The Prescott daily news., 1916-02-05
[PART Ill

tion begetS perpetual peace seems to have been prevalent after the Revolu- ton. for with the end of the war the Continental Army was dispersed with the exception of a few scattering men to guard public stores John Adams, second President of the Republic look ing farther than the mass of his fellow citizens said: National defense is one of the cardinal duties of statesman The delightful imaginations of univer- sal and perpetual peace have often amused, but have never been credited by me"
 On the day following the order dis solving the army totally ignoring the disasters attending the employment of raw troops in the Revolution-Con greSS authorized the raising of TOO men to protect the frontiersmen from In dians This diminutive army had scarcely been absorbed by the frontiers than Shay's Rebellion broke out in Massachusetts 17S0. "Clamorous for paper money and determined to resist taxation under state laWs.' 1000 maj. contents forced the Supreme Court of the State to adjourn SD as to prevent the collection of debts; and then they moved 20O0 strong to Springfield 10 seize the government arsenal
 The assault failed, state militia event ually restored order, but the incident brought the people to a realization of the fact that the government had no army with which to preserve internal order. So the dream of a nation with out an army was soon dtspelled
 Came now the constitution of the United States suppanting the Articles of Confederation to insure domestic tranquility" to "PRONIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE" giving Con gross and the President real military powers and placing the responSibility for national defense at their doors.
 But still the people and the consu tuted authority failed to distinguish between citizenry enrolled and soldiers seasoned and disciplined and so the slaughter went on
 Presently Gen. Iarmar was sent against the Miami Indians with a force of 1,453 and was defeated because the greater part of his column was com posed of untrained and unfit militia. < year later St. Clair headed an expedi- tiOn against the same tribe and that enterprise failed also on accornt of the same organic weakness. In these two expeditions more white men were killed than in the two most sanguinary battles of the Revolution.
 Universal Military Service.
 Convinced by these events that nu tional defense could not be wholly neg lected. Congress next endeavored to satisfy public opinion by the passage of an act to establish a uniform militia throughout the United States.
 This act 'laid down the truly Demo cratic doctrine that every able-bodied male citizen owed military service tC hie c3@ntry." It provided for enroll ment and recruiting, but instead of one national army it provided for thirteen or more state armies, "a wild and i'm. practicable scheme, which as subse- quent history shows still left the no. tion ill an unarmed condition.
 The War of 1872.
 Now came the war of 1872 after :. generation Of unpreparedness which many people had mistaken for ade- quate preparedness. We shall see from this struggle how costly was our lack of an efficient military policy
 Great Britain had in Canada at the declaration of war 4,5O0 effective troops; our standing army was G,744 strong, and widely scattered. Con gress had authorized an army of 35. 1000 six months before. but the measure did not succeed We were unable therefore to take advantage of the en- emy's weakness. Adequately prepared We could have ended the war in one campaign of six months against so small a force. In theory and in legis. lative action we had abundant troops, but in reality we had nothing
 Mutiny of Troops.
 At the outset the Governors of Mas sachusetts and of Connecticut refused to supply their quota of troops and every American offensive movement failed because the militia that did re port were without discipline and were determined not to leave the country.
 They ingloriously surrendered at De troit; 4,OO0 suddenly broke into panic at the sight of prairie fire in the West and rushed home in disorder and Gen. William Henry Harrison's army
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