The organization and
discipline of the Army are effective and satisfactory. To counteract the
prevalence of desertion among the troops it has been suggested to
withhold from the men a small portion of their monthly pay until the
period of their discharge; and some expedient appears to be necessary to
preserve and maintain among the officers so much of the art of
horsemanship as could scarcely fail to be found wanting on the possible
sudden eruption of a war, which should take us unprovided with a single
corps of cavalry. The Military Academy at West Point, under the
restrictions of a severe but paternal superintendence, recommends itself
more and more to the patronage of the nation, and the numbers of
meritorious officers which it forms and introduces to the public service
furnishes the means of multiplying the undertakings of public
improvements to which their acquirements at that institution are
peculiarly adapted. The school of artillery practice established at
Fortress Monroe is well suited to the same purpose, and may heed the aid
of further legislative provision to the same end.
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