The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1856-09-03
p residents Message.
Fsii0~ citizens Of the Senate and Hous.
Df ReDresea fo fires.

~" 'o' t"o S"FPpt VI TIC army, ~ became
'mperatively incumbent on me to exer-
else the power which the Constitution con.
fcrs on the Executive for extraordinary oc-
cas'ons, and promptly to convene the two
Houses, in order to afford them an oppor
tun'tv Of reconsidering a subject of sucli
vital interest to the peace and welfare of
the Uni"n. With the exception of a par
tial au,hroiiy vested by law in the Secre-
tary of War to contract for a supply Of
clothing and subsistence, the army is
wholly dependent on the appropriations
annually made by Congress.
Tho omission Of Congress to act in this
respect before the termination of the fiscal
year had already caused emLarrassmcn,s
to the service, which were overcome only
in expectation appropriations before the
close OF the present month. Ii the requi-
site funds be not speedily provided, the
Executive will no longer be able to furnish
for transportation frc equi rments and nu-
nitons which are essential to the effect
iveness OF a 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
he dshanded-thc consequences Of which
woHld be SD disastrous as 10 dem md all
possible efforts to arrest the calamity.
1t is not merely that the officers and
enlisted men Of the army are to be thus
deprived pf the pay and emoumcnis to
which they arc entitled 10y standing laws,
but that the construction OF arms at the
public armories, the repair and cons rue.
ton OF ordinance at the arScnals, and the
manufacture of military clothing and camp
equipage must be discounted, and the
persons connected with this branch of the
public service thus be deprived, suddenly,
of the employment essential to their sus.
tenance; nor is it merely the waste conse-
quent on the forced abandonment of the
seaboard Notifications and of tie interior
military posts and other establishments,
and the enormous expense OF recruiting
and rcorganizng the arm, and again dis
,rihuting it over the vast regions which il
now occupies.
These are evils which may, it is true,
be repaired hereafter by taxes imposed
on the country, but other evils are involv
Cd which no expenditures, however lavish,
could remedy, in comparison with which
local and personal injuries or interests sink
into insignificance. a great part Of the
army is situated on he remote frontier or in
the deserts and mountains Of the interior.
10 discharge bodies ofmcn in such places
without the means of regaining their
homes, and where few, if any, could oh.
tain subsistence 10y honest industry. would
be to subject them TO suffering and t mp
tauon, with disregard OF justice and right
most derogatory to the government.
In the Territories Of Washington and
Oregon numerous bands Of Indians are in
arms and are waging a war of extermina
ton against the white inhabitants, and al,
though our troops are actively carving
on tho campaign, we have no intelligence
rs yet OF a successful result. On the Wes-
tern plains, Notwithstanding the imposing
display Of military force recently made
there, nnd the chas,isement inflicted on the
rebelious tribes, others far from being dis
mayed, have manifested hostile intentions
and been guilty Of outragcs which ii not
designed 10 provoke Il conflict, serve to
show that the apprehension of it is Insult
ticient wholly I" restrain their vicious pro-
penslies.
A strong force in the State of Texas has
produced the temporary suspension of hos
tilties there, out in New Mexico incessen,
action on the part Of the troops is reQuir
ed 20 keep in check the maraudinr tribes
which infest that territory. The hostile
Indians have not been removed from the
State Of Florida, and the withdrawal of
the troops therefron,, leaving that Object
unaccomplished, woa!d lie most injurious
to tho inhabitants, and breach of the
positive engagement of the general govern.
ment.
To refuse supplies to tie army, there
fore, is to compel the complete cessation
OF all its operations, and practical dis
bandment, and thus TO invite hor,les Of
predatory savages from the Western
Plains and Rocky Mountains TO spread
devastation along frontier of more than
four thousand miles in extent, and 10 de.
liver up the sparse population OF vast
trac, OF country 10 rapine and murder.
Such, in substance, would be the direct
and immediate effects Of the refusal of
Congress, for thc first time in the history
Of the government, to grant supplies-the
inevitable waste OF millions Of public treas
ure-lhs inflic,ion Of extreme wrong upon
all persons connected with the military es.
isiis'in.eai, by se:r;cs, employment. or
contracts-the recall Of our forces from
the hel,l-the fearful sacrifice of life and
lncalculable destruction Of property on the
remote frontiers-ile striking Of our ma.
,ional flag on the battements of the for
tresses which defend our maritime cities
against foreign inyasion--ihe violation of
the public honor and good failh--and the
discredit Of the United States in the ewes
Of the civilized world.
/ confidently trust that these considera-
tons and others arpertaining to the do
lnestic peace Of the country, which cannot
fail to suggcs. themselves to every palri.
otic mind, will, Oh reflection, be duly APP
preciated by both houses Of Congress.
and induce the enactment Of tho requisite
provisions Of law 70, the support of the ar.