Arkansas true Democrat., 1861-12-12
The Volunteer System.

that there is much force in the arguments ad- vanced Nine months ago. at the sound of a bagle. forty thousand volunteers could have been gathered in Arkansas; now. t is q tlicult to get regiment. Men offered themselves and asked to be told when to go, but were delayed, deferred. restrained, accepted for SIX twelve months, and some rejected. Without saying now whose fault this Is, 1t is certain that the volunteer spirit is most efIeclually crashed in Arkansas If human ingenuity had set about devisng plans to depress patriotism, to disgust men with the service and to keep them from inng the confederate army. it could not have
 devised a more perfect plan thal that which has been adopted.
 This fact cannot be denied, and if we intend to bear our share in this great struggle, dlf- ferent plan must be adopted The suggestions in the following article will have more weight with us, from the fact that it may be necessary to adopt some plan. A separate State army is not only useless and expensive, but it is ruinons to the great cause. It keeps men from joining the confederate army. and retains them in ser
 vice just long enough to disgust them with it. i When they have learned the duties and drill of soldier, and arc capable of doing good ser
 vice, they are discharged.
 The Examiner says:
 The campaign of 1861 may be considered as over. The enemy still menaces action; but what he may be able to do in the next fortnight ] cannot seriously affect the result, and, when the 1 ground has been 0osened by the frost, he will find it impossible to do anything more. w. have beaten the enemy in the field and foi"d l him in this campaign. The early danger of the 1 S0uth-lhat it would be overwhelmed in the i first months Of the war; before IL could organize all army or prepare its defence, by the superior numbers and more abundant transportation ot the northern States-is definitely at end. If we are conquered at all now, it must be done by the regular and ordinary means oi war, and not
 by the rush of vast mob. On this much we may congratulate the coun'
 try. But no one can fail to reflect with anxiety upon the next year. observe without sohci- tade a certain unexpected feature of this slrng- { cle Ii Is the temper. displayed by the United States. All calculations as to the extent to
 which the party holding the powers of that coun- try would carry the affair. have been erroneous. B,fore the war began. all men of sane minds believed that they would compromise the politi-
 eel quarrel with the South: and had tAe North offered the South the poorest terms, so corrupt was public sentiment in Virginia, at least, that those terms would have been accepted. But the northern rulers never harbOred for one mo
 r1ent the thought Of any compromise and never offered any, When the war was begun few uersons in the civilized world thought tbat it would last six mouths. The six months have cone. the United States has endured defeat af fer defeat has made sacrifice on sacrifice, and has closed an unsuccessful campaign without the slighte,t symptom of an approach to req son. Tn fact. the prace party of the North, like the Uiion p"rtv of the South, has entirely dis appeared The whole people are completely under the hand of the government and all to ca.her. people and givernmeut. are bent on the prosecution ot thS war. even if the consequence sh,ud be collision with England and na- tional bankruptcy such as was never before knowu
 Under this impulse they have steadily in. creased and are still increasing vast regpllr f,rre enlisted fir aa iud-fnite period and equivalent in all is parts 10 regu'ar armc.- Ali the energy of the naIinn. and all in fh- w,alh of the country has gradne!'g centrad nu ,hat one obi ct. They have diSc'p plined, ani ar- still 1scip'ining. that force hy the same urocesS that converts inc pea Sant of every race into a f'.rnidahe soldier. Now. when D gov
 prnmett * " Hing 10 spend. and iS able to raise money. hv whatever means. t can purchase an army with the same certainty that Ar ind v'lual can purchase pairs nf hies; and all men. how
 .ver vile and cowarlly they may b., when sub rct. for 2 sufficient time 10 good military or ran;z ,tinn and severe military discipline, be come dangerous when moved III the form of regiments and brigades in the operations of WAT.
 .I. r>l shNud not fai to recognize ard consider. that the United States is preparing 9 regular army of not less than five hundred thousand discip ned man for our subjugation and destruction
 ihi8 is the force we must prepire to meet next year. l. is 8 very different army from that we met al Bull Run. $ long as volunteer was op posed to volunteer, raw troops to raw troops. 1t might be safely calculated that we would inva- raby remain the victOrs. Setting aside all questions Of relative manhood in the northern and southern people the character of the le- vies of the two countries and the class of so, cietv from which they were drawn, rendered that result certain. But what will we oppose to the regular army of next yeaY Vast numbers ot our present volunteers We're enlisted for twelve months. and their time of service VII expire before the middle of the summer. How shall they be replaced?
 By new volunteers? The necessity for troops is so urgent and the spirit Of the people so good, that there i l;ttle doubt bat that the con- federate government could so raise all the men t needed But while southern volunteers are fully able, under favorable circumstances, of meeting regular soldiery with success on the field of battle, 1t is time to recognize he truth tbat force so constituted IS incapable of an> swering to all the calls of war; when opposed to an army under the iron rule of enforced en list,aent and regular discipline.
 The southern government has 10 take mea- sures for renewing its army during thissvinter. Unless it places 1t on different footing from the present. its chance next year will he bad With the volunteer system there can be nc true disc pine. The men elect their officers; officers so created may lead, but how can they com mand? They are the creatures of the men, Most of item gained their places by election eering with the men. They were chosen be- cau the majority knew that they were easily dealt with. They are consequently the ser. vants not the masters of the privates, and whenever question arises between the army and tho generals, as must be often the case when he general orders movements that ensure hardship, discomfort and danger, the officers side with the army, thwart the general, and ren- der the D ans of the government abortive. The officers of all volunteer frees are mostly pol
 tcians, to whom the profession of arms is only 8 means for obtaining political ends. How can 1t be expected that they will enforce the odious,