The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1863-06-26
THE y rs ceN HssqRIIPR lTI;IeN.

me- - THE v coN Hsg II Pq1TIIIoess.ssT
OPINION or WILLIAM WHITING, spMSIToR OF
sad, ylia TUE E4R REfAlsFMnR5T buiaod
n,oil obsm 81 SWAsHlsGTgs, June 40, lS63,s
The following official orders, have been
promulgated.
ssafaT safls ,vsWAR1 DErAlsrMENnH 9h
OFFIcE OF PRovosr .MARsHAI.-GENRRAL,
June 8. 1868.
The following opinion of Hone William
Whiting, Solicitor of the War Department,
has been ordered 10 be published by the Seere-
as The national forces liable to perform military
\ duty. include allth able-bodied male citizens
\ of the United States, and persons OF foreign
4 birth who have declared their intention to be-
come citizens according to law, between TWEEN
are excepted, divided into eight DAISIES No
person but such as are therein excepted shall
be exempt, CSection g. .,.r a.
EoIt is declared the duty of the enrolling Off
GERS to enroll persons subject TO military duty
(section 81 All persons thus enrolled shall be
subject for two years after July 1, succeeding
the enrolment. to be called into military SER
vice (section I'D The national forces mot now
| in military service) enrolled Under the act shall
! be divided into two classes, &C., (section 3d.
4 i, Those of the second class shall not be called
out until those of the first class shall have been
i exhausted {! IA my iqage sri vi navfc t,tfea
I Thus it seems by the true construction of this
| act, while all persons are coming within its
provisions are 10 be enrolled in the national
forces, nevertheless, under the first enrolment,
those who were in the military service at the
time the act went into effect, are not to be in
cluded in that class which is subject to the first
draft. as'ot A-l ao'L'A -.-J - "-. "oA
Several provisions of this statute are incon-
sistent to the idea that persons then in the ser
vice, were to be treated as liable to draft from
4 the first class. r9tgeBn 1881 .YfI1E
Thus it is provided in the seventh section
4 that regulars, volunteers, militia men, or per-
4 sons called into the service under this or any
4 other act of Congress, were to be arrested as
/ deserters, wherever they might be found, by
\ the Provost Marshal and TO be sent to the
nearest military post, thus admitting plain
distinction between these different classes of
Il persons. viz: those who were then in the ser
1 vice and those who were to be drafted in.
i The same distinction between those who
were in the service and those who were to be
drafted in, is recognized in section 10, which
| provides bounties to those who being then in
the service should volunteer to re-enlist.
| The statute providing for the classification OF
troops from which drafts are to be made en-
acts as follows: (Section Sd That the na-
| tional forces of the United States, not now liz
/ the military service. enrolled under this act,
/ shall, be divided into two classes. Thus those
who are NOV" Chat is to say on the Sd OF
March, 1868, } in the military service, are not
4 to be included in either of these classes. And
as those then March 3D. in the service were
i not included in either, of these two classes,
they may be said to constitute class of per
sons to be enrolled under the provisions OF
this act. ~ ..LW Eagjif3 -algMa ;tTIJaGT
As between the first and second class the law
(Sec. b requires that the second class shall not
IN any district be called into the service Of the
United States until those of the first class shall
have been thus called in. ba1HHamG atgI9a9T
/ Volunteers or regulars who had been in the
i service, and who had been discharged there.
from, or had resigned prior to the Sd day Of
March, 1868, are liable to be drafted in the same
manner as if they had never been in the ser.
4 vice; no regard is to be paid for their former
4 period of service or to the length or brevity OF
the period between the date of their discharge
and that of the draft ''t.''"
i Volunteers who were in the service Of the
n United States on the 3d. of March 1868, and
4 have since that time been discharged, are moi
therefore included in the first class, from which
the first draft is intended to be made and are
therefore not now liable to be called on by a
draft, which is to be made from that class 81
the forces of the United States under the pro.
- - - WILLIAM WHITING.
I Solicitor of the War Department.
Il alE -t--H@ aj a5aS- g#I d. A1NlaA
I . ..@ @- q 10 WAR DEPARTMENT o.. 80 J
PROVoST MARSHAL GENERALS OFFICE, :
| Washington, June 6, 1868. J
The following opinion of the Hon. William
Whiting, Solicitor of the War Department. has
been ordered to be published by the Secretary
of War:
! = 1t is made the duty of all Provost Marshals
all nj LOTT n
the Provost Marshal General, and such as shall
be prescribed by law concerning the enroll
ment and calling into service OF the nationa
forces" Act March 3, 1863 Sec. z. u
The 25th section of the same act provides
that 6 if any person shall resist any draft, o.
men enrolled under the act into the service o.
the United States, or shall counsel or aid any
person to resist any such draft, or in the per
Torrance of any service in relation thereto, OF
shall counsel any person to assault or obstruci
any such officer, or shall counsel any drafted
men not to appear at the place of rendezvous
or willfully persuade them from the perform
ance of military duty as required by law; such
person shall be subject to summary arrest by
the Provost Marshal, and shall be forthwith
delivered to the civil authorities, and upon
conviction thereof shall be punished by fine
not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by i'm.
prisonment not exceeding two years, or by both
OF said puniShments. gl Itt-.H EEL
To do any act which will prevent or impede
the enrolment of the national forces (Which
enrolment is preliminary and essential to the
draft) is to prevent or impede the draft itself
The enrolment is service to be performed
by the Provost Marshal, in relation to the
draft. IL is not the act of drawing ballots out
of ballot box itself. but it is ''fn relation to
it," and is the first step that must by law be
taken preparatory to the draft. 1t is there
fore clearly within the duty of the Provost
Marshal, to subject all persons who obstruct