Year: 1877

1T is aniIlwind that blows no good" /"


and though it is exceedingly difficult


to zee any other than evil in the recent


great riots, yet the conduct Of the va


rious militia companies has served to


demonstrate their ineficiency as a


means Of protection in time Of great


need, and, in fact, their almost total


uselessness for the preservation of the


public peace. In many instances,


where the members of the militia COM


panies were residents of the towns and


vieinities where the riots occurred,


they refused to serve against the stri-


kers, but openly expressed their SYM


pathy with them, and in some cases


surrendered their arms to, and frater-


nized with the mob, either through


friendship for the men engaged in the


riots, or through fear Of after revenge.


BE the cause what it may, they refused


to do their duty, and thereby proved


that no dependence could be placed in


them in time Of trouble. But worse


still, through their weakness and want


of discipline, wherever riots occurred,


resulting in death and destruction of


property, in the late disturbances, they


were almost invariably enhanced, if


not caused, by the reckless use of fire


arms in the hands of the militia. In


West Virginia, where militia compa-


nies were few, the trouble growing out


Of the strike Of the railroad men was
soon ended and the riots suppressed


with but little bloodshed- and that Et-


tie through the firing Of those few militia.


When the troops were needed a few
q. IS. soldiers we're sent to the scene,
and order was at once restored. In
Baltimore the first blood shed was at
the hands of the members of the Sixth
regiment, and though the provocation
was great, much greater probably than
ordinary human patience can endure,
yet the result of the firing was too ter
rible to admit of any justification, or
even excuse for it, and the fact that
the shooting was done without the or
der Of the officers only makes it worse,
and strengthens our opinion Of the
uselessness Of militia companies. The
noble conduct Of the men Of the Fifth
regiment shows a marked difference
between raw militia and welI-discip- |
lined soldiers. These men are soldiers
in thetrue meaning of the word many
of them having taken part in the bat
ties of the great civil war. Though |
assailed by the same crowd, and in the
same manner as the Sixth had been
many Of them bruised and battered by |
blows from bricks and stones hurled at
them BY the mob, not shot was fred,
but those brave men nobly bore their
suferings rather than discharge their
weapons in the crowded thoroughfares
at the imminent risk Of the lives and
limbs Of innocent people. No women
aud children were killed or injured by |
them, and in consequence the attack
Of the mob soon ceased. These men
obeyed their officers, and did only what
they were ordered to do. Had the
Sixth followed the same course the riot
would, doubtless, not have reached half
the dimensions it did.


In Pittsburg the same story is re
peated. The citizen soldiery, when as
saulted BY the mob, without awaiting
the orders Of their officers, commenced
a deadly and indiscriminate fusilade
up and down the streets, killing and
innocent and unofending
women and children-in
many instances standing upon the
thresholds of their own dwellings. The
effects of this reckless disregard of life
was terrible. As the melancholy news
spread, a general cry for vengeance
went up from the exasperated people,
and workshops were everywhere closed
and men foeked IN great crowds thro'
the streets bent on the destruction of
the military, and on revenging the
death Of their friends. Armories and
stores were sacked for arms, and a riot,
the equal Of which was never known
in American history, was the result.
Violence having been thus commenced,
all the evil passions Of the multi
tude were aroused, and as lawless deed
followed lawless deed, the desperation
of the maddened throng was increased
until it knew no bounds. The fearful
destruction of the railroad company's
followed, for upon them the
mob charged the responsibility of the
Of the Philadelphia militia in
their city. All this was the result Of
the unauthorized and indiscriminate
firing Of the "citizen soldiers in the
streets Of the city.


In Reading matters were even worse
than in Baltimore and Pittsburg, for
there the attack Of the militia upon the
people was without orders, and almost
without provocation. Though the
crowd around the depot had been riot
ous. they had been subdued by the po-