The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1877-11-18
THE ARMY.

! army Dill, ana proposed an amendment prC
viding that the army should not be used |
any State for political purposes. A few day
since one of our gushing city contemporaries
felicitated the country over the defeat of thi
amendment, expressing the opinion that it
adoption would have been disrespectful to tn
President.
The New York paper has very little to com
plain Of we think. Only few Southern
members supported the amendment; tn
others. with our contemporary, havin,
flung themselves with q eonfiding trus
upon the Presidents bosom. Looking at tn
subject In the broadcast light, we are unab
to account for the irritation of the New Yorl
Times, or the childlike trust Of our neighbor
We were not ourselves especially favorable
to the amendment. But our objection to 4
was not based upon the ground that it wouIt
be an insult to the President, or that the dut,
OF the South was implicit trust in the Ad
ministration. We regarded the amendment
with indifference because we believed it to be
puerile Our opinion was that, If the armv
were limited in numbers, as it ought to be. the
amendment would be needless, and that If the
army were increased to meet the views of the
regarded and trampled under foot upon the
first occasion that 1t might tend to limit the
ambition of the President or the ends of the
Republican party.
Let the amendment proposed by Mr.. Sim
gleton, of Mississippi, go. Republics are not
preserved or the power of usurpers re-
stricted by resolutions and enactments for
bidding them to use military force to subvert
the laws of the country, but by limiting the
military force under their control and keep
ing the people in every section OF the country
at all times superior in power to the army as
O whole.
The true policy of the Democratic House
Is to keep the army on q peace footing.
What has there been in the history of the
past ten years to inspire any Southern man
with simple trust that the army, If largely
increased, will not be used in some of the
States for political purposes2 For ten years
we have seen it used for nothing else. We
have seen the frontier left exposed, and men,
women and children subjected to the mercy
OF the savages that the army might con-
troll elections in Louisiana. We have seen
the gallant Custer and his men, and other
Inadequate forces Of soldiers, massacred by
the Indians that large part Of the army
might be in hand to keep South Carolina in
subsection to a political party.
During Gen. Grants administration we saw
State governments overturned and Legisla-
lures dispersed by the army; we saw squads
of cavalry robbing, arresting and imprison-
ing free citizens; we saw battalions detailed
to hold polling places and to protect poll
ticians in making fraudulent counts and re-
turns. We submit, to our most conservative
friends, that there occurred nothing during
Gen. Grants administration to inspire the
Southern people with an implicit trust that
large standing army will be used only for
just and proper purposes
And what has the present Administration
done to inspire us with the trust
we are pathetically called upon to
place in it Its first important act was
to maintain an army without the au-
thority of Congress. No grosser violation |
no more high-handed act of usurpation was
ever committed in a free country. The last |
Congress not only failed, it positively re-
fused to make an appropriation for the army |
Under the constitution, therefore, the army |
was disbanded on the 3Oth of June, 1877, the |
close of the fiscal year for which appropria- |
lions for its maintenance were made There |
was no warrant of law for the measures which |
the Administration took to keep up the army |
after that date, and there could be no grosser |
of authority than that by which |
1t was done.
But this act Of usurpation is not the only |
indication of the spirit of military aggression |
which animates this Administration. Mr.. |
Hayes had not been in office many weeks |
before we heard from all the Administration |
sources Of the necessity Of increasing the |
army to fifty thousand men. Administration
papers, officers Of the army, administration |
have made this the unceasing /
theme Of their eloquence. The country has
1een electrified by rumOrs of war and con-
quest to arouse military enthusiasm which |
would demand the increase Of the army;
svery imaginable subterfuge, in short, has
,een resorted to for the purpose of wringing
rom Congress bill for this purpose.
The indications are that these schemes have
allied in part. The army should be reduced
% fifteen thousand men, but enough Demo
rats have been won over and seduced to
provide for the present force. The country
,an stand this for the present. But we warn
,ur friends in Congress that jealousy of their
'ulers is the safest policy for free people, not
IN implicit trust in them. Especially should
he Southern people entertain a watchful
ealousy of an Administration which owes it's
existence to the violation of the constitution
ind laws of the country; which was born of
,arty that has retained its power by military
'iolence, and which is now demanding an in
'rease Of the army.
A few days ago we read the speech of our
riend, Mr.. Ellis, in the House. His force and
loquence always command attention and ex-
lite admiration. He was unusually eloquent
N the army bill, and we confess that we were
moved by his glowing periods. But even
While the mellifluous cadences of his speech,
lmonishing his people that If they
pni,1d he trlIstad thew thamspiyes muot |,