SPEECH IN THE SENATE, ON THE PROPOSITION TO CHANGE THE
SUPERINTENDENTS OF ARMORIES, FEBRUARY 23, 1853.
The Army Appropriation Bill being under discussion, Mr. Davis, of
Massachusetts, moved the following amendment:--
"That from and after the first day of July next, the Act of
Congress approved August 23, 1842, be so modified, that the
President may, if in his opinion the public interest demands it,
place over any of the armories a superintendent who does not belong
to the Army."
In the course of the debate, Mr. Sumner spoke as follows.
Mr. President,--I do not desire to speak upon the general subject of
the manufacture of arms under the authority of the United States, which
has been opened in debate by honorable Senators. What I have to say
will be on the precise question before the Senate, and nothing else.
That question, as I understand it, is on the amendment proposed by my
colleague [Mr. DAVIS], according to which the Act of 1842 is
to be so far modified, that the President, in his discretion, may place
over the armories persons not of the army,--leaving it, therefore, to
his judgment whether the superintendent shall be a military man or a
civilian. This is all.
The Senate is exhorted not to act precipitately. But the character
of this proposition excludes all idea of precipitation. We do not
determine absolutely that the system shall be changed, but simply that
it may be changed in the discretion of the President. This discretion,
which will be exercised only after ample inquiry, stands in the way of
all precipitation; and this is my answer to the Senator from Illinois
[Mr. SHIELDS].
Again, it is urged, that under a military head the armories are better
administered than they would be under a civil head, and that the
arms are better and cheaper; and here my friend from South Carolina,
who sits before me [Mr. BUTLER], dwelt with his accustomed
glow upon the success with which this manufacture is conducted at
the national armories, and the extent to which it is recognized in
Europe. But, Sir, in the precise question before you the merits of the
armories are not involved. We do not undertake to judge the military
superintendents or their works. The determination of this question is
referred to the President; and this is my answer to the Senator from
South Carolina.
The objections to this amendment of my colleague, then, seem to
disappear. But there are two distinct arguments in its favor, which, at
the present moment, do not seem to me susceptible of any answer.
In the first place, there are complaints against the existing system,
which ought to be heard. A memorial from five hundred legal voters of
Springfield, now on your table, bears testimony to them. Letters to
myself and others, from persons whose opinions I am bound to regard,
set them forth sometimes in very strong language. The administration of
the arsenal at Springfield is commended by many; but there are others
who judge it differently. As now conducted, it is sometimes represented
to be the seat of oppressive conduct, and the occasion of heart-burning
and strife, often running into local politics. In the eyes of some this
arsenal is little better than a sore on that beautiful town. Now on
these complaints and allegations I express no opinion. I do not affirm
their truth or untruth. What I know of the superintendent makes it
difficult for me to believe that anything unjust, oppressive, or hard
can proceed from him. But the whole case justifies inquiry at least,
and such will be secured by the proposition before the Senate. This is
the smallest thing we can do.
This proposition is enforced by another consideration which seems to me
entitled to weight. I have nothing to say now on the general question
of reducing the army or modifying the existing military system. But
I do affirm, confidently, that the genius of our institutions favors
civil life rather than military life,--and that, in harmony with this,
it is our duty, whenever the public interests will permit, to limit
and restrict the sphere of military influence. This is not a military
monarchy, where the soldier is supreme, but a republic, where the
soldier yields to the civilian. But the law, as it now stands, gives to
the soldier an absolute preference in a service which is not military,
and which, from its nature, belongs to civil life. The manufacture of
arms is a mechanical pursuit, and, for myself, I can see no reason why
it should not be placed in charge of one bred to the business. Among
the intelligent mechanics of Massachusetts there are many fully fit to
be at the head of the arsenal at Springfield; but by the existing law
all these are austerely excluded from any such trust. The idea which
has fallen from so many Senators, that the superintendent of an armory
ought to be a military man, that a military man only is competent, or
even that a military man is more competent than a civilian, seems to me
as illogical as the jocular fallacy of Dr. Johnson, that he "who drives
fat oxen should himself be fat."