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WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1858
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place! Something dreadful may happen, and we must have regu- lars to put it down, and we must have a standing Army? Sir, there is but one true army in the country, and that is the army of volunteers. There is but one class of men who, by the spirit of our institutions, are imbued with that heart which will perpetuate our liberties when called into the field, and they are the volunteers. Whenever you come to rely upon them, they will not deceive you; they will not desert. I heard of a case where four hundred regulars deserted from one station in a year-half the troops there. If you are to keep up the Army by replacing the four or five thousand who desert every year, it will be rather an expensive business. I think they will be more expensive than volunteers. Volunteers never desert their banners. I am deter- minded, while I live, unless some emergency requires it, not to vote to increase the regular Army. While I occupy a place on this floor, I will oppose the increase of the regular Army. Thank God, my period of service here is drawing to a close, and I rejoice at it, for it will relieve me of responsibility. In the utterance of my opinions and sentiments in private life, as an American citizen, if I shall be spared, and in the little circle around my hearth, at least, I will inculcate the doctrine that a standing army is danger- ·ous to liberty, and that volunteers are the true army of a Republic, and the only means of preserving its liberties.
1congressional Globe, Part 1, 1867-1868, pp. 873-876.
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