i
iu ttil -i ii cr litJTl C:v i'H f-C tic
nnil lliil ihd la'tf war, by t r 'IiU lU'f W
- - ' " " - '
rum i.TAtrOtllv
t
nicy
.ii'tti' t.- lacy mc U.icw-1 . Hut l.i. ari
it.c lit ii entirely fJL'doin. In speaki:;-; t i' the
miii.U'i he liken them us they win? it the
beginning f l'lC Revolutionary rnr, and all thr
extracts that he lead from the Utters c!
Washington and others ilcicrilxj' the milith
thev then were without order or prctlous di
tiplinc. This U unjot, sir, We shotiU consid
cr the mhhU aro rapnblo of being mudc,
und not what they were before we cxhtcdasa
nation'- before we became an independent people.
YUU U Ihe light in which-Washing: viewed
the militia when he said, "The miilili miy be
trained to a decree of energy equal to every.mil
itary. exigency xf.tbe United iita tea t",ahd. Jtf
ferson sayst " A well disciplined miliiU U 6ur
l)ett reliance in peace, and for the first moments
in war, till regulars way rclieve'them."
rdlTmtstibmk-tbatlt may with safety 1 reKd Uut, wrf iUc runattuiof ihe:gtulkinatt from
extraordinary exertions, ace clci-tcd this tendcu.
ry,U equally cedent ; but, the exigencies irquir.
inU these cubits have teusc.it to exlt, tnd tbc
expenses Incident thereto shot:U also ce.nsr. I
ild not hciuc to say, that at the clone of the late
, iyar it was right to fit tho peace thU.blMiment
upon the present organization. It w;s jht on
twp consideration) pit, because our situation
with the inuMnt was extrcmciy iiemmum"
trulls our relations with Spain were then unset
tied, pllut, our Ionian wars are now over, and we
t"re at peace rhh rnrry trib i our relations with
jSp in are now settled, and we have Florida by the
l aunch ion of the treaty.' The chief Catuci for
fixing the army on us present basis being rcmov.
. . , ... r.i' r... i... ...1,
to six thousand men.
Sir, in the course of the debate, several gen
tlemtn have made allusions to Mr. Jefferson's
VdrnTnTstrationr" I'wYA Kficfly refer -to the: sifflc
Jttriod Of our history.- Let it here b remember
ed that the second President of the United States,
"fopeTtie"rwtlh1i1q)6nneat frtcnTtsTW-mcd
from power for certain obnoxious measures
nrul rt it he further remembered that one of
those measures was tlic keeping up a standing
army in time of peace. The newspapers of the
day were filled with essays against the army ; the
legislatures of tho states remonstrated and in
structed their members to urge iis rediction.
And, sir, how larr-e was the army trnt created
all this alarm i only 5000 men -only half as
large as the present peace establishment, and yet
the people of that day thought it too large ; even
Mr. IcffVrson entertained the same ODinion, for,
in his message to Congress, he tells them that lie
lus supplied all the gsrrisons with mew, artvltht
there i a surplus IcTt tor which tKeocrnmcnt
has nos ; apd accordingly" we see tlie aimy cut
down from 5000 to about 3,300 men, thus saving
to the nation annually the sum of g522,Of0. Yes,
sir, the peace establishment of that day consisted
only of 3,300 men, and only cost about one mil
lion of dollars annually. N'ow, sir, contr st that
-with the piescnt arnir consi?tingof 10,000 men.
Two major generals, four brigadier generals, with
uids, colonels, lieutenant colonels,, majors, and
inferior offers in the greatest abundance, cost
in;; annually more than three millions of dollars.
Let me ask, what wonderful changes have ta
ken place in our afLirs, to justify (lus great in
crease of the peace establishment ? .The gentle
nun from South-Carolina, (Mr. Simpkins,) tells
us, indeed, that our frontiers have considerably
enlarged in their extent, and that the number of
n:jr posts have multiplied. This is all true, and
I will answer the gentleman by simply asking
him) have our frontiers enlarged in the propor
tion of ten to three, and have our xst increased
in the same rutio ? Surely not. We are at peace
with the savages, with the world ; and if it is said,
we shall have- Florida to ocenpy, I will answer,
that Mr. Jefferson, with his three thousand men,
took possession of, and occupied, Louisiana, a
country ot many times mc extent, anu a tnousanu
Vlrt'i'iU have been so fuilir refuted bv the ven
cruble member Irom Massachusetts, (Mr. Kustis,)
that I shall odd nothing further upon that, but
proceed to another part tr thetpesti(n.,w' - -
-, -Sir, standing, amiici have o political tendency
ubverMve of the principles of our government,
f -laylhis-tlowrr as n propositton ialhe-pfopor
tion in which a government keeps up a largo mil
itary establishment! in that proportion will the
government neglect the militia of the Country.
This is a proposition which the history of all free
governments that ever existed fully proves. Let
but a government, let but the people, once place
their reliance on standing armies for defence and
protection, niul the niili'ia, hi a natural, as a cer
tain consequence, wiil fall into neglect, arid sink
into disrepute. It is plain, that, when nothing is
expected from them, they will expect to do noth
ing. Their ability is distrusted, their enterprise
is gone. Yes, sir, standing armies weaken the
military 'spirit of jhe nation. If any illustration
of this principle is rtquTredfit "cun'oe funiishad
from Knglish history. It was in the reign of the
second Jcimes that a standing army was, first es
tablished in that country. This monarch, under
various pretences, formedu stan(Iiii;;'afniy of four
thousand five hundred men. This was the nu
cleus of th; English standing army ; it soon gre w
larger, and we now see what it is and, mark it !
at the very time at which we date the origin of
standing armies in Lngland, at that very time wc
may also date the decline of the militia ; and, sir,
it is a Making circumstance, that the very same
arguments used by James and his ministry, to
justify their armed force in time of peace, are
now urged by gentlemen on this floor, in defence
of the present establishment, namely, that the
militia are inefficient, and that no reliance can be
placed upon them. This, then, being the prac
tical tendency of standing armies, I ask, if it is
proper, in u'mes of peace, to keep up a single
company more than the absolute necessity of the
country demands i
Hut, sir, 1 have another objection against the
present size of the peace establishment. i?We
should never enlarge the army beyond Hvhai ne
cessity strictly requires, for the reason that it in
creases the patronage of the government ; it ex
tends the influence of the Executive branch. The
rrMti s.i.- a. I . i-t it
times toe vaiuc, oi norma, ana mat,too, wnerc patronage oi mis government, l admit, is sman,
there was much greater disaffection than will be compared to that of other governments, but yet
found in Florida. Then, sir, I come to this con- its increase is alarming. Look at the progress
T . ! f 1 nrf - -. . fT. -! I f !. C .... t in fc ....... 1 O
elusion ii vitJuJ imvii cic smiiikxui iui mc I ui lauuimci; in ima kuvctmiucui lor wic uasi i
p u poses of the country in 1803, surely double years ; turn over your laws, and examine them,
that number will answer for the present times, and it will be found that not a year has gone by,
Uy fixing the peace establishment at six thousand not a Congress has passed over, but the powers
men, we save to the nation more than one mill-1 of the Executive have been enlarged. Indeed,
ion of dollars annuallyr and send to the plough it would seem that all the powers of the states are
four thousand citizens. But I have other, and,l passing into the hands of Congress, and many of
to mo; mind, even weightier reasons tlnq. those the powers of Congress into the hands of the
of economy, in favor of reducing the present urge Executive. The army adds to this patronage
. Handing army lof the country.
Sir, in the early days of our government, (and
I believe the time will come when those days will
be ciebrated bv historians, and sung by poets,
as the golden azc of this republic) -in those days
The President is commander in chief of the ar
mv ; he virtually has the appointment of all the
officers ; he, at pleasure, has the power of remov
ing them. He and the head of the War Depart
ment arc the only persons seen by the army ;
against the increase
it was held, that standing armies were dangerous I Congress is never seen, until first felt by some
m times ol peace : not dangerous, as some gen-1 Jaw.
tlemen would suppose ui to mean, from"the4r Patronage is power. Sec what it does in Great
physical force t No, sir, we areW vj timid as to J Britain ; what a mighty machine in the hands of
lea? UvAtths eountry b ny Uu to Apprehend I that government! And, whenever-corruption
from the sword and bayonets of the army, were dims the glory of our institutions, it will enter in
n even much larger than it is -but dangerous 1 at thp door of patronage. If, thcuvwe' value our
horn their moral and political tendency to cor-1 republican privileges, guard :
rupUon. -My eague, who has gone bclore mclpt Executive patronage
in this debate, has b fully shown the immoral Again I will advance another objection against
tendency of standing armies, that I's-hall not dwell large military estabthbmefttsT To keep lip a large
long upon Us pan ot. tnc arjIunwB. I armf neewsj
bir, the military establishment, in all govern- the army great mditarv clueftainsriKottvihese'
mcnts, and, above all, in our government, is es-J chieftains, commanding the army, rtay at timesj
cnually different from" the civil establishment, have the power to involve the country in diflicul-1
The army is a body of men separated and remov- ties ahdyar. The chiefs of armies arc generally
cd from the great mass of the people. They men of ereat influence and nonularitv in the co-
aregoyerhetl by different laws, and upon differ- vernmVnt, a"nd it may so happen that they them
cnt principles. IMind obedicr.ee to the? wiuof stives may not only violate the constitution and
ihctrofficers is their only principle. On tbepartjaf laws of the country, but, by their influence, bring
the soldier, this begets a spirit of servUi onlhe Xovem and protect them in
- mrtF the oUKrerja this violatiojj;'TYiwtory furnishes examples 4o
nyboth equally., averse to tbc theory and pracf support this view. 1 think gentlemen will re
, tandinS .?flj.S.45j J ''Ml PUJr army,ledpejlwp3,by the miliiary science so
use an ou.cr evus, wc snuuiu pave as uttic oi tnem much taifcctt ol, entered into a neighboring prov
as possible. The absolute necessity of the caselinec,iiotbn1i;witbo.ut ordera,.hut.pl2iniy 'contra-
airjuw uc mc niic uy wihuu ip rvguutu; me size rv jtp orders, and, wjiat is worse than all, contra
ji me army ; n we can garrison our posts witn ry to the constitution ol the country. I need not
wmen, wny nave mpre man mac numnerr recall to the minds of gentlemeri the cite?ment
i say garrison our posts ; loathe idea-ol detena- j produced op the occasion no only in this hou
mg the country with a standing armj pfepos- but in many parts of the cohntrv;
There arc other cases in point, but I shall on
terous. the constitution never contemplated
such a defence, nor didit ever enter into the heads
of our political forefathers. The militia' is the
legitimate, the constitutional defence of the coun
try. : Sir, I was shoefcex) to -hear the gcntlenidn
from Virginia, (Geneiul nyth'rieliver the sen-
timents he did upon this subject. If ever his no-
nons ot tne miiJiiaytM-cpmcjhe; prey41ing. cnts
ly adduce one more in support of the pi-Qposition
and for this.one 1 am indebted, to the annals o
England, a country' from WbichVc draw so ipahy
oi oup good amt bad examples. .. Sir, those ahy
wise conversant withiCpgirsh history, will remenr
ber the long wars that were wan-ed by, that nation
gainst .tne con ime n t during t he rcjgt ot uccn
az Urn tctiuinJii-d i' i '! :y :
for the intii:;ucs of ih; (itmttfn! r i' chief ol
the IUiuh forren. IVucc wouhl ul 'oce have
deprived him of hi tiuolumtnf., cud cut short
his career of glory. Ih dcteriuincd, ihcrcfoe,
to rontinue the war, though the treasures and
blood of his country might (bw in torrents.
This commander, sir, was the great Duke of
MaiJlrough. '
But thlsh not all. The chiefs of the army
are always pt to take a part in the civil disputes
of the country t and let it be-remeinlercllhat
the soldiery always take the side espoused by
by their commanders. .Sir, how many civil dis
putes h.ivc.bccnjlccldcd by the army . ..Jn Engi
hntl, we see Cromwell, with a force not tnrce
timerl as targe as our pre sent army, drive the Par
liament out of dooes, overturn the constitution,
Gustavus of Sweden, with a less army than ours,
subvert the constitution, and establish a new or
der of things. And, sir, how, long is it since a
handful of gtianlsf in Hussra, murdered their
King, and made Catharine their Empress? ..In
short, look to the seat of ah "ancient republic, the
master-state of 4 he world,- and say,- frm Cesar
down, how many Emperors were made, how ma
ny destroyed, by the praetorian bands the stand
ing army of Home ? All this shows what may
be expected of standing armies, what they have
done, and always will do.
I will now briefly consider some of the argu
ments advanced in favor of keeping up the pres
ent establishment.
First, it i said to be necessary to preserve the
present army for the purpose of keeping alive
the military science of the country. This is a
favorite argument of gentlemen, and, I fear, we,
who doubt its great force, subject ourselves to the
imputaion of ignorance and illiberality. Ba that
an it ma)r, I rejoice, tbatwe (la not live under a
military government, and that it is not our inter
est to have a great deal of this military science.
The best method, in my h"umb!e judgment, to
preserve this science is to diffuse it among" the
militia. Organize them ; look to their discipline ;
put arms in their hands, and let them see that
the country relies on them for defence. Do
this, sir, and when the voice of the country calls,,
it will be heard. When military spirits a: e want
ing, they will arise they will spring from every
corner of the country. Sir, I would ask, whence
came your best generals in the late war ?- your
Jack ion and your Drown 7 They were not edu
cated in a standing army ; thev issued from the
walks of civil life ; and, it is worthy of remark,
that the first laurels that crowned their brows
were won with the bayonets of the militia.
Sir, the Secretary of W ar has laid before us
a very able defence of the present establishment ;
he certainly has placed the subject in its strongest
ights. Jut, it appears to me, before we yield
to the full extent of his reasoning, we must admit
two hypotheses ; Jtrtt that war is not distant ;
and, wondtys that whetMtdoes eotne,ft will come
upon us suddenly. fow I apprehend that nei
ther of these suppositions should be taken for
granted. Wc see no immediate prospect of w ar ;
our political horizon is without a speck ; the only
itile cloud that appeared in it, has been swept
away by the ratification of the treaty. And, in
the next place, whenever war does come, it will
not come upon the nation suddenly. In other
eovernments, where the war making power is
odged in the hands of Kings and ministers, war
may be declared unexpectedly to the country ;
but, here there must first be a sufficient cause of
war ; negotiation must fail ; the whole nation
must see and feci the necessity of war ; and sure
ly in this time, a wise government and prudent
Congress, will have sufficient time to make am
ple preparatioRs. : Thefeare Tt wo : things that this
government will never do, until impelled to them
by the public sense : to declare war, and to im
pose taxes.
Sir, 1 have always thought, that one of the best
features in our government js its unfitness for
war ; this very unfitness for belligerent opera
tions will save the country, from many wars and
preserve much blood and treasure. It cannot be
denied that a nation, combining the political fa
cilities of war, is much easier propelled to that
state than one not calculated to carry on wars.
1 1 is with gove rn ments, as Jt Js with indiy idualsi
give them power, and they; will soon find preten
ces for the 'exercise'of tha'rpde'fr'Trederict
of-russia4w 'furnished - us an r illustration :m
point 'r he candidly-avovvs, thatlone of his-leading
luuucemcnts ior aecianng .war. against oiaria
Theresa, was the martial appearance of his fine
army ; for, said he, " I had a mind to play upon
the instrument which I found in such excellent
tune." This King has writtenanoiher sentiment,
that should be well remembered by every mem
ber of.Uis house which should be inscribed in
glaring lclt
" great armies render governments . enlerpming,
but they make the people slaves.
Tlutf an;argu
army, gentlemen, have attributed all thedisasters
of the late war to the reduction of the peace es
.tablisWentm,JQl.This..is a view of thesub
ject to which I will not consent. JenyThaTthe
reduction of the army in 1802 was the cause of
these disasters.' 1 here are plainer causes, some
of which I wiil name. Vrr,. a, want of correct
knowledge of the resources of the enemy,
and of the difficulties of the enterpiize against
Canada. The Congress declaring the war, if we
judge from their speeches, thought that the cap
ture of Canada would he a mere; frolic; that a
few regiments of militia would take it in six
weeks ; in fact, sq misinformed were they of the
(iisposiuoiis. oi tne Lanauians, anu tue resources
A u.iv.ulfz.; of Cjt:.". i!ia!cii,- wsj cwin
to ttcud.etj', or honuthmg very like it, i;t oic
Miinnuii'Kf that inovcd ilic firut army toward
Caiia.lj. Ihit failure set the current offortuno
against uni stul at once gave confidence to tf,c
enemy, nfid cause of accusation to the opposition
among out selves.
Nut, tlr, the great cause of the disasters of
the late war, was the want of union among our
selves ;Jn our councils, in the nation. A for.
rnidable minority in the country doubted the ju.
tire hixl-ptopiivty of L lhe -wart and thejr tiita'
every means to shackle the powers and twr.
of the government, and totrvent its- prosecu. .
tlon. N'n war or great enterpiize can ever be
successfully conducted " bythls goVerhmeDt,"
when the nation is divided among themselves ;
disunion paralizes all our energies. .To prove .
llwLtbiOraCtbftl froitfulJwuKC.fif-dwtteraof
the late war, we have only to look to the theatre
where they occurred. In the south, where there
was no difference of opinion among the people
as to the propriety of the war, our failures were -few.
.... From the woods of Talladega,, to thebatx..
tie of New Orleans, success and victory, crown
ed ou-r armsrnitt coirle hercr in tho very focus
of discord ; gu to the north, wherenreSionstalk.
ed abroad, and yot sec defeat and disgrace rise
up before you at'every turn.
And, sir, another cause of our failures was tho
treason ofur citizens on the frontier, who gave
every aid and comfort to the enemy, as well as
speedy information of all our movements.
Among these may be placed the blue-light trai
tors. And, let me not forget another class, who
by their conduct" shackled our efforts "and gave
hopes to the enemy I mean, sir, that of politi
cians, who, about the close of the war( concen
tered In the Hartford Convention ; a set of men
that never should be forgotten , on whom should
fall the lasting imprecations of posterity ; on
whom should rest " the curses of hate, and hisses
of scorn' of all who love their country. These,
sir, are the causes of the disasters of the late war,
and not as gentlemen would suppose the reduc
tion of the army in 1 802, or its bad organization
in '.808. ..
Again, the gentleman from South Carolina
has called in, as an argument, tho examples and
situation of Europe : that our army is nothing
Compared to the establishments of the govern
mcnts of Europe. Sir, I deny that the examples of
Europe, in this particular, should havewny in
fluence upon us ; because there is no similarity
in our situation and that of any government in
Europe.
The governments of Europe -'keep up' large
standing armies for two purposes. First, to
keep down theirowoiubjects. What but a stand- .
ingarmy prevents tbt. people of England from :
reforming the abuses tf the covernmcnt I What
but'a standing army keep Louis the 18th on the
throne of trance I All the legitimates are sup
ported on their thrones but by the bayonets of -their
armies But thh is hot tnertase in our
blessed land. Our rulers hold their seats bribed
free suffrage of the people, and no army is ne
cessary to keep down the people.
In the second place, the governments of Eu
rope keep up large standing armies to repel for
eign invasions. Every kingdom in Europe has
powerful neighbors, separated only by a river, a
hill, or an ideal line. They have reason to look
at each other with distrust and suspicion : and
wisdom and past experience warn ttietn always
to be ready. Take for example the kingdom of
Prussia, with the immense front of Russia press
ing on one side of her frontier, France looking
over on another, and the German empire on a
third, her natural attitude is that of defence, and
her only defence is ber ' standing army. She -must
keep up a strong military iforce because
her neighbors do so. . The same may be said
of all the other governments of Europe ; for, in
reality, that continent presents rather the ap
pearances of war than of peace.-This is not our
case : we have no fears of sudden, invasion. If
we pursue the true, American policy, keeping
clcaf of all foreign entanglements, we will re
quire no standing armies to defend us from in
vasion. But the gentleman from' South Carolina
says,-we know not how soon our foreign'com-
merce may be cut uprr Admity; for the sake of
argumen tj; that ; ;'it : isut- up; to-morrow, and I
shouid like to learn from him ho w- he supposes C
to defend our foreign commerce with a standing
armjrr-Ourcommercrirbtl ilhoc'einrsntf
any enemy-strikes attrtht-elcmcnthoff -will
you reach him on the mountain wave ? Sure
ly not with the army, but with our glorious little
navy. And here, by. the. .way, permit me to ob- -serve,
that the navy is our proper and only -efficient
defence against attacks ' from abroad ;
and I, for one, will not consent to touch even a
cock-boat of the navy, if, by doing so, yt wea
kea ihiJorce of that defenCei Sic while yottt.
soldiers are .demoralizing in camp, the tars of
ihft navv .ir TrriseH oil Ihie rnufh boSOni CI
tne ocean, anu-puruiea oy tne winas of iica"
ir. Chairman, I have already detained you .
longer than I could have wished, but, before I
r
sit down
of the femar
(Mr. WiJIiams.) Although I do. no: enurelf
agree with the'results of the report of the Secre
tary of VVarj yet, Icanqpt ty anymeans think
of that report as lightly, and with the same feel
ings, as does my colleague. On the contrary,
it seems to me Uiat his strictures were very my.
bestowed. The Report, in my humble opinion.-
tttnMo i, t"ifctinruiSheu
gentleman that produced it, but it w-tnc"
dtfemc;of the present establishment that I na
seen, of expect -id hear in this House, - M p