The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-14
NOT TIN SOLDIERS.
THE NATIONAL GUARD A STRONG
ARM OF THE GOVERNMENT.


Mistaken Idss ~ 90 the Function Of the |
Militia Rot Maintained For Fun.
Fourth Of July Parades and Other Dis |
plays Extraneous Features.
IL is theory held by some people who
ought to know better that the national
guard In the United States In % body Of
men enlisted, uniformed and equipped for
Fourth Of July pnrades. That ut Least II
the only Interpretation TO DO put upon
their attitude toward guardsmen who, In
tho exercise Of military duty, interfere
with anybody's plans or pleasures. An
organized mob wrecked jail and Jnur-
dered prisoner confined there recently at
Urbana, O., and tho militia captain In
trusted with tho duty OF repelling the at
tack Is now In hiding because he forgot
that no WAS tin soldier and played his
part In earnest. In the Same state not long
ago the commander of regiment was
tried for murder because man got killed
In trying to prolong riot which the mil
itia had been called out TO suppross.
Nor IL this peculiar state Of Affairs con.
fined TO Ohio. Attempts were made 70 in
dict an officer Of one of the Brooklyn regi-
ments at the time of the Last car strike. A
riotsr attempted to kill soldiers marching
through street by dropping bricks ON
their hsads and received q volley In reply,
and all sorts Of Mysteries were INDUCED
over the outrage Of gusrdsmen daring TO
use their weapons effectively against q
citizen who at mort should have bean
looked up over night for disorderly con-
ducti
It 10 about time that the functions Of
the national guard az q serious instru-
ment Of government were more clearly
UNDERWOOD. II democracy means anything
moro than loose tointcd machine for min
istcrtng to common wants until ten or
dozen men take q notion TO block the
wheels; n u II to be force capable Of ac-
tion against thousand awbreakers az we'll
as against one. then the authority intrusted
with tho conduct of public affairs must
have force 10 make itself obeyed. and those
who defy IL must do 30 at their peril.
The American delight In civil liberty
has led TO strong, not 10 say extreme, safe
guards against military despotism. Citi.
gems may live for years, 90 long as they live
peaoeably, without having personal con-
tact with O soldier. Nevertheless the SOL
der exists not to furnish gold lace and
titles to staff officers, not to furnish sth-
letic exercise and club facilities TO select
bodies Of young men.
He exists to defend his country and
fight Its enemies. That duty does not CON-
sist simply Of rspeIling foreign invaders,
or of keeping rebels from taking Wash
ington, or of stopping the activity OF an
arohist bomb throwers. It consists Of sup
porting tho constituted authority, whether
In school district or state, In the law
full discharge Of its duty against all foroi
BILE interference, either by the first citi-
Gems" or by drunken rabble. And 1t Is
the soldiers business to support that
authority, at no matter what cost. II
people do not want to be hurt or killed,
they should not 60 rioting.
This seems hard doctrine to some SEN
timental people and to some civil officers
dependent for reelection upon the votes Of
citizens who are likely to get hurt If or
der Is enforced with such rigor. But
really 1t need be feared by no man who Is
even moderately desirous Of orderly exist
ence. Nobody need ever be hurt by ma
tional guardsman unless he deliberately
and after full warning In time of notori-
Gus public danger persists In violent law
breaking. The militia Is never called out
Then there Is crisis which forbids tolera-
tion Of disorder, and every citizen knows
it. He knows that violence at that timo
is not simply disorderly conduct, but an
act Of war against the state. II he con-
tinues in q mob, he makes himself pub
lilo enemy, and he has no reason to COM
plain II he Is treated as q public enemy.
The man who takes the oath and puts
on militia uniform assumes the obliga-
tion of soldier to defend the state again
the attacks even of his own household.
The dispatches tell of the Urbana guards
men hesitating and even refusing to fire
on the mob because It was composed of
their friends-and perhaps also because
they thought the negro was not worth
fighting for. II this is true, some courts
martial are In order. II the young men
who enlist in the militia are not prepared
to do their simple duty as soldiers and en-
gage in real, earnest battle for the law Of
town and county as well as for tho law of
the nation, they have no business to oc-
oupy the states armories or wear its uni
form.
These military organizations are not
maintained for fun, but for work. They
are expected to maintain the supremacy
Of law against all enemies, whether the
bone of contention Is wretched negro
or the spoils Of q city. 1t Is time for
guardsmen and rioters and civil courts
alike to understand that the militia Is an
arm Of government, strong to enforce law,
potent to punish disorder. We have had
enough of the timidity and defiance and
indictments that flt tin soldiers.
York Tribune.