 The militia stagnated after the early 1870s when the fear of the Fenian Brotherhood ended.The major task of the militia was as aid to civil power with the militia frequently been called out to put down riots between the Catholics and Orangemen; within a five-year period in the 1870s the militia had to called to end riots in Charlottetown, Saint John, Montreal and Toronto, all of which involved the Orangemen vs. Roman Catholics.Both Conservative and Liberal governments used the officer corps of the militia for patronage, leading to a grotesquely bloated officer corps full of men who given commissions for political reasons.