Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-02-20
The General ConscrlptiOn Law,

The General ConseriptiOn Law.
The Senate has passed the bill for gen.
eral cOnscription preparatory to any
further draft which may be deemed nee-
esssry by the President We have already
given 3 partial abstract Of the original pro
visions, but now give a synopsis of the
bill as it passed. All able bodied male
citizens and those who have declared their
intentions TO become such, between the
ages Of 20 and As, constitute the military
force Of the United States. The President,
Vice President, heads of Executive De-
partments, the Governors Of States, Judges
Of o. s. Courts, and those upon whom the
support ofaged or inhrm family relatives
devolves, are exempt. No person con-
vieted Of felony shall be drafted or per-
mitted to serve. All others are to be di-
vided into two classes, the first, and the
one to be first called out comprising all
between 20 and S5 years, and unmarried
men between S5 and As. The second class
includes all others. For enrolment, each
Congressional District will constitute a
military district, having Provost Mar
shal appointed by the President with rank
and pay Of Captain of Cavalry, who shall
make all necessary rules and regulations
for carrying out the CONSUMPTION. They
shall also act as detectives in arresting de-
serters, detecting spies and reporting
reasonable practices. The enrolment
shall be made once year by an Enroll
ment Board, consisting of the Provost Mar
shall and two other persons appointed by
the President, one Of whom shall be ply
sician and surgeon. Each class shall be
enrolled separately. The persons thus
enrolled are liable for two years to be
cslledintO service, for three years or du-
ring the war, on the same footing as the
present volunteers, with bounty money,
advance pay, SC.
When q draft is necessary, the Presi-
dent shall assign its proportion to each
district, taking into consideration the
number it has already furnished. This
number then assigned, and so per cent.
additional shall be drafted by the Board,
and the drafted men notified. They shall
then report for duty, or furnish substi-
tutes or pay commutation Of not more
than $500, the sum to be specified by the
Secretary Of War. Any person drafted and
falling to report, or furnish q substitute,
orPsy his Communication, shall be deemed
3 deserter, and subject to immediate ar
rest The bill provides for the proper sur
giosl examination Of drafted men, and the
punishment Of surgeons who receive
brides. When the draft is finished, all
those not taken are allowed travelling pay
to their homes. Those who furnish sub
stitutes are exempt for the entire time of
the draft, and the substitute has the same
pay, &C., as though originally drafted.
The bill also provides that volunteers who
re-enlist for one year shall have q bounty
Of $50, one half paid down those who
enlist for two years receive S25 of the
regular 500 bounty. There are also pro-
visions for the consolidation Of skeleton
regiments also that Generals in the field
may execute court-martial sentence
againstspie deserters, mutineers, or mur-
derers, without reference to the President;
eourts-msrtisl may reduce absentee Off
GERS to the ranks; clothing, arms, SC.
shall not be sold, pledged or given away,
and may be taken wherever found in illegal
hands; persons who entice soldiers to
desert or harbOr them, or buy their arms
and uniforms, and ship captains or rail-
road conductors who knowingly convey
deserters may be fined $500 and impris-
onsd from six months to two years. Any
person who resists draft, or counsels |
others to do 50, or dissuades them from
performing military duty, shall be sum
msrily arrested, locked up until the draft |
Is finished, then be tried by civil Court,
and fined $500 or imprisoned two years,
or both. The President, on the passage of
this act shall issue proclamation recall
ing absentees from the army, who may re-
turn without punishment within the time
indicated, except the forfeiture of pay for
the time Of aBsenUe; those who do not re-
turn viii be deserters. officers absent
with leave, except for sickness or wounds,
receive half pay officers absent without
leave, no pay at all. There are other pro-
visions, but chiefly of details not psrticu-
larry important.