The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1862-09-20
French System of Drafting.

Under French law every birth in the
empire mus be regis cred within fory.
eight hours, uuder pain of severe penal
ties for any attemp ed violation of The
code. France is divided into 10000
communcs, each Of which has a mayor,
holding his appointment from the De-
parncut of the Interior of Paris, which,
by the way, is in all respects the most
important branch of the French govern
ment. 1t is in presence of the mayor
that births arc declared and formally
placed upon record Jor future reference
md use. The law requires that the
child shall itself be brough. before the
civil functlonary, the full names of the
infant given, the names and condition of
bo,h parents, when known, given, also
the sex Of the child declared, all the
fac 5 certified to by two credible witnos-
SEES, whose name residence and occupa-
tons arc also carefully recorded.
1t will be seen at a glance that the
information thus obtained is of immense
utility to the government in conducting
the operations of the CONSUMPTION, whose
mechanism may be described in very few
words The government calls for a
contingent, lot us suppose, of 100000
recruits, for 1862. The Legislative
body authorizes he levy to be made.-
Each department of the empire, of
which there are now eighty-nine, is re-
quired to furnish quota, based upon
the amount Of its population. The may ors
hold lists of all individuals born in
their respective comlnunes, and notifca-
tons are sent to every male child born
in 1912 (the drafting age being twenty
years) that he is to present himself on
such IA day, at the ma,rie, TO take part
in the drawing. This notification is a
mere formallts, as every young man
knows when he will be required to come
forward, and it frequently happens that
young Frenchmcn, residing abroad, re-
turn to their native land at this period,
for the special purpose of fulfilling a
duty, which if they choose, might be
readily avoided BY simply remaining out
of France.
10 illustrate the mode in which the
drawing takes place, We will suppose
that particular commune is required
to furnish 100 conscripts-the total
number of eligible young men being say
800, Five hundred bits of paper are
placed III an urn, of which four hundred
are blanks, and the remainder, marked
from one to one hundred, oblge their
holders to "fall in." The 400 who
have escaped are now exempt from mill
tary service, unless some extraordinary
cvent-such us an invasion of France
should demand the calling out of the
entire arms bearing population.
The mode of raising recruits, as has
been seen, is simple enough-all being
afforded far chance. As regards
exemptions, the French system is scarce
ly less simple. In the first place, the
conscrip,s undergo rigid medical ex-
ANNA ion, and if any are found laboring
under physical disability they are at
once discharged. Next in order are the
exemptions of soutiens de tamilie, or
individuals with families dependent upon
them. Thus the only son of widowed
mother is exempted. So also Is the
only brother of an orphan sister,
Brothers of soldier still serving in the
army are exempted until the latter term
shall expire, only one of the family being
drawn at time. A wife cannot exc mpt
her husband, even if there be children,
as the law holds that young men ought
not to marry until they have fulfilled
their mill AIRY obligations to the State.
~ last CT; g fe4en ptious has pccu-
mary t'a'ure. In former years-that is
to say, up to lS5G-no conscript not
exempt by physical debility, or by other