Speech #450057212

I protest against itI Under the false plea of economy it weighs money against the blood of the fathers. husbands. mothers. wives. daughters. and little children. of the pioneers of the country. who have been induced by their faith in the Government to become the advanceguard of our progress. development. and civilization. Keep on reducing your Army as your frontier borders are extended. and you shift the defense from the regular troops. where the Constitution places it. and you imposeit upon the people. You call them from peacfal pursuits to defend their lives and their homes. you cause the settlements to recede. -you check immigration and the consequent increase of productive and taxable values. you stay the onward march of development and progress. and keep the older and more densely populated sections choked with an idle. consuming. and unproductive popnlation that languishes and suffers for the want of cheap homes and profitable employment. you legislate ruin. want. and crime where you should save. shield. encourage. and protect. and you expect to sustain yourselves by telling the already oppressed millions of the country that this is retrenchment and reform. Yes. retrenchment in the expenditures of the Government while millions of the hard earnings of the people of the border and interior frontier lines. covering thousands of milesof territory. are swept away by rapine and violence I Economy. when a few paltry thousands are saved to the Federal Treasury by a reduction of the Army. at a time when your flag is insulted. your soil invaded. your citizens murdered. and their property destroyed by an insolent foreign foe! Yes. reform!