The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1864-01-06

Washington, Jan. o.
The following is the message seat 70
Congress to-day by the President:
Bya joint resolution Of your honorable
bodies. approved Dec. Esd, 1868. the
navipr Of bounties to veteran volunteers,
a now prac.iced BY the War Department,
l.. 70 the extent Of $500 in each csse,
prohibited after the 9th day Of the pres
ent month. / transmit for your conside.
ration communication from the Score
|tAry Of War, accompanied by one from
the Provost Marshal General to him, both
relating to the subject above mentioned.
earnestly recommend that the law be SO
modified as to allow bounties to be paid
az they now are, at least until the ensu-
Ing let day of February. am not with
out anxiety les. / appear to be importu-
nate in thus recalling your attention to
q subject upon which you have so recent
| II acted, and nothing but deep convic-
ton that the public interest demands it,
could induce me to incur the hazard of
being misunderstood on this point The
Executive approval was given by me to
the resolution mentioned, and it is now
by a closer attention and fuller knowl-
edge of facts that / feel constrained to
recommend a reconsideration of the
subject.
(Signed) A. LINCOLN.
Washington, Jan. 5, 1864.
The Secretary Of War, in letter ac-
companying the message, says no one
( seems to doubt the necessity Of increas-
ing the military forces for a speedy ter
mination of the rebellion, and although
much difference of opinion exists in res
pect to the system of raising troops by
volunteering and payment of bouuties,
and the system of raising an adequate
force by draft, yet two things are certain;
First, that whatever may be the weight
of argument or the influence of individosl
opinion, large portion of the people in
every State prefer the method of contrib
uting their proportion of the military
force by bounty to volunteers rather than
by draft. Second, that veteran soldiers
who have become Injured to service, even
when paid bounty, constitute cheape,
force than raw recruits or drafted men
without bounty.
The inf, rmation received by the Wa
Department from the armies in the feid
prior to the passage of the resolution Of
Dec. last indicated that very large pro.
portion Of the forces now in the service
would have cheerfuIly re enlisted fol
three years under the terms authorized
By the order of this Department, ant
such eniistments have been checked ano
will in great measure be put to an emf
by the restriction imposed by the actor
of Congress. 1t is believed if any limita
ton should be imposed upon the paymen
OF bounties to encourage the enlistment
OF the veteran forces now in the field, i
ought not to be sooner than the first 0
February
The p. NJ. General, in communica
ton says after great labor the voluntee
recruiting service under the President,
call OF Oct. 18th is fairly in progress
Letters, all dated between the 26th aut
oath of December, from the superiniend
. cnts OF the recruiting service in IL States
are in the main very encouraging as L
the prospect OF getting large number Q
3 recruits tv volunteer enlistmen;s.
Several OF the States were in fair wa
to raise the quotas assigned to them
g The act approved Dec. %. 1888, forbid
. ding after Jan. 9th the payment TO vol
unteers Of all the bounties except tn
e hundred dollars authorized by the act G
( 1861, was not known at the time thes
favorable replies were made to me-
l have no doubt that the effect of that &C
will be 10 check volunteering, If it doe
e not stop it entirely. OF the hundred de
lar bounty provided by the act of 1861
# but twenty five dollars can be paid in ad
|, vance, the SIS being due only after tw
years of service. 1t took some time t
get the people reused to the subject {
volunteering. They are now most carr
estly engaged in it, and have reports f
i October and November and part Of D,
Z cember, showing that AZ, SEQ men hay
IS been enlisted, and the daily average
enlistmeDis is increasing. Under the.
e circumstances / respectfully suggest II
II 2ropriety of reconsideration of the a.
It fvrbiddiDg boun,ies after January 9th.
! The communications were referred I
y the Committee on Military Affairs.
1t Senator Wilson's new enrolment bill
l. Introduced to-day. exempts those whoa
+ physically disabled. and also makes Il
II following exemptions The Vice Pres
l. dent, the Judges of the courts, the head
q executive departments and Governors
j. States. 1t receives az substitutes on
d those who are not liable to the draft, an
II a penalty Of 500 to $500 fine, and
% days to 6 months Imprisonment is pr
9 vided as the punishment Of enrolling {
d fcers who are engaged directly or ind
y rectly in procuring substitutes.
# Rebel Correspondence.
e New York, Jan. 5.
The Tr,hvno ~,o,,,koc Co.