St. Mary's beacon., 1862-08-14

handed Justice melted out to all citizens
alike. who owe military duty to the Nation
under rl,e exceptional circumstances requir-
ing foressd levies of trooErs. Is there no
favoritism Are not recruiting officers
or their subordinates clothed with certain
discretionary powers. or do they not occu-
py q petition enabling ihsam tsexcepts ans
one, two or dozen Individuals mat
ter what number, So that its magnitude
shall nor provoke investigation-from OBJ
ligatory military service?
We ask these questions in no carping
spirit. nor are we by any means assured
that the replies to them are not perfectly
satisfactory in. every respect, Our object
in raising the point and calling to
it that public attention already so
keenly alive to. every topic directly or
abstractay bearing upon the war.
is, t, state fact that must be patent
to every intelligent mind to wit-that an
important system whose rami6cation more
or less reach every citizen, put into prac-
iice in the country for the first time ip fiC-
~ years, and likely to be carried to far
greater extent than ever before dreamed OF
in the history of the United States, will be
attended by the difficulties. inconvcniences
and abuses necessarily arising from mex
pericnce, and that profitable lesson may
be learned by examining the mole Of pro-
cedure followed by nations which annual
ly swell the ranks of their armies by re-
course to conscrip,ion.
BY way of illustration We take tie ex.
ample of France. whose magnificent army
(and navy also). are almost exclusively
MAINTAINED by the compulsory system.
which renders every Frcnchman. until ex-
emptcd by special causes, liable to devote
seven years Of his life to The military SER
vice Yet, so admirably is the law ad-
ministered. so perfectly does the machi-
merry work, in oven the most insignificant
details, so exactly does the burden fall
on all classes of society, every man be-
ing obliged to bear his fair portion. of
it-that the French people look upon
the annual conscription as MAJ
ter of course, submit 10 it chcerfully
and France is indebted to it for the
reputation she now enjoys, and justly
of possessing the finest army in the world
Under French law, every birth in the
Empire must be registered Within forty
eight hours, under pain of severe p,nal-
ties for any attempted violation of the
code France is divided into 10000
communcs, each Of which has a Mayor,
holding his appointment under the De-
partmcnt of the Interior at Paris-which
by the way, is, in all + spccts, the mcst
important branch of the French Govern
ment. 1t is in presence Of tie Mayor
that births are declared and formally
placed upon record far future retercnc~ an'1
use. The law requires that the child it.
self shall be brought before the civic
fuuctiouary, the iull names of the
infant given, the names and condi-
ton Of both parents when known, Civ, n
also, the sex Of the child declared, and all
the facts certified TO by two credible wit
nesscs. whose names, residences and oc-
cupation are also carefully recorded
1t will be seen at glance that the
information thus obtained, is Of immense
utility to the Government. in conducting
the operations Of the conscrptions, whose
mechanism may be described in very few
words: The Government calls for a con-
tingcnt. let rs suppose, of 100 900 re-
crults. for 1862. The Legislative Body
authorizes the levy to be made Each
Department Of the Empire. of which
there are now eighty-ninc, is required to
furnish a qurta, based upon the amount
of its population, This Mayors hold lists
of all individuals born in their resp etiyc
communes, and notifications are sent to
every male child born in 1912, (thc
drafting age being twenty years.. that
he is to present hin:self on such day.
at the mairie, to take part in the draw
ing. The notification is mere formali-
ty, as every young man knows when he
will be required to come forward, AMI
1T frequently happens, that youthful
Frenchmen residing abroad, return to
their native lard at this period, for the
special purpose offul6lling duty which,
if they choose, might lie readily avoid
ed, by simply remaining out of France
To illustrate the mode in which the
drawing takes place, We will suppose
that n particular commune is required to
furnish 100 conscripts, the total number
Of eligible young men being. say. 500
Five hundred bits of paper are placed
in an urn, Of which four hundred are
blanks, and the remainder, marked from
one TO one hundred. oblig, their hol-
ders to fall in" The 400 Tho have
escaped are now exempted from military
service, unless some extraordinary event
such SIS an invasion of France-should
demand the calling out of the entire arm
bearing population.
The mode Of raising recruits, as has
been seen, is simple eaough-all being
afforded u fair chance. AS regards ex-
emp, ons, the French system is scarcely
less simple. In the first place the eon-
scripts undergo a rigid medical exan.i-
nation, af'! il any are foun'i laboring
under physical disal ility they are at once
discharged. Next in order are the
exemptions Of so.aieas ,ie E.mNe. or iu-
diyiduals with falnilies dependcnt upon