Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1864-01-19
Pr .hs Eac,siTcr.
Y5r !hs E7c''fTcr-
rt7r ARMY AND THE coNsCRlfTl0S
OF FOREIGNERS,

hiassrs Editors In f. 'ermef afnS'e: ~
,ba :. Ccnscriosion Of haTsia"dsrS, ! or'ehY
.,Ilu3ad To some Of the OWLS which, nave ie-
snlted from the exemption from military do'y
Sr mon from the Northern States, including
MARYLAND and made sincere and earnest up,
neal for the adoption OF tho necessary remedial
measures. The action Of Congress, taken slns'
he writing of that article, looks to tne con.
soriptiun of all foreigners here, rom 7choee
country. And, not"ithstandinet me graz VI
ihis prorcsed measure, some seN''ei';m H.'n
w. ,rnat + ne lent SO wUuld the consumption
" ,nrsolf ,ni rho few MnrYlandcrs IN The
SontE and not already in the Confederate SER
v;ca Bnt for one would outer proEipt.
ttonoh humble protest against the passage "i
onr sucb law as the one now retcrrot TO-
Shall /, q SO called foreigner, be charged
with presumption in thus calling IN question
the wisdcsn of the Confederate Congress!
answer you may couscribo me; though nave
~ voice through representation IL Inc Rails
Of lcsis;e ion or elscwhere in tho government;
vet do not rrosCrilc me 50 far as TO deny inc
] I'LL EXPRESSION oe devotion to that causn i1r
which | have already sacrificed everrtGlng on'
Ii, and honor. However grossly we may be
misrcprescntel, however heavily loaded, per
chance as the acape. goat for the sins ct Others
or however anxious we may DO Tor Inc success
and honor of our common cause OF southern
liberty and Independence, we Mary
have no channel through which to make our
defence or add our counsel, exceptit be that
! of the press. You w;ll, therefore, pGr3on me
for asking again the use oe your columns.
I propGse TO treat the subjects OF this article
verv briefly under distinct heads: and. .trSf,
lat ,,s Sc. il tho conscription Of all foreigners
Tould be lust, at This time.
Tbeespression is as usual as popular with
us that if they d. not want to hight ana ana
serve in The defence Of tho government that
! protects them, let them leave the county
This, as applicable to Marylanders and citl'
zsns of the Northern States generally, Is per-
! fecsIy lust; but how do gentlemen pr"@e
that the subjects of England and other t3re'sn
/ rowcrs are to leave, or by what open seaport
or safe conveyance is it proposed to sefu Then!
honis? Shall wa 60 besecchingiy 80 hne
Abraham and ask him piensc TO open the
doors and let our visitors pass cut, or shall we
extemporize a fleet Of balloons, to wait them
over the broad Atlantic. Unable, then, to
leave tho country by rcasln Of the country
own situation must they be made 70 serve III
our armies, or are they baund IN reciprocal
duty to DO SOP i may admit that for no clt~
zen of the old (quondam) United States IS there
| pnuIiog this bloody struggle, any such th'hg
! AZ honorable, voluntary neutrality but sucn
I i not necessarily the caFe with many sub
| icct Of Eurapcai Powers now in the Southern
iConirderaoy. When Maryianders como South,
! by coming they join their fortunes torhoseot t"o
psople of the South, and should be prepared 10
abide hy their own election bu: most OF TIC
foreigners among us osme before the tempest,
aad those who came AFTER it cid not necessarily
thereby commit themselves to our side.
But thcra are other and far mere important
considerations 10 he urged against the law III
| question: ard let us.ihtclligcntly consider il
F., CIR moment on grounds Of crpediemCy alone
Perfectly ra&nral, and altogether credisablc
NAV it be inr Southern statesmen and patriots q
contcmn and dennuncc, as inhuman ard coz.
temptible, the course of European powers to-
wards US; but that may not make ii the part
Of cool, sagacious statesmaaship at this cfiti-
cal iuncture in our lie and death struggle
for independence, to leonard our peace with
those powers, or provoke most damaging
measures Of resentment, If. not war itself
Bravelv, forsooth, may gentlemen thunder forth
their indignation aud hurl defiance; hut a.
in some other positions or circumstances IN
lie. i: might not prove wholly improbable
to act upon the Fallstafiaa maxim
"Ths better part of ralsT IL discretion
Statesmeulike, Confederate. legislators, ore
would suppose, have already taken backstep'
enough for the promise Of. their usefulness -
Not oaly are they about TO conscribe us Ma
ryland men, which they thought 1t unwise TO
do in tho beginning; but have Just now -e-
pealed their own law allowing substitutes in
the army, and are about TO disnllow al! their
former exemptions from military duty, md the
e. u La. 49,,
demands prompt falling back from all their
past faanc:al measures. Let them advance,
now, on this dangerous ground. into THIS un-
tried field Of conscribjne the uhiects Of En-
rnpcan powers, and theV may SOON have to re.
treat more precipitately than ever before
/ And surely this constant falling back, these
repeated retrograde performances on the part
of Legislative chieIz however dignihrdlv per-
formed, are no lcss calculated IT, discourage
and depress the people and encourage and aui
mate the enemy than are TIE military rover-
| 7es we have. sustained; and hence it IL,
would respectfully suggest that the fewer of
the like strategic movements we have IN the
future, perhaps the before
And there, TOO, are Other grave reasons
against the conscription Of dl3foreigncrs. and
but few Of airy coguncy IN IT'S favor. II 1t be
wise policy to put all white men residing In
he Syuth into the army, and commit the sun
uiving of all the necessities Of the country,
and the providing Of food. clothing and eqnip-
rncnts for our armies altogether 70 the ne.
| -roes, the women and the children, then ex-
pedieucy, if not justice and International
Jaw, might Justify and recommend the mea-
ssce in question: but. unfortunate! Y, ncgrncs
ire not the best political economics, or nrti-
Fans aud manufacturers, or the most enter,
% isirg agriculturists and merchants; nor are
the Southern Indies, however beautiful! and
patriotic much better fitted for those useful
occupations and Indispensable branches of in
dus,rS The Foreigners, for the most part,
are industrious-many Of them skilled labor
ers and northumberland src now engaged In
various Industrial pursuits, intellectually t. the
| benefit OF the cOuatry ut preeent, and especial
| " for the clothing, feeding aud. equippinS our
armies. And what must inevitably he the
effect Of the law in contemplation Who be-
| lieyes that the greater part or minority d
| these a!,le>bodied and useful men will go into
the army? They cans go'to their own coun-
tries directly, as we haze seen, and will they
not g0--almosJ oyery pian OF them-to thr
United States, whose Government has adopted
the wise .polioy. of encouraging immigration,
instead Of emigration, and shcIe they will not
| only DO exempt from forced military service,
bat find open to them many profitable and in-
yltiuc OCCUPATIONS? Pass the Jaw referred to,
7 ana tho -cohredersts ,6oas reeDtnae1 reeeiuethe
thanks of our willy enemies at Washington :;
but, l would fear to assure it of the future
gratitude of the Southern people.
But, having briefly iutimated some of the
main objections to their conscription, let us,
for moment consider its supposed necessity;
and this, at once. leads US to the all absorbing
subject Of
THE sTRENGeHENISG OF. OUR ARMIES. !
And hore it may be well, at nGce, to notice.
prevalent idea that Scents 70 he fixed as fate
in tho minds Of scmc Southern statesmen. 1
rnfnr To tho notion that size Ii nrnrC OF