North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1864-07-27
to some of those usasures We will now d.
rect attsntion.
RAIsING OF TROOPS.

Il
small and wholly inadequate to meet the ex-.
| igency of the war which had arisen. The
President called for seventy-fiye thousand
roops from the States to serve for period
er calls. Finally, in the latter part Of 1852,
| drafts were ordered in several States to eli
up their quotas, and the proceeding for that
purpose was under tho State authorities, pur-
| suant to State laws and some general regula>
tons ofthe War Department framed for..the oe
cason' Thus the case stood as to the raising
Of troops at the commencement of ,7'69
an d the troops in service at that date consis--
ted Of the Regular Army Of the United
States as it stood at the outbreak of hostili li-,
ties, with subsequent enlistments added, and
of volunteers and drafted militia Of the States
organized and officered as companies asi
regiments by state authority. Volunteering
had at one time been checked by the Ad-
mini st:ation, upon statement by it that oil
| the troops needed were already in service
Soon, however, the demand for men was re-
newed and at the beginning of 1868 tho
number called for raised had become enorm-
Gus, But for the after purposes Of the Ad-
| minislration it was perfectly feasible for il
to call for additional troops in the manner
heretofore practiced, which involved State
assistance.and cooperation and secured to
the troops raised their regular organization
as State militia under the laws of their re-
>pective States. The army bore, mainly, the
character of a public force contributed by the
States under the fifteenth and sixtee NTH
clauses of the eighth section of the first arti-
Gle Of the Constitution, which authorize Con-
gress "To provide for calling forth the militia
to execute the laws of the Union, suppress
insurrection, and rebel invasions," and "to
provide for or2anizing, arming and disciplin.
ing the militia, and for governing such part OF
them as may be employed in the service of
the United States, reserving to the States
respectively the appointment of the officers"
&c. =%a~e- s.- 81. a
The power Of the Federal Government Co
call for troops, and the power of the States to
supply them, organizing them into companies
and regim ents and appointing their officers
were unquestonable, a. was also the power
Of the States to select those troops which
they were to contribute, by draft or lot.
coNSCRIPTIoN. =..-.- ..
But early in 1863 new system for the
raising of troops was established by act of
Congress. This was a system Of conscription
(the word and idea being borrowed from the
FIench,) and was without example in the
history Of the United States. Passing by
the State authorities and by the clauses Of
the, Constitution above mentioned, it put the
General Government in direct communication
with the whole armsbearing population of
the country, and assumed for the Genera
Government exclusive and absolute control.
over the while proceeding of raising troops.
The validity of this encantment has been
questioned, and il is one of the debatabls
points which belong to the history OF the war
For 1t has been argued with much of force
and reason that the power of Congress to
raise armies although general power is not
unlimited, and that laws of CONSUMPTION by
it are not necessary and pr oper" when the
forces required can be raised with perfect
certainty and convenience from the militia
of the States under the provisions of the
Constitution above cited. But, passing this
pint, the inquiry arises, why was the former
system, involving State corporation, aban-
doned, and new and unquestionable one
substituted No clear and adequate -rea--
son for the measure appears in the debates
of the Congress which passed it, unless the
suggestion mode bv one of its leading sup.
pOrters in the House OF Representatives than
it was in hostility to 1.-THE accused doc trins
of States,' he accepted as such reason. We
must, therefore, conclude that it was the
policy Of the authors Of tho law to deprive
the States of the appointment Of the officers
Of the troops raised, and to absorb that pow
er INTO the hands of the Federal Adminstrs-
tion; that the act was the measure Of party
to increase it's influence and power, and TO
prevent the possibility Of any participation
therein by the Government of the States.
We believe it to be certain that this uea.
sure has entailed great expense upon the
Treasury of the United States; that it has
created unnecessarily large mum Der Of Fed.
eral officers, distributed Throughout the
country; and that, while it has been no mars
efficient than the system which req1ir cd
State o-cperaton,t has been much less sas.
slactory.
tits necessity for raising troops by con.
scription be asserted then ii would follow that
the revolutionary policy of the Administra.
ton has alarmed and disgusted the people