Lo, the Impolite Indian
cle Samuel may be respectfully permitted to select any particular defect—was that it left the militia at the command of the state governments. This statute remained dead on the statute books, there being no penalties provided for its violation.
Instead of creating one efficient national army, we became possessed of thirteen independent and disconnected state mobs. But it was a beautifully free mob of freeborn citizens. They could either get together and act as mob if they chose, or they could remain at home. There was no method of forcing them.
On this occasion I rise to remark: We must not forget that certain provision in the first section of the act which laid down the truly democratic doctrine that every able-bodied male citizen owes military service to his country.
It further provided for a system of enrollment and territorial recruiting. All the rest of the law was bad, hopelessly bad.
As a balm laid upon the soreness of Harmar’s and St. Clair’s defeats, in June, 1795,
[65]
