THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the militia was that the inhabitants refused to aid our military in the suppression of crime, and the call was especially addressed to the class of people who so refused their aid. This was an insulting proceeding which no general having the dignity of his government at heart, could submit to. The existence of armed bodies not under the control of the military command would inevitably lead to collisions. I was heartily in favor of cutting down expenses, but circumstances did not yet permit the saving by reducing the Southern garrisons. I was profoundly convinced the President would see this himself, were he on the ground. The Union people and freedmen absolutely needed as yet a protecting force. Their safety required that Slocum be openly sustained and that Governor Sharkey be censured for his proclamation. According to the President's own words I had understood the President's policy to be merely experimental, and my mission to be merely one of observation and report. I had governed myself strictly by this understanding, seeking to aid the President by reliable information, believing that it could not be the President's intention to withdraw his protecting hand from the Union people and freedmen before their rights and safety were secured. I entreated him not to disapprove General Slocum's conduct and to give me an indication of his purposes concerning the Mississippi Militia case.
The next day, September 2nd, after having seen Major General Canby, the commander of the Department of Louisiana, an uncommonly cool-headed and cautious man, I telegraphed again:—
“To the President: General Canby authorizes me to
state that the organization of local militia companies was tried
in his Department, but that he found himself obliged to dis-
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