CH. XXII.]
POWERS OF CONGRESS—MILITIA.
83
that the militia under the command of the national government might be dangerous to the public liberty; at another, that they might be ordered to the most distant places, and burthened with the most oppressive services; and at another, that the states might thus be robbed of their immediate means of defence.[1] How these things could be accomplished with the consent of both houses of congress, in which the states and the people of the states are represented, it is difficult to conceive. But the highly coloured and impassioned addresses, used on this occasion, produced some propositions of amendment in the state conventions,[2] which, however, were never duly ratified, and have long since ceased to be felt, as matters of general concern.
§ 1198. The next power of congress is,to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them, as may be employed in the service of the United States; reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by congress.