Show L TKRKITO1UAL MiLITIA I A respected correspondent Chromo has a communication in this issue of THE HEKALP in reference to organizing i the militia The gentleman tels some I truths and truths which are an effective effec-tive bar to any successful and general organization of the militia in this Territory Terri-tory at present It is not because the l military spirit does not exist here that r there is no militia It is not because the people do not like training days II and woull not delightin dulls and man ceuvers Americans all delight in that sort of thing and take pride in it Ihey l also understand the necessity of a popular pop-ular knowledge of military tactics Until a few years ago there was excellent military organization in this Territory and it did good service in protecting the settlements rom savage Indians and in keeping open and free from danger dan-ger the great transcontinental highway Annual training days and encampments encamp-ments were events of joy and pride par ticipatcd in by all It occurred to certain vicious hearted officials however that militia was not a good thin to encourage and those officials sa 1 squarely and maliciously down upon th organization fairly rushing it out of existence They even forbid and prevented the appearance and participation partici-pation of the militia in the celeb ation of the national anniversary and went so far as to arrest and imprison men for appearing in uniforms and going through the manual of arms with wooden wood-en guns A greater outrage was never perpetrated on an American community com-munity t It didnt kill the military spirit but it put it to sleep and it has slant ever since It slumbers still and is likely to until an effort has been put forth to make reparation for the wrong done Individuals Indi-viduals soon forgiv and forget but communities have to outgrow recollections recollec-tions of injuries inflicted on them The people are not without patriotism but they remember how they were forbidden I bidden by cannon and bayonet to march to martial music in a Fourth of July procession Men are ready to take up arms and hasten to the front when their country call but it is still fresh in their memories that their countrys official representatives said that wearing uniforms was suspicious and practicing military tactics treasonable treason-able One of these days Utah will again have a militia but it will not be until the danger has passed of sending men to a military pridon for marching in procession under the Stars and Stripes on Independence Day |