The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-12-19
THE PROPOSED MILITARY OCCUPATION OF soNo-
RIA AND CHIHUAHUA


We understand that the Committee Military
Affairs of the House of Representatives has address
cd note to the Secretary of War, inquring whether
the proposed military occupation of Sonora and Chi
hlahua would necessitate increase of the army.
We arc gratiied to learn that the Secretary has ex
pressed in reply the very decided opinion, that such
measure, SO far from adding to the existing neces
sity for an increase of the army, would rather have
the opposite effect. We do not know the particular
arguments by which the Secretary has enforced this
opinion in his reply to the committee for his letter
has not TRANSFERRED but we can imagine many very
conclusive reasons why the effect of the measure
" oud be as indicated by him.
The necessity for all increase of the army rests
upon the nadequacy of its present force to protect
the immense Indian frontier in the West and at
the same time to man. for mere purposes of pre-
serving aud protecting them, the forts and
magazines Of arms scattered along our extended
Eastern seaboard. The necessity results from two
arthmetical impossbiites first the impossibility Of
given number Of troops being at two more
posts at the same time, the posts being in many
cases several thousand miles apart; and secondly
the mpossibility of troops who required to march
an average distance of twelve hundred and fifty
miles year. doing satisfactory duty in any particular
locality while thus the march to and from distant
points The mind which cannot appreciate neces-
sity which rests upon two arthmetica facts of this
concrete nature is not be reasoned with any more
than it would avail to argue with it that two and
two make four.
There is another strong arithmetical reason which
calls for an increase of the army and that is the
following The heaviest item of expenditure CON
nected with the army service is that of transporta
ton. We do not think we exaggerate, when we
state that the expenditure of transportation that is
to say, of the Quartermasters department, consti
tutes two-thirds of the annual cost of the service
If you diminish the necessity Of transportation
therefore, you diminish the army expenditure. If
you require regiment of troops most of the time
in Texas, and regiment also in Dacotah the expense
of maintaining two regiments stationary in each of
he districts would be less by probably fifty or sew
enty-ive per cent, than of maintaining but regi
ment and keeping the main body of that neither in
Texas nor in Dacotah but most of the time on the
march back and forth from district to the other
The greater economy of maintaining two regiments
eacn 5tatloua|y, Oh one, almost
always on the march, is matter of demonstration
by figures, by facts, by the infalibe deductions of
arithmetic The Belgian infantry at the battle of
Waterloo could not be brought to stand firm in the
range Of Napoleon artillery. There are minds of
the same sort which cannot be tempted to come in
the range of arithmetical cannon shot
We say there are many reasons which we can
Imagine why the occupation of Sonora and Chihua-
hua would be practicable with cvena smaller militia
force than is required 70 protect the present geo
graphical frontier of New Mexico Arizona end Cali
fornia ip tle first place, line of posts stretched
across, nearly as practicable direct, from Texas
to Guayamas other eligible naval post the Cali
fornia gulf would be shorter, by large odds, than
the present curved line of posts held by troops
and being shorter, the line could be occupied by
smaller force than is now required. In the second
place, the fine habitabe country lies for the most
part, below our Mexican boundary line, open to the
incursions of the sayages while our troops occupy
the wild and rugged regions which the Indian pre-