, 1863-01-06


chincry, military drawing, modes of attack |
and defense, knowledge Of artillery, etc. arc
Of immense importance. if not indispensable,
10 the officers Of our army. =
In no way can ne be SO well prepared for
war as in knowing how 70 meet 1t, md In be.
has been supposed that some system Of MILL
tary education can be devised in connection
with our FREQ schools, which, while 1t will
reach all c1asEes, VIII in great degree accoM-
plish the desired object without any material
increase Of the public burthcns.
the past year, have organized, and attached
thereto. military departments. ! have been
frequently solicited to furnish arms for the
purpose Of drill I recommend tl,at some
provision be made on an economical scale to
meet demands Of this sort.
While would oppose tho building up Of
military academies BY the general government
to . greater extent than is required for the cd
ucatfon of those officers attached to the rcgu-
lar army, would on the other hand, give
every encouragement to the inc1inations Of
our people, as i Statc, in this direction, and
stimulate every enterprise having for its OBJ.
jcct general system Of military training, and
thc diffusion Of military knowledge. 4. -
=. BRIGAD1rG or TROOPS. '-'''
call your attention to what regard seri-
Gus disadvantage to the service: It has been
thc~practice of the army Of the Potomac, mud
heretofore Of the army Of the West, instead
of bzigading troops from the same State un.
der the command Of its own generals, to SO
brigade them as not to have more than one or
two regiments from the same State In a brig
adc. The tendency Of such course Is 70 de-
stroy local ties and attachments, and to
weaken the feeling Of State pride and Of re-
sponsibiity 10 their friends and neighbors at
home, which would animate brigades consti-
tutcd only Of regiments from the same State,
and commanded by State commanders, In
thus dividing our regiments, placing Illinois
men under commanders from other State, they
lose their identity, and feel that if they.
achieve glory It will not rebound to them
selves or their State.
Another point. In the early stages Of the
war, the patriotism Of our citizens was great
that in each call our quota was more than full
and thousands Of ll1inoisaDs entered the ser
fevicc In Missouri md other States. There Isa
strong desire on the part Of nil such to be
! recognized as Illinois troops, and the depart
ment at Washington has only partially re-
! sire TO suggest to the General Assembly, that
Il memorial to the President md Congress, for
| a change in these Inst particulars would
perhaps meet with their favorable considera-
ton.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
Here is another subject, in respect to Which,
believe the interests Of the service would
| not suffer. That is for the General Assembly
to petition Congress to amend its law Of July,
1861, 50 rs to confer upon each regiment and
company IN the service the election ofits own
officers. In consequence Of the remotcness
Of the army, find the greatest difficulty in
| my own satisfaction. It Involves the neces-
sity Of deciding frequently upon or parte state
| mcDts. While cndc:lvoring to adjust the scales
as impartially and equally as 1 can, between
Republicans and Democrats, find that each
complains TINT the other is unreasonably "a
rored; which fact may be considered some
evidence Of impartIality. ,Imust be permit
| ted 10 claim that have been fortunate in my
| appointments, from the fact that in no single
State have the officers so generally distin-
guishcd themselves, or in which there have
been so many promotions to the higher ranks,
| as III our own. Further, almost every Colon
,el in the service, Las proved himeelf worthy Of
promotion. Nothing has SO far occurred In
the conduct of our officers or men to show
| lint many, II any, great mistakes have been
committed in the exercise Of the appointing
power: Bat at the same time, have the ut
most confidence in the judgement and patri-
otism Of the men composing the various regl-
ments, and I could not fear that the power
might be Enfe1y entrusted to them, if Congress
can be prevailed upon to amend its law by
taking the appointing power from the Cover:
nors Of the different States, and Leaving the
elections to The officers and men Of the rc4i-
nents. The executives would then be rcliey-
ed OF most iaborious and unthanldul service,
Which consumes much time which could well
/! ae devoted to other great duties dev9lving
upon them.
| TAXING TEE VOTES or VOLUNTEERS,
desire to call especial attention to the ini.
portance Of IN enactment, making provision
Tor taking the votes Of the volunteers Of the
| state IN actual service. The fact that man Is
| lighting to sustain his country's flag should
not deprive him Of the highest privilege Of
! citizenship, Viz: the right TO take q part in
the selections oi his rulers. The soldier
should be allowed voice in the nation for the
existence Of which he Is placing his life in
peril. The reason which has excluded the
f1dle5 H. he regular army docs not apply to
ular 1ooses LIS State identity and, to certain
extent, local citizenship. The volunteer. on
the other land, docs not. He still continues
to be a son Of illinois, fighting under his State
flag as well as the starr and stripes. 4 force
Of one hundred and tliry-Gyc thousand vol
untcerea 10 the field from our State. Of this
number 1t is safe to say one hundred thou
sand arc voters. And If they were not legally
| voters previous 10 the enlistment, that act
orsht certainly to make them So. No man
more justly owns the right Of citizenship than
he who voluntarily takes up arms in defense of
lave us deep IN Interest in the selection
Of the representatives who are to a
great extent to control and direct the desti-
MICS OF tue country, as my other class Of per.
sons; The Secretary Of War most justly dc:
cided that be who votes must bear arms
Shall not the Legislatures of the different
States respond by saying: ttAnd who bcars
arms must yote:n 1see nothing in our con.
stitution that prohibits the enactment Of such
4 law On the contrary, section 5, of article
clector shall be deemed to llaye lost Ills resi-.
dcnce in this State By reason Of his absence
on business of the United States or of this
State.' Justice demands that this provision
should be carried out in its letter and spirit,
past Legislatures, not anticiipating the prcsen!
anomalous condition of national aff,irs passed
no enactment by which 1t can be legally car.
ried into effect. 4 law can be framed without
difficulty, providing for taking the votes o
the soldiers in active service, at least for tht
most important Offices, viz: State officers
seprasentatiyes in Congress, and mem
Of these officers, tho soldier, although
away from home, takes rs much, If not more
interest than the citizen actually on the spot
Hc rends the newspapers, receives lcttcrs from
his friends, and in fact understands the issue
Of the Cay as well us, If not better than, tn
man Tor the defense Of whose home he ha
. taken up arms.
II may be objected That great difficulty an
expense would necessarily be created in Is
king the vote Of the army iu the field. But
submit TINT nearly nll the difficulty and es
: pcnFc would be obyiatcd by the followin
/ simple and effective plan: The three Hel
: | officers, or in their absence, the three rankin
officers Of each regiment of infantry or caya
~, and three highest commissioned otticcri
| or those acting in their places, of each batter
Of artillery, or each company or squadron {
,, inEantIy or cavalry On detached service, migf
> be nude the Inspectors Of The election, Wit
power 70 appoint the proper person clerk {
, the election, 80 TINT the vote may be taken O
the day fixed by the constitution.
= ARRESTS.
/ As early rs September 10, 1869, a letter
t mine Wits published, In answer to one IL
: quiring the causc Of n certain arrest, In whic
, other arrests, or been consulted MS to the pr,
i Iricty Of their being made; and also Stain
$ tlAat the power ought to be exercised only
: extreme cases. The subject is one full
:, difficulty. On the one hand 1t is plain to t
i seen that in time Of war. tho power to ARE
c sunlmarily is often absolutely necessary an
!. justifiab'e, If upon no other, upon the par
j. | mount and al}controllfng plea Of nation
l. selfprcscrration., Tho utiernnce Of treaso,
J. able words, the dIscouragemcnt Of enlls
o ments. or giving aid and comfort to the cneu
= in any way, nrc undeniabiy sufficient groun'
for arrest A traitor or spy in 4 loyal Stat
y In time Of war, as justly deserves to be a
c rested and hung, or shot, as the same class
G persons in disloyal States Tho assault upc
o tht life Of the State is the highest crime know
D. to the law, and should, especially in times Iii
e the present, be most Vigorously and SUNNI
o On the other hand, my democracy Is sucll
g te teach nc to entertain the highest rega
te for the rights Of the individual, believing tt
lie | every man, whether hc be white, yellow, re
L. or black, Is entitled to liberty, md should