the State began as late as 1826, when Sir Robert Peel passed the law
establishing the Metropolitan force in London, and these agents of order
are even now called "Bobbies" and "Peelers," in memory of him.
Throughout all Europe the military, naval, and police forces are to-day
in the hands of the State. We have, then, in contradistinction to the
old anarchy, the State maintenance of law and order, and of protection
to life and property. Even in Russia the coercive forces are under the
control of the Government, and nowhere are individuals--be they Grand
Dukes or Princes--allowed to employ their own military forces. When
trouble arises without, it is the State that calls together its armed
men for aggression or for defense. When trouble arises within--such as
strikes, riots, and insurrections--it is the State that is supposed to
deal with them. Individuals, no matter how powerful, are not to-day
permitted to organize armies to invade a foreign land, to subdue its
people, and to wrest from them their property. In the case of uprisings
within a country, the individual is not allowed to raise his armies,
subdue the troublesome elements, and make himself master. Within the
last few centuries the State has thus gradually drawn to itself the
powers of repression, of coercion, and of aggression, and it is the
State alone that is to-day allowed to maintain military forces.

At any rate, this is true of all civilized countries except the United
States. This is the only modern State wherein coercive military powers
are still wielded by individuals. In the United States it is still
possible for rich and powerful individuals or for corporations to employ
their own bands of armed men. If any legislator were to propose a law
allowing any man or group of men to have their own private battleships
and to organize their own private navies and armies, or if anyone
suggested the turning over of the coercive powers of the State to
private enterprise, the masses would rise in rebellion against the
project. No congressman would, of course, venture to suggest such a law,
and few individuals would undertake to defend such a plan. Yet the fact
is that now, without legal authority, private armies may be employed and
are indeed actually employed in the United States. In the most stealthy
and insidious manner there has grown up within the last fifty years an
extensive and profitable commerce for supplying to the lords of finance
their own private po