St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-07-13
IrDGE POWERS ADDRESS.

r. '
- address was 1.-THE Volunteer
ggld;er" His speech follows in full
' The American volunteer is the cap
.,;n Of our political salvation.
'" When our fathers formulated a
.hsory of free government they did
'n ot overlook the fact that force is an
Nv Tribute of governmental power.
a p"t tbev reasoned that standing
DIV 'mv which withdraws from pro-
Ga'ctiye industry so many men, is
u" rs 70 be force that fights mechan-
; ;'olv without that elevating con-
S';oIsness that the purpose of the
scGt is personal to each individual
ieid;er, and it's result promised
;nJiyidual good. Accordingly, es-
'bewing all old-world theories, turn
mo their backs upon the records of
ii history, our fathers proclaimed
,bat man had certain inherent rights
and certain natural powers, among
+ which was the right to govern him
.eIf and the power to execute such
seIlgoyernment. That, as all men
have the right of self-government,
each must so exercise his right as
not to impair that of his neighbor,
and that the collective power of all
was the surest safeguard for the
f rights of each.
The volunteer citizen, therefore,
4 was substituted for the professional
soldier in our national autonomy.
The war of the Revolution, in col
& onial days, was successfully fought
+ by an army of volunteers, against
E the trained professional soldiers Of
England. In 1912 the volun,ee and
4 the professional soldiers again tested
their merits. The same trial was
4 witnessed in the Mexican war.
More recently in the war of modern
times, the greatest armies the world
has ever seen, both made up of vol
E unteer soldiers, displayed on each
side the most brilliant exhibition of
4 heroic endeavor recorded in history,
the most exact compliance with the
rules of military discipline ever
SHOWN by contending armies and the
most perfect morale made known to
the art of war.
Thus we have one hundred years
i Of demonstration that the volunteer
soldier is the best soldier. Why this
A $50 does not argue the inethciency
OF military training, but it does
argue the ineffciency of the protes.
>i0nal man-at-arms.
The man who enlists in the army
tor life, who makes arms protes-
SION, loses his identity as a citizen
becomes a mere machine to be work.
ed by other minds, has little interest
in results and small conceptions of the
moving causes of his service. Where,
as the volunteer citizen soldier, be.
cause he appreciates the needs Of his
country, appreciates the reasons
which assemble an army, sees in the
successful issue of the contest a
promised good, takes up the service
as a duty, is himself a part of the
! sovereign power of his nation, iden.
ult1 with all its current interests
staring in all its best hopes, person.
ally benefited by all its advantages,
and thereforeis moved by the loftiest
patriotism to bring to his service his
highest and best endeavors: His
brain, his heart and his arm work.
Ing in perfect harmony.
He is therefore easily brought into
willing compliance with rules, rap
IDLY masters the details of tactics,
willingly undergoes the rigors of dis
cIplne, quickly apprehends all the
teachings of military science.
| do not overlook the fact that in
our system of governmental polity
We do have a standing army and dc
maintain schools OF military instruc
ton at West Point and Annapolis
But this little army is kept in fact
manly to garrison military posts
winch prudent regard for the flu
lure requires to be kept up, and tc
form the nucleus Of our army, to be-
added to as occasion may require, {
single jury to whom we call tales
men when the panel must be filled
And these schools are organized tc
tram and furnish skilled officer,
VINO can drill and organize volun
'eer citizen soldiers when called into
service. West Point and Annapoli,
are the normal schools of our volun
teer armies.
II, as our fathers predicted, intelli
gent manhood can govern itself, i,
Is equally true as they predicted, thai
intelligent manhood can protect
itself.
he German was the better soldier
IN the war of 1870 because he wa:
better educated than the French
man. The American volunteer
'arIner soldier was the better soldier
at Bennington because, animated by
an intelligent and nobler impulse
ue directed his fire with better effect
!nan the trained, unambitious anG
ignorant hirelings of Baum. The in
'elligent, law-abiding, patriotic vol
T"Veer was the master warrior at
trenton because he had a better
ora'n and higher motive than the
Haraudlng but better trained pro-
FsSlonal Hessian.
ne volunteer soldier heinz moved