The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-04-26
Speech of the Hon. w. e. Whit.
thOrne, On the Army APprO.
prfalfOn Bill.

and the duty of the Representative of
the people, when his consent is ask
ed to an appropriation, to inquire
into the purpose and necessity of that
appropriation. We are now consid-
ering what is termed the Army ap-
preparation bill, which makes appro-
priations for the purpose ofsustain-
ing a standing army Of thirty thous-
ard. l term it the standing army,
because its numbers are largely in ex-
cess of the legitimate wants of the
Government and arc an increase upon
its strength as it existed in the days
of the Republic when reason, and
net force, was our acknowledged
ruler.
When we look back upon the his
tory of our country we see the jeal-
osy and opposition with which
standing army was regarded by the
founders of our Republic, by the dis
tinguished statesmen who set our
ship of State afloat. And when VIC
come to inquire into the necessity
now of standing army, or the ne
cessity of its increase, where shall we
find it? Shall we find it in the
attitude of foreign nation, in the
increase of Indian hostilities, or in
anything which now exists in the
present condition of the country? A
well-organized militia, in the
judgment of those whom l have
neen accustomed to follow in my po-
litical 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 late civil war, teaches lis
this fact, that it is upon the people
of the country that you must rely for
your armies. 1t is upon their patri-
otism, or their devotion to the cause
which is sought to be upheld, that
you must rely, in case of war, for the
numbers necessary to make up your
armies, to provide for your security,
and insure your defense against for
eign 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 government was to be continu-
ed and main tanned and upheld b. 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, 90 to
yonder southern region, 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 region of our coun-
try, to the city of Chicago, to the CT
ty of New York, to the State of
Pennsylvania, and you find there
again the same appeal made, not to
reason, not to tho law, but to the eff
cacy of the musket and the power of
the bayonet.
Again, the same tendency is in
your own legislation as evidenced in
your force bill. l, for one, thank
God that there were pubic spirited
m.n in power, to wit, Governor
Geary, of Pennsylvania, end Cover
nor 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 a civic pro-
cesssion conducted, not under the
authority of the ordinary tribunal of
the land, not under the protection of
the ordinary force of the law, but
conducted under and supervised by
the military power. / have referred
to Chicago. There private citizen
is stricken down by the strong arm
of the military power of your Gov
eminent, which had usurped the
powers and functions of the State of
illinois.
Sir, shall this state Of things con-
tinue? 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 ofthe faith
ers of our Republic, "that error may
be tolerated when 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 peo-
pie that the best protection for their
lives is in the supremacy and the
majesty of the law.
Without celebrating this point fur
ther, 1 ask, how shall we arrest this
diseased state of the public mind 2
low shall we turn the thoughts of
our people upon peace and upon the
weapons of peace? How shall we