Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1877-12-06
B0zEMAN, MONTANA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6. 1877.

of this system Of bad legislation by redu
ing the ARMY in appropriation bills.
The Army was fixed by law at &c,
men. But in the 43d Congress an appr,
priation bill was brought in which knockc
five thousand rifles out of the Army. an
while that was done it did not take Off
single shoulder-s:rap; it did not take ava
a Single regimental organization. nora sir
gle wngon; it did not diminish the small
est portion Of the machinery of the Arm,
but merely reduced the effective force G
the Army TO the exten, of five thousan
men. well remember the occasion. Th
bill WAS brought in from the committee OF
appropriations, of which Mr.. Garfield wa
chairman. by Mr.. Wheeler. now Vice
President Of the United States. remem
Der very we'll the words which he used a
that time, that if these frontier settlement
could not protect themselves. then the,
had better be wi ped out. thought j
proper that the most cruel blow eve
struck ut the Army should be defended b,
the most cold and heartlcss speech ever
heard on tiis floor. That was the begin
ming OF this bad policy Of reducing the
Army in the appropriation bills: Il vicio,l.
practice. tor when you reduce it in the ap
preparation bills by reducing the number
of men merely, you do not diminish an,
portion of the machinery of the Army
you do not strike off any of the officers.
or do away with any OF the transportation,
but you simply knock out of the service so
much of the effective force or so many
men which are really needed in order to
make it effective.
The CHAIRMAN. The gcntleman's time
has expired.
Mr. LUTTRELL. l rise to oppose the
amendment, and yield my time to tile gen
tlelnan from Montana.
Mr.. MAGINNIs. l thank the gentleman
for his courtesy. Mr.. Chairman. | have
been sorry to see in this debate that gentle
men from the West care SO little for the
lives ana property of tIieir friends in the
newer lines of States and Territories. 1t
seems singular to ME that gentlemen who
represent the dark and bloody ground.
whose memories are the romances of
American histOry-from Indiana where the
field OF Tippecanoe raised its hero to the
Presidency; from Ohio, whose earlier
aroused the sympathies and call
ed out the assistance of the whole country;
from Illinois. where the grass is yet green
over the victims OF Black Hawks bands.
should be more liberal toward the new
frontier than the far Eastern States.
l know you are farmers and you need
economy; but what makes your farms
-.,4I ---4>-..--a-t--: l------------
new States AMI Territories, and have raised
Il barrier of gallant hearts and strong arms
between you and the savages that raided
your early settlements but generation
ago? Now you have peace; you are be-
yonI invasion. Our danger is your safety,
and our exposure is your security; but
should you not extend to us the same
sympathy and the same protection that the
nation, far less able, then extended to yoar
fathers when your lands were the frontier:
Because you are safe are you to be selfish
Does not the blood of your fellow-citlzens.
ay, Of your sons and relatives, weigh any
thing against your dollars because danger
is no longer ut your own doors? Is all
patriotism lost in the desire to save; and
will you allow your citizens to be butcher
ed. your country Knocked 1T, her flag AMI
its defenders insillted because it is done far
away in the new country?
Why do you leave us to be massacred? ?
Why do you leave your flag to be insulted?
Why leave us TO feel that your promise of
protection is simply mockery, AMI that
the shadow of the American flag is Il
snare. deluding the poor settlers from his
own defense that he may be murdered be-
meath its powerful folds?
Gentlemen. cannot believe that your
apathy to our condition arises fro II selfish
Indifference. l have fought side by side
with tile men OF Illinois, and Ohio. and
Indiana, the frugal tillers Of Il fruitful soil,
and know they never count the cost OF
the demands OF patriotism. | know the
gallant and chivalrous people of Kentucky
and l believe their representative Mr.
Blackburn when he intinates that they
would fly to the rescue of the flag when
the most remote point of the most remote
border was threatened with invasion. ol
the most distant settlement attacked by
savases. The difficulty in this case is the
difficulty only of making you understand
and feel the dire necessity we are under fol
the protection that the Army, recruited
and filled, can afford. And can only al,
my voice to those of other gentlemen il
saving that not only on the Mexican, bu
on every other line of our now doubl'
frontier. necessity exists for succor and in
crease OF the troops already there.
My friend from Missouri. MIR. CRIrTES
DEN says the Indian war is over-JOsepl
captured and Sitting Bull gone. Why, sir
when this Congress adjourned last sprin!
who ever dreamed you would have wd
with Chief Joseph: And who can tell hoy
many wars you will have before the end 9
this wear with all these Indian tribes? The,
are threatening everywhere. You have a
Army of twenty-five thousand men. Som
ask what it il doing. 1t has to deal wit
and keep down three hundred thousan
sayages. brave men who know how to ri,lt
how to live in wild countrywide ar
natural soldiers, and who. when armed Il
they are now armed with breecfi-loaslei
and magazine-riiles. are equal, man 10
man. to any troops in the world. That
what your Army is now doing. 1t is hole
ing in check those three hundred thousan
savages. And why has the frontier
Texas not been protected? 1t IS becaui
when the Sioux war and other wars brOk
out the troops had to be removed fro'
these to meet the difficulty. An India
outbreak has just been suhllied in Ne
Mexico. another in Arizona; anoth'
, NAV break out tomorrow. some So
diers are moving the Sioux who have tre;'
ell. Others securing the country for sea
tered bands that have not come in. Son
. are on the march to winter stations fro
, the recent campaigns. AL along the lin
: your forces are everywhere weak. ever
,.,,.,.o o,,tnnn,horpd. and none could