress. At first such details were.
limited to twenty; but, yielding to-
the pressure brought to bear on it
by colleges not supplied with mill.
tary instructor, the national legis-.
lature, by successive acts, Increased
the number of officers so detailableI
until, by a law approved Nov. g.
1898. it was fixed at 100. More re-.