The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-25 00:00:00

DAPARTMENT OF WAR.

The condition of the various branches of the military
service is stated in the accompanying report of the Secre-
tary of War. Among the suggestions made for legislative
action with a view to add to the numbers and efficieney of
the army, all of which will receive your consideration, there
are some prominent topics which merit special notice.

ALL LAWS EXEMPTING PERSONS PROM MILITARY DUTY

TO BE REMOVED.

The exemption from military duty now accorded by law
to all persons engaged in certain specified pursuits or pro-
fessions is shown by experience to be unwise, nor is it be-
lieved to be defensible in theory. The defence of home,
family and country is universally recognise,' as the para-
mount political duty of every member of society; and in a
form of Government like ours, where each citizen enjoys an
equality of rights and privileges, nothing can be more in-
vidious than an uucqual distribution of duties and obliga-
tions. No pursuit nor position should relieve any one, who
is able to do active duty, from enrolment in the army
unless his functions oe services are more useful to the
defences of his country in another sphere. But it is mani-
fest that this cannot be the case with entire classes. All
telegraph operators, workmen in mines, professors, teachers,
engineers, editors and employes of newspapers, journeymen
printers, shoemakers, tanners, blacksmiths, millers, physi-
cians, aad the numerous other classes mentioned in the
laws, cannot iu the nature of things be either equally ne-
cessary in their several professions, nor distributed through-
out the country In such proportions that only the exact
number required are found in each locality, nor can it be
everywhere impossible to replace those within the conscript
age, by men older and less capable of active field services.
A discretion should be vested in the military authorities, so
that a sufficient number of those essential to the active set-
vice might be detailed to continue the exercise of their
pursuits or professions ; but the exemptions from service of
the entire classes should be wholly abandoned. It affords

great facility for abuses, offers the temptation, as well as
the ready means, of escaping service by fraudulent devices,
and is one of the principal obstructions to the efficient ope-
ration of the conscript laws.

A GENERAL MILITIA. LAW DEMANDED.
A general militia law is needful in the interest of the
public defence. The constitution, by vesting the power in
Congress, imposes on it the duty of providing "for organiz-
ing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing
such part of them as may bo employed in the service of the
Confederate States." The great diversity in the legislation
of the several States on this subject, and the absence of any
provision establishing an exact method for calling the mi-
litia into the Confederate service, are sources of embarrass-
ment which ought no longer to be suffered to impede defen.
sive measures,

The legislation in relation to the cavalry demands
change. The policy of requiring the men to furnish their
own horses has proved pernicious in many respects. It
interferes with discipline, impairs efficiency, and is the
cause of frequent and prolonged absence from appropriate
duty. The subject is fully treated in the Secretary's report,
with suggestions as to the proper measures reforming that
branch of the service.