WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1847
519
thousand or one hundred thousand; but since this bill had been under discussion, since he had had an opportunity of witnessing the prodigious influence which had been brought into operation from every quarter, from persons who had thronged hither in quest of military rank-since he had seen the numbers of ap- plicants for commissions, he had become convinced that there must be danger from an increase of the regular force. Not that he looked for any immediate danger; it would be progressive in its effect; the malign influence which would result was insidious in its operation, but the result upon our institutions would be not the less sure. Let the army be increased, and we should see the capital, as well as the other departments of Government, thronged, surrounded by these candidates for office. Hundreds were here at this moment, who had abandoned the useful pursuits of private life, disqualified themselves for all civil duties, and suddenly and violently fallen in love with the profession of arms. Members of Congress were appealed to by relatives, and their appeals were listened to, and yielded to, with a readiness which menaced the safety of the Government. He did not mean to insinuate anything like censure on gentlemen who were thus wrought upon. They are influenced by the best feelings of our nature; and it was only to be feared lest those feelings should prove too strong for the interests of the country. These ap- plicants were drawn hither from the very extremities of the land; they congregated here, as to a common·centre, and created an influence which might be felt, in its mischievous consequences, through all future times; increasing in their danger from year to year, and from age to age. Before the evil became so great as to defy all remedy, it was our duty to arrest its progress. It ought to be remembered, that if the army was a part of the body politic, it was neither the head, nor the body, but merely an arm, and by throwing too much ·weight into that member, the more essential and vital organs would be weakened and destroyed. And we were even expected to exhaust our treasury in feeding ancf cherishing this danger; so that if, from that cause, ruin should come upon us, as it had come on the nations which had preceded us, it would be a ruin which we should have won by purchase. When volunteers were called out in any sudden or dangerous emergency, they rendered the services required of them during their specified term; they answered all the purposes for which they were called into service; they became disciplined and
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