lawlessness recurred as soon as the troops withdrew. Thompson concluded that a state of martial law, giving troops the power to make arrests, hold prisoners, and supersede uncooperative officials, was necessary to produce lasting results. In full accord, General Read endorsed and forwarded Thompson's recommendation to the Secretary of War on May 16, 1921. The next day President Harding informed Governor Morgan that there would be no federal troops until Harding was "well assured that the State had exhausted all of its resources in the performance of its functions."21

Morgan had, however, exhausted his resources. After declaring martial law in Mingo County on May 19, he placed Brockus's constabulary at the command of the county sheriff. In the decision Ex Parte Lavinder, however, the West Virginia Supreme Court ofAppeals ruled that there could be no martial law dependent upon a civil officer, such as a sheriff, for enforcement. Martial law could only be enforced by a state militia which West Virginia lacked. Morgan therefore resorted to calling part of the untrained, unorganized, enrolled militia of Mingo County to active duty. The Mingo Militia, made up of coal company officials, strikebreakers, non-union, and anti-union men, promptly and enthusiastically enforced the provisions of martial law against miners. Mass arrests of miners by the militia were followed by increased sniping and bombing incidents, and more bloodshed. Rather than quelling violence as intended, martial law and its partisan enforcement heightened the tensions between strikers and operators throughout Mingo County. The new outbreaks of violence further supported appeals for a congressional