F 
 
 82.6 
 
 


THE. MORMON REBELLION AND THE BILL TO RAISE 
 
 VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 CQ 
 o 
 
 UJ 
 
 SPEECH 
 
 $3 * OF 
 
 HON, SAMUEL R, CURTIS, OF IOWA. 
 
 Delivered in the U. S. House of Representatives, March 1O, 1858. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I owe it to myself and to 
 the House, before going into the advocacy 
 of this bill, to show, as I hope to do, that 
 there is occasion for calling out additional 
 military force, as contemplated by the re- 
 port of the chairman of the Committee on 
 Military Affairs, of which lam a member. 
 So far from desiring, however, to increase 
 the permanent force of the country, I am 
 ready to meet that question, whenever it 
 comes up, with an argument in favor of 
 pruning and radically changing some of 
 its organic laws. I believe that there is 
 no occasion for an increase of the regular 
 or irregular army of the United States, 
 unless there be, as I think there is, actual 
 rebellion and war in the country, calling 
 for some adequate force to meet and re- 
 pel it. 
 
 In considering the bill before us, I shall, 
 in the first place, undertake to show that 
 the Mormon rebellion is a serious, impo- 
 sing, and terrible offence against the consti- 
 tutional rights and laws of the Govern- 
 ment, demanding from the power of Con- 
 gress signal and severe redress. I base 
 my argument, and expect to sustain it, on 
 the ground of Mormon resistance, Mor- 
 mon rebellion, and Mormon war against 
 the United States. On that basis, and on 
 that alone, I advocate the passage of the 
 bill now before the House. 
 
 In the second place, I shall undertake 
 to show what kind and what amount of 
 force is necessary for the occasion. 
 
 What is the condition of this Mormon 
 rebellion? I think the House should, in 
 justice to itself, in justice to the country, 
 in justice to the moral sense of the world; 
 present the evidence against the Mormons, 
 
 for the purpose of showing that they are 
 now in hostility against this Government, 
 and that, therefore, there is a necessity for 
 sending troops against them. 
 
 If gentlemen will look over the history 
 of affairs in Utah for the past six months, 
 they will verify this impeachment. About 
 the 1st of August last, one of our agents, 
 Captain VanVliet, of the United States 
 army, was sent to Utah for the purpose 
 of buying stores for the detachment of 
 our army going in that direciion. What 
 was the reply that he received from the 
 Mormons ? He was told, in substance, by 
 Brigham Young, the acting Governor, 
 that they should not come into the valley ; 
 that no officer should take his position ; 
 that his power was supreme, and that he 
 put this Government at defiance. Captain 
 Van Vliet, in the most courteous and kind 
 terms, told him that it was riot the design 
 of the army of the United States to make 
 war against Utah or his people; but that 
 they came, on the contrary, to establish 
 law and the constitutional rights of the 
 Government. On that ground he placed 
 the advance of the army towards Utah. 
 But he was replied to in terms not to be 
 misunderstood. 
 
 Although these communications are 
 lengthy, as they show the commencement 
 of this imbroglio, I deem it important that 
 they should appear in full I will first 
 submit the Report of Captain Van Vliet, 
 of his interview with the Mormons, about 
 the 1st of August: 
 
 HAM'S FORK, September 16, 1857. 
 
 CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report, for the 
 infoimation of the Commanding General, the 
 result of ray trip to the Territory of Utah. 
 
In obedience to special instructions, dated 
 Headquarters Army for Utah, Fort Leavenworth, 
 July 28, 1857, I left Fort Leavenworth July 30, 
 and reached Port Kearney in nine travelling days, 
 Fort Laramie in ten, and Great Salt Lake City in 
 thirty-three and a half. At Fort Kearney I was 
 detained one day by the changes I had to make, 
 and by sickness, and at Fort Laramie three days, 
 as all the animals were forty miles from the 
 post, and when brought in all had to be shod 
 before they could take the road. 
 
 I travelled as rapidly as it is possible to do 
 with six mule wagons ; several of my teams 
 broke down, and at least half of my animals are 
 unserviceable, and will remain so until they re- 
 cruit. During my progress towards Utah I met 
 many people from that Territory, and also sever- 
 al mountain men, at Green river, and all informed 
 me that I would not be allowed to enter Utah, 
 and if I did I would run a great risk of losing 
 my life; I treated all this, however, as idle talk, 
 but it induced me to leave my wagons and escort 
 at Ham's Fork, one hundred and forty-three 
 miles this side of the city, and proceed alone. 
 
 I reached Great Salt Lake City without mo- 
 lestation, and immediately upon my arrival I 
 informed Governor Brigham Young that I desired 
 an interview, which he appointed for the next 
 day. On the evening of the day of my arrival, 
 Gsvernor Young, with many of the leading men 
 of the city, called upon me at my quarters. The 
 Governor received me most cordially, and treated 
 me during my stay, which continued some six 
 days, with the greatest hospitality and kindness. 
 In this interview the Governor made known to 
 me, his views with regard to the approach of the 
 United States troops, in plain and unmistakable 
 language. 
 
 He stated that the Mormons had been perse- 
 ; cuted, murdered, and robbed, in Missouri and 
 Illinois, both by the mob and State authorities, 
 and that now the United States were about to 
 pursue the same course; and that, therefore, he 
 and the people of Utah had determined to resist 
 all persecution at the commencement, and that 
 the troops now on the march for Utah should not 
 enter the Great Salt Lake valley; as he uttered 
 these words, all there present concurred most 
 heartily in what he said. 
 
 The next day, as agreed upon, I called upon 
 the Governor, and delivered in person the letters 
 with which I had been intrusted. 
 
 In that interview, and in several subsequent 
 ones, the same determination to resist to the 
 death the entrance of the troops iuto the valley 
 was expressed by Governor Young and those 
 about him. The Governor informed me that 
 there was abundance of everything I required for 
 the troops, such as lumber, foragje, &c., but that 
 none would be sold to us. 
 
 In the course of my conversations with the 
 Governor and the influential men in the Territory, 
 I told them plainly and frankly what I conceived 
 would be the result of their present course ; I 
 told them that they might prevent the small 
 military force now approaching Utah from get- 
 ting through the narrow defiles and rugged 
 passes of the mountains this year, but that next 
 season the United States Government would send 
 troops sufficient to overcome all opposition. The 
 
 answer to this was invariably the same. "We 
 are aware that such will be the case ; but when 
 these troops arrive, they will find Utah a desert; 
 every house will be burned to the ground, every 
 tree cut down, and every field laid waste. We 
 haw three years' provisions on hand, which we 
 will ' cache,' and then take to the mountains and 
 bid defiance to all the powers of the Govern- 
 ment." 
 
 I attended their services on Sunday, and, in 
 the course of a sermon delivered by Elder Taylor, 
 he referred to the approach of the troops, and 
 declared they should not enter the Territory. 
 He then referred to the probability of an over- 
 whelming force being sent against them, and 
 desired all present who would apply the torch 
 to their own buildings, cut down their trees, and 
 lay waste their fields, to hold up their hands; 
 every hand, in an audience numbering over four 
 thousand persons, was raised at the same moment. 
 During my stay in the city I visited several fam- 
 ilies, and all with whom I was thrown looked 
 upon the present movement of the troops towards 
 their Territory as the commencement of another 
 religious persecution, and expressed a fixed deter- 
 mination to sustain Governor Young in anj 
 measures he might adopt. 
 
 From all these facts I am forced to the con- 
 clusion that Governor Young and the people of 
 Utah will prevent, if possible, the army for Utah 
 from entering their Territory this season. This, 
 in my opinion, will not be a difficult task, owing 
 to the lateness of the season, the smallness of our 
 force, and the defences that nature has thrown 
 around the valley of the Great Salt Lake. 
 
 There is but one road running into the valley 
 on the side which our troops are approaching, 
 and for over fifty miles it passes through narrow 
 canons and over rugged mountains, which a 
 small force could hold against great odds. I am 
 inclined, however, to believe that the Mormons 
 wi 1 not resort to actual hostilities until the last 
 moment. Their plan of operation will be, burn 
 the grass, cut up the roads, and stampede the 
 animals, so as to delay the troops until snow 
 commences to fall, which will render the road 
 impassable. Snow falls early in this region; in 
 fact, last night it commenced falling at Fort 
 IMdger, and this morning the surrounding moun- 
 tains are clothed in white. Were it one month 
 earlier in the season, I believe the troops could 
 force their way in, and they may be able to do 
 so even now ; but the attempt will be fraught 
 with considerable danger, arising from the filling 
 up of the canons and passes with snow. 
 
 I do not wish to be considered that I am ad- 
 vocating either the one course or the other; I 
 simply wish to lay the facts before the General, 
 leaving it to his better judgment to decide upon 
 the proper movements. 
 
 Notwithstanding my inability to make the pur- 
 chases I was ordered to, and all that Governor 
 Young said in regard to opposing the entrance 
 of the troops into the valley, I examined the 
 country in the vicinity of the city, with the 
 view of selecting a proper military site. I visited 
 the military reserve, Rush Valley; but found it, 
 in my opinion, entirely unsuited for a military 
 station. It contained but littte grass, and is 
 very much exposed to the cold winds of winters 
 
its only advantage being the close proximity to 
 fire-wood. It is too far from the city, being be- 
 tween forty and forty-five miles ; and will require 
 teams four days to go there and return. 1 ex- 
 amined another point on the road to Rush Valley, 
 and only about thirty miles from the city, which 
 I consider a much more eligible position. It is 
 in Tuella Valley, three miles to the north of 
 Tuella city, and possesses wood, water, and grass ; 
 but it is occupied by Mormons, who have some 
 sixty acres under cultivation, with houses and 
 barns on their land. These persons would have 
 to be dispossessed or bought out. In fact there 
 is no place within forty, fifty, or sixty miles of 
 the city, suitable for a military position, that is 
 not occupied by the inhabitants, and under culti- 
 vation. Finding that I could neither make the 
 purchases ordered to, nor shake the determina- 
 tion of the people to resist the authority of the 
 United States, I left the city and returned to my 
 camp on Ham's Fork. On my return, I examined 
 the vicinity of Fort Bridger, and found it a very 
 suitable position for wintering the troops and 
 grazing the animals, should it be necessary to 
 stop at that point. The Mormonsfoccupy the 
 fort at present, and also have a settlement about 
 ten miles further up Black's fork, called Fort 
 Supply. These two places contain buildings suf- 
 ficient to cover nearly half the troops now en route 
 for Utah ; but I was informed that they would all 
 be laid in ashes as the army advanced. 
 
 I have thus stated fully the result of my visit 
 to Utah ; and trusting that my conduct will meet 
 the approval of the Commanding General, I am, 
 very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 STEWART VAN VLIET, 
 Captain, Assistant Quartermaster. 
 
 The proclamation of Brigham Young 
 soon followed the departure of Capt. Van 
 Vleit. It was conveyed to Col. Alexan- 
 der, then commanding the military expe- 
 dition, by Lieut. General Wells, who sign- 
 himself " Commander-in-chief of the Nau- 
 voo Legion," a tide clearly intended to 
 show his military rank and position, to a 
 military man, commanding our force. Col. 
 Alexander very properly, as I will show 
 hereafter, recognised him as a martial 
 foe. The sending this by such a mes- 
 senger bears with it an argument of mili- 
 tary purpose, which is strengthened by 
 the paper, he conveyed. 
 ^,_i The Proclamation of Brigham Young. 
 
 CITIZENS OP UTAH : We are invaded by a hos- 
 |tile force, who are evidently assailing us to ac- 
 ; complish our overthrow and destruction. For 
 the last twenty-five years, we have trusted offi- 
 cials of the Government, from constables and 
 justices, to judges, Governors, and Presidents, 
 only to be scorned, held in derision, insulted, 
 and betrayed. Our houses have been plundered 
 and then burned, our fields laid waste, our prin- 
 cipal men butchered, while under the pledged 
 faith of the Government for their safety, and our 
 families driven from their homes to find that 
 shelter in the barren wilderness, and that pro- 
 
 tection among hostile savages, which were denied 
 them in the boasted abodes of Christianity and 
 civilization. 
 
 The Constitution of our common country guar- 
 anties unto us all that we do now or ever have 
 claimed. If the constitutional rights which per- 
 tain unto us as American citizens were extended 
 to Utah, according to the spirit and meaning 
 thereof, and fairly and impartially administered, 
 it is all that we could ask, all that we have ever 
 asked. 
 
 Our opponents have availed themselves of pre- 
 judices existing against us, because of our reli- 
 gious faith, to send out a formidable host to ac- 
 complish our destruction. We have had no privi 
 lege nor opportunity of defending ourselves from 
 the false, foul, and unjust, aspersions against us, 
 before the nation. The Government has not con- 
 descended to cause an investigating committee, 
 or other person, to be sent to inquire into and 
 ascertain the truth, as is customary in such cases. 
 We know those aspersions to be false, but that 
 avails us nothing. We are condemned unheard, 
 and forced to an issue with an armed mercenary 
 mob, which has been sent against us at the in- 
 stigation of anonymous letter-writers, ashamed 
 to father the base, slanderous, falsehoods which 
 they have given to the public ; of corrupt officials, 
 who have brought false accusations against us, 
 to screen themselves in their own infamy ; and 
 of hireling priests and howling editors, who pros- 
 titute the truth for filthy lucre's sake. 
 
 The issue which has thus been forced upon 
 us compels us to resort to the great first law of 
 self-preservation, and stand in our own defence, 
 a right guarantied to us by the genius of the in- 
 stitutions of our country, and upen which the 
 Government is based. Our duty to ourselves, to 
 our families, requires us not to tamely submit to 
 be driven and slain, without an attempt to pre- 
 serve ourselves. Our duty to our country, our 
 holy religion, our God, to freedom and liberty, 
 requires that we should not quietly stand still 
 and see those fetters forging around us which 
 are calculated to enslave and bring us in sub- 
 jection to an unlawful military despotism, such 
 as can only emanate, in a country of constitu- 
 tional law, from usurpation, tyranny, and op- 
 pression. 
 
 Therefore, I, Brigham Young, Governor and 
 Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Territory 
 of Utah, in the name of the people of the United 
 States in the Territory of Utah, forbid 
 
 First. All armed farces of every description 
 from coming into this Territory, under any pre- 
 tence whatever. 
 
 Second. That all the forces in said Territory 
 hold themselves in readiness to march at a mo- 
 ment's notice to repel any and all such invasion. 
 
 Third. Martial law is hereby declared to exist 
 in this Territory from and after the publication 
 of this proclamation ; and no person shall be al- 
 lowed to pass or repass into- or through or 
 from this Territory, without a permit from the 
 proper officer. 
 
 Given under my hand and seal, at Great Salt 
 Lake City, Territory of Utah, this 15th day of 
 September, A. D. 1857, and of the Independence 
 of the United States of America the eighty- 
 second. BRIGHAM YOUNO. 
 
Both these documents go to show the 
 determined spirit of the Mormon leader ; 
 that he was resolved to resist this Govern- 
 ment in every form. That proclamation 
 is, to all intents and purposes, a declara- 
 tion of war. A war, not against the In- 
 dian hordes, but against this Government, 
 the Government under which he has for 
 years held office and received pay, and 
 the Government which maintains and sup- 
 ports his national existence. But I will 
 not stop here. I do not stand upon the 
 mere declaration of Brigham Young. Go 
 on to the 5th of October, and what do 
 you see? The actual commencement of 
 hostilities by the Mormon army against 
 the army of the United States. Colonel 
 Alexander, then at the head of our forces, 
 after speaking of the communications 
 from Lieutenant General Wells and Brig- 
 ham Young, says : 
 
 " Upon receiving these letters. I prepared for 
 defence, and to guard the supplies near us until 
 the nearest troops came up. I replied to Gov. 
 Young's letter, a copy of which I enclose, and 
 have not had any further correspondence with 
 him. On the morning of the 5th of October, the 
 Mormons burned two trains of Government stores 
 on Green river, and one on the Big Sandy, and 
 a few wagons belonging to Mr. Perry, sutler of 
 the tenth infantry, which were a few miles be- 
 hind the latter train. Col. Waite, of the fifth, 
 though not anticipating any act of this kind, was 
 preparing to send back a detachment to these 
 trains from his camp, on Black's Fork, when he 
 received, from some teamsters who came in, the 
 intelligence of their being burned. No doubt 
 now existed that the most determined hostility 
 might be expected on the part of the Mormons ; 
 and it became necessary, from the extreme late- 
 ness of the season, to adopt some immediate, 
 course for wintering tne troops and preserving 
 the supply trains." 
 
 This attack on the property of our army 
 was just as much an act of war as though : 
 it had been on the prrsonnel of your force. 
 It was carrying out Young's proclamation 
 declaring " martial law," and forbidding, 
 our "armed forces" from coming into 
 his Territory. This act has never been/ 
 to my knowledge, disavowed by the acting: 
 Governor; and thus you see property of 
 the United Stales to the amount of seventy 
 or one hundred thousand dollars destroyed 
 by the Utah forces. If that be not an act 
 of war, what is ? In every view of the 
 subject, it is as much an act of war as 
 though the Mormons had charged upon 
 our army, or committed any amount of 
 absolute hostilities. 
 
 As further evidence of the animus of 
 the Mormons, in chronological array, I 
 
 1 will read to the House a report of the pro- 
 ' ceedings of Brigham Young, in October 
 last, in his own church. It is from a 
 ! paper published by a Mormon in my own 
 i district, a member of the Church of the 
 | Latter-Day Saints. It is therefore good 
 I authority, because the editor says he ex- 
 | tracts it from the Deseret News, which, as 
 i is well known, is the organ of Brigham 
 I Young. I read from the Crescent City 
 Oracle of January 8th : 
 
 " We have seen files of the Deseret News up 
 
 i to the latter part of October, which indicate 
 
 ; plainly enough the determination of resistance 
 
 ! to the military, if an attempt is made to enter 
 
 their settlements. 
 
 " From the discourses of Brigham Young we 
 make the following extracts : 
 
 " ' This people are free ; they are not in bond- 
 age to any Government on God's footstool. We 
 have transgressed no law, and we have no occa- 
 sion to do o, neither do we intend to ; but as 
 for any nation's coming to destroy this people, 
 God Almighty be my helper, they cannot come 
 here. [The congregation responded by a loud 
 amen.] That is my feeling upon that point.' " 
 
 Here is the argument of Brigham 
 Young: 
 
 ':? " If you do your duty, you need not be afraid 
 pf mobs, nor of forces sent out in violation of the 
 yery genius of our free institutions, holding you 
 till mobs kill you. Mobs ? Yes ; for where is 
 U-here the least particle of authority, either in our 
 ^Constitution or laws, for sending troops here, or 
 %ven for appointing civil officers contrary to the 
 voluntary consent of the governed ? We came 
 here without any help from our enemies, and we 
 intend staying here as long as we please." 
 
 I read further from his sermon : 
 
 f " Suppose that our enemies send fifty thousand 
 ;roops here, they will have to transport all that 
 vili be requisite to sustain them over one winter, 
 'or I promise them, before they come, that there 
 fghall not be one particle of forage nor one 
 taouthful of food for them, should they come. 
 They will have to bring all their provisions and 
 forage, and though they start their teams with 
 as heavy loads as they can dratv, not one can 
 Ving enough to sustain itself, to say nothing of 
 the men. If there were no more men here than 
 there are in the Seminole nation, our enemies 
 never could use us up, but they could use up 
 themselves, which they will do. The Seminoles, 
 a little tribe of a few hundred, in Florida, have 
 ost our Government nearly one hundred million 
 .ollars, and they are no nearer being conquered 
 than when the war was commenced." 
 
 This is open defiance. You perceive 
 that, according to this unequivocal assump- 
 tion, our army should not come to Salt 
 Lake valley ; and that this Government 
 had no right to appoint officers for that 
 Territory. Owing to their remote loca- 
 tion, occupying a strong military position 
 
in the mountain passes, relying upon the 
 strength of his isolation and our unfortu- 
 nate delay in subduing the Seminoles, he 
 boldly defies us. Knowing.our aversion to 
 prosecute with vigor a war against savages, 
 knowing the natural aversion of our peo- 
 ple to send large forces against a weak 
 ibe, and knowing the natural advantages 
 which he has in a wild mountainous coun- 
 try, he exults in a protracted war like that 
 existing against a few Seminole Indians. 
 
 This you recollect was in the month- of 
 October. In November following, Govern- 
 or Gumming, who had been appointed to 
 succeed Governor Young, issued his proc- 
 lamation, warning his predecessor that he 
 was no longer Governor. How does 
 Brigham Young act upon the reception of 
 this information ? Does he yield to tne new 
 appointment made in pursuance of the 
 organic act of the Territory? No, sir; 
 although he himself was appointed under 
 the same organic act, he refused to recog- 
 nise the appointment of Governor Gum- 
 ming, and calls together the Legislature of 
 Utah, which, at last advices, December 21, 
 was still in session. In pursuance of his for- 
 mer position, declining to recognise a suc- 
 cessor, he has issued a long proclamation, 
 ably written, argumentative, reiteratinghis 
 former position, and avowing his intention 
 to resist to the death any attempt of the 
 army of the United States to enter that 
 Terriotry, and adhering to the position 
 that the Government of the United States 
 has no power to appoint officers for that 
 Territory. I present the following closing 
 extract from his message : 
 
 "Fully aware, as has been justly written, that 
 'patriotism does not consist in aiding Govern- 
 ment in every base or stupid act it may perform, 
 but rather in paralyzing its power when it vio- 
 lates vested rights, affronts insulted justice, and 
 assumes undelegated authority,' and knowing 
 that the so-called army, reported to be on its way 
 to Utah, was an undisguised mob, if not sent by 
 the President of the United States, and if sent by 
 him, iu the manner and for the purpose alleged 
 in all the information permitted to reach us, was 
 no less a mob, though in the latter event acting 
 under the color of law ; upon learning its near 
 approach, I issued, as in constitutional duty 
 bound, a proclamation expressly forbidding all 
 bodies of armed men. under whatsoever name or 
 by whomsoever sent, to come within the bounds 
 of this Territory. That so-called army, or, more 
 strictly speaking, mob, refused to obey that proc- 
 lamation, copies of which were officially furnished 
 them, and prosecuted their march to the neigh- 
 borhood of Forts Bridger and Supply, (which 
 were vacated and burnt upon their approach,) 
 where it is said they intend to winter. Under 
 
 these circumstances, I respectfully suggest that 
 you take such measures as your enlightened 
 judgment may dictate, to insure public tranquil- 
 lity, and protect, preserve, and perpetuate invio- 
 late those inalienable constitutional rights which 
 have descended to us a rich legacy from our fore- 
 fathers. 
 
 <; A civilized nation is one tfcflat never infringes 
 upon the righls of its citizens, but strives to pro- 
 tect and make happy all within its sphere, which 
 our Government, above all others, is obligated 
 to accomplish, though its present course is as 
 far from that wise and just path as the earth is 
 from the sun. And, under the aggravated abu- 
 ses that have been heaped upon us in the past, 
 you and the whole people are my witnesses, that 
 it has more particularly fallen to rny lot, and 
 been my policy and practice, to restrain rather 
 than urge resistance to usurpation and tyranny 
 on the part of the enemies to the Constitution 
 and constitutional laws, (who are also our ene- 
 mies, and the enemies of all Republics and re- 
 publicans,) until forbearance, under such .cruel 
 and 'illegal treatment, cannot well be longer 
 exercised. No one has denied, nor wishes to 
 deny, the right of the Government to send its 
 troops when, where, and as it pleases, so it is 
 but done clearly within the authorities and limit- 
 ations of the Constitution, and for the safety and 
 welfare of the people ; but when it sends them 
 clearly without the pale of those authorities and 
 limitations, unconstitutionally to oppress the peo- 
 ple, as is the case in the so-called army sent to 
 Utah, it commits a treason against itself which 
 commands the resistance of all good men, or 
 Freed'om will depart our nation. 
 
 " In compliance with a long-established sys- 
 tem in appointing officers not of the people's 
 electing, which the Supreme Court of the United 
 States would at once, in justice, decide to be 
 unconstitutional, we have petitioned and peti- 
 tioned that good men be appointed, until that 
 hope is exhausted ; and we have long enough 
 borne the insults and outrages of lawless officials, 
 until we are compelled, in self-defence, to assert 
 and maintain that great constitutional right of 
 the governed to officers of their own election, and 
 local laws of their own enactment. That the 
 President and the counsellors, aiders and abet- 
 tors of the present treasonable crusade against 
 the peace and rights of a Territory of the United 
 States, may reconsider their course and retrace 
 their steps, is earnestly to be desired ; but in 
 either event, our trust and confidence are in that 
 Being, who at his pleasure rules among the ar- 
 mies of heaven, and controls the wrath of the 
 children of men, and most cheerfully should we 
 be able to abide the issue. 
 
 " Permit me to tender you my entire confidence 
 that your deliberations will be distinguished 
 by that wisdom, unanimity, and love of justice, 
 that have ever marked the counsels of our Leg- 
 islative Assemblies, and the assurance of my 
 hearty co-operation in every measure you adopt 
 for promoting the true interests of a Territory 
 beloved by us for its very isolation and forbidding 
 aspect; for here, if anywhere upon this footstool 
 of our God, have we the privilege and prospect 
 of being able to secnre and enjoy those inestima- 
 ble rights of civil and religious liberty, which 
 
6 
 
 the beneficent Creator of all mankind has, in His 
 mercy, made indefeasible, and perpetuate them 
 upon a broader and firmer basis, for the benefit 
 of ourselves, of our children and our children's 
 children, until peace shall be restored to our dis- 
 tracted country. BRIGHAM YOUNG." 
 
 The Legislature called together by him, 
 endorsed the message of Brigham Young, 
 and pledged themselves to aid in carrying 
 out his desperate views of resistance to 
 the anthorities and laws of the United 
 States. These resolutions should also go 
 before the world, and I therefore present 
 them to the House : 
 
 Resolutions, expressive of_ the sense of the Legislative 
 Assembly of the Territory of Utah, relative to the 
 message and official course of his Excellency Gov- 
 ernor Brigham Young. 
 
 Resolved, That we unanimously and most cor- 
 dially, for ourselves, and in behalf of the well- 
 known feelings of our constituents, concur in the 
 sentiments and doctrines advanced in the mes- 
 sage delivered by his Excellency Governor 
 Young, i.o the Legislative Assembly of this Ter- 
 ritory, convened in the Representatives' Hall, in 
 Great Salt Lake City, December 15, 1857. 
 
 Resolved, That the entire policy and all the 
 acts of his Excellency Governor Young have 
 been able, just, and humane conducive to and 
 protective of the development of the best inter- 
 ests and welfare both of this Territory and of the 
 General Government, so far as that poliqy and 
 those acts could accomplish so desirable a re- 
 sult. 
 
 Resolved, That we hold ourselves., our means, 
 and influence, in readiness to sustain his Excel- 
 lency Governor Young in every act he may per- 
 form or dictate, in accordance with the Constitu- 
 tion and constitutional laws of the United States 
 And the laws of Utah, for the protection of the 
 lives, peace, and prosperity, of the people of this 
 Territory. 
 
 Resolved, That neither the present nor any 
 other Administration of the General Government 
 shall enforce profane, drunken, and otherwise 
 corrupt officials upon us at the point of the bay- 
 onet ; and that the attempts so to do by the 
 present incumbent of the Executive chair of our 
 nation has incurred that contempt and deter- 
 mined opposition of all good men which such an 
 act of usurped authority and oppression so richly 
 deserves. 
 
 Resolved, That while we deprecate the bitter 
 hostility manifested toward a most loyal and in- 
 nocent people by the present Administration of 
 the General Government, we will continue to re- 
 sist any attempt on the part of the Administra- 
 tion to bring us into a state of vassalage, by ap- 
 pointing, contrary to the Constitution, officers 
 whom the people have neither vote nor voice in 
 electing ; nor shall any persons appointed to 
 office for Utah by the present Administration 
 either qualify for, or assume and discharge, with- 
 in the limits of this Territory, the. functions of 
 the offices to which they have been appointed, 
 so 1 ng as our Territory is menaced by an inva- 
 ding army, (for such an army cannot have been; 
 
 sent to protect either the citizens or the passing 
 emigration, but is manifestly sent to afd in 
 trampling upon American liberty,) nor so long 
 as such appointees are so pusillanimous as to 
 require a numerous armed force to attend their 
 beck, to enable them to carry out the traitorous 
 designs concocted for depriving American citi- 
 zens of their indefeasible and vested rights. 
 
 Resolved, That we will at least have our con- 
 stitutional rights to a voice in the selection of 
 our Territorial officers, and in the enactment of 
 local laws for our government. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be signed by 
 the members of the two Houses, and be printed 
 in the Deseret News. 
 
 Unanimously adopted and signed, December 21, 
 1857. 
 
 Councillors. Heber C. Kimball, President; 
 Daniel H. Wells, Albert Ca-rington, F. D. Rich- 
 ards, Wilford Woodruff, Joseph Holbrook, Loren- 
 zo Snow, Lorin Farr, Benjamin F. Johnson, 
 Leonard E. Harrington, Warren S. Snow, Lewis 
 Brunson, George A. Smith. 
 
 Representatives. John Taylor, Speaker ; W. W. 
 Phelps, A. P. Rockwood, J. C. Little, Daniel 
 Spencer, Alexander McRae^ Orson Hyde, J. W. 
 Cummings, Hosea Stout, Joseph A. Young, H. B. 
 Clawson, John Rowberry, John D. Parker, Red- 
 dick N. Allred, Chauncy W. West, Jonathan C. 
 Wright, Aaron Johnson, James C. Snow, Pres- 
 ton Thomas, Jacob G. Bigler, George Peacock, 
 P. T. Farnsworth, Isaac C. Haight, John D. Lee, 
 Isaac Bullock. 
 
 This, sir, is the position of the Mormons 
 at this time. They are in rebellion, in re- 
 sistance, in a state of war against the Uni- 
 ted States. They have declared war, 
 and have declared that they will resist the 
 approach of an army, or any other power 
 of the United States ; that they are free 
 and independent. I therefore say that 
 an exigency has arisen when the people of 
 a Territory of this country are in a state 
 of open war against the United States, 
 and are therefore guilty, not of construc- 
 tive, but of high treason against the Gov- 
 ernment. J do not wish to aggravate the 
 offence of the Mormons. I place them 
 on the ground upon which their own pa- 
 pers place them. But, sir, while I would 
 not aggravate an offence, I cannot treat 
 the matter in any other light than that of a 
 high crime, which deserves the calm? firm, 
 fearless attention of the American Con- 
 gress. Gentlemen must not regard this as 
 'the idle boasting of ignorant imbecility 
 as something that will pass over in a few 
 weeks. I tell them that I do not so re- 
 gard it. On the contrary, I forewarn gen- 
 tlemen that it is a painful, perplexing, 
 disgraceful reality, which it becomes us to 
 consider in all its present bearings, and 
 
all its pending consequences to the peace 
 and honor of our country. 
 
 If gentlemen suppose they are to be 
 subdued easily, I tell them they are mista- 
 ken. The Mormons are a thousand miles 
 from our settlements ; they occupy the 
 passes of the mountains; they now num- 
 ber some sixty thousand people. I have 
 seen them from year to year on their 
 march to Salt Lake valley ; and, from my 
 own personal observation, I knowthey are a 
 powerful and formidable force to encoun- 
 ter. They can at any time muster from 
 five to ten thousand men, fully armed and 
 equipped for war. The position which 
 they occupy in relation to the possession 
 of the soil, their homes, adds a powerful 
 incentive of resistance to the United 
 States authorities. They have not pur- 
 chased their land. They claim it as the 
 squatters of the West claim. They have 
 not purchased their homes, as you have 
 yours ; and they are willing to fight for 
 them against a power which their leaders 
 have taught them to believe has purposed 
 to crush and destroy them. 
 
 I know that they have heretofore been 
 aggravated by acts of cruelty and persecu- 
 tion. They have been driven from place 
 to place ; but, it is to be> recollected, these 
 persecutions have been generally superin- 
 duced by their own folly. I do not pro- 
 pose to speak of anything in the past, ex- 
 cept to show the fails incident to the pres- 
 ent attitude of affairs. I do not propose 
 to say anything of what has been done, 
 or what has not been done ; that is 
 not pertinent to the present ques- 
 tion. I say nothing of the blunders that 
 have been committed in years past. We 
 have no occasion to go so far back. We 
 are obliged to take the question as it is 
 now presented to us. The Mormons have 
 declared war against us; and, as national 
 legislators, it becomes us calmly to inquire 
 how far are we called upon to inflict the 
 fearful penalties due to such crimes. Will 
 you withdraw your army? Will you disgrace 
 your banners which you have sent there, 
 by lowering them before such an array of 
 Mormon force ? Will you disgrace these 
 men who now stand before your foes 
 men who have fought the battles of their 
 country in former wars men who have 
 won honorable distinction in the service 
 of the country in many a well-fought bat- 
 tle ? I implore for them the consideration 
 of this House. 
 
 Mr. BURROUGHS. I desire to know 
 how many men of the army are now sta- 
 tioned in Kansas ? 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. I reply to the gentleman 
 as far as my information goes, (and I in- 
 tend to notice this subject again in another 
 part of my argument;) I suppose there 
 re about three thousand men in Kansas 
 and in the vicinity some at Fort Leaven- 
 worth and some at Jefferson Barracks, 
 but all in sinking distance of Kansas. 
 
 VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 I now proceed to the second branch of 
 my subject, the consideration of the kind,, 
 of force which ought to be employed. 
 How have we always heretofore acted, 
 when occasion called for a military force? 
 We have called upon the regulars and the 
 volunteers, and upon some occasions the 
 militia have turned out. The Government 
 has, at sundry times, paid for these extra- 
 ordinary efforts of the militia and volun- 
 teers, although they have gone without 
 authority of law, believing they did good 
 service to their country, however irregular 
 and unarmed they have rushed to real or 
 apparent danger. But I speak not of such 
 impulsive gatherings offeree; no military 
 calculations should be made from them. 
 I speak of regular volunteers, like those 
 who went to Mexico; I speak of such as 
 are proposed in this bill. We have a large 
 force of regulars in Kansas that can be 
 spared, and this bill proposes to add five 
 regiments of volunteers for the Morrnon 
 and frontier service, vvhich, together, is 
 none too much. 
 
 Because of the remote position of the 
 field of operations, it will icquire at least 
 two or three months to convey a support- 
 ing force where it can co-operate with 
 Colonel Johnson. It will require sixty 
 days after you actually start your column, 
 on the supposition that you take the army 
 now in Kansas, and make that region or 
 Nebraska your place of rendezvous. If, 
 then, you would reinforce our Utah army, 
 act immediately; for, with your earliest 
 efforts, and before you will have reached 
 Col. Johnson, months will have transpired, 
 and further regrets may be occasioned. 
 We cannot state the exact time that will 
 be required to raise forces^ not already in 
 service ; but if you expect to assist, it is 
 manifest you cannot be too soon about it. 
 You cannot get any force upon the fron- 
 tier, ready for movement, in less than thirty 
 days. So it may be July or August before 
 
8 
 
 you can get a sufficient force in position. 
 This leads me to prefer volunteers, as I 
 believe that force can be got there soonest. 
 I recommend volunteers, as I believe them 
 the most available. 
 
 The gentleman from Virginia [Mr. 
 FAULKNER] said it was the purpose of 
 the President to call into action all the 
 regulars now in the western part of the 
 United States. I am glad to hear the 
 Government is going to collect all this 
 available force, and put it en route to par- 
 ticipate in this Utah service; yet admit- 
 ting and relying on this, let the Govern- 
 ment do the best they can, that force can- 
 not be collected and equipped so as to 
 move forward before the 1st of May ; and 
 all the regular force the Government can 
 rally will not, as I suppose, augment the 
 present force to more than three thousand 
 five hundred men. I tell this House, we 
 have got to go into Utah against an oppo- 
 sing force of five or ten thousand, and there- 
 fore you should have an active force in 
 Utah of five thousand men. It is need- 
 less to talk of rallying all the regulars, as 
 they are so widely spread throughout our 
 remote Territories, and so fixed at stations 
 that they are not v available for present 
 need in a Utah campaign. 
 
 Mr. LOVEJOY. I wish to inquire of 
 the gentleman, how many soldiers there 
 will be, with the aimy now OB its way, 
 and those now in Kansas, provided they 
 were united ? 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. In reply I will tell the 
 gentleman how I estimate the force which 
 will be necessary to carry on a successful 
 campaign, and the sources from which to 
 obtain it. Jn the first place, you want one 
 regiment on this side of FortLaramie, and 
 one west of it, to sustain the military 
 posts along the route, and guard your 
 stores at Fort Bridger. That makes two 
 regiments. You want another movable 
 regiment to guard the transportation of 
 supplies from the frontier to Utah. That 
 is three regiments. In addition to that, 
 you may calculate upon a force equal to 
 one regiment of sick and disabled men. 
 That is four. And when you get there, 
 you must have five regiments to act -effi- 
 ciently. Is that too much ? Five regi- 
 ments to operate in the enemy's country? 
 
 Mr. LOVEJOY. I think it is. 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. I think not. That makes 
 nine regiments, or say nine thousand men. 
 Now, how will you raise this requisite 
 
 force 1 In the first place, I suppose that 
 all the regular troops which you can from 
 vsrious quarters collect at a rendezvous, 
 which should be at or near Council Bluffs, 
 may amount to three thousand five hun- 
 dred men ; and from all the information 
 that I can get, I apprehend there will not 
 be more than this number collected from 
 Western posts. There are now in Utah, 
 under Colonel Johnston, little more than 
 one thousand men ; but when spring ar- 
 rives, desertions, discharges, and other 
 casualties, will reduce it to about this num- 
 ber; making the entire regular force ap- 
 plicable to this service, only four thousand 
 five hundred. We propose, by the bill 
 reported by our committee, to give the 
 President four regiments of volunteers, 
 which is only eight thousand five hundred 
 men ; lacking five hundred of the number 
 which I have estimated as necessary. 
 After' allowing all that the bill proposes, 
 the line of operation this side of the val- 
 ley must be meagrely supplied, in order to 
 give the requisite force five thousand 
 men to operate in Utah. 
 
 Mr. LOVEJOY. What does the gen- 
 tleman propose to do with five thousand 
 men in Utah valley ? 
 
 Mr. C URTIS. They are wanted there to 
 prosecute war against five or ten thousand 
 Mormons, which are now, or will be, in 
 arms to receive them. They are wanted 
 to move from point to point, as exigencies 
 may require. 
 
 Mr. LOVEJOY. Does the gentleman 
 consider that warexisfs? 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. I do. 
 
 Mr. LOVEJOY. Who declared it ? 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. Brigham Young, as the 
 leader and former Governor of the Mor- 
 mons, who has put his forces under the 
 command of Lieutenaant General Wells. 
 
 Mr. LOVEJOY. Has the gentleman 
 his manifesto? 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. I have it ; and, with the 
 consent of the House, I will incorporate 
 a portion of it in my speech. I think it 
 will convince that gentleman, and all 
 others, that the opposing forces are in a 
 state of actual war. But I desire not to 
 be detained or forced from the line of my 
 argument. 
 
 The point I was making is, that we need 
 the forces provided for in this bill, not for 
 the purpose of increasing the standing 
 army, but for the purpose of giving to the 
 President of the United States ample 
 
9 
 
 power to prosecute this war ; for I insist, I 
 with regret, that war has already com- [ 
 jmenced. Gentlemen may smile, and re- 
 jgard it as futile, but three years will not 
 ! roll around before they will know that the 
 | Government has already acted with too 
 (much leniency towards this people, now 
 'in open and avowed resistance to all the 
 (powers of this Government. 
 
 Mr. LOVEJOY. I desire to ask the 
 gentleman if we have declared war? 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. I do not deem it neces- 
 sary for this Government to declare war. 
 I take the facts, and from the facts, as I 
 present them to this House, I say war 
 actually exists. I regret that such is the 
 fact. I wish there was any contrary show- 
 ing, any intimation on the part of the 
 Mormons that they are willing to avoid 
 the dread conclusion. I am intimately ac- 
 quainted with many of these people; for 
 there are many of the Latter-Day Saints in 
 the West, and there is a constant inter- 
 course between them and their friends in 
 Utah. When they mingle and live with our 
 citizens, they are quiet, law-abiding, and 
 generally wortjjy citizens. But when ag- 
 gregated together, as they were in Ohio, 
 Missouri, Illinois, and as they now are at 
 Salt Lake, they become bigoted, fanatical, 
 vain-glorious ; and, regarding the exterior 
 world as " gentiles," they resist all inter- 
 course as interference; and when crimes 
 are committed against gentiles, the crimi 
 nals are shielded by a cloak of fanaticism 
 This isolation is inconsistent with the na- 
 ture of our social and political organiza 
 tion ; and it always has and always will 
 lead to strife, conflict, and ultimate disas 
 ter to the weaker party. You have got to 
 meet these Mormons as they are in aims 
 against your Government. 
 
 Mr. POTTLE. I desire to ask my 
 friend what assurance he can give that the 
 troops, if raised, will be ut.ed against the 
 Mormons? And further, if the chairman o 
 the Military CommitUee in the Senate did 
 not, in asking for those troops, say that 
 they were not asked expressly for Utah 
 but to uphold the peace of the country r 
 Mr. CURTIS. I have no authority to 
 guaranty the course which this Adminis- 
 tration will pursue. The gentleman knows 
 I do not affiliate with that party. I take 
 facts before me, and the public documents 
 which we are bound to respect; I take 
 the President's message; I take there 
 port of the officers of the army, whom ] 
 
 have known for years, and whose charac- 
 ters are above suspicion, and 1 tell the 
 rentleman they represent matters as I have 
 >resented them. I have it from the Com- 
 nanding General himself, Lieutenant Gen- 
 eral Scott, that the order has gone forth, 
 )r will go, directing the forward move- 
 nent of the regulars in Kansas for opera- 
 ions in Utah. The gentleman from Vir- 
 jinia, [Mr. FAULKNER,] who has the ear 
 of the Administration as intimately as any 
 >ther gentleman on the Military Commit- 
 ee, and perhaps as frequently as any other 
 gentleman in the House, tells you that the 
 whole force shall be moved from all the 
 West in the Utah column. I take him at 
 his word. If the Administration will dare 
 to neglect the honor of his country by re- 
 using to send out such assistance as is at 
 lis command, and such as we deem ne- 
 ;essary and proper, let them take the re- 
 sponsibility. Let us do our duty, and hold 
 other branches of the Government account- 
 able for their shortcomings or errors. 
 
 Mr. BURROUGHS. I wish to know 
 if the gentleman believes that this Ad- 
 ministration will respect its pledges about 
 anything? 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. I will not go so Tar as 
 to impute to the President of the United 
 S'ates a want of integrity in a matter so 
 delicate as that which pertains to his duty 
 as Commander-in-chief of our ay^ies. I 
 infer, from the inquiry made by rny friend 
 from New York, [Mr. POTTLE,] that he 
 apprehends this temporary military in- 
 crease is not asked for upon the ground 
 which I have stated; that is, for an expe- 
 dition to Utah. I will read from the Pres- 
 ident's message to show that he does put 
 it emphatically on the ground of the n\e- 
 cessity of sending a force against Utah. 
 Let us deal fairly. This is a matter too 
 grave and important to be made a politi- 
 cal question of. It is a question in which 
 the whole Republic is interested ; and, if 
 we differ about it, let us at least meet it 
 honestly and honorably. , What does the 
 President say, in speeking of this Ulah 
 matter? He says, speaking of the con- 
 duct of Brigharn Young towards Captain 
 Van Vleit: 
 
 " A great part of all this may be idle boasting ; 
 but yet, no wise Government will lightly esti- 
 mate the efforts which may be inspired by such 
 frenzied fanaticism as exists among the Mor- 
 mons in Utah. This is the ffrst rebellion which 
 has existed ia our Territories ;^a.nd humanity it- 
 self requires that we should put it down in such 
 a manner that it shall be the last. To trifle with 
 
10 
 
 it would be to encoueage it and to render it for- 
 midable. We ought to go there with such an 
 imposing force as to convince these deluded peo- 
 ple that resistance would be vain, and thus spare 
 the effusion of blood. We can in this manner 
 best convince them that we are their friends, not 
 their enemies. In order to accomplish this ob- 
 ject, it will be necessary, according to the esti- 
 mate of the War Department, to raise four addi- 
 tional regiments ; and this I earnestly recommend 
 to Congress. At the present moment of depres- 
 sion in the revenues of the country, I am sorry to 
 be obliged to recommend such a measure ; but I 
 feel confident of the support of Congress, cost 
 what it may, in suppressing the insurrection, 
 and in restoring and maintaining the sovereignty 
 of the Constitution and laws over the Territory 
 Of Utah." 
 
 No matter how others have spoken, we 
 must take notice of the matter as slated 
 by the Piesident. If he placed it on the 
 ground of a standing increase of the army, 
 I would oppose him. I wish gentlemen 
 to notice that the President puts it upon 
 the ground of a Utah expedition ; and if he 
 fails for want of adequate force, in case 
 we withhold it, he will bring his request as 
 an argument for his justification and our 
 reproach. He does not define the kind 
 of troops. He does not say that he wants 
 regulars. He says he wants four regi- 
 ments, and I am told this four was a cleri- 
 cal error ; that he designed to commend 
 the views of the Secretary of War, who 
 speaks (*f five. I say this in reply to the 
 gentleman from Virginia, [Mr. FAULK- 
 NER,] who spoke yesterday as though the 
 President had called for regulars, and we 
 are offering him volunteers. Neither does 
 the Secratary of War call for regulars. He 
 says that he wants five regiments, and 
 then he says that experience has proved 
 that legulars are more economical than 
 volunteers. That is all the Secretary of 
 War says. The Commander-in-chief, 
 General Scott, says nothing as to the kind 
 of troops. He leaves that to the discre- 
 tion of Congress. I am willing to admit 
 that the Commander-in-chief, like all army 
 officers, always looks for an increase of 
 the regular army when more force is called 
 for. He has spent his life with regulars; 
 and our army is affectionately attached to 
 him, as he is to the army- it is natural. 
 He has not studied the advantages of volun- 
 teers, as some of us who have served with 
 them ; and, following natural attachments 
 and impulses, he would prefer regulars. 
 The wisest and best of men are subject 
 to the common infirmities of our species, 
 and are influenced by similar motives as 
 
 other men. Our army officers all enter- 
 tain a just pride for their profession. Their 
 promotion, their rank, their dominion, all 
 seem to advance with the increase of the 
 regular army. I wish it was otherwise. I 
 hope the day will come when their rank 
 and promotion, and professional prosperi- 
 ty, will depend more on affiliation with 
 the volunteer forces of our country. Such 
 an affinity would advance the interests of 
 the volunteers, greatly increase the mill- ; 
 tary power of our country, and check a 
 current of prejudice which seems to in- 
 crease against our regular army. 
 
 The calling for additional military force 
 does not necessarily involve the character 
 of either kind, because it is, after all, only 
 recruits or fresh men that we enrol in the 
 service ; and whether we call them regu- 
 lars or volunteers, they all come under the 
 same "rules and regulations." If the 
 comparison of veteran regulars be made 
 with fresh levies of volunteers, I would 
 award the preference where it evidently 
 belongs, to the former; but, if you compare 
 fresh volunteers with fresh recruits, I also 
 award the preference where it belongs, to 
 the volunteers ; because I know they gen- 
 erally embody a better class of our citizens, 
 who are more easily learned their duty. 
 
 But, sir, I have not raised this compari- 
 son of our different kinds of force, and, 
 as far as possible, I wish to do justice to 
 the volunteers without prejudice to the 
 regular army. I have attempted to show 
 that you must have at least nine regiments 
 to make a successful campaign in Utah, 
 and that four additional regiments are ne- 
 cessary, in order to secure that amaunt; 
 and time being material, volunteers are 
 most appropriate. I say that volunteers 
 will be most easily and speedily raised. 
 What has been the success of our efforts 
 to increase the army within the last few 
 years ? It will be recollected that, a year 
 or two ago, Congress passed a law increas- 
 ing the pay of the officers and soldiers. It 
 was supposed that, after that, recruiting 
 would go on with greater activity. And 
 yet we tec that the army is not full. The 
 returns of the Adjutant General for the last 
 year show that the increase of the army 
 has hardly been equal to the decrease 
 caused by deaths, discharge*, and deser- 
 tion. It seems also that the force has been 
 much below the maximum. 
 
 I read from the report of the Adjutant 
 General, of November 27, 1857: 
 
11 
 
 " The authorized strength of the army, as now 
 posted, is 17,984. The actual strength on the 
 1st of July last was 15,764. The number of en- 
 listments made during the year ending June 30, 
 1857, was 5,509- The number of persons offer- 
 ing to enlist, but who were refused on account of 
 minority and unfitness for service, was 12,275. 
 The number of casualties in the army, by deaths, 
 discharges, and desertions, during the year end- 
 ing June 30, 1857, was ,5,729, of which 2,954 
 were from the last-named cause." 
 
 This report not only shows the difficulty 
 of enlistments, but it is remarkable that so 
 many were minors, or otherwise so degra- 
 ded as to be unfit for soldiers. 
 
 Mr. POTTLE. I ask the gentleman if 
 he can inform the House where the great- 
 est number of desertions have taken 
 place ? 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. I cannot say as to that. 
 
 Mr. POTTLE. I ask the gentleman if 
 the greatest number of desertions did not 
 take place in Kansas, and were not owing 
 to the peculiar description of service that 
 the troops were ordered upon in that Ter- 
 ritory ? 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. I do not know whether 
 that is so or not. I am now avoiding the 
 Kansas question. I do not believe that 
 the President has any right to use the army 
 of the United States either for a police, or 
 for apossc, or to defend the ballot-boxes of 
 the country. The army of this country is 
 intended for a different purpose. In our 
 Republic, the ba'lot-box was substituted 
 for the cartridge-box j and when these 
 negative electrics come together in the 
 same crucible, you will see spontaneous 
 combustion strife and tumult and civil 
 war are the inevitable consequences, I 
 deplore the act of the President in keep- 
 ing two or three thousand men in Kansas ; 
 and will at any time go for prohibiting the 
 use of our army or navy for all such pur- 
 poses. But let. us not mix that Kansas 
 subject with the one now before us. We 
 are told that the troops shall be sent to 
 Utah. Let us look the matter in the face, 
 and see whether it is our duty as men and 
 legislators to put under the control of the 
 Executive a sufficient force to execute the 
 law. 
 
 Mr. MARSHALL, of Kentucky. The 
 gentleman says he has been told that these 
 troops shall be sent to Utah. I would 
 like to know from the gentleman if he can 
 state the date of that determination ? 
 
 Mr. CURTIS, I would say to my friend 
 from Kentucky, that I understood so three 
 weeks ago, in a private conversation with 
 
 General Scott himself. It was a private 
 conversation on public business, and 
 therefore I suppose it is no breach of trust 
 to speak about it. I understood it to be 
 the policy of tjje Administration, and the 
 General's purpose, to send the Kansas 
 troops on to Utah, as soon as the season 
 would permit. I have heard the same 
 purpose declared by my friend from Vir- 
 ginia, [Mr. FAULKNER] whom I suppose to 
 be in communication with the Administra- 
 tion ; and I am not disposed to doubt the 
 fact, since it comes so distinctly stated by 
 high authority. If the Administration does 
 not send all the force it can get to Utah, I 
 tell you that the campaign will be a peril- 
 ous one. The'honor of the country will 
 not be sustained, and, in rny opinion, the 
 President himself will have reason to de- 
 plore such a diversion of these forces. 
 Put the farce into the hands of the Presi- 
 dent, and if he does not send it to Utah, 
 if he does not stand by your eagles, if he 
 does not sustain your laws, hold him ac- 
 countable forit. Hold up his conductbe- 
 fore the people, and before those who de- 
 clare now the purpose of the President of 
 the United States to perform his ,duty by 
 sending the Kansas troops to Utah. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I do not want it to appear 
 that I am defending the Administration. 
 I have no right or inclination to speak of 
 the Administration from any personal 
 knowledge. Other gentlemen, I trust, 
 are better able to defend him than I am. 
 So far as the past course of the Adminis- 
 tration is concerned, I leave it with them. 
 
 I am very far from approving of the re- 
 tention of troops last year in Kansas ; but 
 I speak of ihe fuiure. I speak of what 
 the Administration ought to do, and what 
 we are led to believe they intend to do; 
 and I trust that, on this subject, the Presi- 
 dent will act with patriotism, fairness, and 
 fidelity. I repeat, this is not a party ques- 
 tion, and I hope gentlemen will not try 
 to make it such, I ask the Republicans 
 of this House especially to recollect that 
 these Mormons have, for years p r ;st, been 
 doing violence to good moral*. They have 
 raised the standard of liberty to sustain 
 rebellion, and the standard of religion to 
 support licentiousness. They despise our 
 laws, and now declare they will never 
 subm t to them. Brigharn Young held 
 pnwer for years under the law organizing 
 that Territory, and under that law he 
 should have submitted to his successor. 
 
12 
 
 when he finds, after receiving his sala- 
 ry as Governor for years, that he is to be 
 removed and superseded, he declares the 
 law null and void, and asserts that the 
 Government of the United States has no 
 power to send officers^ there whom the 
 Mormons themselves have not appointed. 
 In other words, they say that the Govern- 
 ment of the United States has no power 
 to remove Brigham Young, who claims to 
 hold his office as Governor by the grace 
 of God, and not by the laws of Congress. 
 
 Now, the question of the kind of force 
 to be sent there has been brought up ; 
 and I regret that I am diverted so often 
 from my purpose to discuss that matter. 
 Admitting that this additional force of four 
 or five regiments is necessary for the pur- 
 pose of quelling the difficulty in Utah, I 
 say that the best force to be sent there is 
 a volunteer force, first, because they can be 
 soonest brought into service. How was 
 it in the Mexican campaign ? On the 13th 
 day of May, Congress passed a law calling 
 for volunteeis from the different States of 
 the Union. On the 20th of May, in the 
 same year, the proclamation was made in 
 the State of Ohio; and in just one month 
 from that day there were three regiments 
 organized and turned over to the United 
 States, ready for service in Mexico, and 
 enough to form ten or twenty more regi- 
 ments had been declined and discharged. 
 On the 18th of July these Ohio volunteers 
 were in Mexico, where they found others 
 from Indiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Ken- 
 tucky, and other parts of the Union, who 
 had already arrived at Brazos Santiago, 
 ready and able to do good service in an 
 enemy's country. Certainly, you cannot 
 organize regulars so expeditiously. 
 
 Within sixty da\s from this time, there 
 could be raised in this country three mil- 
 lions of volunteers, if the exigencies of 
 the country required such a force the 
 best elements in the world to mould into 
 an army. Such an army would be invin- 
 cible against any force that could be 
 brought against the country. The mili- 
 tary power of the country consists in this 
 vast numerical force, which is ready, on a 
 proper occasion, to rush to your standard 
 as volunteers. And now that you have 
 occasion to have a force in the field, I ask 
 you to look to those whom you can and 
 mast rely upon to protect your honor and 
 fight jour battles on all occasions of great 
 necessity. Encourage by your accept- 
 
 ance a force that you see armed, equip- 
 ped, and well drilled, in almost every city, 
 town, and hamlet, of your country ; a force 
 that volunteers and expects to share in the 
 occasions of actual service; a force which 
 in all your wars has been your main de- 
 pendence, and one that has written its 
 own glorious character in all your sieges, 
 garrisons, marches, and battles. 
 
 Mr. BURROUGHS. I ask permission 
 of the gentleman to read some paragraphs 
 from the speech of Hon. JE FEHSON DA- 
 VIS, chairman of the Committee on Mili- 
 tary Affairs in the Senate. 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. I know that Senator 
 DAVIS puts the necessity for force upon 
 the ground that it is necessary to increase 
 the standing army. I do not take that 
 ground. I am not concluded by the hon- 
 orable Senator. 1 do not believe that to 
 be the true ground. The force is asked 
 for a Utah expedition. I take the ground 
 that it is necessary to strengthen the army 
 in Utah. If I believed what Senator DA- 
 VIS says, that it is to increase the standing 
 army, I would myself vole against this bill. 
 But he has no right to speak for the Ad- 
 ministration ; he has no right to speak for 
 me; and he has no right to speak for the 
 Committee on Military Affairs of this 
 House. 
 
 But gentlemen have said here, and it 
 has been said by the Adjutant General of 
 the army of the United States, and it has 
 been said in the speech of Senator DAVIS, 
 which the gentleman presented, and pro- 
 poses to read from, that a volunteer force 
 is the most expensive. 
 
 The SPEAKER. It is hardly in order 
 for the gentleman to allude to u hat is said 
 in the other wing of the Capitol. 
 
 Mr. CURTIS. I am replying to an in- 
 quiry made by my friend from New York, 
 [Mr. BURROUGHS.] I speak of a pamph- 
 let which he presents before me, and with 
 due respect to the Senate. 
 
 But I desire also to notice the report of 
 the Adjutant General of the Army, which 
 I have before me, especially so much of it 
 as supports his ^ argument, showing that 
 volunteers cost vastly more thon regulars. 
 I have also before me the expression of 
 Mr. Poinsett, when Secretary of War; 
 and also the opinion of the present Secre- 
 tary of War, together with the argument 
 of the honorable gentleman from Virginia, 
 [Mr. FAULKNER;] all attempting to show 
 that volunteers are more expensive than 
 
13 
 
 Jregulars. Upon this array of testimony I ine it, I submit a portion of the Adjutant 
 jagainst the cost of volunteers, it is argued General's report : 
 |ih ere and elsewhere that regulars should 
 
 be called out to meet the present and every 
 jother emergency. This argument has 
 [been presented and reiterated over and 
 over ag;iin, although, as I will show, to a 
 mathematical certainty, it is entirely falla- 
 cious. The regular army of the United 
 States has^ been represented here, by its 
 officers and defenders ; but who has rep- 
 resented the volunteers? Who has taken 
 the troi^bltt to look over musty documents, 
 to ascertain how figures have been made 
 to show what, at first sight, appears ab- 
 surd ? We have presented to us long bills 
 of expenses of the volunteers, which have 
 been placed upon public record ; and 
 many have supposed these figures are in- 
 controvertible/" Sir, it is a fearful charge 
 against the volunteers, that they are so 
 much more wasteful and improvident 
 than the regulars as to involve four or six 
 times the expense. 
 
 Now, sir, the figures in the report of the 
 Adjutant General, which I have before me, 
 refer to tables erroneously prepared some 
 twenty years ago, and still more errone- 
 ously applied to volunteers in Mexico 
 and volunteers proposed in this bill. So far 
 as this bill is concerned, the report of the 
 Adjutant General has not the least force, 
 because we provide that the infantry vol- 
 unteers shall have the same allowances, in 
 all respects, as regulars ; andtjie mounted 
 forces are also to have the same allowance, 
 except, as the horses are to be furnished 
 by the volunteers, forty cents a day is 
 given for the use and risk of this item. 
 
 The argument of the gentleman from 
 Mississippi [Mr. QUITMAN] would also 
 seem to extinguish the averment of the 
 Adjutant General, by raising the simple 
 inquiry, how it was possible there should 
 be such a difference in the Mexican war, 
 when the pay of volunteers and regulars 
 was the same, and all other supplies and 
 transportations were controlled by officers 
 of the regular army. The Adjutant Gen- 
 eral states the number of companies em- 
 ployed in the Mexican war as one thou- 
 sand two hundred and seventy-seven ; and 
 then he refers to a table, made out twenty 
 years ago, to show that the cost of such 
 a company of volunteers for six months is 
 $2,625. It is the use of this last item that 
 has been the foundation of all the charges 
 of greater cost ; but, as I design to exam-, 
 
 "Adding up these three numbers, we shall 
 have eighty-three thousand; and dividing this 
 by sixty-five, or the aggregate of a company of 
 fifty privates, we will get one thousand two hun- 
 dred and seventy-seven companies ; which, mul- 
 tiplied by $2,625, or the difference between the 
 cost of a regular infantry company and one of foot 
 volunteers, for six months, according to the com- 
 putation of the Paymaster General, in 1838, (see 
 House Document 271, second session, Twenty- 
 fifth Congress, table A,) we shallhave $3,352,125 
 for the minimum amount expended upon these 
 volunteers, over what the same number of regu- 
 lar troops would have cost during the same 
 time. Going through the same calculations with 
 the mounted volunteers enumerated above, obser- 
 ving only that the difference of cost between 
 the mounted companies of volunteers and regular 
 troops for six months is greater, amounting to 
 $9,002, we shall get, in the same way, $3, 744,832; 
 which, added to the previous amount, leaves 
 $7,096,957 as the clear amount which must 
 have been saved during the Mexican war by the 
 use of regular troops instead of volunteers ; 
 and, by making a fair allowance for the unneces- 
 sarily large mounted force of volunteers called 
 out, this amount will even go up to $9,021,733. 
 And should we further consider the comparative 
 loss and destruction of military stores and public 
 property by the two forces referred to in the re- 
 port of the Paymaster General, we may safely 
 assume that not; much short of twenty millions 
 might have been saved in the course of the 
 Mexican war, by the employment of regular 
 troops in lieu of volunteers ; and this is, undoubt- 
 edly, an under-estimate." 
 
 In the reports of the Twenty-fifth Con- 
 gress, volume e.'ghth, report of the Pay- 
 master General, pages 9 and 10, I find 
 the tables from which this magic number, 
 $2,625, is obtained. It is there, in the 
 report of General Towson, it is attempted 
 to show that a six-months company of 
 volunteers costs the Government $2,625 
 more than a six-months company of reg- 
 
 ulars. It was all 
 volunteers then, 
 
 wrong, as applied to 
 because the charges 
 
 against the volunteers include a charge for 
 transportation ; while no charge is made 
 for transporting regulars, as though reg- 
 ulars were there without any transporta- 
 tion ! But the matter I particularly object 
 to, is the use of this item against the Mex- 
 ican volunteers, and predicating on it a 
 charge of improvidence and extravagance ; 
 alleging their cost at four times as much 
 as that of the regulars. How does that 
 table apply? 
 
 The table on page 10, to which I allude, 
 foots up the cost of a volunteer com- 
 pany, for six months, at - $7,287.69 
 
14 
 
 The table on page 9, relating 
 to regulars, foots up at 
 
 1.662.02 
 
 Taking the difference, you have 
 
 this fatal number - $2,625 
 
 Let us first examine the table which 
 relates to volunteers, and see how it ap- 
 plies to Mexican volunteers. I find three 
 classes of charges which should be erased, 
 if you use the table for the Ohio and other 
 ordinary Mexican volunteers. They are: 
 1st. Charges for transportation. It is 
 obvious that transportation of volunteers 
 costs no more, or not so much, in the Mex- 
 ican war, since the volunteers were gene- 
 rally gathered nearer the scene of service, 
 than the regulars. 2d. An ensign is charged 
 in the table : and since the law organizing 
 the Mexican volunteers, (see vol. 9, page 
 10, Statutes at Large,) prescribing the 
 officers, does not include an ensign and, 
 as my recollection serves me, none were 
 used that item should bfe excluded. 3d. 
 Clothing. The same statute (page 18) 
 prescribes the amount volunteers were to 
 receive- $3.50 per month for clothing, 
 which would be twenty-one dollars for six 
 months. Whereas the table used by the 
 Adjutant General charges more and various 
 prices, as shown below. In conformity 
 to these erroneous items, the table should 
 be corrected as follows: 
 
 Deduct for Transportation. 
 
 Captain $106.20 
 
 First lieutentant.. 82.20 
 
 Second lieutenant 76.20 
 
 First sergeant '. 22.39 
 
 3 sergeants 56.46 
 
 4 corporals 56.16 
 
 2 musicians 23.32 
 
 1 private 11.66 
 
 49 privates 571.34 
 
 1,005.93 
 
 Ensign 459.20 
 
 Clothing Errors. 
 
 First sergeant.. ..Charged $36.91 
 
 " " Received 21.00 
 
 $1591 
 
 3 sergeants $36 91 21 x 3= 47.73 
 
 4 corporals 36.2321x4= 56.92 
 
 2 musicians... 3675 21x2= 31.50 
 
 50 privates 35.L>3 21 x=$14.23 x 50=711.50 
 
 883.56 
 
 2,328 69 
 
 This shows that $2,328.69 should be 
 deducted from the cost of volunteers; 
 which, being so deducted, leaves only 
 $4,959, instead of $7,287.69, as the cost 
 of a company of fifty volunteers for six 
 months. This would alrrrost annihilate 
 the fatal number, ($2,625 ;) but I proceed 
 
 further. The table on page 8 of the old 
 report, to which I have referred, and 
 which purports to give the cost of reg- 
 ulars, is also erroneous when -applied to 
 volunteers of 1846. The error is an un- 
 der-charge for clothing regulars. To de- 
 termine the clothing al owed a regular 
 soldier, I have referred to the Army Reg- 
 ulations, pages 209, 210; arid to estimate 
 the cost thereof, I have had reference to 
 the estimates furnished this Thirty-fifth 
 Congress. (See Ex. Doc. No. ], pa<*e 
 187.) 
 
 I have taken the allowance for two 
 years, and thus tried to determine a fair 
 average for six months : 
 
 First Year. 
 
 1 cap, complete $1.45 
 
 1 forage cap 50 
 
 1 dress coat * 6.93 
 
 1 pair epaulets 
 
 1 pair shoulder-straps - 
 
 1 pair aiguillettes - 
 
 1 wool jacket 2.00 
 
 2 pairs woollen overalls, $2.64 each 5.28 
 
 1 cotton jacket 1.00 
 
 3 pairs cotton overalls, $1.25 each 3.75 
 
 2 cotton shirts, 93 cts. each 1.86 
 
 2 flannel shirts, 93 cts. each 1.86 
 
 2 pairs drawers, 47 cts. each 94 
 
 4 pairs boots, $1.93 each 7.72 
 
 4 pairs stockings, 28 cts. each 1.12 
 
 I leather stock , 13 
 
 1 great coat 6.97 
 
 1 forage frock, (not known) - 
 
 1 blanket 3.10 
 
 44.61 
 Fourth Tear. 
 
 1 woollen jacket $2.00 
 
 2 pairs woollen overalls 5.28 
 
 1 cotton jacket 1.00 
 
 3 pairs cotton overalls 3.75 
 
 2 cotton shirts 1.86 
 
 2 flannel shirts 1.86 
 
 1 pair drawers 47 
 
 4 pairs boots 7.72 
 
 4 pairs stockings 1.12 
 
 Fourth year 25.06 
 
 First year, brought forward 44.61 
 
 Total for two years 69.67 
 
 For six months, one-fourth of the above... 17.41 
 Add commission, insurance, and transport- 
 ation 6.59 
 
 Average cost of clothing for regulars 24.00 
 
 The regular force in Mexico was al- 
 lowed a major and one assistant surgeon 
 more than volunteers were allowed. To 
 make the table right, therefore, so as to 
 show the comparative cost of a regular 
 
15 
 
 company, which is to apply as a measure 
 of relative cost for the two kinds offeree, 
 
 is necessary to charge one-tenth of the 
 cost of these officers to a company, as its 
 share of that extra expense. Estimating 
 the perquisites, pay, &c., I estimate the 
 cost of a major of the United States at 
 $1,000 for six months, and an assistant 
 surgeon at $700. 
 
 Having thus determined the average 
 cost of clothing at $24, and the amounts 
 chargeable for a major and assistant sur- 
 geon, I present the following table of 
 items, which should be added to the cost 
 of regulars : 
 
 Clothing. 
 3 servants $24 each=$T2 
 
 TableB 15 each= 45 
 
 1 sergeant $24 $17.16= 
 
 59 sergeants, corporals, musicians, a d 
 
 privates, each charged $8 too low..-- 
 
 Add one-tenth cost of additional major 
 
 to regulars see act 1846 
 
 Add one-tenth cost of additional assist- 
 ant surgeons allowed regulars 
 
 $27.00 
 6.84 
 
 472.00 
 
 100.00 
 
 70.00 
 
 Total increase 675.84 
 
 From table B 4,662.02 
 
 5,337.86 
 Taking, then, these corrected items, we 
 
 have 
 
 For the cost of a company of regulars 
 
 for six months $5,337.86 
 
 For the cost of company of volunteers 4,959.00 
 
 Difference in favor of volunteers 378.86 
 
 I have thus not only over-balanced the 
 multiple $2,625, which was used to the 
 coat of volunteers, but I have in its stead 
 a multiple $378 86, which I consider fair- 
 ly chargeable to the regulars. Thus show- 
 ing that regulars, not volunteers, in the 
 Mexican war, cost the most. 
 
 In this estimate I have compared infant- 
 ry with infantry, because this is the only 
 fair way of making comparisons. 
 
 The statement of the gentleman from 
 Virginia, [Mr. FAULKNER,] that volun- 
 teers could only be procured mounted, is 
 entirely erroneous. The only trouble on 
 the occasion of the first Mexican cal" 
 was, that infantry volunteers overwhelmec 
 the rendezvous with from four to ten 
 times the lequisite numbers; and I g;ive 
 it as my opinion that Iowa can in thirty 
 days furnish half the force proposed ir 
 this bill, either as infantry or mounted, as 
 the President may elect. 
 
 What I have shown with regard to the 
 
 comparative cost of volunteer infantry, 
 
 could be shown as to volunteer cavalry. 
 
 The tables from which the Adjutant Gen- 
 
 ral made his calculations were erroneous 
 
 it first, because they compared regulars 
 
 without transportation, with volunteers 
 
 ncluding transportation ; and they are 
 
 wholly irrelevant to the Mexican and 
 
 roposed volunteers, because these latter, 
 
 law, have substantially the same or less 
 allowances than the regulars. 
 
 But the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. 
 FAULKNER] seems to think volunteers are 
 too uncontrollable, too impetuous; and 
 that the country should rely on the old 
 maxim of military science, as he pre- 
 sents it: 
 
 ' A regular soldier is an unimpassioned instru- 
 ment of war. He is a machine in the hands of 
 higher intelligence. He is the child of obedience. 
 Obedience is the law of his existence. He is ready 
 to march or countermarch, to go into canton- 
 ments or go into the cannon's mouth, as his su- 
 perior officer may order him to do. You want a 
 soldiery which will be under the perfect control 
 of its officers." 
 
 Mr. Speaker, this is the formula of a 
 soldier that has been transmitted to us 
 from a despotic and barbarous age. I 
 once heartily imbibed and entertained it ; 
 but I have long since perceived that it is 
 not applicable to a republican civiliza- 
 tion, to which we have advanced. In all 
 our wars, men of intelligence rush to 
 arms ; and it is often the case that the 
 officer commands higher intellects than 
 his own. 
 
 At our Military Academy at West 
 Point, cadets are appointed to offices; 
 they are regularly promoted, and, at drills 
 and elsewhere,^ command their fellow- 
 cadets, who they hourly meet in section 
 rooms as friends and peers. Obedience 
 to orders, and precision of military duty 
 and drill, is nowhere more perfect than 
 where the cadets are under their own 
 officers. I see those around me who will 
 attest, as I can, to this, from personal ex- 
 perience Volunteers can and should be 
 commanded on the same principle. " The 
 more intelligent, the better the soldier," 
 is a wiser, better, and more republican 
 maxim than your dictum of an " unimpas- 
 sioned instrument in the hands of a high- 
 er intelligence." Educated, intelligent 
 men, readily comprehend the necessity of 
 strict discipline, prompt obedience, and 
 secret councils. If their officers act con- 
 sistently with the rational rules of the ser- 
 vice, they will find their men " the chil- 
 
16 
 
 dren of obedience," ready to " march o 
 countermarch," as the commander di 
 rects. Look at the volunteers in New 
 York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and in this 
 city. Do they not march with martia 
 tread, and some mechanical precision? In 
 Iowa, vye have companies that would do 
 credit to any army. But look back at the 
 courage, endurance, dangers, and extra- 
 ordinary perfeciion in the execution o 
 military evolutions, manifested by volun- 
 teers in Mexico. I have, to a limited ex- 
 tent, commanded cadets, regulars, and 
 volunteers ; and I do no injustice to the 
 former when I say that I have never seen 
 battalion drills which excelled those exe- 
 cuted by the third regiment of Ohio vol- 
 unteers, in the presence of Gen. Wool 
 and other army officers, on the plains 
 near Saltillo. And this was only one of 
 many regimets that claimed pre-eminence 
 in (he performance of military evolutions 
 towards the close of the Mexican war. 
 
 If you would avoid a large standing 
 army, encourage such volunteers. Dif- 
 fuse the knowledge acquired at West 
 Point more widely 'among the reading 
 militia of our country, the great American 
 army of millions. Complete an organiza- 
 tion that is suited to war as well as peace, 
 regulars and volunteers, and make it capa- 
 ble of immediate expansion or contrac- 
 tion, to suit emergencies that will inevi- 
 tably arise. Aitach the graduates of the 
 Academy to ihe volunteers as well as 
 the regulars, and let hand-books be pre- 
 pared, convenient for every arm and 
 every elementary division of each arm of 
 the service. Circulate these hand-books 
 throughout the ranks of your great nation- 
 al reserve, to enable all classes to assist in 
 acquiring military knowledge. Mark well 
 the recommendation of Lieutenant Gen- 
 eral Scott, who, in his recent report, 
 seems to foreshadow these impressions, 
 by saying: 
 
 " But to render the service honorable, so that 
 citizen.? may freeiy enlist without the fear of 
 harsh, arbitrary, or capricious treatment at the 
 hands of any superior, some additional legisla- 
 tion seems indispensable. I allude to a revision 
 of the 'rules and articles for the government of 
 the armies of the United States,' and particular- 
 ly tl)3 45th, G5th, 66th, 67th, and 99th of those 
 articles, all respecting the administration of jus- 
 tice, in order, among other things, to provide for 
 the legal punishment of petty offences, (substitu- 
 
 ting, when necessary, courts consisting entirely 
 of sergeants,) so as to deprive commanders ef 
 small detachments and isolated companies of all 
 pretext (the want of officers to compose courts, 
 &c.) for taking the law into their own hands. 
 Accordingly, I recommend that the subject be, in 
 the first instance, referred to a board consisting 
 of intelligent officers of great experience with 
 troops, and, if their report be approved, that it 
 next be submitted to Congress. (The same 
 board might, with great benefit, revise the Gen- 
 eral Regulations for the Army, and the conflict- 
 ing systems of infantry tactics now in force.") 
 
 All this and more is necessary to com- 
 plete our military system, and adapt it to 
 this great Republic and the developments 
 of the age. The bill before you is a step in 
 the right way. It will evince your reliance 
 on what I consider the available, econom- 
 ical, and most efficient, element to mould 
 into an army. Thousands are offering to 
 volunteer, who are proposing to enlist? 
 
 Mr. Speaker, the Mormon rebellion has 
 assumed the attitude of civil war. The 
 great central international line of travel, 
 
 ich connects us with the Pacific settle- 
 ments, is entirely intercepted. Thus far, 
 property only has been destroyed ; but on 
 our broad and beautiful prairies of the 
 West, the opening flowers of spring will 
 
 crimsoned with fratricidal blood. No 
 man in this House deplores it more than 
 [ do; but. I have not overwrought the 
 picture of opposing passions and the in- 
 evitable results of opposing military force. 
 [t is not the province of our committee 
 o propose the commissions of warning, 
 of entreaty, and peace, that should be 
 offered ; these should all be exhausted 
 Before we appeal, as the Mormons have, 
 :o the last resort. But with your com- 
 nissions of peace, adopt ample means to 
 support your power; and if argument, 
 entreaty, and commissions, fail, and the 
 Mormons continue defiant, belligerent, 
 and unscrupulous, then " ciy havoc, and 
 et slip the dogs of war." Instead of a 
 weak column, that only provokes resist- 
 ance, and invites military assault, send a 
 )owerful, overwhelming force, and carry 
 >n a vigorous campaign, if you will avoid 
 a protracted, sanguinary struggle, that 
 vill deplete our Treasury, corrupt the 
 >ublic morals, and disgrace the annals of 
 ur glorious Republic. I ask, therefore, 
 or calm and early action on the bill 
 which we have presented for the consid- 
 ration of the House. 
 
Lithomount 
 Pamphlet 
 
 Binder 
 Gay lord Bros. 
 
 Makers 
 Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
 PAT. JAN 21, 1908