, 1864-01-13
THE DR. AFT.
Quotas fol. the Forthconl-
ing Conscription.
OPINION OF SOLICITOR WHITING.

WkE DEPARTMENT. PRorosT MARSHAL,
GENERALS OFF1CE-
WAsHIEdToN, IanuatyZ
CMcr1An No. S.-The following opinion Of Hon
William Whiting, solicitor Of the War Depar-
1ncnt, Is publiehed for the information and guid-
ancc OF all concerned:
orE1oE.
The chief objects Of tho act Of 1858, chapter sev-
cnry-drc entitled IAN act for enrolling and CALI
fnE out the forces OF the United States, and for
other PURPOSES" were to provide for enrolling tho
forces OF tho United States IN order to ASCERTAIN
the number OF able-boiicd soldiers between the
sgcs Of twenty and forty-dro years who must be
called upon for military duty, to divide them into
cltsscs, and to call ou1 from time to time such pro-
portion Of these troops "a the emergencies Of the
service should require. The dosign OF Congress,
az expressed in the clause to which you have d.
rectcd my attention. The1ast clause In the twelt1h
section was TO equallze the burden Of f1rnlsh1n.
soldiers, as far as possible, among the several
1oynl States, and among the districts Of each
State. To attain this result, tho Btatute directs
the President to take into confederation the NUM-
ber Of volunteers and militia furnished By and
from the several States, and the period OF their
service since the commencement Of the present
rebellion. It is obvious that The number Of men
ard the periods Of their respective service must
both be taken as elements Of calculation In order
by the soldiers OF givsn State; and that the total
amount Of service thus asoertained In each Stnte
would give the total amount in the aggregate OF
al the service performed in al the States. TO as
ce1tain the amount Of service which either one OF
the States wou1d have rendered, II it had borne
Its Just sharc, Or" in other words, what part OF
such aggregate eefrice was justly duc tom each
State, It became necessary to compare the lopu-
lation By the late census Of each State with the
aggregate population Of all the States enrolled.
II was obvious that each State should contribute
In proportion to the punber Of Its Inhabitants,
tr,emIch MS there was no other safe basls
for estimating the respective Numbers OF their
citizens capab1c Of performing military duty.
This was the plau prescribed by the statute OF
July g *6G1 chapter nine, section one, for the ap
potlonMcnt Of volunteers among the several
states. The proportion Of troops duc from each
State WIS 10 that obtained from a1 the states, az
the number Of inhabitants Of that State was to the
aggregate number Of Inhabitants Of nil the States.
TIC solution Of tho formulary gave tor each State
the number Of troops required In order to make up
its equal and iust ehase. L the 1nnber Of troops
fcl short OF this required proportion, that deficit
sEou!d be charged. II the number c1ceeded. it
should be credited to the State In question on &C
count Of the draft unde1 the enrolment act. When
the enrolment has been completed, i new and
more satisfactory bass IL established for distribut-
ing the burden OF tho draft. Having ascc.ta1ned
The number OF persons actually enrolled in the
several States. the number Of troops 10 be drawn
from each State will be calculated es
follows. As the total number enrolled in
al tho st:tes Is TO the number enrolled IN par
ucnlsf etatc, 70 tee TOM number 10 oe d.cncd
aE-to INC ao'a4 nu!noe11o oe d1aued In particular
o.a'c i1I aunloes ~ oe utaast, Ius :sseeta1n,
70 enoaiu w " ns pa.''s"ai o.a.c, ano
~ s.sernt ~ +o.,es aae ahon,a ~ 49, W ".
b..a.ls ~. ~. r, .ao",c auasu ~
49, -.tsrb t. a,a 1-,,,. ~ ct.+a T., 80
,r1o,, hs,o,css 49, t,r,s w. -, ~ ~ s,..sH
+hc s,eornt oY rcrr;cc win he cons11r f;s,rh1,ad
eccord,ro +oi.w Tho e,,tpta s1so -aor,-as tb,+
tho n-,rolr,ont a,a+1e4a into (which +ba St.,o, ,,o