New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-04-02
nRcRuIvING PROM THE ENEMY

We once more direct the attention of the
United States Senate to the bill "ior the
voluntary enlistment of any persons, residents
Of certain States, into the regiments of other
States" which passed the House six weeks ago,
and which now waits much longer than it
ought for the consideration of the other branch.
As the title of the bill does not convey a clear
notion Of its contents We copy the text:
Bh eac,d ST. That any persons residen, in the States Of
virginia North Carolina South Cnrolhs Georgia Florida
Alsb-m, Mississippi Louisiana, Ie1ai OF Arsunsa, wh9
may voluntarily enllt IN the military service Of the United
the tenn Of three year, during the sha be
eu'd 20 the benefits ari privileges Of existing laws and
such peron. shah BE- Mustered into the regmen' or other
r.4nations Of wioeyer state they elects o. IN the
& Agd H. STE. ar bdyi.ioas Of state pr6crng such
with tn" law. IN Other cases, PTordd That such an
.enis authorized In any state, under the provisions
of lii shall continue un such state shall have been
made subject 70 ca for Oops. And prordsd fyh'r, Tha
enlistment ssl be msde OF sny soldier either IN ou Il
s-- except hose enumerated herein, uues u credit
!. .yen the state to which the enlisted soldier belongs,
The object of this bill is TO increase the num-
Der of the National forces, and We presume no
one denies that such will be its effect. That
being admitted it is difficult to understand the
grounds of the opposition to its passage. So
far as we are aware, they consist in certain sup
posed difficulties in the administration of the
troops so raised-dfiicuties about adjusting
quotas of States while thus enlisting in other
States, and about crediting the troops enlisted,
and about half dozen other bureau matters
which are totally unimportant in comparison
with the solid benefits which the bill secures.
So long as We get the troops, we care nothing
for red tape, nor even for the perplexities of
Department machinery. We regard the inter-
position of such objections as unimportant, and
we put them aside to consider the merits of the
bill.
The essence of the plan is that the recruiting
shall be done by States and not by the United
States. Each loyal State, under this system,
has direct interest in obtaining the largest pos
sible number of men from the reyoted States,
and the spur of competition, added to the desire
of each State to reserve its own citizens, will
insure the rapid adoption and complete develop
ment of the system. The result, of course. will
be to fill our armies more quickly and surely
than by any other expedient that can be
adopted.
Al
great campaign, whereof tho issue is so mo-
mentous that it is madness to neglect any rea-
sonabe means of success. We have powerful
armies; strong enough, probably, to do the
work before them thoroughly; not strong
enough to be defeated and then do it. Yet,
suppose they are defeated; does any loyal man
consent that their efforts shall be relinqushed 2
If they are not to be, those armies must be sup
piled with reserves, and for that purpose draft
has been ordered and will be made in fort
night 1t is not too much to say that, if this
bill had been seasonably acted on, the draft
might have been postponed. The loyal States
would have filled their quotas from the colored
and other loyal citizens of States whose existing
military organizations are on the Rebel side. |
Pass this bill at once, and it is still possible to
gather troops under it in season to be mustered
into service long before the Summer campaign
is over
But the measure promises more than merely |
to fill our armies; it will deplete those of the
Rebels TO the same extent. Every man enlisted
into our ranks from reyolted State is as good !
a. two enlisted from the North. II is one man
taken from them and given to rs. Their con.
scription is universal and relentless. They
nearly succeed in putting every abo-bodied