The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1879-01-18
The Army and Navy Expenditures of Hayes,
Madison and Polk.

country that for period of three years
their expenditures for military and naval
purposes will amount 10 total Of $780,
$4,000. They give the details as follows;
For the military last year, S32, l54, 900;
for this present year, s39 100000; for the
next year, s37 ,042 900. This makes an
aggregate Of s108, 1876, 900 for army pur-
poses, including forts, arsenals, and the
like. For the navy last year, Sl7 1865, 600;
for this present year, $4,000, 900; for
the next year, s14,563,000 This makes
an aggregate of SAG, $4,000 for naval
purposes, and total Of S155, ,124 900 as
above stated for both branches Of service
during three years.
Il would be absurd to compare these
expenditures with the expenditures for
the army and navy during three years Of
the war Of the rebellion. That war is an
exceptional epoch; but we have had two
wars with whose military and naval cost
il win be pertinent and profitable to con-
trast the outlays above stated. We refer
to the war with England aud the war with
Mexico. The expense Of the former fell
chiefly upon the years Of 1872, 1913, and
1914, and the cost Of the latter was wholly
incurred in the years Of 1S46, ls47, and
1848.
In the war with England our regular
army was respectable in size, and the Gov
ernment employed large numbers of vol
.unteers and militia Our forces met the
enemy in fourteen States and Territories,
and at three or four points remote from
each other in Canada. They encounter
ed the flower Of the British troops and
their Indian allies, sometimes in very
bloody battles, from New Orleans to De-
troit, and all along the lake borders, and
from Maine to Virginia on the Atlantic
coast We lost upwards of 10000 men
killed in battle.
In many particulars hostilities on land
were then enormously expensive. Our
sea and lake coast was ravaged by British
cruisers, compelling US to lay out great
sums on Notifications, from the st. Johns
to the Sabine, and along the Canadian
lines. Transportation by land was difficult
and dear. The West, where most Of the
engagements occurred, was a wilderness,
nearly destitute Of roads. 1t cost more
then to get company of infantry from
Albany to Lundy's Lane, or from Lake
Erie to the field Of Tippecanoe, than it
now costs to transport regiment Of artll-
iery over the same ground. Our manu-
factures were in their infancy; the embar-
go and non-intercourss policies Of JEFFER-
SON and MADISON, aud now the British
fleets, cut off European supplies; the cur
Eency of the nation sunk to 40 and so
per cent. below par For these reasons
the Government was forced to pay extreme
ly high prices for almost everything it
had to buy. Indeed, the Federalists de-
nounced the Administration Of MADISON
not only for commencing the war, but fol
the expensive rates at which it was pros
ecuted.
Our navy was small in comparison with
some Of the European nayies, but II wa'
Of fair size, mostly fitted up during the
NsS, Il w0a veliant and Efficient. and n
brilliant achievements she'd imperishabll
lustre upon our flag Itwon famous victor
les on Lake Erie, on Ontario, and Cham
plain. Il was busy in defending our har
bors on The seabord Itmet the enemy OF
the Atlantic and the Pacific, in the West
Indies and East Indies, off the coast Of
France and the coast of Brazil, and even
in the British Channel, and it general
| ly conquered him. We captured 55 Brit
ish vessels Of war, mounting 1856 cannon
we took 1850 merchantmen, carrying g.,
900 guns, many Of them richly laden
We drove ashore and shipwrecked 20 YES
sells of war, mounting about 500 guns
We made prisoners Of more than 10000
seamen. The severity of the contest is
further shown by the fact that the British
captured from US 20 vessels of war, mount
ing $50 guns, and ,407 merchantmen
and 20,961 seamen.
This war bore the usual harvest Of naval
and military heroes. OF the former De-
catur, Hull, Perry, Lawrence, and Mac
donough shone conspicuously. OF the
latter, jackson and Harrison became Pres.
ident; Scott and Cass ran unsuccessfully
for that Office, while Col Dick johnson
was rewarded with the Vice. Presidency foi
claiming that with his own hand he killed
the famous Indian chief Tecumseh at the
battle Of the Thames
This, then, was large war. Now lei
us see what it cost.
In 1872 the Madison Administration
spent for military objects, including forts
aud everything pertaining to land opera
tions, sl1, ,S17 900; in 1913, $40 $3.50, 900
in 1914, 500, 100000, making an aggre.
gate Of s51 ,767 900; and in 1872 1t spent
for all naval objects, including gunboats il
and around harbors, $3.50 600; in 1913
| Sc, 400 900; in 1914, 81 300 600, making
an aggregate of sl7, ,659, 900, and tota
for both branches of the service Of 500,
426, 900 for the three years Of the war.
We need not compare these expendi
lures in detail with those Of the Fraudu
lent Administration. Suffice it to say j
is spending more than twice as much Oh
the army, and nearly three times as mucl
on the navy, in three years, as it cos
= Madisons Administration to wage a thre'
years war, on the land and on the sea
against the colossal power of Great Britain
The war with Mexico commenced earl
in l846, aud continued till past the middl
fof, 1S48. We largely increased the regr
lar army, called out great body of volur
teers, and employed some militia Of tn
Southwest. Waged on foreign soil, an
mostly far remote from our border lin,
the land operations Nyere very expensive
Paying for everything w obtained in th
enemy's country, the cost Nsf supplies wa
enormously large.
Gen. Taylor led column Of tfoons So:
Corpus Christi hundreds of miles into th
interior Of Mexico, fighting all the wa,
till he won the crowning victory Of Buen
Vista. Gen. Wool, with another columr
made long detour through the States Z
Euevo Leon, Cohahuila, and Chihuahar
ard Joined Taylor at Buena Vista. Ger
Patterson, the same Patterson that l.
Stonewall jackson slip away from III
Shenandoah Valley fifteen years later an
help Beauregard at Bull Run--he le
another army down the Gulf through III
State Of TamauIipas, which be held. Ger
Kearny penetrated with his forces to Ne,
Mexico, and, after capturing that pro,
inee, took a squadron Of drugoons acros