Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1840-05-21
PoLITIC AL.
POLITTC AL.
From she Virginia Free Press.
THE STANDING ARMY IN TINE or PEACE,

YEonAN) have had the hardihood to de-
ny the existence Of the proposition by the
Secretary Of War, for converting the
whole Militia os the Union into Stand
ing Army; and the Van Buren, papers are
cautiously Withholding the scheme of the
Secretary from the scrutiny of the peo-
Pile.
We give the whole plan of the Secreta-
ny OF War, in .o.day's paper, in order
that the people may read it and judge for
themselves. From this report, these plain
facts can be gathered:
That every able bodied white man, be.
tween the ages of 30 and 10, is to be en-
rolled, and each man is to PROVIDE
| HIMSELF, HIS OWN EXPENSE
with arms and accoutrements, which will
cost him from II to Is dollars:
That light companies are TO be formed,
WHO ARE TO CLOTHE AND E.
QUIP THEMSELVES AT THEIR
OWN EXPENSE
That the active class Zone hundred
thousand) are to have no officer higher
than major-the superior officers TO be
taken from the regular army
That this class are liable to be march
ed to any part of the military district the
militia of Virginia, for instance, to Della
ware, Maryland, or the District of Colum-
bia-
That the annual deficit in the actiee
class is to be supplied by DRAFT, if vol.
unteers cannot be had
And that any militia man of the active
class, who may be too poor to pay the
fines assessed upon him, will be subject
to IMPRISONMENT, UNTIL THE
FINES ARE DISCHARGED!
0TWe invite the attention of every
candid man to the whole scheme, as otficl.
| ally promulgated, and as endorsed by the
| President.
HTLook at its naked features, fellow.
citizens On and say whether even party
bigotry could induce you to approve such
! a measure.
In the Presidents Annual Message, he
thus endorses the scheme
"The present condition of the dcfences
Of our principal seaports and navy yards,
as represented by the accompanying re-
port of the Secretary Of War, calls for
the early and serious attention Of Con.
gress; and as connecting itself intimately
with this subject, cannot recommend too
strength to your consideration the plan
submitted by that officer for the organiza-
ton ofhe Militia the United States."
We hope every man into whose hands
this paper may fall, will examine this
| dangerous scheme as presented with its
most favorable features by the Secretary
of War, and then Judge how it COMFORTS
with the Republican creed of 1901, when
the elder Adams was elected from power
for asking a standing army, which might
we'll be denominated a squad in comparl.
son with the legions of men now proposed
to be embodied.
Mr.. Poinsett virtually proposes to raise
and to keep in service a standing army OF
tpo hundred thousand men, to be compo-
sed of the militia, but to be in the actual
service of, and to be paid by the General
Government Such proposition as this,
ten years ago, would have raised bat
tie cry throughout the Union. The Pre-
sident, says the Lynchburg Vrgnian,
clutchng at tn public purse with one
hand, demands an augmentation of the
military power with the other =; and yet,
because he breaches about Economy and
State Rights, the cry Of =" ALPS well' is
sounded by all the sentinels!
What does Mr.. Van Bufen want with
standing army of two hundred thousand
men Is it TO repel foreign invader ?
No; for he tells us that our foreign rela-
tons are OF the most pacific charactet.-
| Is 1t TO defend STATE Rights ? Let him
get the militia under his control, and he
will give to State Rights such protection
as vultures give TO lambs-coveriug to de.
your !
With the Purse. strings placed in the
hands of the President, by The adoption of
the Sub Treasury scheme-with bank
rupt law in force, by means Of which he
can at any moment crush every obnoxious
State Bank--and with standing army Of
200,0 900 militia in his pay-we doubt
whether States or individuals would much
longer have any rights left, worth conten.
ding for: If they should, it is certain that
they would be held by the precarious te-
nure of a despot's will.
Mr.. RIvEs, in his late speech in Albe-
marie, declared, as he did in Winchester,
that i" a more daring, more dangerous, OF
more unconstitutional project, never was
preached in this country. Mr.. Il. said
he believed that IT was TO be permanent
militia force, segregated from the great
body Of the people, Standing Army in
fact, in the pay AND service Of the United
States, to be recruited and enlisted 10 the
same manner that regular soldiers are
| Whether they are TO be detailed for fight
ing ar voting, he could not certainly Tell,
but thought il highly probable that their