Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-18
ARMY APPROPRIATION BILL.

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sentatiyes, March 81 and April 8
1872.
The House being in Committee of the
Whole on the state of the Union, and hav-
ing under consideration the army appro-
priaton bill
MFR. Whitthorne said:
Mr.. Chairman: 1t is both the right and
the duty of the representative of the peo-
! pie, when his consent is asked to an appro-
priation, to inquire into the purpose and
necessity of that appropriation. We are
now considering what is termed the army
appropriation bill, which makes appropria-
tions for the purpose of sustaining stand
ing army of thirty thousand men. l term
it standing army, because its numbers
are largely in excess of the legitimate
wants of the government, and are an in
crease upon its strength as it existed in the
days of the republic when reason, and not
| force, was our acknowledged ruler.
When we look back upon the history of
our country we see the jealousy and oppo-
sition with which standing army was re-
garded by the founders of our Republic, by
the distinguished statesmen who set our
ship afoat. And when we come to inquire
as to the necessity now of standing army,
or the necessity of its increase, where shall
we find it? Shall we find it in the attitude
of any foreign nation, in the increase of In
dian hoStilities, or in anything (which now
exists in the present condition of the coun-
| try? A well organized militia, in the judg-
ment of those whom | have been accus-
toned to follow in my political opinions, is
the sure if not the sole bulwark of public
liberty. Our recent experience, no matter
what our political opinions may have been
during the civil war, teaches us this fact,
that it is upon the people of the country
that you must rely for your armies. 1t is
upon their patriotism, or their devotion to
the cause which is sought to be upheld, that
you must rely, in case of war, for the num-
bers necessary to make up your armies, to
provide for your security, and insure your
defense against foreign or domestic foes.
Again, sir, without entering fully into the
argument, would say that the people of
this continent threw off the power which
was upheld and maintained by standing
armies in the elder world. And when our
fathers inaugurated the experiment of that
system of government which we now enjoy,
they based it on the idea that that govern
ment was to be maintained and upheld by
the consent and affections of those that were
governed.
But what is the state of public opinion
which we have reached in regard to the army
to-day? l regret, Mr.. Chairman, that the
public mind is rapidly tending or being
driven to the point that the Government
must rely upon the bayonet and not upon
the law; that it must rely upon force and
not upon reason. Go where you will in
our beloved land, go to yonder southern re-
gion, and you will find, no matter how
slight the disturbance which may take place,
or how trivial the disorder, that the appeal
is made, not to the law, not to reason, but
to the bayonet. Go again to the northern
regionof our country, to the city of Chicago,
to the city Of New York, to the State of
Pennsylvania, and you find there again the
same appeal made, not to reason, not to
law, but to the efficacy of the musket and
the power of the bayonet.
Again, the same tendency is IN your own
legislation as evidenced in your force bills.
l, for one, thank God that there were pub
lie spirited men in power, to wit, Gov.
Geary, of Pennsylvania, and Gov. Palmer,
of Illinois, who had the moral courage to
protest against this diseased state of the
public mind. l ask you to remember that
in the city of New York you found civic
procession conducted, not under the author
ity of the ordinary tribunals of the land,
not under the protection of the ordinary
force of law, but conducted under and su-
pervised by the military power. have re-
ferIed to Chicago. There a private citizen
is stricken down by the strong arm of the
military power of your Government, which
had usurped the powers and functions of
the State of Illinois.
Sir, shall this state of things continue?
Ought it not to be arrested? Should not
the minds of our citizens be taught to rely
upon that idea which was uttered by one of
the fathers of our Republic, "that error may
be tolerated where reason is left free to
combat it?" The sure protection and safety
Of the rights of the people is in the ballot
box, and not in the cartridge box. Let us
teach our people that the best protection for
their lives is in the supremacy and the
majesty of the law.
Without celebrating this point further, l
ask, how shall we arrest this diseased state
of the public mind? How shall we turn
the thoughts of our people upon peace and
upon the weapons of peace? How shall
we turn them into the fields of reason and
into the field of law? The first effort, Mr..
Chairman, which, in my opinion, we can
make in that direction, is by reducing the
expenses of the Government. Make your
Government a plain and simple Govern
ment, and not strong, consolidated one.
Whenever, sir, you attempt to build up a
strong Government, whenever you attempt
to make a consolidated Government, that
Government must be maintained by force.
A Government with large revenues and
large expenditures is in manifest danger of
having its powers consolidated, and where
the purse and the sword are in one hand,
the temptations of power and ambition al
most make this result inevitable. Hence
it becomes our imperative duty most jeal-
Ously to watch all appropriations Of the
peoples money, to the end that their tributes
may not be the precursor of their lost liber-
ties.
Now, sir, with a view of asking whether
or not it is in our power to apply a remedy
to this condition of the public mind and
the security of popular rights, l make the
inquiry, what have been and what are now
the expenses of the Government? / call
your attention, sir, and the attention of the
committee, to what have been the gross re-
ceipts in the Treasury and the gross ex-
penditures therefrom for the years 1869,
1870, and 1871, and l give the totals only.
The gross receipts for this period of time
were 81, 958, 100000; the total expenditures
for the same period of time were $1,979,-
100000.
FRIDAY, April 5, 1872.-The House re-
sumed the consideration of the same sub
ject.
hlr. WhitthOrne. When the committee
rose on the last occasion when this bill was
under consideration, had just called atten-
ton to what l regarded as the tendency in
the public mind to rely upon the efficacy of
the bayonet rather than upon the majesty Of
the law and the power of reason. l had
stated, further, that it was our duty to ar
rest, II possible, this dangerous tendency in
the public mind. l had further laid down
the proposition that the collection ofan inn
mense amount of revenue, and the expendi-
ture thereof, tended necessarily to the con-
sOlidatiOn ofthe powers of Governmental
that, in my opinion, wherever the powers OF
a Government were consolidated, that Gov
eminent requires force to sustain and up
hold it. In that connection had called the
attention Of the committee to the fact that
during the period of Gen. Grants admins
tration the gross receipts of the Government
had been Sl,95S, 100000, and that its gross
,