The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1877-04-04
sae ARMY AND THE LAWS.

nore p0iBsey
-. curious and characteristic little
" ..cb of General Sherman at the
''souet of the Friendly Sons of St.
n.,,ick" on Saturday night. The
.,.bor Of "The March to the Sea-
...ds Plea in behalf of the United
c.,,es troops which strikingly resem-
1,,d 8 famous passage in Tennyson's
',f,nd." and like the poet laureate
.,c,eat Britain, he passed from the
"..idera,ion of war in general to an
w. '.,oeut vindication of our ''poor
little r army" and an eloquent attack
anon certain persons whom he imag,
~; ~ to be eagerly preaching it
hon 1t was long ago wisely said
~, no author was ever really writ
s., down by anybody but himself;
nd General Sherman might have re-
s,,,ed with advantage that no army
!, ever likely to be preached down in
free country by anybody but itself
,nd its commanders.
T. is undoubtedly true that the
y.daral army nolonger holds the
.,,s Mace In the confidence and es
,.sm Of the American people which
!; occupied at the close of the civil
ear But before General Sherman
40 publicly bewailed this fact it
uipht have been we'll for him to re-
nsmber that before the civil war
b,oke out the regular army was so
AR from being universally regarded
a. an essential feature of our institu-
TONS that he himself, though he was
s1ueated at West Point and had
served with distinction in the contest
With Mexico, did not hesitate to
throw up his commission and addict
himself to mercantile pursuits as a
banker. General Sherman achieved
bis present osition as a commander,
not Ofthe regular army at all, but Of
The Gallant volunteers of the Union.
0feOurse the regular army did its
duty up to the full measure of it's ca
pscity during the civil war; and if
he has since that time lost ground
With The public, it is the part Of true
,tstcsmanship to ascertain the eau
ga which have led to this result. -
The misuse of the regular army by
Me late President Of the United
BATES and by his Secretaries of War
bs had much to 90 with it; but the of
/ trrs of the army themselves are by
M means clear ut blame. 1t is undc-
nishle that the spirit of supreme res
4 wrt for The laws of the country
which has been manifested BY such
oayers, for example, as General Han
1 wk, has attracted public attention
H4n, hecauSc it was in such signal
contrast With the very different spi.
4 III Of hinl obedience to executive
4 Mthotity which has startle', think
1 Ing men in the conduct of most of
4 lh. officers charged with carrying out
unconstitutional orders for unlawful
4 purposes during the two presidencies
1 Of General Grant. The country re-
CURES the cadets of the regular army
4 who are educated at the public ex
/ pense To take an o&th among other
1 things to obey the legal orders" OF
4 ihe.rsuperior officers, and it is the
4 Obvious intention of this require
4 ment that they should learn to do
their duty not as mere military ma
chimes but as citizen soldiers. Dur.
Ing the Residential terms of General
4 Grant no small portion of the regular
Il army has been diverted from legiti.
msle and honorable service and set
10 doing police duty illegally in one
A aud another State of the Union, and
Il yet the country has seen nc s.bstan.
Il @lprotest made by American sol
Il alers against orders which every true
4 American soldier ought to regard as
Specialization and every true Ameri
Il 3a citizen to resent as an outrage
4 upon the laws. The Federal soldier,
Il entered the State House in New Or
leans in January, 1875, and drove
oa' lawfully elected members of the
i legislature of Louisiana, doing vic
''ace directly to the rights of thu
\ people Of that State and indirectly t.
Il 4eflghts of the people of lhe whole
e0aatry, as Mr.. Evarts in an earnes
Il @a eloquent speech delivered at tn,
ane' very clearly and emphaticaIl,
'406ed' The Federal soldiers agar
Il Ass autumn entered the State Hous,
as0oiumbia, took control of the leg
a'a'ive halls of South Carolina, an,
4ose out many of the lawfully cleo
Il ~ representatives of the people o
III tRab Commonwealth, Ill., Eo,Jo.,