Today in History:

1176 Series III Volume III- Serial 124 - Union Letters, Orders, Reports

Page 1176 CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.

proportions of men held to service, exempted, &c., in the late draft will hold through the whole of this 3,000,000. Under the late draft one-third were rejected as physically or mentally unfit; one-third exempted under the second section of the act and as aliens, unsuitableness of age, &c., the other one-third being held by the Board of Enrollment.

This reduces our capital to 1,000,000. Now let us see what becomes of it. One-seventh of it is held to personal service, two-sevenths furnish substitutes, and four-sevenths pay commutation money; that is to say, if we draft all the men in the nation, we have the following result:

Original drafted men put in service ..................... 142,000

Substitutes ............................................. 284,000

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Total number of men which can be got from the whole

nation under the present law ............................ 426,000

Exempted by commutation clause .......................... 568,000

It is therefore seen that, after all the time, labor, vexation, and expense of drafting and examining the whole nation, we will at best get but 426,000 men. The present law allows but one surgeon in a Congressional district. Supposing each district to consist of 10,000 men, and remembering that the examination of 100 men a day is the largest job a surgeon can do, and that, after being examined himself, the drafted man may have his substitute examined also, and that Sundays come in, and that the exact number will not always be in readiness for a full day's work, it will be found that it will take about a year to get through the physical examination necessary to get our 426,000 men.

At the end of a year, therefore, we find that we have got 426,000 men, but the astounding fact is also found that to all who furnished substitutes or paid commutation money-six-sevenths of the million of men in the country found fit for duty-we have granted certificates giving a pledge that the Government will not call on them for military service for three years.

In short, after our year's work we will have exempted the Nation from military duty for three years, instead of requiring the performance of it to put down this rebellion.

Under these circumstances the present law may be properly called one for "enrolling and calling out the national forces;" but if it is one calculated to raise and maintain an army I cannot see it. The results may, of course, be much more unfavorable than I have presented them. It may be that all will next time, by corporations or clubs, pay the $300, and we get no men at all. I would here remark that it was last year, perhaps, wise to have passed the law as it is, and let its defects become manifest to the country, but there is no sophistry now which can disguise the fact that it is not in proper shape to recruit the Army.

I don"t know that the $300 clause can be said to have had alone any special effect on volunteering. In many places volunteering was stimulated by the effort on the part of the people to raise their quotas and avoid the draft. It is probable if the $300 clause should be repealed that volunteering at this time would be somewhat prejudiced by it, as a few men not at present pressed for money, who would otherwise enlist, would wait to see if another draft took place, and whether they could not get a higher price as substitutes. I don"t see however, that legislation should be shaped to suit this momentary


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