The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-01-24
Military Men and Politics.

General SHERMAN, in some remarks made
BY him and quoted by our Washington cor
respondent few days since, indicated
very proper purpose on the part of the Co
vcrumeut with reference to army officers
who mixed in politics or aspired to civil
Office. He declared that all such would be
expected to resign. He cited IN instance
of an officer running for an Office in
Virginia, and who "was attended to at
oncc.n lie further remarked: {" If Gene
oral AMEs is n candidate for senator in
Mississippi, am not officially aware Of
{" it, and will certainly attend to the matter
when / am aware Of it,"
While General SHERMAN was thus ex-
pressing himself the measures for making
General AMEs senator were maturing,
and his election took place almost before
what the General of the Armies had said
was nut in print. OF course General AMEs
will resign his place in the army.
Under the compulsory system and auxili-
ary acknowledgements to which the south
ern people are subjected it is matter OF no
great concern of what sort of profession
man who is elected may be, and where he
may come from. But it is matter OF in
tcrest to the Government how far the mill
tary officers placed over the southern poo
plc shall administer their authority for
their own individual beneft-how far they
may GO in so fixing the elections and the
ballot rs TO elect themselves to office. 1t
is of interest to the Government, because
the integrity and efficiency Of the military
service depends upon the faithful perform
ancc Of duty and strict obedience to orders
irrespective Of personal interest or ambi-
ton, or even comfort. Corrupt the army
with political ambition, and the day of ri
valrirs among military chieftains and the
employment of force for their prosecution
begins TO dawn upon us.
Ii it is, therefore, an object of concern
to the Government how far the army is
brought under this temptation, it is not less
30 TO the civilians in public life. They
need be very jealous of the mailed hand.
1t can crush all the wasps in the country.
The civilians have poor chance in strug-
gle with men of the sword.
The peculiar feature in the case Of Gene
rAl AMEs is, that he was the commander Of
the Statc--that the elections and tile bal
lot-b0xcs were under his direction and con-
trol-and with this power in his hands he
is made United States senator. What
should We infer from this?
Tie declarations of General SHERMAN
present just such an act as this as an evil,
and one that should be attended to.
To us We repeat it is not matter of pc
culiar interest. 1t is important to the whole
country, and it affords strong illustration
of the evil effects of placing States un-
der the dominion of military men. 1t is
dangerously suggestive. But the lesson is
not for us. We preferred, indeed, the au,
thority of military men to that Of the
scurvy politicians.
The truth is there was no necessity TO,
any intervening Government between thu
surrender of the South and tho rctstablish
mcnt Of their State Governments-saye
indeed, for small forces to act as police unit
elections could be held, and officers elect
installed in their places. The southern
people ceased all resistance the day General
LEE surrendered, and might have been and
should have been implicitly relied upon as
true TO the Government which war had de-
cidcd to be theirs. 1t would have saved a
world Of trouble and disaster, socially and
physically, to have treated them in this
manner. But the Government, controlled
by the States that were in the Union, acted
differently, and hence the examples we have
lad--tlose precedents which have been so
suggestive of evil, and which may in after
times return to afflct those who 80 greatly
erred III their unwisc government of the
South.
The Constitution requires that all the de-
partments Of the Government shall be kept
separate-and that there shall be no inter-
fering by one with another; and we'll
known law maxim declares that no man
shall take advantage of his own wrong.
There is quite enough in the act of General
AMEs to justify the Senate in denying him
admission as q member of their body.