The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1872-03-22
SPEECT
CHAS. B. BROCKWAY,
ON THE
MILITARY BILL.
House of Representatives, March Z, 1872,

line of the National Guard Of Pennsyl-
vania, and to provide for the enrolment
of the militia.
Mr.. Brockway said:
| Mr.. Chairman, years ago / learned
that men aspired to be popular rather
than just-that they will more frequent
ly follow the dictates of Others than
they will the reasoning Of their own
minds. In regard to the bill before US
! am afraid that many will favor ii be-
cause ii is demanded by certain militia
ry organizations rather than because it
will subserve the interests Of the four
millions of people in this State. When
John Randolph returned from visit to
England he was asked his opinion as to
the government of that nation. He
said he had examined the subject; ii
was not the King, nor the House OF
| Lords, nor the House of Commons, 6ut
ii tcds The Gfty thousand bdyonets Which
,rere there!
hold that standing armies are repul
sive in republics, and that the system is
contrary to the traditions of our Gov
ernment. The policy of our fathers was
TO keep the number down to the lowest
practicable point, and it hos been the
constant practice of our Stale not to
create Il standing army. ! believe thai
| ~ 'oi SC Sdti'NN'ipi i'Ni'''
| war it hegetS spirit of conquest.
Nations with grand military estab
lishment find that they have immense
power, and they aie constantly tempted
to overthrow their weaker neighDurs
because they have this element Of
strength. Were it not for the military
resources of the United States to day,
there would not be that constant itching
for San Domingo, Cuba, Mexico and
Canada, with whom we should be at
peace. Let annexation come, IL 1t Is
10 come at all, by peaceable means, ana
not by force and coercion. Further
tnan that, standing army tends to de
moraIize our citizens. A man accus
toned to military rule is very apt 10
forget the teachings of civil law he
torgets the rights Of his neighbor, and
becomes tool in the hands of weak or
corrupt rulers. 1t places power in the
hands of those in authority, and the
standing army always becomes the
| backbone Of the tyraut. In Mexico
aud Spanish America nothing iS more
common than rebellion. In some
places these occur every few weeks.
Why? They have standing army
there which can be used by one faction
or the other; and the one which secures
the services of the generals inaugurates
a successful rebellion. AS proposed by
this bill, they are sworn TO obey the
orders of the cOmmander'in In chief
1t is here proposed to create stand
ing army of twenty thousand men,
whose establishment is unlimited-an
army not to obey the mandates of the
law, but the orders of the one man who
may be in the Executive chair. Not
only the commands of this one man,
but that army must obey the commands
Of others, officers from the general
down to the sergeant and corporal,
whatever those orders may be, and to
this they are sOlemnly sworn.
France, previous to the last war in
Europe, had perhaps the most magniti-
cent standing army in the world. 1t
was the constant boast in the Crimea
and elsewhere that no soldiery stood
higher than the imperial army OF
France, and yet the citizen soldiery of
Germany, interior in numbers, gained
not only the initial battles of the late
war, but marched to the centre of that
empire, and captured imperial Paris
Itself aud to-day she is a mere wreck,
Notwithstanding her large standing ar
my of a very few years ago.
The distinction, | make, is this: The
regular militia, as designated III the
Constitution, is necessary in free gov
ernment; bat militia means the organ
Zation of the entire people. This is the
sense of the word in the Declaration OF
Independence and in the Constitution.
in support of this position L Will
quote article III ofthe Amendments t.
The Constitution, SmuH'S Hand Book
page IS: "A well regulated militiH
! being necessary to the security of free
State, the right of the people to koel
, and bear arms shall not be infringed.'
= Not one section or ella, 9 of people, but
the entire people.
| have been Informed that, by de
= cisiOn of the courts of Philadelphia
under the provisions of this CLAUSE o
the Constitution person has even the
right to carry concealed weapons, con
trary to the general opinion on thai
subject.
Again, section twepty.One of the Con
otitutiou of Pennsylvania says; "Iha
the right Of the citizens to bear arms IL
defense of themselves and the State
shall not be questioned" These quota
: tions all point to one fact, and sustain
the distinction | would make between
- u militia aud standing army, as pro
posed by this bill.
The right of the people to bear arm!
shall not be infringed, yet this bill viii
take away indirectly the right Of th'
people to bear arms-will build up
. class and set it apart from the rest o
: the community, by giving it especia
and extraordinary privileges and thel
7 tax the balance in order to keep tina
class up.
. The Constitution of our State say
that the freemen OF this Commonwealth u
- shall be armed and equipped for its de
! fense. Not that the privileges shall b
given to one special class, but that tn
. people of the entire State shall hav'
this privilege, whenever they see i'll L
organize, no matter where they ma.
be.
l. The method Of taxation proposed i
70 this bill is also radically defective. Th
n basis is population and not property
Our mining districts would be heavil
ID taxed because of their large arms beal
ing populatiOn, while wealthy district
- in Philadelphia would be comparative
p" ly exempt. The poor counties in tn
- State must be taxed to support organ
re cations in other localities in which the
20 have no interest and from which the
se can derive no benefit. Even minors
those between the ages OF eighteen an
= tWenty-One-are included m the basis
Id although no direct taxes could be co
lected from them. The fewer abl'
HItu uiO ~ % lNNSii'S 49,
the greater its wealth, the less becom'
- its burden.
l also dislike the name. II isa Penn
sylvania institution, if anything, an
= yet the bantling is chriotened "The M
or tional Guard OF the State of Pennsylv
nia." 1t should be called the Sta
in Guard. Why call it "Nati0n
Guard?" l see that the word "Natiol
- al" runs all through the bill and TIN
IN the mode of discipline and tactics sha
- be like that of the Federal troops.
oil looks as if we were creating a Nation
lin force, to be placed under the control
- our military President, and giving hi
. the power to call it into action any m
ment. You might as we'll strike OF
= the word Pennsylvania altogether.
nd Then, sir, these men are to be swol
'p- In for an unlimited time. The origil
- al bill made the enlistment five year
Ill That clause is stricken out. In efie'
the men are mustered into the Unite