National gazette. — Philadelphia [Pa.], 1793-02-02 00:00:00, page 4

CONGRESS.
Saturday, January 5.
Continuation of Mr Steele's Speech,
on the reduction of the present Army
Eftablilhment.
THE question will now soon be taken ;
if adopted, I fliall be among those who
rejoice ; if rje&ed, among those who havt
alw vs fttbm tted •. i h a proper degree ol
decency to the deeifion of the majority,
But in any event, 'he public wi.l know
that we have asserted the sense of the peo
pie again ft Handing armies, that we art
anxious to dtf.nd the frontiers against theii
enemies, that we have recommended a fyf
te:n of ceccnomy and efficiency, inilead o!
profulion and delay, that we have rccom.
mended a fyi'tem calculated to producc
victory and peace, indead of disgrace aac
war, and that wc wish to rescue the g«
vernment frotn the intoxication of tlx
t'm 1 and ail the apery of military ellab
lifhments.
He laid, he had been attentive to tht
arguments of tht opposition, and they tent
principally to four points. If nei Itr o
these positions be found tenable, the mo
tiot. will certainly succeed ; and that the;
are not tenable, is believed and will bi
fiiewn.
1 ft. It has been boldly asserted tha
the '"rclidet t is the author of the exiftinj
fyftcm.
2-.: lv They call in qneHion the finceritj
of our decli'.rdtiont in wifhmg to afford ef
fcCtual protection 10 the frontiers.
:■ iv. Tiny deny the competency o:
the militia.
4'h'y. The mpoiicy of reducing thee
ftahiihment, when a treaty is expected.
In regard to the firft, we deny that th«
Preft'en is t:,e author of vhis plan of pro
feci;, ing the war, Hot having avowed ex
pli. 1 iy hirnfelf that he is so, and nodocu
men: appearing to confirm that opinion,
we are juftified i'l attributing a fylletr
wli ch apptarsti- ti' incfftthial, to his le
cretary and not to him.
It is true that the Secretary is only «
finger of is hand, & the intimate connec
tion which m uftofneceffityfubfiftbetweer
them, perhaps is the ground upon whicl
the assertion lias been made. The Secre
taries are all ecju. lly near to the President
and if it be admitted that he is the authoi
of this, he may with equal propriety, b<
said to have been the author of every fy t
tem on general fubjefts, which either o
them have recommended.
Wa. ' e the author of the report on th<
fifherics ? Was he he author of the plan foi
eftablilhing the National Bank ? It i:
known that he was not, and circumftancei
might be mentioned (which are withheld;
from delicacy) to confirm this opinion.
Was he the author of the funding fyf
tem ? Some gentlemen in the opposition tc
this motion, would not be willing to givt
the President that credit, if he claimed it ;
and some who support this motion, wouh!
not only be sorry that the President hat;
even clnimed fuc'h a credit, but believe
that it wes in no refp?£t attr butable tc
l>im. The fame gentleman
Wor: It,) who firft fferted th.t the Presi
dent was ne author of this militry plan,
in the fame speech, admitted it to be th
■war, as well as the plan of house, and then
argued on the neeffi'y of liability in our
measures. It is not very material to the
present question, whose plan it is ; being a
public meafuve. we are juftified in offering
our objedlions to it , and this is the firft
time that I have heard it publicly asserted,
that a government should perftvere in an
error because they had usdertaken it. Ii
the plan be a good one, it may be sup
ported by reason ; tf a bad one, no
ought to be called in to prop it up.
The iuconfiftency of that gentleman's(Mr,
'Wad'worth) arguments not only support!
the motion before the committee,but thews
the wretched fhifts which hav'e been used
to defeat it.
It has been said in the course of the de
bate, that individual members, and ever
this house, are incompetent to decide upon
the efficacy or inefficacy of military plans.
In answer to this it may be said, that it we
are not all generals, we are all members,
and that we have the privilege of thinking
for ourselves and for our conftitnents. To
admit this doctrine in the latitude which
has ben evpreffed, would be to introduce
military ideas indeed ; it would be to make
soldiers of us inflead of legislators ; nay
vvorfe than that, it would be to revive the
exploded do&rines of passive obedience and
non resistance.
In regard to the sincerity of his inten
tions to afford effedtual protection to the
frontiers, Mr. Steele said that he had been
fuffici ntly explicit, that a feeling for the
fufferers had diflated this motion ; that he
was forty it had been whispered in the ears
of some of the members, that it was in
tended to withhold the necessary appro
priations, and divert them to other pur
j;ofes.
If two regiments were inefficient to
garrison all the polls neceflary for defence,
he would even under certain reftri&ions,
consent to continue the three sub-legions,
thereby enabling the President to eftabiifii
double the number of ports now erected il
he should deem it advifeable. Regulai
;roops being incapable of active expedition;
laainft Indians in the wilderne s, his wid
was to abandon that system, and confint
:hem entirely to the gainfoo.
The next objection to the motion is th<
incompetency of the militia, and to fuppori
[his opinion, the gentleman from Connec
ticut (Mr. Wadfworth) has made this ex
preffion, " that as to the expedition unde
General St. Clair, the regulars Were few
&not to be named when compared with tin
number of the militia " The truth is, then
wasnot a man engaged th.-t day a sa rniliti;
man, except the advarce guard command
ed by Col Oldham, which c nlilted of 30c
perhaps a few more, the field return of .hi
day preceding the action being in thi
war office, this can be afecrtained wit!
p'ecifion. The ballance of the army or
that unfortunate day, had b.en enlided a;
regulars, even cloathed s rtgula s, wer<
fought as regulars, ;ind poor fellows, diet
ike regulars. Thty fuffcred the fate whicl
awaits every re ular army deltined for si
milar expedition#.' Even the handful o
militia employed that day, did not defiyvi
:bat name, they were chiefly substitute.» foi
draughted men f:om the ceded territory
Phis draught become unavoidable, fron
1 misfortune to General Sevier, which
Mi. Steele related.
Theat.ack on Adair has alft
jeen mentioned as a proof of the incom
petency of mi itia, and Mr. Steele infille<
that the only inference whLh could bi
drawn from thence was, that ICO militii
were able to repel, but not dedroy nea'
200 Indians. This event he conceivec
was in favor, and not againlt his motion.
He next adverted to the argument o:
Mr. Wa> fworth, in regard to the war o
1762; of the ednblifiiment of pods it
Pennsylvania and Virginia, and of tin
fno ess of Col. Bouquet's expedition 1
rwo worn-out regiments at that time weri
fufficient to defend the frontiers, and wit'r
the aid of the militia, to term nate th<
war, two new regiments, in them, all thi
i(igor which the gentleman described U
now pofiefs, with the aid of eitahlifhec
polls, and a much more effective militia
an certainly be equJ to the fame end
After examining Mr. W.'s arguments foi
Tome time, Mr. Ste. 1 said, that w hen ana
lyzed, it would be found, that they pro
V'. more than they were intended to prove
but the meiits of this motion did not re
quire that he fliould take advantage o
hefe indiscretions.
He Ibewed from the hi (lory of 1762
iiat tho' polls were eftiblilbed, with ;
handful of regular troops in each, the)
lerer answered the purpose of tfTeflua
orotedlion ; but the frontier people wen
drvays obliged, in a great degree, to de
end themfelve3 ; that tiny were bed cal
:u!atcd for that service, and that the)
ivoulii perform it now with alacrity anc
.uccefs, if well rewarded.
Mr Steele then refuted the objeftior
sgaiull the militia on account of theii
ivalte and expence which Mr. W. had al
luded to. The law allows a mounted vo
lunteer, furnilhing himlelf with a gooc
horse, good arms, provisions, and ever)
other necelfary, except ammunition, at
his own risque and expence, one dollai
per day. The exafl expence of such ar
expedition, can be calculated. Whethei
fuccefsful or not, the charge to the public
cannot be encreafed. The contractor's,
quarter-matter's and hospital department's
are all avoided, with the abuses, expences
and frauds attending such eftablifliments.
Mr. Steele enlarged upon this point, and
said that these were always found to be
the mod expensive depaitments in any ar
my, and that the federal treasury had felt
their effedls already. In favor of the mi
litia it may be alked, who fought the bat
tle of Bunker's Hill ? Who fought the
battle of New-Jersey .' Who have fought
the Indians so often with faccefs, under
Generals Wilkinfon, Scott, Sevier, and
others ? Who marched in 1776 under Ge
neral Rutherford, through the Cherokee
nation, laid waste their country, and for
ced them to peace ? Who fought the bat
ties of Georgia, under Clark and Twiggs ?
Who fought the battles of South-Caroli
na, under the command of an honorable
member, now present ? Delicacy forbids
to enlarge upon his successes in his pre
sence.
Who fought the ever memorable bat
tles of Cowpens, King's Mountain, Hang
ing Rock, Blackßocks; the pivots, on
which the revolution turned in the south
ern dates ? In {hort, who fought all the
battles in the southern dates, while we had
a mere handful of regular troops, scarcely
the shadow, much less the reality of an
army ?
They were all fought by freemen, the
fubdantial freeholders of the country :
men attached to the revolution from prin
ciple : men who were sensible of their
rights and fought for them.
Such meir will not enlist in regular ar
mies, nor will any one who h.is the dispo
sition, or the constitution of a freeman
-1 It would give me pain to defer be the
j trafli which composes all regular armies:
They enlist far three dollars a month ;
which, in a countiv like the United Staes,
is a (jiffieient defcriptiou of their bodies as
well as their minds. Such men are not
fit to combat the moll active enemy in
the world. Here Mr. Steele read Major
, Gaither's and M jor Trueman's depositi
ons, refpefiiiig the defeat of the 4th No
vember, I 791, dating, that they could
j not fee the Iniliins, because they were
behind trees, &c. that the regular troops
i tried, but could not fight that way ; that
they seemed to be ftu'ptd, and incapable
of refidance ; and that if any General in
world had commanded such men that
day, he mud have been defeated as they
were.
An additional argument, and one of
the mod weighty too, againd regular ex
peditions, in this species of warfare, is
that by the slowness o! their movements,
the force of the enemy may be concentra
ted, —time is afforded thein to form alli
ances, and to confederate againd those
whom they coniider a common enemy.
| It is otherwise with militia tncurfions. He
off red a number ofreafons to (hew that it
1 was so, and how essential for the intered
of the United States, to adopt a policy
calculated to detach the tribes from each
other as n<uch as pofiible.
But it has been said these men were not
regular troops. Mr. Steele alked, what
then were they ? They surely were not
mili r ia.
[To be continued.]
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATION*.
JA ' UA.E Y 1793 •
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