Letter to the Editor
"W." (pseudonym)
The Unionist 1833-09-05
Unionist content
Transcription
FOR THE UNIONIST.
MR EDITOR,—I was pleased to notice the account of the “training” which appeared in your columns of last week. I have often wondered that a system so useless—(to say nothing of its pernicious influence on public morals) and so evidently unpopular among the people should so generally have escaped the censure of the press.
The evils attendant on the training system are great— they are felt in this community, and ought to be exposed by every friend of justice and by every lover of good order in society.—I rejoice to perceive that you understand the best mode of treating the subject. Sound and sober argument will have no influence with those who advocate the present miserable system of militia trainings. Ridicule has done more to bring about a reform in this system than all the arguments that have ever been urged against it.
As it is the professed object of your paper to promote the cause of justice and of sound morals it is to be hoped you will not let this subject drop. You will be sustained by this community, and by exposing the unequal operations of the militia law, its uselessness, & its pernicious consequences, you will merit and receive the thanks of the people. W.
P.S. I am obliged to you Mr Editor, for the definition of the term “spirit-stirring-drum.” There are some other terms in the soldiers vocabulary that require a satisfactory explanation.
About this Item
This letter from "W." concerns militia training laws. Apparently a critique of these militia training laws had been included in The Unionist issue of August 29, 1833 (1:5). This now-missing article also included a critique of the "spirit-stirring-drum." These ideas are congruent with Jonathan Dymond's anti-war writings.
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See Full Metadata Hide Full MetadataMassachusetts Militia Notice
