The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1866-03-19
A STANDING ARMY.

4
/ Years ago, it was the boast of this
country that We had no standing
Army"-meaning that our military Or
ganization was so small that 1t was not o
standing army as compared to the large
armies which the nations Of Europe
had, either modified or in service to
command obedience to the laws, or to
protect them from the encroachments of
| their enemies. We then supposed that
the intelligence of our people, their al
| legiance to the government, and the
peaceful and harmonious character of
our Institutions, were sufficient protec-
ton from domestic conspiracy or foreign
aggression. .ea-..'s
+. But our condition has changed SO de-
| cidedly that Congress has felt justified
to give us military peace establishment
commensurate with the present state of
our affairs. An army bill has just passed
the national Senate, making the army
OF the United States to consist Of five
regiments of artillery, twelve regiments
of cavalry, and fifty regiments of in
fantry. Eight of the infantry regiments
| and two of the cavalry regiments are to
be composed of colored men. The ag-
gregate force of such an army will
amount to sixty Or, seventy Thousand
| troops: a very respectable army for q
nation founded on civil liberty and per-
petuated by the great and fundamental
principles of loyalty. H..
Before the outbreak of the rebellion
our army amounted to about thirteen
thousand men. That was then deemed
sufficient to garrison our forts, protect
| the frontier from the depredations of a
few struggling tribes of Indians and
maintain peace within our vast domain.
| We have no more territory to protect
to-day than we had then. We have no
hostile neighbors that we need fear.
There is no enemy abroad that menaces
us, or that should inspire us with appre-
tensions for the future. Our "erring
brethren of the South will not harm
us, in our belief. They have been sur
feted with blood and battle, they are re-
duced to peace standard. they have
Eenough to do to mourn the dead that lie
on multitudinous .battle-fields. The
price which they have paid for an at
tempt to subvert and overthrow the
government has made them bankrupt
in men and molley--sO dead broke that
they cannot recover in half~a century.
We cannot seethe necessity of increas-
/ ing our army to the extent proposed.
We do not know why the distinctive
feature of the past, the consciousness of
loyalty, the superiority of our lnstitu-
tions, the honest obedience to law and
authority, will not protect us as hereto
fore. tan it be that war has generated
u love of war, and that we must MAIN
tain our liberties at the point of the
bayonet? Are we to introduce the pol
icy of monarchical governments, of des-
| ,sx.IA ID
who maintain their authority by stand
ing armies and hedge themselves about
with an idle and licentious soldiery?
not more radical than the changes pro.
posed by the Military Committee of Con-
gress. fs4
This nation is now struggling under
debt of some three thousand millions of
dollars, and the treasurer of the Gov
ernmeit and the wisest political econ0-
mists of the country are trying to devise
some method to lift that great. financial
load from our shoulders. 1t Is burthen
that weighs heavily upon the industry
of the people, causing them to pay two
or three fold prices for everything they
eat or wear, and in the humber walks
of life la fast reducing industry to bond
age. Has the Military Committee at
| Washington consulted Mr.. McCulloch,
and recommended standing army Of
sixty or seventy thousand men in order
to assist him in his financial labors? Or
has it propounded the question to the
manufacturing, commercial and agri-
cultural interests of the country, or the
millions of poor people who earn their
bread by the sweat of the brow? Be-
fore we iegislate ourselves q standing
army, of the dimensions proposed, let
us see if the present condition Of the
country demands it. We do not think
1t does.
Looking back to the census of $780,
land we are stronger now than we were
then, we find that the military popula-
ton of the Countrywide males be-
tween the ages of eighteen and forty-tive
years--was 5,536,054. Remembering
from the experience of the war, just
closed, that our military population Is
available at all times, and that it re-
quires but brief period to render our
men the best of soldiers, we cannot see
the advisability or the expediency of
making the army of the United States
the size recommended by the Military
Committee. Ifthere il a necessity for
such force, please let us know what it
is and where 1t exists. We "can't see
~ Worcester (Moss.) Gazette,