Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1865-03-14

inater provided, any substitute shall be
credit1d 70 the tow" SO. Congress meant
thak the credit should be given according
70 the mode Of count prescribed in the act
Of the Sd Of March, 1868.
The whole purpose Of the second section
Of the amendatorY sact was 70 enable the
President to equaiise the draft In the several
districts, surely not 70 have one mode Of
count in; Ascertaining the quotas Of the sew
eral States and districts, and another mode
for equslizing the districts. Besides, it is
hardly to be considered that Congress would
thus evidently strike from 50 important q
statute feature 80 prominent and equits-
ble.' --..r [...
lam, therefore, of the opinion that the
mode Of ascertalning and assigning to
States and districts their respective quotas,
as prescribed In the twelfth section Of the
act of the Sd of July, 1853, is not repealed,
and that the same mode must be preserved
in equaiizing the draft among the subdi7is-
ions of each district 1A
Next comes ths question, Whist Is the
mode of count prescribed in the 18th sec
ton of the act Of the Sd of March, 1868?
It is very plain that Congress regarded
that consideration of the period of service
would change the rule upon merely nu-
merical one. Some credit was to be given
for the period Of service as we'll as for the
man. Congress has fixed various periods
of service, and States and districts, and
fractions Of districts. had furnished men
for those periods of service. Now how is
the credit to be given7,, w-:-5
Before proceeding to answer the ques-
tion, it may be proper to state that 1t Is in
sisted that the words Hperiod Of time" snd
time of service" as used in the 18th sec
ton Of the act Of March 3, 1883, mean
something different from term of service.
It seems to me that the phrases mean one
and the same thing. When the word
''term' is used in reference to time, it is,
according to the photographers, very near
ly thesynonYm of Hperiod." The differ
ence betWixt them, if any, Is too uncertain
and Ahadowy to believe that Congress
meant by the use Of one, something diff
ferent from what is understood by the
other. But the words period and term
both occur In after-parts Of the acts now
under consideration. In the 18th section
of the act Of 1853, the term of service is
spoken Of, and the term of re-enEstmentJ
whilst in the 7th section of the amended
act, it is the period for which he shall have
enlisted, and the period for which he shall
have been drafted. Thus it will be per-
ceived, that upon the very face Of these
acts, Congress used these words as mean
ing the same thing. It happens too in the
act that neither word may be used and yet
the same idea intended, as in the 9Th sec
ton of the amended act, where the
language is " shall be credited by his ser
vices"
Regarding their period of service, and
term of service IS meaning the same thing,
any argument predicated upon difference
must be disregarded. And thus we are
brought back to the question, how is the
credit to be giTen2 Must the credit be for
the time of actual service, or the period of
enlistment 2li5o ..- Ts-
/ think that Congress intended by the
words tperiod Of service to give credit for
the time of his enlistment. When man
enlists in the service of the Government for
one, two and three years, his services are
due to the Government for that period,
and during that period his services are with
drawn troIn the industrial pursuits Of life.
The act speaks IS though there was GER
tain and fixed period for the services of
each man, and yet if any period or time is
taken other than the term of enlistment,
by some system of averages or guesses, a
rule must be fixed. To do 30 would violate |
the certainty contemplated by the act.
lam, therefore, of the opinion, that the
President must, under the act, give credit |
by the whole period or term for which the
man enlisted,
Whether this is the rule that should |
have been adopted by Congress, whether
it does not operate unequslly, and whether
It is exactly Just or not, are questions which
cannot now be considered. It is familiar
to all that special cases Of hardship will
occur by the application of any general
rule, nevertheless the law, as written, must
be pursued and enforced.
Very Respectfully,
49, Your Obedient Servant
s tSl9ned) Is- JAMES SPEED,
Attorney General.
To the Preaideut.