, 1863-08-03


n the enemy, We may rejoice still more
8 the fact that their chiefest ambition is,
l. to do their duty as officers that they N
j. shortly lay aside the sword and again
r come citizens of free and united count1
n --=---
r MULTIPLYING THE DRAFT
Il "Sopumerous are the e1empts in Boston that Il
Government has recently sent one PIT, Or Hose lnspe
aha &c FIJI Dtte he Numb
!. OF conscrIpts who presented themselves to Il
Board q En1o1's en Tsesday vas s1tyegat
| eleven furnished substitutes, and eight passed
the Third District, on the same day, eighty M
yese paced Esse before the Board, Of which namo'
t*o had paid the comnutatiou fee and four sUl
sttf4tcs were accepted. In the Fourth D1strit
were furnished viii eelaeates of @ e1empion ID s Il u
i've were passed as ii for duty"
| The Hartford Times says that:
The exemptions Of drafted men by surgeon.
certificates, In various parts Of New England
| tIon, amount to the enormous proportion Of abo4
q per cent. It is, indeed estimated by 1nauythA
the exemption will reachB0 per cent But we VII
or tss ont o fbs It w9qa bsvs that
most Of these gases, the fngitires from their owl
activity Of the Provost Marshalsz ieav1ng net Ie
cd who VII BE- mustered into the service. '@s'
We copy the ADORE from the Eastern rs.
pers. There is no doubt of the truth n
the statements.
The examining surgeons are practically
nu11lfying the Draft in the Eastern States
The number Of conscripts being obtained
is Insignificant Fully three-fourths Of all
those drafted are being discharged by the
examining surgeons on one pretext or
another-b1ibery, probably, is one active
cause Of it. Of each hundred conscripts
seyenty-dve get certificates Of disability,
ten Of the remainder present substitutes, half
Of whom desertimmed,stely after being &C.
cepted; twelve Of the remaining fifteen
pay $500 and go clear, and three Of the
entire hundred stand the draft. Conscripts
and substitutes, together do not average ten
men out Of each hundred drafted. Ifthis
thing continues, the.-conscription for 3o0,-
600 men will not supply the army with
$4,000 men, and the draft will be for prac-
teal good a comparative failure.
The root Of the evil is found in the un-
warrantably long List Of causes for which
6 surgeon may issue certificate. f.
man can show that he has any kind of all
ment he gets of. None but perfectly sound
men are taken, and there are unfortunately
very few such in modern times amonr
civilized nations. Not one man in ten
considered able-bodied but is afflicted with
some pain, ache, or disease latent or active,
or has some physical b1emish or weakness.
We talk about our country having four
millions Of fighting men; so it has; but
scarcely four hundred thousand are per
Jectly sound, perfectly healthy, perfectly To-
bust, wholly free from physical defect or
ailment Of some sort, acquired or heredi-
ta1y. West Pointers fixed the standard Of
health and soundness conscripts are re-
quired to possess, so high, that the law is
almost rendered useless. At one blow they
have excluded from the list Of defenders
Of the country not less than three millions
Of able-bodied men fit and able to fight,
1t looks very much like conspiracy
against the Governments deep laid plot
to ruin it; at least the standard adopted is
a most perilous blunder. The door for
frauds is opened widely; and an cxamin-
ing surgeon can technically conform to the
letter of the rule, and yet discharge almost
the entire body Of conscripts brought be-
fore him. If the standard Of disability for
conscripts were applied to the soldiers in
the army the effect would be to discharge
three-quarters of them, and reduce the
force In the field to mere handful of
men.
There is but one proper course to pur-
sue, and that is, for the Secretary OF War
to strike out the whole catalogue of pre-
texts under which conscripts obtain dis
charges, and lay down few simple, COM
nonsense rules, directing the surgeon to
examine the eonscript, and if he is evident
II fit to perform military duty, no matter
it he claims to possess fifty diseases, send
him to the camp. Last year when the nine
months conscripts were raised, there were
lot one quarter Of the disability certificates
granted. Two-thirds Of all drafted were
pronounced capable Of bearing arms, and !
lave proved themselves to be such. The |
examinations were conducted by the rules
II common-sense, and the results were |
We would strongly advise
he War Department to return to practical
'ommon-sense, if it really wants to pro-
IRE men to fill up the battle-worn and
wasted ranks Of the regiments in the field.