Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1864-08-25
THE REPUBLICAN
PLYMOUTH. IND,
Thursday, August 25, 1864.
Clubbing About the Ouotas.


The enemies of the Government at the
North. remarks the Chicago Tribune of a
recent date. have a perpetual source oi
quarrel with the draft. in the fact that the
enrolment as made under the act of Con.
gress does not agree with the census of
1860. They assume without even an at
tempt at proof that the census is correct,
the enrolment incorrect. and that where
the enrolment calls for moro men than
the census ths quota should be cut down
to the census figure. 1t is a singular fact
that where the enrolment has called for
fewer men than the census no desire has
been expressed. even by the bitterest Cop
perhead. to increase the quota to the num-
Der which would be due by the census. 1t
is not therefore a faith in the infallibility
of the census. but desire to evade the
draft. which dictates the complaint. Had
the Government apportioned the quotas
according to the census, without any en-
rollment, what an outcry would have been
made. We would have been reminded
that the census was loosely made, for the
purpose of general and statistical informa-
tion merely; that since it was made popu-
lations had changed; some cities like New
York and Chicago had increased in popu-
lation while many rural districts had di
m;nished. and that however valuable a CEN
sus might be as a means Of arriving at
general statistics or even OF distributing
representation in Congress- it was never
taken with the care and precision required
where the personal rights and duties Of ev-
cry citizen relative to military service were
involved. Loud would have been the
clamor from all CoTrernea,.s for an en-
rollEent. Anticipating this before ap-
poriioning the quotas national enrolment
was carefully taken. OF course it di,a-
grees with the census. This was inevi.a-
be. both from the fact that it was more
carefully taken, and because serious chan
ges in the relative populations of the vari-
Gus districts have occurred since the ta-
king OF the census. This disagreement Of
the census with the enrolment is .li,hon-
estly. meanly. and Indignantly harped on
by the tories from one end of the land to
the other. as democratic" grievance.
This can the more easily be done as the
quotas of the cities are generally increased
by the enrolment relatively to the rural
districts. The cities also are generally
Democratie, while the rural districts are
Republican. Of course the enrolment
could only increase the quotas of the cities
by showing that they have increased in
rela,ive population since the census was
taken, which is frequently the fact
Again. the census includes all ages and
both sexes. The enrolment aims only at
men within the armsbcaring ages As
more Of these have enlisted in the Uni,n
than in the Copperhead districts. it is nat
ural that the enrolment show more of them
remaining in the Copperhead than in the
Union districts, insomuch that had the
Unionists all gone, the Copperheads alone
would be called for. Hence the hue and
cry is raised that the enrolment oppresses
the Dem ocratic districts. Governor Sey.
mour starts it. The Copperhead papers
are filled with it. All these sources of
mischief know as we'll as we do that the
enrolment is far more just as basis for
drafting than the census, and hence that
the whole complaint is,a malignant sham,
intended to deceive the most ignorant class
Of their followers, such as those who en-
gagged in the New York riots of last wear.
No intelligent man can he deceived by it.
And what object can there be in spreading
this deception among the ignorant, save to
stir mp mob violence by cunning system
OF falsehood, consisting of the display OF
figures which. even il true in themselves.
are made the cover of lie. Thus. the
knaves quibble that the dupes may rebel.