The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1880-09-19
THE EXAMPLE SET BY VA 1SHINC
TON FOLLOWED BY HjNCOCE.

General Washington addressed the Off
GERS and soldiers called ont to suppress
the rebellion in Pennsylvania in 179j as fol.
lows:
Every officer and soldier will consistently bear in
mind that tho essential principles Of free goverr
ment conhnc the military when called forth such
occasions to these two Objects First, to combat and
subue all who may lie found In In opposition to
the national authority secondly, to aid and support
the civil magistrates In bringing offenders Justice.
The dtspsnsaton Of this Justice belongs to the civil
magistrates, and let il erer be pride and our
glory TO ieare the sacred deposit there inrioints
After the rebels had laid down their arms
General Washington wrote the following let
ter to General Morgan.
PHILApELPHIA, March, 1895.
DEAR SIR: 1t ha. afforded great pleasure to
learn that the general conduct and character Of the
Army NJ. Ooo) men :" have been temperate AMI indul-
gent, and that your attention to the quiet and comfort
Of the Western Inhabitants has been well received by
them. stu II maybe proper constantly iyond strongly
10 impress upon the Army that they arc MERE
AGENTS OF THE CIVIL POWER; that ont of camp
they hare no more authority than other citizens.
that ofenses dgainst the ipics are TO be eraniasd
not By military officer, but By a magistrate; that
they not exempt from arrests and indictments for
violating the laws GEORGE WAsHISGTOE.
What does General Washington, in deln-
ing the essential principles of a free govern
ment, say of the man who aspires to be his
successor in the chair of State What does
he say of James A. Garfield, who denounced
General Hancock on the floor of Congress for
repeating the very words which he addressed
| to the Army of the United States, and which
| were to he observed AS long as the American
| Government should last, but that Garfield
was committing treason against that free
government General Garfield demanded the
| removal of General Hancock for obeyiog orders
| similar 10 those IF Washington, declaring that
| he had been sent down to Louisiana with
orders to deal out justice as military officer
| according TO the radical theory, that the
| cirH should he at all times subordinate to
the military law. Garfield declared that the
dispensation Of justice belongs to military
and not to civil officer, as Washington had
said.
General Hancock followed the example
and obeyed the orders of Washington. Whose
example and whose orders did James A. Gar
field obey ? Answcr-The example and or
ders of George the Third. In IVA Thomas
Jefferson wrote q petition to his Majesty
George the Third, which contained the fol-
lowing among other grievances enumerated:
To render these proceedings ttiil more criminal
against our laws, iRSt.dd NJ Suhjecfing The military
10 The cirH po,o.r his MUesfg has expressly n,ads
| the cirH SuJ0rdindto 10 the Iniitdrg But can his
Majesty thus put down all law under his feetY Can
he erect power superior tu that which erected Itself
lie has done 1t by force. but let him remember that
| iUI,t nj ,,f a.
the Third lie blot the page Of history. No longer
peseyere In sacrfciag NE rights Gf part 9f the
| empire 10 the ipordinofs desires NJ dBOthor. Tie
God who gave us life gave MS liberty at the same
| time. The hand Of force may destroy, but cannot
| dlsJoln them
| If General Garfield is elected President
the ideas of George the Third resume theii
reign over the American people, as they were
before Washington conquered the armies
sent TO enslave them.
| In the British Parliament there were men
who opposed the arbitrary acts of their SOY.
ereign. Lord Glenvile refused to take part
in the schemes to subyert the charters of the
colonies and control their domestic govern.
ment. He also desired to keep the army
subordinate to the law, and not place the
military above the civil power. But his
voice was not needed. The American CONT
nent was divided into a Northern and
Southern District, each with its brgadier,
besides cOmnander-in-ch chief, and on the
morning Of Wednesday, the 9TH of Febru'
AIRY, 1865, the Secretary of War, who had
taken the Kings pleasure ON the subject
made known his intention that the orders o
his comma nd in chief aud uudpr him al
the brigadier generals commanding, should
be supreme in all military matters, and be
obeyed by the troops as such in all the civil
governments in the Colonies. In the absence
and only in the absence, of the generals
and brigadiers, could the civil government
exercise authority. These instructions CON
centrated underlined power in the hand.
of the commander in-chief. Such wa.
! the sad condition Of the American Colo