Year: 1877

The United states is natlon OF lorty /
millions of people. Its standing army at
the present time is composed of less than |
$4,000 men. To provide for the mainte-
nance of this army, and some other ex'
penses of government for which no suffi
cicnt appropriation had been made, Pres |
ident Hayes called the extra session of
Congress which convened IN October.
Though the objec. for which this session
was called was distinctly stated, yet 9TH
er business has thus far occupied the at
tentien of our national Legislators and the
main object of the session is just receiving
attention.


The debate on the army appropriation
bill showed spirit of hostility to the ar
my upon the part of some the members
that was unexpected, and it is quite evil
dent chat any attempt looking toward an
increase in the strength of this branch Of
the service will meet with determined op
position. This leads us the inquiry as to
whether an army of the present size of
ours is Of any use and what that use is
The European nations maintain a force of
men under arms beside which our army
looks insignificant. Perhaps it is one of
the ways the better to preserve the peace,
to be prepared for war. There is no such
threatening appearance here, which re-
quires us to keep standing army to keep
neighboling powers in awe our distance
from other powerful nations is such that
any conflict in which we might become
involved with them would be one in
which our navy would play the most
prominent part. Such has been the cast
heretofore, with the exception of the war
with Mexico, and such would undoubted-
" be the case again. In case Of an in
vasion Of any part of the country by n
foreign enemy, .he citizen soldiery could
soon be rallied and concentrated at any
theateneG point. What we need an army
for is the defense of the frontier, to garri
son the forts and arsenal and other mill
tary establishments, and to be available
in case of any domestic insurrection such
as threatened at one time last Summer TO
block the wheels Of traffic in number of
States. Domestic violence must be put
down with n strong hand ard the redress
of grievances left to the power Of the law.
The experience of last Summers riots
should convince us that the military pow
er of II State is not to be relied on to sub





due an unlawful outbreak o. its own citi-
Zens. No popular movement can gather
sufficient strength to become formidable
to the authorities unless it enlsts, to n
certain extent the sympathes of other
citizens thar they who join in it. They
are movements in which the citizens who
violate the law is to be put down by the
hand Of his friend and neighbor. 1t is
then, no wonder that the Governors of
various commonwealth felt. themselves
compelled to call IN the aid of the general
government before anarchy could be
crushed and peace and order restored with
in the limits OF their sovereignties. Yet
it appears that there are men in the Con-
PTCeS Ol tnC l HlItu IOldtcS WHO are Will
ing to 90 on The record as being opposed
to the use of the Federal power to main
tain the supremacy of law and ORDER
Such acts may be for burcombe and clap
trap to catch the political support of those
whose sympathies run with the rioters.
Bat no one will gNinsay this truth, that
government which fails TO protect one
class Of its citizens against the violence Of
other classes is just no government at all.


So far from reducing the numbers of
the army it should at once be nut at fully
double its present strength. If we are to
maintain any army ut all, it should be
strong enough to be effective. When we
look at the large extent Of sea coast we
have, lined with harbors where millions
of dollars have been expended in the way
of fortiications and Of the vast expanse of
territory along the frontier peopled by
Indians liable to break out into hostlities
any day, the present force of men const-
tutng the army of the United States is
), rdiculously small. Either give it strength
enough to be effective, or do away with it
altogether as an expensive, but goodfor-
r nothing branch OF the public service.