Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-04-09
TA. saisaicssing upon sse l.-. ". 20 bs pu-

the minority In the House, not only - 70 laws
that might and those that should not Be passed
but also as 20 the form tbey should assume. be
undertook 10 ad}sdioafs UPON oils before Tie
House BY saving IL advance. that Il passed taey
Wonlo oe Tnvalid-not orly 50, bat thai them
passage must Be defeated because the whole IL
dlclaTy would act either iEroranfly OF coTTuPtly,
ana would sust2in such laws. In other words.
IN advl,ing the breaking np of the Legislature.
ana IN giving the reasons therefor he nov does
IN TINS speech. ne N euect ssys. I. Oliver Perry
Hazard Morton am alore homes. caDsble. and
faithfut; and viii therefore assume--eizc 90
myself-the whole powers Of the State Govern
ment. I viii trust 20 other person or ucr.ons
am, in and of myself. all-sufhcieut
But 70 tue bill. IL provided that ss Counan-
der-in-Chicf, the Governor should Be entitled. a.
staff officers, 20 az AdJufsnt General q Quar-
termasier General, and Commissarv Gtnersl
who should be BY him appointed, sc. second.
military tax OF hfty cents per annum on each
person subject to military durv was provided
for. Third. the mode bv which persons suhiest
70 military duty might organize a COMPANY and
elect tlesr o6iosrs Is pointed ou; certificate
OF which election was 70 entisie them 10 dis
charge the Office until the Governor should issue
commission. We mighf here obser-s thar the
several parts Of the bill allowing the companies
or regiments or any other person or persons ex
cept the Governor. to choose and appoint the
Officers. Is that which received the most positive
opposition from the Governor, on the ground
thar IT might prevent him from appointing his
friends. Fourth, the officers Of a company are
named, and how often TO drill Fifth, each Con-
gressional District is declared TO be n brigade
district Sixth, the officers of State 10 rccom-
mend 10 the Governor person for Major Gen.
eral. and one in each district for Brigadier Gen.
eral, TO be appointed by the Governor Seventh,
the Brigadier General to form companies in his
district into regiments, and company officers 10
elect reg:mental officers.
This is the substance OF this much-abused bin.
so far as the organization of the militia into
companies, regiments, brigades and divisions is
concerned. 1t is true, there are a great many
provisions in regard TO the staff officers and their
rank attached 10 ColOnels. Brigadier Generals
and Major Generals; the number of davs 10 mus
ter and penalties for not mastering: but all this
does not affect the organization itself. After
carefully considering the proposed law, as CON-
pared with that already in existence lAcis Spe-
cial Session of 1861. p. So but which had been
enacted only about eighteen months previously,
we feel confident that the Distinguishing differ
ence between them was, and is first. that the one
on the statute book gave the appointment Of re-
gimental, brigade and division officers TO the
Governor solely The proposed law gave the
pirate soldiers a voice in the selection Of great
majority of the officers; and where this was not
done, the selection was devolved upon several
officers instead Of upon one man. This we be-
lieve, 20 be the true theory; for il is said
Where no counsel is. the people fall: but in the
multitude Of counsellors there is safety" Prov
erbs. IL: Il.
Second By sec. s2 of said Acts Of ls6l. D.
SO. the rules and articles Of war are declared TO
he in force in time of war with such modifca-
ton as the Governor NAV prescribe" This
would. as Is well understood in conducting mill
tary matters, give the Governor the power TO
control the whole militia to his own liking. No
such provisions was contained in the proposed
bill.
The Governor does not c)ndescend 10 point
out in what particular the proposed law would
be unconstitutional but contents himself with
asserting that such was the fact That every one
may see the empty. shallow pretense, we here
incorporate every provision OF the Constitution
bearing upon the subject of the militia:
ARTICLE xrI.-MrLrTIA.
SrorIoS l. The militia shall consist of sl -bedied
white male persons, betw' the ages OF eighteen and
forty-ve years except such may be exempted b,
laws OF the United States Of This state anu shall b.
organize, ofcered armed eeuipped, aud Trained
manner may b. provided y law
SEC. ?. The Governor shall appoint The AdjuiaIi,
Quarter-Asser. and C.mmissary Geilrrass
SEC. ,. All militia officers Shall be commissioned by
six years.
SEC g. The General Assembly shall determine the
dlrl>On<. bIlgadcr,
regiments, baiiaons and cmpaies aud tx TIE Of
al staff oficsrs
ssc. 5. The militia may be divided into elssse- u
sedentsry ano miitia such a. shall be
prescribed BY law"
ARTICLE y.-ExEcUTIvE.
"sEc l3. The Governor shall be commander in chief
Of the military and naval forces may call sucn
forces to execute the laws, or 10 suppress nsurrecon
to repel INVASION
Section Is provides that, in certain instances
named, the Governor Shall hll vacancies tLat
may occur in offices, but officers in the mil
tia are not namel, and a., under sec. |, Of Ar.
IL, above quoted, the Legislature have tue an
doubted right to provide by law how such vacan.
cies may Be tlled, we viii not insert the section
here.
Any plain man can perceive al once that there
was nothing in this bill to cause the Republicans
TO leave, and defeat the measures that had been
maturing during the whole session before they
bolted. Ii was, therefore, necessary to raise q
great clamor about this bill to make bold, and.
at the same time, bald assertions about il 10 at-
tempt in every manner 10 impress the patriotic
public thai in an hour of grea, peil, when
soldiers were much used, the majority were az
tempting 10 oyertuIn, Or blot out, OF in some
way destroy, tAcy do NOT say nor know how.
the whole military system of thc State. They
sought under this subject OF patriotic cxei.c-
ment, to-wii, raising and providing TO- soldier,
10 cover up their rcal design, which wa. a
we have shown, 20 defeat certain other me- e.
sary legislation. Aside from these reason, il Is
manifest that the Republicans did not fear The
passage OF the military bil because il wa ti.rn
a late day of TIC session and the position # the
bill such the calendar, thar thels were
about a huadrel other bills would have to be
acted upon before IT, and Il could ..os thsreJos,.
hare Jee reached, unless it wa iaken NJ cut Of
Its crder, which could not be done Ly less Ian O
two-thirdS vote, and tia; The Democrat could
not command. II il had passed, tie GovelBoI,
il he was opposed 10 il, could lave vetoed il.
and then, upon is re-pas sage, would have iccn
time enough 10 TOT.
But why those hollow pTefences of exclusive
love and care for he soldiers of tits wGrl
Merely that they. the Rcpublcans. may X ia
condition. if possible, to control these brave
in relation to political questions. TAis ihe Gov
e.nor attempted during tie sitting Of tie Legis-
latuTe, by sending his eni,sasies to the va iots
armies in the ieId to procure, by ialse sepresen-
tations to the soldiers, the passage II lesolu,ons
dcnouncing the majority in the Legislature, and
laudng o. p. VI. See Br. Rep. pp. 1875.
That this exclusive friendship l., TO some ex-
tent, hollow, and the dcnunciaIions in the ieso-
luiions referred 10 unwarganted, l. clear from tie
following facts: The Democrats. having msjs r.
ties in both branches, bad prepsIed and lad i
progress of passage, bills aPrroI riati-g ior dis
abled &c, soldiers. and for tie Le1i ior two Jun
dred fhousand dollar f. he rara ,,S