The New York herald., 1862-11-09

Union, the constitution and the enforcement Of
the laws"
The Draft Postponed Indefinitely.
The publication Of the subjoined telcgraphic
despatch, received from Albany yesterday
afternoon by General Anthon will impart re-
lief to many an anxious mind in this city and
State =
stated FOR the Information Of commissioners that
they TO proceed with the draft until they shall
have received from this department formal orders to that
effect, and giving the number or TO be drafted in
Tho delay in transmitting this Office the returns Of
July will instances render 1t impracticabe to
inst. THOMAS HIIlJI0USE,
Adjutant General State Of New York.
The plain English of this is that the proposed
draft in this State is indefinitely postponed.
Even that is consoling thing to know II
amounts 10 respite and for that the men who
were liable TO the horrors OF the conscrip-
ton will be duly thankful. Up to the
hour Of receiving this despatch General
Anthon contemplated putting the machinery
in operation tomorrow, although ii was quite
evident that the thing was absolutely i'm
possible. The commissioners to hear appli-
till last night and the mere clerical work of
writing down the names and residences of two
or three hundred thousand persons separately,
on distinct pieces of paper. and then folding
up those papers preparatory TO their being
deposited In the wheel Of fortune-or misfor-
tune, as it would have proved TO many--could
not be performed within much less than o
'l,a sn,Nn ~ hau
such labor performed within the hours Of
tie Sabbath day was quite sufficient
excuse'for the draft not taking place tomor-
row.
There arc several features in the proposed
conscrip.ion which seem to be As iiiogel as
they are unpopular, For iGstane.S., e.S.,ss : ,ag
law Of this 6tate provic ~~ali
first be made ont OF tie clu red men
between tue ages Of eigh,o, 3. sthirty, and
that the second class OF enrolled men, from
thirty TO forty-dve. shall not be drawn upon
until the first class is exhausted That law-as
sensible in military rs in = sooia point Of
view seems to have been set aside, and in tho
present enrolment both classes arc blended
into one. It does not need any argument to
show that, for tbe business Of an active military
lifo, the mon coming within the second class arc
totally unit. That is one objection which
ought to have been fatal to this indiscriminate
huddling up OF young and middie-aged, active
and lazy, strong and weak, lthe-limbed and
corpulent, eoundIunged and phthisical, all in
one box, out OF which the names were to be
drawn at random. Another objection, equally
strong, 10 such O ridiculous proposition
Is Chat, az an almost invarlable rule,
mon between the ages Of thirty and forty
five are no longer bachelors, but have
families depending on them for support.
There are probably one hundred thousand men
h this city who come within that class OF
these there are not ten thousand whose fami-
lies, if deprived Of tho fathers earnings. would
not become burdens on the community. And
yet that Ia one Of the results inevitably to How
from the proposed plan. Therefore, in q MILL
tary and In social point Of view, the Idea OF
unnecessarily forcing men of that ago into tho
ranks Of an army il absurd In France and
other countries where armies are raised by
conscription the heads Of families are always
exempt Why b democratic America 80 obMse
~ not to see aud appreciate tho force Of
reason which the military governments Of Eu-
rope recognise and aot oni
The explanation Of this lewiston from the
militia Law Of this State has been given to us by
General Anthem. II seems that aa attempt to
make the enrolment according TO that law
keeping the two classes distinct-wss actually
commenced sinoe the Presidents call for
troops, and that for some psounisry or other
reason 1t was abandoned, and that then Gene
raj Anthon (who is United States officer for
the purpose Of the draft, as well as a State
ofioer) had 70 put the United States militia law
into operation, which docs not make any provi-
sion for separating tho classes according TO
age, and does not contain provision similar TO
the State law In regard TO organized militia 70.
giments
The fact is that the whole thing is In a regular
muddle, by no means complimentary to the in
telligence Of the military authorities either at
Washington or Albany. There ought to be
simple and general law on this subject, and we
have no doubt that General Anthon, bringing
to the task q asagacious mind, thorough acquaint-
ance with The matter, and the knowledge
derived from his position as Chief Commits
sioner, Is che person best qualified to draft
general measure, which might be passed into
law al tbe next session Of Congress. But how
ever that may be, we trust that the absurd mon
strosity thus temporarily suspended will never
have its functions Of vitality restored. A CON-
scriptisa, under the best circumstances, Is bad
enough; bus, with such abominable features
~ this one contained, Il could only be regarded
= - uanlsisassl auinass end Outrage.