The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1865-05-06
PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
The Future OF the American
soldier.

nal Or a nation, than to cut loose from the deep
Rooted prejudiccs of an early education for ma
tons have their school time no less than indi-
yidIals. National ideas can be traced back as
clearly 10 the races from which the nation has
sprung, 20 the blood which has run in its veins
for centuries, % the fundamental opinions which
have characterized that nation or those races in
ali their onward progress, as % the temporary or
prCximate causes 10 which alone We are accus-
toned, in ordinary speculatiOns, - attribute
them. In no point is this truth more evident
than In the general ideas which prevail amongst
our people, and which are frequently uttered by
our press. with regard 70 the American soldier.
IL has become q habit with both Southern and
Northern public journals 10 speculate upon the
possibilities OF peace, and 70 anticipate that with
~ there will come a very practical difficulty in
cisposing Of our soldiers. IL is generally sug-
gested that IL Will be desirable, perhaps absolute
~ necessary, 20 embroil ourselves with some
foreign Power, either with England, To attack
Canada. or more probably with France, to carry
our the Monroe doctrine by driving Macmillan
from his throne, and so preventing the cession OF
Sonora or any other provinces on this continent
% q European Power.
A foreign war, in which the soldiers now con-
tending for victory in every Southern State might
fight side by side IN = common cause, would, IL j.
s~lpposed. not only have the effect Of celebrating
the rec0llec,i0ns Of PAST feuds. by the interposi-
ton Of one more recent, and by substituting for
the hatred Of one another the hatred Of a COM
mon foe. but would find the only fitting use and
the only safe employment for all those adventur-
Gus spirits whose love Of excitement has been so
stimulated by war, whose natural recklessness has
been assiduOusly cultivated, and in whom the
exigcncies Of service have originated and devel-
Oped such ideas respecting the rights and proper
ties Of others that they would no longer be safe
inhabitants OF = peaceable, free country. Of
course this doctrine is not put forward in all
it- naked defOrmity, nor do the defenders Of il
desire TO carry IL 70 It's logical conclusion by con-
tinuing to make war upon some foreign power
until all these unquiet spirits have found their
resting place In q soldiers grave but the idea
which secretly prevails has not been oyerstated.
Even those who have friends, relatives, perhaps
fathers and brothers, risking their lives for the
great cause Of united free America, seem to look
upon their own friends a. the exception, and have
u latent idea that q soldiers life is full Of special
temptations, of unusually demoralizing tenden-
ches, and that the soldiers Of its armies are IN
some sort not so well behaved, not so trustworthy
III ordinary life, rs the quiet citizens Of the re-
public. This idea IS solely and purely an Anglo
Saxon inheritance, q fallacy which we have
brought with Us from England, an idea inbred in
our natures, and one, therefore, which we cling
10 In spite Of its groundlessness and it's utter in
capability 10 the circumstances under which our
noble army has been raised, Oficered and disci-
pIined.
When n Norman army invaded England and
obtained pOssessiol Of Its Government, it was
natural that The mass Of the people should look
with hatred and distrust upon their conuuerors
and the instruments with which they enforced
their tyranny. From that day to this the En-
glish army has consisted of 4 class distinct from
the great bulk of the people. 1t is to-day Off
cered almost, if not entirely, from the privileged
classes. The soldier, on the other hand, is taken
from the very dregs Of the population, and, as q
consequence, the army is held together only by
iron discipline. Such an army is, by its very
organization, quite removed from the sympathies
and antagonistic to the feelings of the great mid
die classes, who form the bulk of the people of
England, who are the maiustay of its liberty and
the great fountain of It's commercial prosperity.
IL Is, therefore,, just such an army as could be
most efficiently used as a political weapon, should
opportunity occur. 1t would be unnecessary to
trace the relation of the English army to the
English people through the intervening Pages of
their history from the Norman conquest to the
present day.
substantially, the relation above described is
that which they have held towards one another.
An army of the dimensions Of ours, organized
like that of England, and ike that differed,
would indeed be dangerous To our freedom if kept
together after the end Of the war, and vet hardly
less dangerous if disbanded. In the one case, If
it did not become the instrument by which some
ambitious man would build a despotism on the
ruined liberties of the people, it might be because
the magnitude of the instrument demanded a
giant hand to WELD IL, and no giant hand was
there. On the other hand, the letting loose
upon society of Il vast untutored brute force. UNI
trained Tor aught save war, accustomed 10 respect
and obey a class with whom it WAS impossible for
them 10 come in contact with except as servants,
and having neither political, social nor CONNER
cal instincts in common with the mass of the
people around, could only be a great disturbing
element, capable of little but evil.
Thrice IN the history Of the AnglO-Saxln peO-
pie, an army has been organized on very different
principles from those already described. Once.
the middle classes rose in their strength, and I'M
der Cromwell, hurled 4 despOtic King from that
throne which he or his councillors endeavored TO
convert into an altar on which all the religious
and civil liberties of his people were to be sacri-
feed.
Again, a free people rose under Washington,
and from the colonies of America made this great
nation the pillar and champion Of freedom. \
third time TO complete the work left undOne by
the Fathers Of the country, to maintain inviolate
the Constitution and the Union intrusted To our
keeping-the people of America have arisen with
extraordinary unanimity. The standing armies
of Europe present no a~nalogies TO theae three
great AngiO-SaXOn armies Of liberty, and more
especially TO ours OF to-day. They are levied for
destruction this 70 preserve and construct. They
are armies of kings, this an army of people.
They, Differed by privileged classes, by years of
severe training, succeed in converting u class held
by the exigeucies of poverty in q position only
less degrading than that of the slave, in that il
recognizes their freedom, into machine soldiers.
capable of great daring and great endurance, but
entirely dependent upon their leaders for guild
ance- The American army sprarg at once. al
most ready made, from counting house, store and
workshOp-each individual brought the keen in
telligence which he had hitherto devoted to his
private business. to learning that new profession
10 which patriotism summoned him. In DAYS he
accomplished the work Of months. In a few
he became a veteran equal To the trained
soldiers possessing years of experience. In artil-
Tz-- - -. IHC