The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-11-09
The Army Question.

people, refused to yield either point to the
obstinate Senate, and adhered resolutely to
the proposed retrcnchment When Con-
gress closed on the Sd OF March, the army
did not legally exist, because no money had
been voted for its maintenance. II has been
kcptup and supported since that time by an
abuse of Executive power, and by means In
violation Of law.
Mr.. ATKINS of Tennessee, who had charge
of the bill on behalf of the Appropriation
Committee reviewed the whole subject in
speech Of marked force and clearncss, both
in regard TO the practical wisdom and
necessity OF economy, and the power of
Congress TO vote the supplies or TO disband
the army absolutely. He said on the I'd OF
March:
Congress alone has power to raise and equip armies
and to provide laws and regulations Tor their
meut
Congress in It. discretion can refuse to vote supplies
to the army and actually repeal all laws authorizing
it, Existence. ltcan disband the army
About this power there can be no dispute,
and Mr.. ATKINS might have illustrated his
positions to show that without direct
vote of supplies for the army, 1t cannot be
maintained at all. The trainers Of the Con-
stitution took good care to limit the control
ing him Commander-in-Chief as follows:
1.-THE Congress shall have power raise and supror,
armies. but appropriation Of money to that shall
be Tor longer term than two years.
Thus, one Congress could not bind its sue
ccssor, and at the very most, no matter
what the public exigcncy might be, the APP
preparation for the army could not exceed
two years. The intention was to exclude the
IL - .
European model, and to leave whatever
military organization was deemed neces-
sary wholly at the discretion of Congress,
and liable to be abolished entirely at the end
of two years.
HAMILTON, whom Gov. TILpEN recently
described as "the representative Of the
extreme Conservative sentiment Of the
great men Of his epoch, says in the Foderdlist
The Legislature Of the United States will be o,,t5,i
once nj least IN every two years. To deliberate the
propricW o koe, military force foot. % come to
new resolution on III. point rni 90 declare their sense
OF the matter by formal IN the their
sutuents.n
Contemporaneous with the adoption Of the
Constitution, Mr.. DAWES declared in the
Massachusetts Convention in l7ss
The army must expire ofitsefin two years after 1t
shall be raised unless renewed hy representatives. who
plcn
To these authorities may be added the H.
lustrious name OF STORY, who. in his Com
mentaries, says;
Unless the necessary supplies are voted BY the rep
resenatves of the people every Two years the whole
Enlistment nus flh"
Nothing Is clearer than that IN the absence
of an appropriation by Congress for the sup
port of an army, it can have no lawful ex-
istence. The appropriations are now made
annually, and the question is presented
every year whether the army will be con-
tinued, renewed, or dsbandcd. That qucs-
ton comes up in the bill for paying and sub
sisting a certain number of officers and men,
which changes according to circumstances,
and has no permanent basis. except the main
idea of providing a military force for the
public defence. measured by some real or
supposed necessity.
The Forty-fourth Congress expired on the
81 of March last. without making any pro-
vision for the army for the fiscal year COM
mencing with the LIST of July 1877. on the
| 9Th Of March last the army was dead in the
| eye Of the law and could only be rcsurrect-
ed by an act of Congress. The Fraudulent
Administration went into Office on that day,
and had months to consider what course to
| pursue in regard TO the army. At first IL
wac determined To call Congress together
about the middle of May, but that inton-
tiun WAS rrconsdered for political reasons
and the determination was taken. to kecI
the army up to the full maximum of 25,Oot
men, and to support it on credit without re-
gard 10 Congress.
1t was cxpedicnt to find some prctcncc OF
law TO cover this willul defiance of Congress
and Mr.. GEORGE W. MCCEARY issued an on.
der to disbursng officers, dated May IL
1877, stating that "there will be no funds
available for the purchase of supplies foi
the army after July /, 1917" But, "undoI
section 3732 of the Revised Statutes, con
tracts and purchases for clothing, subsist.
cncc, forage, fuel, quarters, and transporta.
ton may be made, 10 meet actual nccessi-
ties, until Congress shall have had time t.
act ON an appropriation bill; that Is To say
the Indispensable requirements of the serV-
lee from July to December 81, 1871"
The intention and the spirit Of the section
referred to are designedly perverted in this
order, rs will be seen by its exact language
and by the history of the section, which
reads in these words
"SFc 1852 No contract or purchase on behalf Of the
United Sintes shall be mate, unless the is author
Tea hS law, or l. uiAran appropriation adequate toit
mlhmcnt except IN the War and Navy Departments, fo
clothing subsistence forage incl, quarters, anspor
tauun which however, SHAH not exceed the nccessiue
| OF the cDjod yftr"
This clause Is found in the act Of March @
1861, two days before the Inauguration %
Mr.. LINCOLN, when the country was on tn,
verge Of civil war 1t was a temporary pre-
caution, intended, II the efforts at pacitca
tion failed. to strengthen the hands of Tho
Government, and to confer Il limited discro
tiun a- to supplies for the War and Navy
Departments The regular appropriations
had been already made for both. The tota
sum voted for the army was Slj,279sG, anc
the fiscal year mad four months torun, Whoi
this clause was passed authorizing CON
tracts for the supplies named not to cX
coed the necessities of the c,p'rcm yodr -
that Is to say, the current fiscal year, whlcl
Is alone recognized in the operations of th'
Treasury and the departments aud in the
appropriations Of Congress.
The crisis came soon after and Congress