E. B. Alexander, acting assistant provost-marshal for the Department of the Missouri, and which said original is now on file with said Colonel E. B. Alexander.

WM. J. KRIBBEN,

Secretary of Pilots" Association.

Sworn to and subscribed before me at Saint Louis, Mo., this 1st day of November, A. D. 1864.

JOHN JECKO,

Notary Public.

WASHINGTON CITY, October 12, 1864.

His Excellency the PRESIDENT:

DEAR SIR: The draft in Missouri should not now be insisted on. On the question of policy I spoke to you. On the question of right I am equally clear, but not so well prepared to present the facts.

In ascertaining the quota of Missouri the Provost-Marshal-General did not feel authorized to credit the State for the almost constant militia service performed by the loyal people of the State for the three years past. No State in the Union has furnished so large a proportion of its population to the service of the country as Missouri. It may be that other States have had more men in proportion to their arms-bearing population mustered into the Federal service, but it should be remembered that Missouri has at all times had a very large force in the State service, which was equally effective in suppressing rebellion, for a large part of which she has received no credit. The service of the enrolled militia, so often called out and again discharged when immediate danger disappeared, may be instanced as giving large benefits to the Government, but furnishing no credit to the State in the distribution of military burdens.

Again, General Rosecrans has organized eleven regiments of twelve-months" men. They, numbering at least 8,000 men, are now doing duty. These men have volunteered from the enrollment lists - i. e., their names are on the lists, and if drafted will be found in the service already. The State has not received credit for over 1,200 of these men, because the muster-in rolls have in some instances been delayed by the officers and in others captured by the enemy, either in the hands of the officers or in the mail coaches. Again, the State has recently put into the service from 2,000 to 3,000 six-months" men. The muster-rolls for 1,677 of these men have been already returned, and I herewith present Colonel Alexander's certificate of the fact, marked B.* For these men the State has received no credit.

Again, in assigning the present quota to the State the excess of 2,610 men existing in our favor on the 1st of July last, as will appear by the paper marked C,* herewith furnished from the Provost-Marshal-General's Office, was not embraced in the calculation. We think the credit is but just and should be allowed. It may also be urged that within the last sixty days a large number - indeed, all the able-bodied negro slaves of the State - have been placed in the service, the rolls not yet made up and returned.

But above all, and constituting the strongest reason why the draft should not be urged, is the present condition of the State. The enrolling officers have been driven from home, and I presume in

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* Omitted.

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