, 1860-12-06
that may be remcdied, ifthey have an e1is-
tcnce, and no more hypocrltical pretences
for bald and uumitigated treason.
Hard&hips Of tho Missouri Militia.


Ths large force sent by tho Governor of Mis-
souEi to drive back certain mythical invaders
from Kansas, arc having rough time. We
quote from the Missouri Democrats article,
headed The Military Expedition:
This huge blundcr is still persisted in, as the
correspondence Of the morning pnpcrs but too
plainly I'll. VS.. Yet Gov. Stuart must have
abundant information that the Commonwealth
over which he presidcs Is wholly fntact-has
not been invaded, nor Is in any danger Of be-
Ing invaded. The reconnaissance made by
Col. Snyder, and which is reported By tele-
essential points, and gags the foolish newspa-
pers which haye been trying to manufacture u
panic out out of the yarns spun by Judge Will
liams. As far Us Missouri Is concerned, the
story Of the fugitive Judge turns out to be
pure fiction; but the t',o ardent so1dlery Of
St. Louis found 1t anything but joke. tt Il
known that the rank and t1lc arc travel
soiled, tatigucd, 1oot-sore, and in many
instances, 1amed and sick. We're they Rus
sian Zouavcs, equally accustomed to the ri.ors
Of an arctic climate, aud severe physical exer-
else, these forced marches in December, alter
mating with days OF comparative incrtia, would
zsc them up, every man, The line Of country
along which they arc moving, neccss1tates. We
arc told, such marches; but that fact should
have served to restrain the rashness Of the
Commander-in-C Chief and the General In COM
nsand in precpitatiug them forward We ven
turc to Fay that such prodignl and wholly usc-
less waste Of human energy and military ar
dor hns not been witnessed IN the country from
the BEGINNING, as this Southwestern expcdi-
tion. The men arc experiencing all the hard
ships Of war, unrelicycd by any one Of Its illu-
eions. What do VIC sec: Six or seven hun
dred men marching, In the depth Of winter,
through the enow, orermud roads interspcrsed
with half,frozcn slousls, carrying heavy KNAPP
sacks and muskets, and sleeping at night on tic
cold frost-bakcd ground, yet 90 fcycsed by the
cxhaustlnE tolls Of the day that the plunge tor
relief into the ice-ruuniuE streams as soon Us
halt is ordered No doubt it is very heroic;
but what good will It do-what useful purpose
will 1t serve, VIC ask: The disciplininY Of our
citizen soldicry, answers writer In the B,40e~
tin, who would doubtless shrink with horror
from the shower bath these mornings, now
ever much h1s brain-pan might require such an
application. Sitting At home by the fire, We
may be IS loud as we please in praise Of the
worth Of discipline; but fatigue, hunger,
h.inencss and sickness are very ugly facts,
withstanding all that theoretical ascetics and
stoics may say to the contrary. Common seusc
always demands that the cud proposed to be
accomplished should bear some proportion to
the efforts and sacrifices made to attain it; but
efforts and sacrifices directed tono object, or to
one confesscdly impossible, are apure waste Of
iorce, and IS little to be applauded as any 9TH
CT senscless extravaganza. Some undertakings
Which fail, compensate for their failure by the
Incidental benefits resulting from their prose
cut1on; but this military Undertaking can be
productive of no incidental good whatever to
those on whom its principal burdens fall, much
less t. the end for which it was ostensibIy or
gauised. We told the soldiers at the outset
that il would place them in icry absurd po-
sltion, and VIC doubt not thev realize tic