St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1865-04-06
THE ENROLMENT Law.

The ENROLMENT Law.
IMPORTANT DECISIONS OF THE
U. S. ATTORNEY GEKRRAL.
ATTORNEY GEsERAL's OFrcr,l
March Is, 1865.
Hen Ed,cin IL. !Stanfon. Sec,e,a,x Of W., ;,
SIR Upon the 18th section of the Act
entitled can Act to amend the several Acts
heretofore passed TO provide for the enroll
ing and calling out of the national foretst"
which provides as follows: .rs-
." That hereafter all persons mustered in
to the military or naval service, whether as
volunteers, substitutes, representatives, or
otherwise, shall be credited to ths State.
and to the ward. township, precinct, or 9TH
er enrolment sub-district, where such per-
SONS belong by actual residence, (if such
Pt rsons have an actual residence within the
United States,) ard where such persons
were or shall be enrolled. (if liable to e.
roimehD; and it is hereby made the dutv
OF the Provost Marshal General to make
such rules and give, such instructions to
the several Provost Msrshals, Boards Of
Enrolment, and Mastering Officers Ne shall
be necessary for the faithful enforcement
OF the provisions of this section, to the end
that fair and just credit shall be gwen to-
every section of the country: Provided,
That in any call for troops hereafter. no
county, town, township, ward, precinct, or
election district, shall have credit exeept
for men actually furnished On said call. or
the preceding call, by said county. tnrn.
township, ward, precinct, or election dis
tr'c', mastered into the military or naval
service on the quota thereof
You, IN your letter of the 18th of March.
ask my opinion on the following points:
F"st: AS TO the meaning Of the words
'.actuai residence as employed in the
above section, and the proper mode. &C.
cord,ng to law, of determining the actual
residence of men Offering as recruits.
Seeend. Where the 'sactual residence
OF tie recruit is in one sub district, and he
Is enrolled in different sub district, where
shall the credit he given?
1h"d. In cases where the lecrait has no
legal doRlcil or actual residence in any en-
'oilment sub-district, shall he be credited
to the sub-district or district where he is
enrolled, or shall-he be allowed to select
his locality!
1.-The first of the above questions NAV
be divided into two parts: First, as to the
meaning of the words '.ac,usl resideace;''
and secondly, as to the proper mode of as
certaiHlng the 'sactual residence.'
1t is very difficult to give test bv which
the question Of actual residence may be-
determined in each particular case. flew
general rules may be given, however, by
which vast majority Of the cases can be
readily determined.
l. Every person must be presumed to
have An actual residence somewhere:
=. A man can have but one actual resi-
| dence at ore and the same time.
3. residence once acquired remains
until another is acquired.
4. The place of a mans origin Is that Of
his actus: residence until he acquires an
| other
s: Minors have their actual residence
with their parents. guardians, or, if sp~
prentices. with their masters.
6. Adults reside at the places of their
dwelling. A mans dwelling is in contra
distinction to his place of business, trade.
or occupation. He dwells at the place he
habituaily sleeps or passes his nights.
| 4. In every country there 10 more or less
population floating like drift. They never
expect to remain long at any place, and 70
thence whenever and wherever the hope Of
employment may invite, OF fancy dictate.
Such persons have their actual residence
in the community in which they may dwell
At the time of the enrollnen>. 49, -.
As 10 the mode of ascertaininr the attn
Al residence of recruit, the statute sives
authority t" the Provost Marshal General
to make such rules and give such instrue-
tlons as will enable the Boards of Enroll.
ment and Mastering Officers to ascertain
the facts, and assign the credit according
to the truth Of the case. In most cases,
the affidavit of the enrolled man would de-
termi.,e the matter. But rs it Is = oues-
zion in which the sub-districts have an in
tercst as we'll as the recruits, and - the
recruits may, for bounties or bribes, de-
clare contrary to the fact, their places of
residence, the rules to be prescribed should
admit OF counter proof. 80
u-My opinion il, that where the actual
residence is in one sub-district, and the
man is enrolled in = different cub district.
the credit should be given to the district of
his actual residence.
The whole object and purpose Of this
section is to fix rule by which places ars
to receive credits for enrolled men. Il
gives rule of credits to the State, aud to
the ward township, precinct, or other en-
rollnent sub-district, for enrolled men on
ly. 1t is silent rs to how or where recruits
not enrolled, or liable to be enrolled. are ia
be credited. In order that the credit NAV
he made according to the rule IN this Sec
tion prescribed, the man must NOT only
have An actual residence, but he must be
! enrolled. The words of the section. t.and
where such persons were or shall be en-
rolled, relate to the fact Of enrolment
rather than the place Of enrolment Those
words are introduced to announce the fact
of enrolment, and not to affect or control
the question as to the place of credit. This
il manifest from the context, and espec.
ially from the words in parenthesis. iu,l
following those above quoted, to-wit is.il
liable to enrollment.")
4 1l-Nothing else appearing, it must b,
taken for granted that the actual residence
is the place of enrolment, and the credi,
given accordingly. II, however, it should
be made to appear that, though enrolled in
. particular sub-district, the person has NJ