Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1863-07-30

sion and challenge dissent from the representa-
tives Of certain political opinions. We refer to the
Order No. 54, which declares that as "existing
laws make distinction in the. matter of pay,
bounties, or other allowances between soldiers Of
African descent and other soldiers in the service
OF the United States, men Of African descent
can only be accepted as substitutes for each other
under the Enrolment act The distinction
made by Congress in these respects proceeds on
the theory that men Of African descent are not the
"military equivalents" of men who belong to the
Caucasian race. It is part Of that general legis-
lation which recognises the doctrine Of social or
political inequalities in the State, and as such will be
likely to encounter the bitter denuncation Of Wendell
Philips and the whole brood Of querulous reform
ers, " who will doubtless hold that, in executing
the law, the War Department should have practi-
calIy ignored this odious and unchiisiian .discrm
nation. We have nothing to say on the motives
which prompted the action Of Congress to make
such a discrimination but il is obvious that the
construction given to the law under this head by
the Provost Marshal General is nothing more than
logical deduction from the terms Of the law as it
now stands. Yet the propriety of the decision is
contested in certain quarters We observe, for in
stance, that the New York Independent denounces
the regulation as a'gratuitous "insut" to the me-
gro race, common in kind if not the same in de-
against the victims of (" senselcss prejudice"
We observe that SO intelligent citizen as James
7. Brady, the distinguished lawyer of New Yolk,
expresses dissatisfaction with the "three hundred
dollar clause" of the enrolment law. He says in
a recently published letter:
do not admire the provision the law gen.
orally called the threehundred dollar clause but will
obey the law. will pay this amount for any four of
family whose being good yet placed that they
cannot leave their families. lf richer would do
will alro do all in my power TO have the right to
tteted before the Judiciary question
We ecannot perceive the force of the objections
popularity urged against this feature Of the act and
have been disposed to believe that in the minds of
many they spring rather from factious opposition
to the law than from its candid consideration If
the act had simply given the right to send SUBJ
stituie in place of serving oneself we should have
heard Of these complaints; and yet this three
hundred dollar provision is not favorable to the
rich as that would be, for the rich could away
procure substitutes, and the latter regulation would
lead to huckstering Of substitutes that would soon
place them beyond the reach Of any save the privi
legged few. BY the existing regulations the poor
man is not worsted, and the privilege of CON-
mutng for actual service is placed within the reach
Of larger number. law which does no com
parative harm to any, but which lightens the bur-
4 IL r-n
class of citizens, is entitled to more generous, not
to say just appreciation.
On the whole, it is evident that the existing re-
gulations of the Provost Marshal General need to
be carefully revised, or intelgently explained to
avoid the misconceptions which may otherwise
obtain in the minds of the people To this effect
the Philadelphia Ledger says:
The necessity Of authorized person explaining
the conscpt law satisfactorily to the clt
from the different and contradictory orders Issued from
the Provost Marshal Generals Office There are several
decisions by him which not authorized by the law and
which will not stand the test u legal examination One
of The orders which the Provost Marshal has Just had to
back ont OF is that prohibiting drafted from paying
three hundred dollars exemption fee after had gone to
the surgeon for examination Any person claiming
emption from DRAFT by of any d,sab has the
right to have the question settled by the Board Of ENROLL
ment whose thereon 10 final II the Board shall
have decided that the ca'naBt is liable to serve he has
the ght after such decision against him. pay his com
money, to furnish substitute within such
tended time may be fixed by the B,ard Of Enrolment
for his appearance for duty Another OF his decisions
that black man is not military eqnv vaent If WHIT
man and It be his substitute. This ord-r will doubt
ess be reversed aso, for there s law to sustain it,
Nearly absurd is the conclusion that persons under
twenty AMI fory6ve cannot be turosbed "a subst
tutes There plenty of soldiers doing geoI SER
vice from sixteen to twenty years old and IA many over
forty whom the Government had hesitation in
cepting when offered volunteers There no reason
why persons OF hose ages. when offered snbutes if
physicaly a5le should net be- accepted willingly All the
attempts to rterpose obstacles The way OF procuring
substitutes only tend to sdd 10 the ,pulay Of thu con-
scrptoa law and to incre4se the difficulties Of ts enforce
ment 1t cannot matter TO the Government in the least
whether individual goes himself into service or sends
able-boded man to perform that service for him. The
Governments ne cessity for the armys supplied
| equally W, II in either case"