Washington telegraph. [volume] (Washington, Ark.) 1839-1871, 1862-10-08

selves subjects of its operation, induces us to
give the bill to-day as it has passed the House
OF Representatives. l. remains vet for the
bill to pass the Senate and TO receive the ap
probation of the President befor, becoming a
law. Perhaps it may undergo some modifca-
TONS, and just possibly, may fail entirely
ort that Is hardly probable, and our citizens
mad better be making up their minds aud put
ting their houses in order for an imperative
call for the services of all able-bodied men
under forty five years of age.
1t is important to ourselves, and what is Of
higher consideration, important to our country,
now bleeding at every pore, that this law should
meet hearty and willing response. Upon
that depends the spirit of our armies. Men
who recognize in this act the voice of suffer-
ing country, calling upon her sons for renewal
of her strength-who respond as becomes
patriots willing to serve their country in the
precise manner which she may dictate-to
forsake other occupations more agreeable to
themselves, although their private judgment
may satisfy them that they are equally bene-
fetal to the country-willing to exchange their
social duties for the sterner contests of the
BATH field, viii compose an army not less
devoted, and perhaps more firm and steady
than enc composed of the enth usiastic and
hery spirits who rushed to the battle field
without calculation Of the long trials and ex-
haustlng fatigues of the march and the camn
aud without rejecting upon the vast social
and political interests dependent upon tbe;,
endurance. An army of men called from the
discharge Of earnest home duties by the voice
OF their own representatives, telling them tba,
the time had come, and recognizing in that
call the dictates of a duty paramount to all
others, may be expected to act with n t;rmno,s
anu lnne1iplllty OF purpose which knows no
compromise, and forbids all hesitation. The
very sense of the sacrifices they mako insnirss
them with the most exalted sense of the object
to be attained They are not willing that all
this shall be for naught. Success must be at
tanned, or life also must be yielded. They 90,
too, with that sense of personal dignity which
attends all who discharge great and dangerous
duties, AMI the sense of their own manhood.
subservient only to God and their country.
raises them above the danger of all weakness
and cowardice,
If, on the other hand, they feel that the eIict
which draws them from their homes and daily
avocations is tyrannical-if they yield but
reluctant consent, or worse still, after resort
ing to pitiful evasions, are driven into the
ranks at the point of the bayonet-if they go
''like galley slaves scourged" to their tasks
from such soldiers We have nothing TO hope
The cause of our country is lost; all Ugh as
pirations of freedom have died out Of such
men. Love of country is made secondary to love
of ease and personal safety. An army composed
Of such material is ready to H. the first on
slaught of the enemy. They ara already slave,
IN spirit. To make them - in reality. will
not be to them any evil which tiey eau at all
appreciate.
Happily these cases are comparatively few.
The spirit exhibited viii be a diguii.d one,
and upon that conscious dignity We base our
hopes of the effective service OF these reserves
of our military strength, commonly called con-
scripts.
For the promotion of this feeling in the
service every thing should be done to prevent
the impression upon the mind of the citizen
in arms, that his position is anything bat that
Of freeman, engaged in the highest duty of
patriotism. Our men of education and high
position in society can do much towards thi !.
by cheerfully assuming the position Of priyates
IN the ranks. Every one cannot be officer
If such men eyince an aversion to service in
the ranks, and through their wealth or con-
nexion with those in power, seek TO avoid a
participation in the hardships of their obscurer
neighbors, it will tend to create in the minds
of all the impression that there is something
degrading in the position of the private soldier.
If, on the other hand, they found side by
side with the humblest private, sharing com
mon hardships, and mourning common peril,
the influence will be two-fold for good. Their
influence and their power will command for
the soldier in the ranks that Difference and
respect to which the freeman is entitled, and
the force of their example will fire the hearts
and sustain the courage of their companions in
arms, who might otherwise feel themselves
degraded and neglected, and made the instru-
ments for the qualification of the personal am
bition of the more wealthy and powerful. This
leads to another reflection upon possible evil,
which it is to be hoped will be strictly guarded
against in our army. The employment of silly
officers to command the conscripts, whose petty
taste for the exercise of arbitrary power might
induce them to treat with wanton haughtiness
and insoleuce, men whose age and position in
lie should entitle them to respect. Whilst
military discipline must be maintained, and ali
proper commands rigidly enforced, the humii-
alton of the soldier by wanton disrespect,
which he is compelled to suffer under penalty
OF death, is not only revolving to the senti-
mentS of all right thinking men, but destructive
TO the discipline and efficiency of the army.
NOR can We refrain, in this come ction, from
a word OF warning to the volunteer soldier who
aas entered early i'll the service and passed
through all or portion of the fiery trials of
the war. He may well feel pride and challenge
the admiration of his fellow citizens. But the
more thoughtless of them are in danger of
falling into the habit of thinking and speaking
sneeringly of those who have remained at home.