The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-12-12
THE ARMY AND IT'S SERVICES.

! The fayorite ground Of attack upon every admin
istration is its army expenditures Youths at school
learn to decaim against the danger to freedom Of
Standing Army maiden speeches in legislatures
thunder with invective against military ambition and
statesmen grown gray in public debate still make of
the prolific topic theme for than juvenile en-
ergy of defamation. When declamatory talents are
wanting in the orator the prosy logic Of fois
and figures is brought into requistion and the army
is every year opheed into utter disfavor with the
public.
Now the truth is, that popular jealousy has usual
ly proved moro potential than military ambition
History has afforded few instances of the success
of military services in winning public gratitude and
reward few also of successful military usurpation ;
but it recounts the cases of vast number of gene
rails who having spent lfetime of service and glo
ry, have died in neglect and penury. This has been
more especially the case in popular governments,
and the modern history of Great Britain, the
most popular of European governments, has been
signazed by instances of the readiness with which
the popular branch of Parliament has been willing to
turn upon and pcrsecute its military benefactors
The incidents of the first great victory of Yelling
parliamentary inquisiton, and the greatest British
general of modern times wellnigh driven out of
the service with rcbuke and The Duke of
York, who presided over the British War Depart
at intervals during the long contest with Napo-
leon, and to whose consummate talents and bold
measures the final success of England in that despe
rate struggle in great part due, at time
Investigated by the House of Commons out of office,
until returning sense of popular justice demanded
with reclamation his return to post which he, more
than any other in the kingdom, was most competent
and most worthy to fill. The case was similar with
Lord Melville, who presided over the British Navy
Department, and organized its service into the
efficiency which afterwards told so decidedly at
Alb ou-kir and Trafalgar and who was nevertheless
investigated out of Office under the influence of pop
ular camor in spite of the great exertions of Mr..
Pitt to sustain him.
Among degraded and demoralized people mill
tary ambition and daring may sometimes succeed in
erecting despotism; but among free people es-
peciay of the Anglo75axon race, the superior pow
er of popular jealousy over military influence has
been the rule and the reverse the exception The
idlest of all delusions is that of experimenting in
country, serious danger to the liberties of thirty
millions of people from the assaults of an army of
fifteen thousand soldiers scattered over a line Of
posts ten thousand miles in extent And the most
droll and absurd of all misnomers is that which de-
dominates army each regiment of which marches
twelve hundred and fifty miles in the year. standing
| army.
The ears of the people have been for 80 long ac-
customed TO tho cant which we have been abiding to,
the subject of armies and army expenditures, that
the terse and strong ywritten report Of the Secrea
ny of War. which publish to-day, will be some
what new and refreshing to them. The opening par
agraphs in this paper do not more effectuay put to
fight this whole clamor, which is now stereotyped,
against standing army, by showing how continually
our brave soldiers are KEEP, the march than some
of it's other paragraphs will set at rest sundry
derful fables that have been freely circulated by OPP
position newspapers during the last twelvemonth,
concerning the prices paid for army supplies, and
the grand total Of army expenditures for the year.
| Beef and cattle, it seems, have been bought for
the commssariat, delivered away of in Utah and
New Mexico, at cheaper rates than they sold
at, in open market in any Of cities and these
supplies, as well as oil stores purchased by the
| Quartermaster's Department, have been procured
during the year, Notwithstanding the unusual guam
titles required, at cheaper rates than they had be-
fore been obtained at since the Mexican war.
AS to the general expenses Of the Department,
the estimates for the ensuing year are nine or ten
millions less than the appropriations made by Con
gress for the last year and less by than two mil
lions than they will be for the current fiscal year
Nor is this all for the Secretary promises by another
year effort to cut down the expenses Of his depart
ment still few millions more.