Populists Clash with the Militia
Legislators demand the state militia disband after accounts of drunken revelry at the inaugural ceremonies.
At a meeting of the People's Party Club held here tonight, and participated in by all the Populist members of the legislature, one speaker referred to the statement made by Gov. Ferry in his recent message that the state was indebted to the militia, and the opinion was emphatically expressed that the reverse was the true condition of affairs. The militia who visited the capital during the recent inaugural ceremonies were unqualifiedly condemned as bands of hoodlums, who, in a drunken condition, paraded the streets, insulting ladies and gentlemen, occupying the sidewalks to the exclusion of inoffensive pedestrians, and making the nights of their visit hideous with the yells and catcalls of the inebriated soldiers.
“The militia who visited the capital during the recent inaugural ceremonies were unqualifiedly condemned as bands of hoodlums.”
The tension between organized labor (the Populists) and law enforcement/state security forces in the 1890s echoes modern debates over the conduct of public officials and the appropriate use of state force.
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