The Arkansas advocate., 1833-08-21
Domestic Intelligence.
f rom titc jyelr- York Eisquirer.
 THE ARMY

hicii', eAceeuS 6ieyen millions oi dollars, being more than three-tourths of the cross expenses of the government; and surely it becomes the duty of the press to keep the people advised of the manner m which the laws and regulations applicable to these two great arms of the national defence, are ad- T mmlstered. It has been too much the fashion of late, to incuIcate the idea, that as officers and soldiers are a distinct class of citizens, 1t does not concern the people to inquire into their proeeedliflgs. The consequence Is that a species of deSpotsSm has crept into our little military and naval establishments, which is at variance with the spirit of our institutions and destructive ot that esprlt du corps upon which theireffi- clency and usefulness mainly depends i iiIiaiSiling Generals Post Captains, and l their clerks and staff officers at Washing ton, have mbibed the idea that their rank and station place them far above any ac- countability to the people for their proceed lngs, and that they possess an inherent right to domineers 1t over all their juniors without any other restraint than then own whims. So prevalent has this opinion be- come, that even auditors, paynasters, and their clerks. have at length assumed that all officers are necessarily fogqies, and that they must ia consequence be bound down Ill the settlement ofther accounts by #certi- ficates of their honesty, disgraceful to the country and the profession of which they are members.
 We are led to these remarks by having received through the Post Office, sundry copies or order No. As, which we do not hesitate to pronounce f1rana5cal in its na- ture, and in its inferences, disreputable to the army. Long experience in service, and familiarity with the history of European armies, has taught us that to make an army useful, you must inculcate Tn both officers and soldiers a spirit of emulation and an esprit da corps, founded upon self respect and the purest and most chiyalric notions of individual honor. The character ofan off, Ger must not only be pure, but like the honor of C9sar's wife, 1t must be above suspicion. In our country too, they must feel that they constitute part of the body Epolitc-that in putting on the military, they do not lay aside the civil character, and that they not only continue to be citizens of the United States, but that they should ever deem their privileges as such incomparably more valuable than any which an epaulet and piece of parchment can confer.
 Paragraph 7, of the order in question, is in the following words:
 '.The practice which has so extensively prevailed, of officers of the army visiting the seat of government, has been injurious to the public service. The evil of this practice has been not only in withdrawing officers from their proper stations, but lre- quently in its effects upon the business of the army, and upon public opinion. There are no benefits to individuals which can counteract the disadvantages of this indis- criminate indulgence.
 "Where such visits are. necessary for the public service, or any just right of the individual concerned, they will be autho- rized: nor will reasonable indulgence for the qualification of laudable curiosity be refused, where the circumstances of ap- Iplicants make those proper, and where the public interest will not suffer. But of the propriety of these, the General in-chief will judge, and therefore no officer will visit the scat of government unless of- .l dered, Of unless specially permitted so to do by the General-in-chiei. An officer, however, may pass through the scat of go- yernment when on duty or on leave of ab- sence, provided 1t is the most direct route to his place of destination; but, in such case, he will report in person to the Adju- tant-G General, and not remain more than twenty-four hours.''
 We will not say that this order is illegal, but when the public learn that by the proyi- sions of this very order an officer Is not en- titled to a furlough for seven months until he has ''aciually continaed o,a re91mentcl duty' for six years ill the wilds of Arkansas or the Northwest--when they are told that at least two of these seven months are oc- cupied in travelling to and from their posts at their own expense-when they bear in mind that this seven years exile IS passed among savages and amid every species of exposure and privatoIl-we say when these things arc borne in mind, the public will a. gree with us that the prohibition against visiting the scat of government, IS tyfdnna- cal and arbihmyin the highest degree. in England and Fanec, and even Tn the tles- potic Kingdoms in the North of Europe, an officer on iurlough, Is at liberty to go wherever he thinks proper within the limits [ of his government; putin republican Ameri- ]. ca, where the officer IS in 20 way deprived of his citizenship by the constitution or laws of the country, he IS told that shert fur -I tough obtained by a long period of devotion < to his profession, cannot be spent in any < manner which may not be perfectly pleas T ino to the favored few located at the seat of