The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1877-11-15
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,.

Inc army approprlatl0n Dill as report
ed from the Committee of the Whole on
Saturday came up for consideration as
regular order of business.
The first amendment was that Of Mr..
SChleicher, striking out the clause pro-
hibiting the recruiting of the army be-
yond the number Of enlisted men on the
rolls on the first of November. Concur
red in.
The Amendment of Mr.. Culberson,
providing that four cavalry regiments re-
Cruited to 100 men in each company be
employed in defense of the Mexican and
Indian frontiers of Texas, provided moth.
ing herein contained shall authorize re.
cruiting beyond 10000 men. Concurred
in by vote of-yeas 1913. nays 127. Re-
publicans voted solidly against the
amendment and were joined by Messrs.
Giddings, Mills and Schleicher.
The amendment providing that staff
officers shall not be entitled to receive
any additional pay, rank or allowance,
was Iejected---yeas 1913, nays 131. The
negative vote was given by Republicans,
backed by Messrs Blackburn, Carlisle,
Cook, Harrison, EiCkhof, Muller, Potter,
Willis and Randolph.
The Defense Of the Secretary Of War.
Mr.. Garfield sent to the clerk and had
read letter from the Secretary of War
defending himself from charges made
against him in regard to the recruiting of
soldiers since the army bill was before
the Committee on Appropriations. The
Secretary claims that the enlistment of
recruits is expressly authorized by law,
and therefore it can be carried on even
in the absence of an appropriation. Vev-
ertheless, he had not deemed it best to
continue recruiting after the first of July,
not for want of authority, but because he
thought it expedient to muster men into
the service been there was no money to
pay them. The order had been accord
ingly issued to stop recruiting on the 1st
Of July, Subsequently an urgent appeal
came from Major General Mcdowell,
Commanding the Military Division of
the Pacific, approved and urged by the
General of the Army, asking authority
to enlist recruits for cavalry regiments
engaged in that department in carrying
ON the then existing Indian war. The
Secretary yielded to that appeal, and re.
Cruiting has been for a short time per-
mitted for that purpose.
A supplementary telegram from the
Secretary was also read, stating that the
order for enlistment was made not by
himself but by the General of the Army
on the 9th of July.
Mr.. Banning Chairman of the Com
mittee on Military Affairs) also sent to
the Clerks desk and had read telegram
received to-day from the Adjutant Cen
eral, stating that recruiting returns show
ed 1,022 men had been enlisted since the
first of July. The principal part had
been enlisted on the Pacific coast by the
General of the Army, given the 5th of
July to meet the exigencies of the In
dian war.
Effects Of The SeCretary's Defense Pointed out.
Mr.. Hewitt, IN. W, member of the
Appropriation Committee, criticized the
Secretary's letter, and said, if there had
been any mistake or misapprehension it
was due to concealment of facts on the
part of the Secretary of War and officers
of the army, and to their want of candor
in stating to the Committee the facts of
the case.
He then discussed and denied the right
asserted by the Secretary of War to au-
thorize enlistments in the absence of ap.
preparations and claimed there was no
such right on the part of the President.
If the President had that power, it would
be concession of every principle for
which the Anglo-Saxon race had strug-
gled from the time of Charles to the
present time. In support of his position,
Mr.. Hewitt cited the imposition of the
ship money tax by Charles 1 and the
rebellion of John Hampden, and others;
the bill of rights under William III,
and the declaration of Judge Storey,
that the control of the people over the
standing army was absolute by reason
of the power of the House of Repre-
sentatives to direct appropriations.
Mr.. Garfield replied that the House
would compare the candor of the letter
received from the Secretary of War
with that of Mr.. Hewitt in such a way
as would not be unfavorable to the
Secretary.
Mr.. Conger said the country knew
the officers assailed. They needed no
defence.
The Presidents Course Criticised.
Mr.. Banning held that if the officers
and men of the army were without
their pay, it was because the President
had not called Congress together before
the end of the fiscal year, as under the
Constitution he should have done. He
would vote for the present bill but not
before putting on record his opposition
to the man who had violated the Con-
stitution by failing to call Congress to-
gether before the first of July last.
Mr.. Dunnell felt bound, he said,
when he heard the word conceal.