The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1864-08-24
Armislice or ConseripliOn.

ArmStice or CONSUMPTION.
The industry OF the couaIry has been
crippled already by The destruction OF our
labor in The work of war The exhaustion
Of our powers of production cannot of
conrse, be carried on beyond certain ex-
tent. Nor can iis bounds OF safety be now
very far of. The limit to which our labor
can he destroyed must be .ecollected as that
assigned by the necessities OF a society, EN-.
bracine so many as twenty millions of peo-
Pile. Can we, without Overcoming that
boundary fatally. or at least unsafeIy, with
dra from our ships, our railroads, our ca
mails, our civil governments, our State gov
ernments, our shops, our mines, oar stores,
our fields, an additional draf, to the enor-
nous amount of five hundred thousand
workingmen!
Social Considerations make the proposed
conscriprion one of very grave qses,ions.
A thoughtful examination of its bearings on
society is actually necessary, on The ground
thai it may he fairly suffered 10 be placed
before The country in blind and thoughlless
obedience TO The passions of desperate
fanaticisri.
The sweeping conscription tha. may have
been executed in the South presents no
preceden, 10 society organized differently.
The producers of the Confederate States
consist chiefly OF negroes sud, so far
the armies Of he South, remain to-day in
undiminished force. A million of effect,
i've lahore RS have thus been maintained
there intact by conscrIpton.
The m maintenance Ut the social life oi
the Confedarac, does not res; with the in-
duslr, OF only the slave. Legislation has
reserved Tor that purpose large numbers of
white laoorers. Exemption. cover their
thousands upon thousands oil w0rkingmen
for the uses sof civil society aud The
masses sci thus apart Tor The maintenance
OF the operations OF society have been fur
ther increased by an extensive system of
"details" o. men from the army for the
same purpose.
Conscriplon may cot too closely TO the
core OF our social life. On that ground we
felt il our duty to suggest that the proposed
draft, conceived as il has been. probably,
in mere recklessness, be brought al once
under examination OF ths public Judgment.
The workingmen of the country will con-
stitute, in the event OF The enforcement ci
the las! ''cail," lis SPECIAL victims That
class of our cItlzens regard the measure
with GIsconIenI which appears unsafe 10
its morose reserve. The brooding dissaiis-
iact'on with which they regard il led as,
among other reasons assigned al the time,
c9ssIon at a meeting OF the Iaboring classes.
Additional considerations nave arisen Stree
IheL IN evidence OF he expediency which
appeared al that time for The Immediate
call OF such an assemblage IN Brooklyn
and New York
Errors Of enrolment make the coniem-
plated conscriptIon threaten The clues OF
the Hudson with special hardshiPs. A
mitigation which common fairness would
have yielded, under injustice SO clear and
grIevous, would have reduced tue untold
evIs OF the draft on our local population TO
those of at least a fair division. Even that
poor measure OF reliei, il we may Judge by
lh6 refusal OF the Secretary oil War 10 en-
terrain the remonstrance IN sde on the sub
jec by Governor Sey monr, has been impe-
rIously denied.
The public meeting which we suggested
last week may present a strong case against
the enforcement OF the draft. The deple
ton OF our vital powers as a people, the
destruction oi our essential industry as
society, constitute tolScs. on which coun-
Gil OF workIngmen may star'le the country
with the dangers OF ;hIs last and most
sweeping threat OF conscrip;ion. The ar
pilfary refusal OF the Secretary OF War TO
grant even the common justice oil disInb
uting the hardships OF that measure
anon gthe people with fairness, presents a
view OF the case under which popular iG>
digna lion throughout ine State will give a
wide Specification TO a deter mined remon-
slrance of the working classes of New
York and Brooklyn.
Petitions against the enfofcemeni OF the
d draii are being circulated in Ohio. The
appalling sacrifices OF limb and life con