Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1881-01-14

on any funds in the Treasury not otherwise
| expended, for the purposes thereof"
So large discretion should not be imposed
on the Executive. 1t is a responsibility that
belongs to the Legislature, The amount of
annual expenditures for military purposes
should be limited by law.
Cui bono pa6iico For what are VIC train
ing these citizens in the art of war, in the
practice of arms?
Undoubtedly military exercises and mili-
tary discipline, when maintained at high
standard of excellence. should be accounted,
even in time Of peace, rs among the most
effective agencies for the moral and physical
training of our young men. For such mill
tary training cannot fail to mpart to our cit
ixen soldiers spirit OF manly independence
and pride, a love of order and neatness, and
habits OF subordination. Besides, they serve
to keep alive, in old and young, the spirit of
patriotism. Reminded Of the past glorious
achievements of our citizen soldiers, in de-
fence of their country, they will covet the
honors of those who have deserved well Of
their country, and lament that they had not
lived in the heroic days of the Republic, and
had part in the war of the Revolution, or the
great struggle for the vindication and preser-
vatcn of the work of our fathers. A true
military spirit is patriotic spirit.
These are considerations which should
recommend and justify the requirement, by
law, of military drill and discipline as part
of our educational system for the moral and
physical training of young men in all our
colleges. But whether they are sufficient to
justify the annual appropriation necessary to
maintain a military establishment beyond the
small number OF highly disciplined CON-
panies scattered over the State to supplement
the police force, you will Judge and
determine.
The great Republic has passed that period
Of its existence when it was thought arms
might be necessary to vindicate national hon
or or preserve national interests against .
foreign foe The Geneva arbitration settled
that point and forever.
Our dangers are not from without; they
are all from within, And yet, thank God.
we are not training these soldiers for another
sectional war. The conditions for such con-
flict no longer exist. The prest barrier be-
tween the sections, that barred all intercourse
and made us strangers, hence enemies, Is
removed. A chasm is left but that will be
filed. And il is no longer true that.
"Mountains interposed make enemies Of peoples.
Who had else like kindred drops mingled into one"
For by the agencies of steam and clectrici-
ty all our mountain barriers are removed. and
space. that sewers and estranges, is annihila-
ted. SO that now the dwellers upon the At
lantic and Pacific slopes are neighbors as
well as fellow citizens, and the most distant
portions of our widely extended Republic
are brought into the closest relations. COM
mercial and social. as well As political. We
are now one people, of one country, with one
constitution and one destiny. Nor need we
train soldiers to sustain n ''strong govern
ment''--a government Of force to be felt only
in its power, in its control, and not in its
| ;n'i Enr ha
fifty millions of this Republic can not be
governed. They must govern themselves or
the Republic itself cease to be for force is
ever the immediate parent of des potism.
Our dangers are all from within; and our
chief danger is that which share in COM
mon with all governments-the peril attend
ing the transfer Of from the hands Of one To
the hands of another. ''Wars of success
sions'' have desolated all lands but ours, and
even our experience has rendered us sensible
of this peril to our institutions. But we need
not train soldiers for this contingency; for
our exemption from civil war-a war Of sue
cession- depends not upon the presence Of
military force at the capital, hut rather upon
their absence; so liable are armed mer like
concealed weapons. to be used when the
blood is up.
In the days of the Roman Republic her
legions were not permitted to approach the
Capital. not permitted to pass the Rubicop
Caesar crossed it and the Roman Republic
fell. Is it possible that the American people
can contemplate with Indifference the pro-
posed gathering of militia of the States at the
National Capital on the 4th of March next?
True the result Of this election is not in dis
putc, but the result Of the next election may
be disputed, and then the gathering of the
military forces at the inauguration Of Gen.
Garfield NAV prove fatal precedent, the very
Rubicon Of our Republic. Ifthe President
elect has the instinct Of patriot he will sig
nalize his Inauguration by placing his veto
upon this proffered courtesy and initiate the
simplicity Of the third president, who, with
out pomp and circumstance, almost unatten-
ded. walked to the Capitol and took the oatl,
Of his great office. BY a wise provision Of
our constitution the militia Of Maine cannot
be marched out of the State without the con-
sent Of the Legislature.
Recent events, in our own State, have
taught us that we are not exempt from this
common danger, attending the transfer Of the
Government from the hands Of one TO the
hands Of another. We should look this dan
ger square in the face, and apply such reme-
dy wisdom and patriotism demand Of us.
If the trainers Of our constitution failed, in
any respect. to guard perfectly at all points,
the cithdal Of constitutional liberty, II was in
this precise particular. Their great patriot
ism seems to have rendered them incapable
Of appreciatine this great perit They never
dreamed that the American people could ever
become 50 blinded by party zeal a. TO sink
the patriot in the partisan, and be ready to
tear down the very temple of liberty itself II
public Offices are not occupied by men Of
their choice. This danger dawned upon the
mind of the Father of our country, and in his
farewell address he gave US solemn warnings
against it.
And Jefferson, having in view this great
peril to our institutions. lays down this rule
as the vital principal Of all republics, viz
| "Absolute acquiescence in the decisions of
the majority But this rule does not touch
| the point Of our difficulties. One element is
wanting. Who shall decide! Who shall can
vass the returns and declare the result? No
man shall he q judge in his own case. Alb
solute acquiescence in the decisions of the
majority, as declared by the tribunal corsti-
txfed. By lav, for that purpose,-this Is the
vital principle, to which the attention Of the
people should be directed; the essential con-
dition Of the orderly conduct of the Govern
ment; the only safeguard against civil strife
and bloodshed.
The powers of our Government are distri-
buted into three Departments: Executive,