The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1862-08-27
The French xyss-sn Of Drafsinx.

Ouoer rrcucu iaW every Olrtn 10 the Empire
must be registered within forty.eieht heurs, uu.
der pain OF severe penalties for any attempted
violation Of the code. France is divided into
10000 communes, each Of which has N.vo,.
holding his appointment from the Department Of
the Interior at Paris, which, by the way, 10 in
all respects the most important branch OF the
French Government. II 10 in the presence Of
the Mayor that births are declared and formally
placed upon record for future reference and use.
The law requires that the child itself bs brought
before the civic fuacsionary, the name Of the
infant given, the names and condition of both
parents, when known, given, also the sex Of the
child declared, and ali the facts certified to by
two credible witnesses. whose names, residences
and occupations are also carefully recorded.
1t will be seen At q glance that the informa
tiOn thus obtained is Of immense utility to the
Government, in conducting the operations of
the conscription, whose mechanism may be de-
scribed in q very few words: The Government
calls for contingent, let US suppose Of loo, 900
recruits for 1852 The Legislative Body auth
orizes the levy 10 be made. Each department. Of
the Empire OF which there are nov eighty nine,
is required TO furnish quote. based spoo the
amount OF its population. The Mayors hold
lists of all individuals born iu their respective
communes, and notifications are sert to every
male child born in ls42 (the drafting age being
twenty ycars) that be ia to present himself on
anch day, sf sho .'s;~:s, 60 s>h- s-.. .: .i.-
ring
This notification is a mere formalty, % every
young man knows when he will be required to
come forward, and It frequently happens that
youthful Frenchmen, residing abroad. return to
their native land at this period. for the special
purpose of ful6llinea duty, which. ii they chose,
might be readily avoided, by siupIy remaining
out Of France.
To illustrate the mode in which the drawing
takes place, We will suppose that particslar
commune 10 required to furnish oas hundred
conscripts-the total number Of eligible young
men being. say Eve hundred. Five hundred bita
Of paper are placed in an urn, Of which four
hundred are blanks, and the remainder, marked
| to e fall In" The four hundred who have %
capped are now exempt from military service, uu.
less some extraordinary event-such - a inva
sion Of France-shouid demand the calling oul
the entire arms bearing population.
The mode OF raising recruits, a. hes been seen
is simple enongh-all being aeordsd . fair chance
| As regards exemptions, the French system il
scarcely lees simple In the frat place the con
scripts undergo q rigid medical examination, ant
if any were found laboring uadsr physical disa
bity, they are at once discharged. Next In or
der are the exemptions Of soutie~s de fanpiIie, o.
individuals with families dependent upon them
Thus, the only son of q widowed mother 10 ex
empted So also 10 tho only brother Of an or
phan sister Brothers of soldier still servin
in the army are exempted until the latter's teri
shall expire, only one of family being draw
at one time. A wife cannot exempt her hua
brnd even if there be children, as the nw hold
that young men ought not to marry until the
have fulfilled their military obligations 70 tb
State.
A last class Of exemptions has . pecunisr
feature. In former years-that is 10 say, up Z
lS5s-no conscript not exempt by physical d.
bility, or BY the other causes abov, enumerate
could escape service, except by procuring ssl
s.itute This had given rise to . degrading sp'
cies Of trade or speculation, in which large nuu
bers of man.sellers and buyers we're engages
But, under the system referred to, the conecriI
who bought substitute was rssp0nsibie for h
substitute, and il the latter deserted died b
for the expiration Of the seven years terS,, vi
liable to be forced back into the ranks. Th
eystem was abolished in 1855, by order Of Il
Emperor, and the Government itself accepts p
cuniary indemnity for the withdrawal Of a CO
script, and practically pays for his substitute
{ Offering ample bounty to volunteers. 1t
!. arranged that the sum received and paid by q
!. Government shall vary according 70 the militia
, exigencies Of the country, but the present ba'
n is as follows: A conscript is exempted Tor 2,4
francs ($4S0), and the government pays boon
Il to volunteers amounting to 2,26o francs (tl4i
o making profit of 200 francs By the exchan(