The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1864-01-09


cruiting system 10 this city and the surroupd.
ing districts is about to undergo a rigid over
hauling by the Secretary Of War, and that
some Of those who have been engaged in it are
likely to be afforded full time for rejecting on
the errors Of their course during an enforced
sojourn in some one or other of Uncle Sans
oaravansaries. When the facts in regard to
the mode Of procuring volunteers, white and
coiored, in this city and the country dstgIp.a,
are made known, the public will be forced to
recognize picture beside which all that Clark
son and Wiberforce once acclaimed about the
horrors Of the slave trade will be forgotten.
"Hocvssing," or the administration Of drinks
containing narcotic poison, has been for months.
ono Of the ordinary methods Of Promoting
eniistments. Es! ss approximations of every
variety nave also been ID use, and in many
cases the recruits have been compelled to
swear in under threats of physical violence in
case Of refusal.
Nor is this the worst. Between the volun-
teer brokers and certain of the authorities there
is at least pri'aa tacie evidence of something
like completely In scheme Of fraud the most
cruel, ruthless and gigantic that modern days
have witnessed In almost every street Of our
city parents are lamenting the enlistment Of
their hapless sons, mere boys, between
fourteen aud seventeen years Of age,
who have been made drunk and then
enlisted and robbed OF every dollar Of
their bounty. Cases are on record in which
old, gray-headed men, lettering on the verge OF
the grave have been carried,i while intoxi+
Gated, to BARRIERS! shop. their hair dyed. their
general appearance spruced up with some sem
blance Of fictitious juvenility, and then enlisted.
their bounty money being the reward Of the
patriots engaged in this honorable business.
Cripples, with ruptures, hernia, varicose veins,
pulmonary diseases, broken legs, broken arms,
toothlesa. deaf, half sightless, hunchbacked,
wry necked, half fngerless, decrepit and
idiotic, have been received into the service Of
the United States in certain Of The rural dis.
tricts, the brokers in these cases seldom giving
their victims more than twenty or thirty dol
lars out Of the three to Eve hundred dollars
which they have received for them through the
criminal negligence of the town or local autho-
rites.
or the many hundred mqn now upon Riker's
Island and ia other depots, it is alleged, and
with strong presumptive proof, that they have
hundred dollars each Of the bounty, thus allow
ing the handsome margin of four hundred
thousand dollars to be divided amongst the
brokers and such others as they may have to
divide with. II is high time that government
should interfere TO put an end to this system.
which, IL unchecked, will make our soldiery
hereafter be known as the "most noble army
Of cripples." Half dozen of the volunteer
brokers should be sent to Fort Lafayette to
commence with: and, if can be proved that
any officers Of the government have been In
completely with them. those traitors in uniform
should be either roasted alive or made briga-
der generals. II never was easier to procure
recruits Of the best kind, fairly and honorably,
| il only just system be adopted in their pro-
curemcnt- Thousands of hearty aud patriotic
young men are willing to enlist il approached
Ia proper manner But under the system as
now administered II Is much worse in the
| New England States-the brokers can obtain
more for some tipsy, broken down unfortunate
whom they can defraud out Of nine-tentbs Of
his bounty, than they can hope to receive from
a sober, clear beaded, fit volunteer, who goes
into the service with his eyes open and anxious
to leave behind bin when quitting home some
provision for the support OF his family. For
his exertions in this matter, General Dix de-
serves the thanks Of the entire community.