The Placer herald., 1856-10-04
NUMBER 4.

ecutiye for extraordinary occasions, and
promptly to convene the two Houses in order
to afford them an opportunity of reconsider
ING subject Of such vital interest to the
peace and welfare of the Union. With the
exception of partial authority vested by
law in the Secretary of War to contract for
a supply of clothing and subsistence the
army is wholly dependent on the appaopria-
tions annually made 10y Congress. Tie oms-
sion of Congress to act in this respect before
the termination of the fiscal year had already
caused embarrassments to the service, which
were overcome only in expectation Of appro-
priatons before the close of the present
month. If the requisite funds be not speedi-
iy provided, The Executive will no longer be
able To furnish for transportation the equip
ments and munt ons which are essential to
the effectiveness of military force in the
field. With no provision for the pay of the
troops, the contracts of enlistment would be
broken, and the army must in effect be dis
banded-the consequences OF which would
he so disastrous as to demand all possible
efforts to avert the calamity. 1t is not mere
" that the officers and enlisted men of the
army are to he thus deprived of the pay and
standing laws, but that the construction of
arms at the public arlnories, the repair and
construction of ordnance at the arsenaIs, and
the Manufacture Of clotling and camp equi-
page must he discontinued, and the persons
connected with this branch of the public SER
vice thus be deprived suddenly of the EN-
p'"vmcnt essential to their subsistence nor
is it merely the waste consequent on the
forced abandonment "f the seaboard fortfca-
ions, and Of the interior military posts and
other establishments, and the enormous ex-
pense of recruiting and reorganizing the army
and d,Slibutingi overlhe vast regions which
it now occupies. These are evils, which may
II is true le repaired hereafter by taxes i'm
posed on the country but other evils are in
VOWED which no expenditures, however lavish,
could remedy, in comparison with which
local and personal injuries or interests sink
into insignitcance. A great part ofthe army
is situated on the remote frontier, or in the
deserts and mountains Of the interior To
discharge large bodies of men in such places
without the means Of rcgaining their homes,
and where few, if any, could obtain subsis-
tence by honest industry, would be to subject
them to suffering and temptation with disre.
gard to Justice and right, most erogatorv to
that Governments In the Territories Of
Washington and Oregon, numerous bands
of Indians are in arms and are wagng war
of determination against the white nhab:-
iants, and although our troops are actively
carving on the campaign, we have no in
teIIgenre as vet of a successful result. On
the Western Plains notwithstanding the i'm
posing display of military recently made
there, and the chastisement inflicted on tho
rebclIlous tribes others far from being dis
mayed, have manifested hostile intentions
and been guilty Of outrages, which if not
designed to provoke a conflict, serve to show
that the apprehension of it is insufficient
wholly to restrain their vicious propensities.
A strong force in the SAFE Of Texas has pro-
duccd the temporary suspension of hostities
there, but in New Mexico ince>sant vigilance
on the part of the troops is required to keep
in check the nlaurauling tribes that nfest
that Territory The hostile Indians have not
been removed from the State Of Florida, and
the Withdrawal Of the troops therefrom,
leaving that object unaccompished, would
be most injurious to the inhabitants and
breach Of lhe positive engagement of tho
General Government.
To refuse supplies to the army, therefore,
is TO compel the complete cessation of all it's
operations, and practical disbanlment, and
thus to invite hordcs Of predatory savages
from the Western Plains and Rocky Noun
ans, to spread devastation along frontier
of more than four thousand miles in extent,
and to deliver up the sparse population of
vast tract o. country Ia raIine and murder
Such, in substance, would he the direct and
effects Of the refusal Of Congress,
for the first time in the history of the Gov
enment, TO grant supples-the inevitable
waste Of millions Of the public treasure--the
Of extreme wrong upon all persons
connected with the Military Establishment
by service, employment, or contracts-the
recall of our forces from the feld--the fear
ul sacrifice of life and inca'cuIable destruc-
ion Of property on the remote frontiers-
thr striking of our National FIng on the bat
dement's of the fortrpsses which defend our
Maritime Cities against foreign INVASION
the violation of the public honor and good
iaitll--and the ds'iedit of the United States
in the ewes of The civilized world.
| confidently trust that these considera-
tons and others appertaining to the domes-
tie peace Of the country, which cannot fail to
suggest themselves to every patriotic mind,
will, on reflection, be duly appreciated bv
both Houses of Congress, and induce the en-
actmcn Of the requisite provisions Of law
for the support of the Army of the United
States FRANKlIH PIERCE.
Washington, August 2l, 1855.