Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1863-08-15
Reply of Governor Seymour to
the President
The pranf of Eraud In fhA Enrolment

The Proof of Fraud in the Enrolment.
ALBANY, Aug 0th.-Tbe following is !
the reply Of Governor Seymour to the Pres
idents letter
ALBANY Aug 8, 1868,
" TO Me President OF The United States:
II received your communication of the
7th inst. to day.
"Wbile I recognize the concessions you
make, / regret your refusal to comply
with my request to have the draft in this
State suspended until it can be ascertained
if the cnrolmcnts are madein accordance
with the laws of Congress or with the
principles of justice. | know our army
needs recruits, and, for this and other
reasons, 1 regret decision which stands
in the way of prompt and cheerful move
ment to fll up the thinncd ranks of our
regiments.
"New York never paused in her efforts
to send volunteers to the assistance of our
gallant soldiers in the field. She has not
only met every call heretofore made (whie
every other Atlantic and New England
State, except Rhode Island, have been de-
linquent,) but has continued liberal boun-
ties to volunteers when all efforts were
suspended in many other quarters. Ac-
tive exertions are now being made to or.
ganzc new and fill up the old regiments ;
these exertons will be more successful if
the draft is suspended, and much better
men than reluctant conscripts join the
armies.
son the 7th advised you by letter that
| would furnish the strongest proof of the
injustice, if not fraud, in the enrolment
in certain quarters. now send the full
report made TO me by Judge Advocate
Waterbury.
81 am confident when you have read il
you will agree with me that the honor Of
the nation and your Administration de-
mand that the abuses which it points al
be corrected and punished. You say We
are contending with an enemy who, as you
understand, "drives every able bodied
man he can reach into the ranks, very
much as the butcher drives bullocks t(
the slaughter pen." You will agree with
me that even this, if impartially done to al
classes is more toerable than any scheme
which .hall fraudulen.ly force portion
of the community into military service b.
a dishonest perversion of the law
"You will see by the report of Mr.. Wa
terbury, that there is no theory which cal
explain or justify the enrolment in thi
State. wish to call your attention to tn
tables, pages five. SIX, seven, and eight
which show that in nine Congressiona a
Districts Manhattan, Long and Station Is
lands. the number of couscrpts called 70
is % 729, while in nineteen other district
the number of conscripts called for is 39
625. This draft is to be made from tn
first class - those between the ages of TWEEN
, ty and thirty five. 1t appears by the cen
sus of 1860 that in the first nine Congress
ional Districts there were l64, ,797 male
between twenty and thirty FIVE, and the
are called upon to supply 53,729 conscrip'
In the other nineteen districts, with
population Of males, between twenty an
, thirty five, Of 26O,7s6, only 39,635 al
/ demanded
Again, to show the partisan charactc
Of the enrolment, you will find on the 2ls
,, page of the military report, in the fir
r nine Congressional Districts, the total vot
in 1850 was Isl ,243. The number
= conscripts row demanded is 33 .723. I
= the nineteen other districts the total vol
was 457, 257. Yet those districts gay
} majorities in favor of one political part,
, and each Of the nine districts gave major
ties in favor of the other party.
"You cannot and will not fail to rigf
> these gross wrongs.
! Truly, yours,