| Show presidents hostage to the E extra stra session of congress FELLOW YELLOW CITIZENS OP OF THE TUB SENATE AND ann or OF representatives in consequence of the favure failure of congress at its recent session to make provision for the s of the army it became imp imperatively natively rat ively incumbent upon me to exercise tiie the power which the constitution confers on the executive E becu for extraordinary occasions and promptly to convene the two houses in order to afford them an opportunity of reconsidering a 1 subject su hect I 1 of such vital interest to the peace and ab id welfare of the union the exception of a partial authority vested by law in mhd secretary Seere tary of war to contract for a supply of clothing and subsistence the army is wholly fly dependent on the appropriations annually made by congress the omission of congress to act art in this respect act before the termination of the fiscal year 1 nad lad iad already caused embarrassments embarrass ments menis to the service which were overcome only in expectation of appropriations before the close of the present month mouth if the requisite funds be not speedily provided 1 the executive will no longer be able abie al le to furnish for transportation the equipments and munitions which are essential to the effectiveness of a military force in the fiehl field with no provision ton tor the tho pay of ot the troops the contracts of enlistment would be broken and the army must in effect be dis landed disbanded the consequences of which would ifould be so disastrous as to demand all possible efforts to avert the calamity it is not lot merely that he fhe officers and enlisted men of the army are to be thus deprived of the pay and emoluments to which they are entitled tay eay by y standing laws but that the construction of arms at the public public armories the repair and construction of ci ordnance at the arsenals and the manufacture of military clothing and camp equipage equipage e must be discontinued and the persons connected conne aed jed with this branch of 4 the public service thus be deprived suddenly of the e employment essential to their subsistence nor is it merely the waste consequent on the forced abandonment of the seaboard fortifications and of the inter interior tor military posts and other establishments and the enormous ej expense of recruiting and reorganizing the army and again distri distributing distribution butin it over tb th vast regions which it now occupies these are evils which may it is true be repaired hereafter by taxes imposed on the country but other evils are involved which no expenditure however lavish could remedy in comparison with which local and perso persa personal nal aal injuries or interests sink into insignificance A great part of tile the army is 19 situated on the remote frontier or in the deserts and mountains of the interior to discharge large bodies of men in such places laces without t the means of regaining their lomes fc omes and where fews few if any could obtain subsistence by hone hohe honest st industry would be to subject them to suffering and temptation with disregard of justice and ana right most derogatory to the government in the territories of washington and oregon n numerous bands of indians are in arms fod god and are wagin waging a war of extermination against the white inhabitants stants lt ants and although our troops are actively carrying on the campau campaign n xv we e have no intelligence as yet of a successful sf al result on the western plains notwithstanding the imposing in display of military force recently made t there re and the chastisement inflicted on the rebellious tribes others far from being dismayed have manifested hostile intentions and been guilty of outrages which if not designed to provoke a conflict serve to show that tilt the apprehension of it is insufficient wholly to restrain their vicious propensities A strong force in the state of texas has produced the temporary suspension of hostilities there but in new mexico incessant exertions on the part of the troops are required to keep in check the marauding ma tribes which infest that Terri territory toTy the hostile indians have not been removed from the state of florida and the withdrawal of the tr troops 0 ked s leaving that object unaccomplished would be most jurious injurious lri iri to the inha dinha inhabitants stants it and a breach of the positive en engagement a 1 ement of the general government to to refuse supplies to the army therefore is to compel the complete cessation of all its operations and practical disbandment and ilni to invite hordes of predatory savages from the western plains and rocky mountains to spread devastation along a frontier of more than four thousand miles in extent and to deliver up the sparse population 0 0 a vast tract of country to rapine and murder such in substance su would be the direct and immediate effects of the refusal of congress for the first time in in the history of the government to grant supplies the inevitable waste of millions of public treasure the infliction of extreme wrong upon all persons connected with the military establishment by service employment or contracts the recall of our forces from the field the fearful sacrifice of life and incalculable destruction of property on the remote frontiers the striking of our national flae flag on the battlements of the fortresses which defend our maritime cities against a ainest foreign invasion the violation of the public lionor honor and good faith and the discredit of the united states in the eves ees of the civilized world I 1 confidently trust that these cons considerations iterations ide rations and others appertaining to the domestic peace of the country which N hica cann cannot at fail to suggest themselves to every patriotic mind will on reflection be duly appreciated by both houses of congress and induce the enactment of the requisite provisions of law for the support of the army of the united states slates FRANKLIN PIERCE washington aue aug august 21 1856 1836 |
