Then we call out the militia and
shoot a few of them, and their leaders declare the strike off. It is
perfectly simple."
"But will it be quite as simple," I asked, reluctant in behalf of my
projected romance, to have the matter so soon disposed of--"will it be
quite so simple if their leaders ever persuade the working-men to leave
the militia, as they threaten to do, from time to time?"
"No, not quite so simple," the banker admitted. "Still, the fight would be
comparatively simple. In the first place, I doubt--though I won't be
certain about it--whether there are a great many working-men in the
militia now. I rather fancy it is made up, for the most part, of clerks
and small tradesmen and book-keepers, and such employes of business as
have time and money for it. I may be mistaken."
No one seemed able to say whether he was mistaken or not; and, after
waiting a moment, he proceeded: "I feel pretty sure that it is so in the
city companies and regiments, at any rate, and that if every working-man
left them it would not seriously impair their effectiveness. But when the
working-men have left the militia, what have they done? They have
eliminated the only thing that disqualifies it for prompt and unsparing
use against strikers.
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