reatly diminished expense of that description of troops,
recommend this measure as one of economy as well as of expediency.
I refer to the report for the reasons which have induced the Secretary
of War to urge the reorganization and enlargement of the staff of the
Army, and of the Ordnance Corps, in which I fully concur.

It is not, however, compatible with the interests of the people to
maintain in time of peace a regular force adequate to the defense of
our extensive frontiers. In periods of danger and alarm we must rely
principally upon a well-organized militia, and some general arrangement
that will render this description of force more efficient has long
been a subject of anxious solicitude. It was recommended to the First
Congress by General Washington, and has been since frequently brought to
your notice, and recently its importance strongly urged by my immediate
predecessor. The provision in the Constitution that renders it necessary
to adopt a uniform system of organization for the militia throughout
the United States presents an insurmountable obstacle to an efficient
arrangement by the classification heretofore proposed, and I invite your
attention to the plan which will be submitted by the Secretary of War,
for the organization of volunteer corps and the instruction of militia
officers, as more simple and practicable, if not equally advantageous,
as a general arrangement of the whole militia of the United States.

A moderate increase of the corps both of military and topographical
engineers has been more than once recommended by my predecessor, and my
conviction of the propriety, not to say necessity, of the measure, in
order to enable them to perform the various and important duties imposed
upon them, induces me to repeat the recommendation.

The Military Academy continues to answer all the purposes of its
establishment, and not only furnishes well-educated officers to the
Army, but serves to diffuse throughout the mass of our citizens
individuals possessed of military knowledge and the scientific
attainments of civil and military engineering. At present the cadet is
bound, with consent of his parents or guardians, to remain in service
five years from the period of his enlistment, unless sooner discharged,
thus exacting only one year's service in the Army after his education is
completed. This does not appear to me sufficient. Government ought to
command for a longer period the services of those who are ed