, 1865-01-30
THE FLESH BROKERS.
4 Morning In the Naval Rendezvous Tho
Brokers ut Work--Eunnlns on 1Ien
10 New Tork---The IuIqnl-
Ties OF the System.

1nE% ana fecfulls arc presenting themselves N
| large numbers. From nine in the morning until
| tLreo o'clock In the afternoon, the rooms are
] thronecd with meu, some to enlist and others rs
brokers. Two room. are devoted to the ncndez~
| yous, recruiting business proper. Outside Of
these the whole building, rooms, ha1ls, and even
the sidewalks arc appropriated by the sharks who
| 60 under the mild name Of "brokers."
We eay "mfld uanc," for with perhaps one or
| two exceptions the whole tzIbe Is M assemblaso
| olive scarcely know what term to employ that
would be harsh enough. Robbery under ,te
gnlse Of sharp bargains, and subornaton Of per-
Jury, are constant. They are like wasps nrouud a
honey. pot. and In genuine wasp fashiou every &C.
| to sting more raDk1y.
Our fe .orier spent the morning OF Friday in
the rccE1ittns Office. and watched the naodu3
| optFdudL Ous Of squad OF pcrhspa thirty men
nineteen were accepted By the sarEeon. Then
caule the credits. They were called upstnsly,
| and questioned, with 6ut three exceptions thsyf
| claimed a@icnagc, two being under age, and re-
Jected till the eonsent Of thelr parents couId he
obtained, and The otner exception, discharged
adcs ste esdsnea IL he ssss Of
fancy They had never yoted, never been enrolled,
i1 fact were at perfect liberty to enlist where they
many more for months. or fourteen passed
without detention, only three were credited
10 Cook county, while clglt ont Of The fourteen
one Of the lot pretended thu. &c had ever been in
Osweco, and not one knew that he was going on IT.
credit: several ea,d they snp2ossd that they were
one wanted to 90 FOR Maukegsa in this State.
There ls no ditsuisins the fact that the brokers
arc Ct work as hard 70 ever ruan'ng men onto
the city, very many Of whom belong to Chicago,
and all Of whom won!d Just as willingly be credit
ed to Cook comfy as elsewhere hut for the bro
md ihey are lied to in tnrn, I monss beins psois,
Cd then whsn they st aboard sApe, When the
fast1s Hat 70 money il paid there except what is
two hundred dollars. otheEa mo.e; but none
get more than is pAid BY Cook county. the balance
gocs n.o the p9eses. Of the b1okesa the ayerngs
dollars each. The recent order Of Captain uarty
that credits sheuld MOI be allowed to other places
The district. Is already being evaicd. The brokers
have Ept printed FIRMS which purpost o'be s'rncd
es1 Whcn heV ", oa1 i1 hn OF
more pestferocs sink or eorrup ION than that
building, famfltarly known as Uiichs Block,
tbe Northern States. We do moi include the soy. y
ernment officers in this dcnnnciauon; they seem
anxious to fight the evil, but under existing regu-
swesr falsely, Government officer is not neces-
sar4ly coguizant Of the fact. and though he may
suspect. be has nj right TO interfere in the ab-
of Law that staten,eut Is true unless palpably
Otherwise, OF until dlsproyen- But the fact that,
III an yas
is moral proof that the grealer portion or them.
lice, especially II 1t be considered that the great
man caunot remain long in this country without
voting, but tho ch ances arc strongly agatnst his
abstinence if.the5e be a polling place within
hail. 5
Can nothing be done to stop this internal traffic
In humaa flesh! And this IL not really the worst
eovers 1nulti'udes Of scenes at which any human
being would shuddsF, were not his conscience
casc-hardeued By a long eouTse Of 1niquity. We
cannot do more thnn indicate the nature Of the
business. The broker, Of himself, is compara-
tvety harmless animal, reptile without fanSs.
Bnt he has his subordinates; whole. host Of sat
Of the city daily and nightly in search Of vietims
The Wt1es which they resort to IN many C1sea to
entrap thcir men are almost past comprehension.
The getting man drunk. and mnkfns him sign
promise while IN 4 etate Of fntoxicatton, which
they frchten him into keeping when sober, Is one
of The most innocent nudes OF obtaining re-
crulte.
waa1a scarcely be fair 70 i9e'ads a' Without
have not heard that they resort 10 these villainies
llres were blame1ees. but Of tas great mass. TOO
rot one who II! Own to my rascality. Ask them
ard they will tell you they arc Mnch abused class
hs1 o5 S sna ey
deny moet cmphadcaly that the5 were ever con-
cefned IN obtai1ing recruit for any other State
to New York were "put in " by broker who has
repeatedly assured our reporters that he dld moth
Ing OF the kind, and has been uniformly "hurt'
when the possibility Of such thing was hinted
The demoralizing practice has too generally
fir firm hold on or police systeET: The yery men
gladly. It's suid By those WHO assume 70 know.
mt hs5s T. s bpDe eF tno IN the
this be trne, bnt 1t Is certan that ms]oriiy Of
them do hnnt up men f,r the brokers, and shaEc
In the proceeds. We admit thst the temptation Is
strong. Fifty dollars per month WILL Nor support
famity in these times, and the police have not
Jet received one cent mora than that although au
published report Of one case on Fziday; there
were some pa1liating circumstances attending It;
We understand that the prosecuting witness had
ton Of Ruse is thercf:Te doubtful. Still the net
WAS wrong. But scores Of cases have occurred
where there we're 10 mitigating circumstances,
ed up men al night, when tic onlyApparent reason
for the arrest was wish to tr:hten them Into the
Better would be the dsaft at once; far better
than that this system should be encouraged. or
even permitted. There is nothing very terrible In
men w be
wanted. But there Is terrible deterioration In
the morals OF society produced and fostered by
most any danger should be borne or snforing
chosen in preference. But We do not sec that the
draft would come upon ns any the more heavily 4
decidedly the quota OF Cook county would bo tlled
all the sooner. The chief business OF these men
Is not to recrut for this county but out Of it. and
II recruit Il credited to this district, 1t Is by
cident and not By any choice On the part OF the
brokerB.J
The evil can only be abolished In one way. Let
cur citizens determine for themselves that 1t
ehalI be stopped, and It will speedily be done.
There Is law enough in the cnse II II only be en-
eay to the contrary. But, so long city olcials
are in leaeRc with them, and arc drawing dlyi. @
Will the evi-docr rejoice IN his shame, and go
punished, just so long will The flesh broker ride
rampant IN our city, and wiring. his thousands
will bounty jumpers thrive, for 1t Is on them,
class, that the broker counts for customers, and
| their numbers are largely increased by the dis
| tons practiced upon them.