The daily union., 1846-05-04
CON RES ssIONAL
SPEECH OF MIR. MoCLERNAND,
OF ILLINOIS


military posts on the route TO Oregon, with the
amendments.
The House being in Committee Of the whole on
the state Of the Union
Mr.. McCLERNAND rose and said, that the sur
prise which he had felt at the very strenuous oppo
aiI0n made TO the bill was enhanced when he look
ed 10 the grounds upon which II had been, in the
main, predic ated. IL was fact, in his judgment,
that the bill had been opposed more for Imaginary
than substantial reasons Gentlemen had stunned
facts to exist which did not exist and had reasoned
from them TO conclusions adverse 10 the measure
Such had been the case with the gentleman from
Mississippi Mr.. THuarsos.l That gentleman
had assumed that, If We raised the proposed regi-
ment 1t would become part Of the permanent mil
ltaTy establishment. And why SOP Because, as he
says, we have never been able 10 reduce the army
after increasing IL Now, sir, the gentemans prem.
ises are altogether ypothetical-indeed they are
contrary TO the fact. The army IA smaller nov than
the peace establishment Of leOe 1912, 1915, 1921,
or l6+2. During the interval between the two first
named periods, it amounted to 8, l25 men; during
the next t amounted TO IL 1885, in lS42 IL amounted
% ll5l0, and since that Tine II has been reduced TO
1,So5-consideuby lers thsn 1t was in 1905 Al
the last monuoned date, our population was about
seven millions, and the receipts from customs were
SIT, ,363 $50, now our population is some twenty
millions, and the receipts from customs for the last
fiscal year were s2T ,O00, 600 Since 1908 the from
embrace territory and States which contain the ele-
ments Of mighty empire. The population Of the
West Is greater now than the whole population Of
the United States was in 1908. New and great in
terests have sprung into existence in that highly IA
yored region and Il may be assumed as fact, that
the decrease Of the military establishment is Tsla
lively, much greater now than II shows 10 be by
comparison Of numbers.
The cause Of the opposition Of the gentleman
from MisslssiPpi to a permanent increase Of the
army is the fear which he expresses that the mill
tary might become dangerous to liberty. Mr.. McC.
said he had heard much Of the danger Of standing
armies 10 free institutions. As a general PROPOSE
ton, there was much truth in it, but he had long
believed that much OF the Clamor which he had
heard in this country about the dangers Of standing
armies was mere demagoguism. Might not the out.
cry which was raised against Mr.. Van Buren, and
has purpose more efficiently to organize the militia,
be Justly so described Standing armies rarely, IL
ever, prove dangerous TO a people until, by grad,
ua process Of degeneration and corruption, they be-
come ripened for military subjugation. He thanked
uod that there was no danger OF standing army in
this country now, and he hoped il would be
The American peope--the whole people-constitute
The American army and so il was in all free States.
Here the people were attached peace for itself
an agent TO develop their individual and collective
energies, and those Of their happy and beloved inst
tuuons; and the signal for the rnnihilation Of any
organized force which Congress might raise, would
be the attempt Of such force to subiugate the peo-
pie, or overtum our institutions.
There a time in the history Of the Roman
empire, when long pre-exisling couuptions and
degradation had prepared the people to submit to
m 'litary yoke. The Pretorian b.nd depreyed by
variety of causes, mounted the ramparts and with
a loud voice proclaimed the "Roman world was for
sale" and actually sold it to an obscure but wealthy
senator for 6,250 drachms But we have not ar
rived at that point in the descending scale Of vice
n,.-d Lt
still onward-full Of hope and promise to ourselves
and To mankind.
The gentleman from Mississippi, however, says,
that we have already passed bill which may in
crease the military establishment from 1000 to
about Il, 900 men. He must be aware that the in
crease of which he speaks is contingent one-to
be made or not, at the discretion or the President
Now, If this be the case, (and it ISL the fact nul
hes his argument; for If we raise this regiment, it
will deduct much from the contingent force pro-
vided for In effect, this will be increase of the
army, additional to what provision has been made
for, either positively or conditionally.
II has been urged as a matter Of economy, that
officers should be taken from the army rather than
from civi! life TO command the regiment. But how
stands the case' If you promote supernumerary
lieutenants to the command, you must necessarily
increase their pay to correspond with their new
grades. Or if you effect the object by transfer
of officers, of course number Of vacancies will be
created, which must be filed by promotions attend
ed with increased pay. In either case the saving
would only be the amount paid to the inferior
officers before promotion. The increased expense
Of such an arrangement would be the difference be-
tween the pay of these officers before and after pro-
motion, which would be well nigh equal to the ex-
pense Of taking the requisite number of officers
from civil life. Perhaps the true is, to mix
military life. This policy would unite experience
with popular sympathy, and prevent jealousy and
the prejudice of irritation and disappointment.
1t seems to be sing ular inconsistency, that gen.
tlemen should insist upon an amendment limiting
the duration Of the regiment as the only means Of
preventingiit from becoming permanent, and at the
same time insist upon putting it under the command
Of officers Of the army. The latter provision would
nulify the former. Ia it not manifest, far as the
permanency of the regiment may be controlled by
official influence, that it is far more likely to be
rendered permanent through the influence Of class
Of men educated military life and ambition whose
tenure Of office is during good behavior practical
ly for life, than by few private citizens promoted
to the command for a temporary purpose, and un-
willing to hold it longer than the exigency con-
tinued'
Several gentlemen, and particularly the gentle
man from New York, Mr.. RATHBuN,l had OBJ
jected to the regiment as unnecessary, and had at
tributed its agitation to the influence of office seek
ers. Now, as to the authorship Of the measure,
the gentleman was certainly mistaken. 1t had
been recommended by the President, the Secretary
Of War, and the two military committees of Con-
gress. And as to the objection of exraneous infu-
ehce it was unjust to ascrbe it any more 10 private
citizens than to professional military men. Mr.
McC. deprecated these influences, if they existed,
as much as any gentleman. But if it was the de-
sire to prevent them, other means must be employ
ed than the defeat of the bill. Gentlemen must 90
to the army, and to the principles of its Or
ganzation. They must go to the Military Acade-
my, and lay there the of reform deep and strong
There are now ninety-fve supernumerary officers,
and the number of cadets annually graduated at
West Point must add to the list. As many of this
class had already been provided for in the staff as
propriety will permit Indeed, it is said that the
staff of our army (only about thousand strong)
is more expensive than the staff Of Great Britain,
with an army of more than one hundred thousand
Hence, then, here is organized force annually in
creasng, cut off from promotion, withou. command,
restless and ambiuous-ever eager and anxious TO
augment the army as the only means ofobtanng rank
and influence. This influence is certainly more form-
dabe than any disconnected and unregnlated efforts
which private citzens could make for military posi-
tion. The interest Of one class is in favor of large
army, as ahording opportunities Of promotions; the
interest Of the other is adverse to such a policy