habiting so great an expanse of
territory. Their judgment was confirmed by that of the best military
critics of Europe who looked pityingly upon the folly of the United
States for undertaking a task which after years of suffering and
great loss of life could end only in defeat, with hopeless bankruptcy
for the surviving remnant of the Republic. Could the Government
have had the advantage of a small area for its military operations,
its power to overcome the rebellion would have been greatly enhanced,
and an army not exceeding half of that which was raised could have
vindicated the authority of the flag and maintained the integrity
of the Union. The National expenditures would have been decreased
in even greater ratio, for aside from reducing the number of troops,
the enormous cost involved in transportation would have been lessened
by hundreds of millions of dollars in the four years of the war.

Another cause of increased expenditure was the haste necessarily
attendant upon all the military preparations of the Government.
Armies were to be created from the basis of an organization hardly
greater than would serve as a police force for the Republic. When
Fort Sumter was fired upon, the Army of the United States, rank
and file, scarcely exceeded sixteen thousand men. The Government
was compelled to equip its vast forces from stores of which hardly
a nucleus existed. Arms, ammunition, military supplies, were all
to be instantly gathered. The growth of the great host, its
equipment, its marshaling, its prodigious strength, are among the
marvels and the glories of our history. To admit that mistakes
were made is only to say that the work was in human hands. Criticism
may well be drowned in the acclaim of success. No National emergency
has ever been met with greater courage, promptness, or skill.

The loss to the country and the expenditures from its Treasury
could not be estimated when the war closed. We knew that a half-
million citizens of the Republic had laid down their lives--three
hundred thousand in defending the Union, two hundred thousand in
attempting to destroy it. We knew the enormous amounts which had
been paid in supporting our armies. But we were not wholly prepared
for the millions that must be paid in satisfaction of claims which
there had been no mode of reckoning. Nor had there been any standard
by which an estimate could be made of the sums required by the
pensions which the gratitude and