The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1865-03-24
Thirty.Eighth Congress Second Session
House of representatives..
FRIDAY, Feb. "a, 1865.
ENROLMENT BILL.


regular order, the bill (H X No. 676l to
amend tho act entitled "Au act further to
rog gulatc and provide for the enrolling and
calling out the national forces, and for 9th.
or purposes, approved July a, 1864, and
tbe other acts relating TO enrolment and
draft
The pending question was upon the mo.
ton to amend by inserting after tho word
"enrCllment" in the eighth limo of the sec.
ond section tho following word.
PEOUtded, That persons not liab.o TO on
rollmcnt or draft, who may hereafter vol.
untoer, shall be credited to such tub dis
trict as they may elect at the time of their
enlistment
l. Tho amendment was not agreed to.
Mr.. BLAIN. Objection was made yester.
day TO the proviso inserted upon my mo.
tion, on the ground that it might DO retro
| active and Cut off credits already made
AT the suggestion of some gentlemen on the
opposite side of tho Chamber. | move To
| amend by inserting after the word ",roops'
tho word "hcreaftci;' so that the clause will
read, 'in any call for troops hereafter"
|, Tho amendment was agreed to.
| MIR STEVENS. ] do not see the propriety
OF this section. boiovo that, if adopted it
will rotard volunteering. ! believe that
Gch Hancock, who has boen endoavorne
TO form corps of twenty thousand mon.
would long ago have succeeded had not tho
Wur Department adopted regulation
similar TO the provisions of this section.
know that at least two regiments from my
county would have gone into that corps, had
they boon permitted to take bounty from
the highest bidder. When they found that
they could no. go where they could obtain
tho most favorable allowance as 10 bounty,
they refused to onlist. do not know, but
l imagine that Gen. Hancock, k,netwithstand.
ing his ability as an officer, has signalIy
failed in bis efforts to raise that corps. /
can SEQ 10 reason why the poor soldier, who
is willing to volunteer should not get the
highest bounty that he eau. If one is will
ing to pay $500, and another refuses to pay
anythipg why should not these poor men
be permitted TO go and take the $500 for
the benefit of their families? In that way
you will fill tho Army with volunteers in.
stend OF drafted men. l think that tho sol.
der is entitled to oil that ho can get. aud
therefore am opposed to the whole sec.
ton.
MIR. GARFIELD. Mr.. Speaker, l rise to
oppose tho motion. 1t is a little singular
that the gentleman from Peunsdivania W no
is 30 strongly opposed to FREQ trade 10 gold
is in favor OF free trade iu substitutes, in the
bodies and lives OF men TO fill the ranks oi
tho Army. bolieve that tho Committee
on Military affairs has offered no PROPOSE
ton this session of such vital importa zee 10
the country in reference to raising soldiers
Tor the Army as the section now before tho
House. l will endeavor to state briefly
some OF the reasons why it should be re.
tanned. AS tho law stands at present, citi.
zens may enlist wherever thev can get the
highest bounty. The consequence is that
in tho rich Districts in tho Giles, in places
where money is more plenty than men, high
bounties will be offered, and tho poorer dis
tricts will lose the men who go of and en-.
list in the rich districts, and thus the poor
districts will bo compelled to mako Up their
quotas on the basis of the enrolled lists OF
the districts. 1t NAV be that in a township
ouly one hundred men are enrolled; forty
60 off and enlist rs substitutes in rich dis.
tricte; and while that township must make
up its quota from the sixty who remain, the
whole of tho one hundred wero reckoned as
the basis on which tho draft proceeds. The
substitute brokerage system has grown out
of this practice.
What is a substitute broker? A man who
establishes an Office and offers to furnish
substitutes for different localities. He paws
bountles and gathers men in gangs for
sale, and when tho committees of any
town are hard pressed 10 fill up their
quotas they seud to tho substitute broker
and buy his wares at cxorbitant rates. He
gets men for comparatively q small bounty
and sells them at enormous prices to the
districts that are otherwise unable to pro.
vide to fill their quotas. The result has
been that mon in all parts of the United
States have been compelled to see their
sons bought and sold by these infamous
substitute brokers. Itis, sir, only little
less Infamous than was thc~domestic slave
trade in this country ten years ago. Now
in view of the great and sacred cause in
which we are engaged, it does not become
us to suffer the existence of practice as
nefarious as the slave trade. How shall VIC
strike blow at the evil: How shall we get
at it.: We do in this section legisIate
against substitute brokers 60 nomino, but
We say that every district shall furnish its
own troops, and that wherever a man may
have enlisted, wherever he may have gone
as q substitute, he shall be credited to his
own place of residence. That being DONE
the occupation of substitute broker is
gone. There is then nothing for him to do
and he cannot set up an Office in New York
or Washington to buy substitutes for any
other place, for when a substitute is OBJ
tained he is to be credited where he is en-.
rolled.
The learned gentleman MIR. SrEvENsl is
right when he says that his county in Penn.
can raise ite quota ie permitted to go out
in the poorer districts aud buy substitutes.
grant that special localities will be favored,
but it will be at the'expense of the poorer
districts. The effect of the substitute sys.
tenn on the Army is deplorablo. Men who
consent to sell themselves to the highest
bidder viii! not be unwilling to desert The
flag and under another name obtain o sec.