Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1900-08-31
OUR STANDING ARMY.
Citizen Soldiers Have Fought All
Our Wars in the Past.

from the Seventh virginia district
and member Of the House Com
mittee on Military Affairs, issues
the following statement;
THE relations of this country to
the other nations of the world have
become so changed in the last two
years that the subject of National
Defense has become a most I'M
portant, if not vital question. 1t is
a problem which must be solved by
Congress at no distant day. The
present military establishment will
cease on the first day Of July 1901.
The standing army must be kept
down to the lowest pos >lDie number
OF men, and future emergencies
must be provided for Uy equiping
educating and organizing citizen
soldiery. The objections to any
increase in the Regular Army are
fundamental and we'll understood.
During the entire history of our
country our wars have been fought
by Volunteers, and it is to the vol
unteer army this country must all
WAYS look for National defense.
The only way to avoid the main
tenance of large standing army
is to have an effective National
Guard.
The Republican party advo-
Gates large and permanent tstand-
ing army and will insist upon a
large increase in the standing
army, should it continue in power.
Apart from the immense cost which
such a military establishment
would entail permanently upon the
the effect of its main
tenance would be to discourage
the formation of National Guard or
ganizations, and to sap the mill
tary spirit of our people. This
large standing army is necessarily
a part of the Imperial and military
system which the present Admins
tration is seeking to force upon the
country. 1t is an open secret that
the people who are advocating
this system desire to use these
troops at home as we'll as abroad,
for the suppression of the Liberties
of the people. The policy of the
Democratic party is to oppose mill
tarism, and it denounces in its ma
tional platform the maintenance of
a large standing army.
"In order to maintain this large |
standing army proposed by the Re
publican party, it Will be necessary !
to conscript the citizens of the
country because throughout its en-
tire history the regular army of
the United States, small as it has
heretofore been, has never been
kept to its full capacity by volun-
-eer enlistments; an act of con-
scription will be necessary and
the people of this country will soon
be subject to all the military re-
1uiremeuts and exactions which |
have made European powers so
odious to freemen.
"The Democratic party proposes
that the standing army shall con-
Linue small. And in order that
there shall be military force suf-
icient for National Defense, as well
or any service which may be re-
Iuired abroad, it proposes the
creation of a we'll organized and
thoroughly equipped National
Guard. Every war fought by this
country has been fought with her
;itizen soldiery and no good reason
IAN be given for departing from
hat policy.
81 have introduced a bill pro-
giding for a Volunteer Army in
lime of war and for the organiza-
ion and equipment of the National
Guard in time of peace. More
generous than the Republican
party to the National Guard, this
dill provides that four million
dollars shall be annually aPpro-
oriated for its maintenance and
and its provisions
throughout are intended to
strengthen in every possible way
he organization of the National
Guard and to make it the bulwark
IF National Defense and National
donor. The Republican Congress
,nly appropriated Sl,OO0,0 for