Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-10-05
Draft ordered-Result oi
the FIrst CONSUMPTION.


The telegraph announces that another draft is
70 be ordered. The first conscription, so far as
men Is concerned. proved failure. Three hun
dred thousand men we're ordered. but the draft
does not produce over fifty thousand soldiers.
The government, however, receives about seven
ty- i've millions Of dollars for exemptions. In a
financial point of view the first conscription has
proved a success. The new CONSUMPTION, iii
announced. will be for six hundred thousand
men. The government officials calculate that
this call will yield one third or two hundred thou
sand soldiers If so, four hundred thousand
eonscripts will have TO pay the exemption, which
will yield to the government q revenue of one
hundred and twenty millions of dollars. Is il
the object of the government officials to raise
men or money!
The Boston Advertiser. in expressing its regret
at the failure Of the first CONSUMPTION to supply
men to the armies. puts the blame of the failure
not upon the imperfections of the law, or the in
efficiency Of the officers Of the Government, but
upon the unfortunate copperheads. 1t seems.
according to the Advertisers theory, that the
clamors of these people have helped to swell the
list Of exemptions and have thwarted the efforts
Of the War Department to obtsin men. IF this
is so. Massachusetts, must fairly swarm with
copperheads. for no State has contributed so few
men as the Old Bay State in proportion to the
number ofits Inhabitants. Twenty four hundred
men are reported to be all the recruits raised in
that State. On the other hand, in New Jersey,
-k.-a gf~n,o-hoaHou 4. n a 1ar,o r,o,orsfv
over Eve thousand men have been raised, but it
has been by volunteering.
1t is clear the Advertisers theory won't hold
water. The draft has failed even more completely
districts, so the trouble must be with the law
itself. It's machinery must be defective. or else
il is not suited to the genius of our people.
Let US take the case Of Rhode Island, for in
stance. This is a strong Administration State,
and being the first one in which the draft was
which the Advertiser complains, could not have
had any effect. Well, what was the result of
the draft in that Slater The whole number
drafted was 1890. OF these only los were held
for service as drafted men, and s7e procured sub
~stitutes. Rhode Island will. therefore. supply
barely one regiment to the army under the draft,
and of that regiment only about a company will
be conscripts, all the rest being volunteer sub
%stitutes-
II the proportion Of Rhode Island holds good
all over the North-the securing Of one man in
four and a half drawn-not much more than one
hundred thousand men will be secured of the four
hundred and 6iy thousand / it was originally in
tended to draw from the whole North. But the
original programme has been departed from.
There is to be no draft in either Ohio, Indiana
or Illinois, while the proportion Of men secured
is far greater in Rhode Island than in som of the
other States, as for instance Massachusetts,
where about one in eight is the proportion. We
doubt, therefore, whether the Government will
really secure more than 50. 900 reliable men IN
der the operations of the draft. We doubt if the
city Of New York will contribute 5000 men;
that is to say. about one in six drawn. We con-
clude, therefore. that the draft will supply some
thing over 50, 900 men for our armies, of which
full 40 900 will be volunteer substitutes.