Year: 1864

|


Fellow Citizens Of the Senate and House of Rtpre-
sentattCes:


welcome you again to the Capitol
BY virtue of that provision of the Con.
stitution which authorizes the Governor
to convene the Legislature upon eek
traordinary occasions" your present
assembling has been required. The
period is itself revolutionary and alto
gether extraordinary. The rebellion
still refuses to give us either peace or
rest and no human forecast seems suf:
ticient TO provide for all the exigencies
OF single year. AT your last session,
after having tried the hard experiences
OF war for nearly two years, and
learned somewhat of the requirements
OF the occasion, it was hoped that all
had been done which would be re-
quired during the term for which you
had been elected, and for the fulfill
ment of the obligation owed by the
people of Michigan to the national Gov
erment, in its great effort to protect the
Union and save the nation entire. All
the measures of that session were. /
believe, wisely adapted TO the purposes
had in view but some changes made
by acts OF Congress in the method of
recruitment of the national forces, and
the failure of those acts to accomplish
the object in the manner and to the
extent anticipated, have rendered fur
ther legislation expedient and even
necessary. The enrolment act was
evidently intended to dispense with the
system of volunteering, and to rely
mainly, if not entirely, upon drafting,
to reinforce the national armies. No
further appeals were to be made direct
| ly 10 the State authorities, TO furnish
their quotas of volunteers, as had been
previously done; but the Government
would at once lay its hands upon the
men required, by means of the Provost
Marshals and the machinery of the
draft. 1t resulted, Of course, that local
and State bounties would he no further
required nor would any further agita-
tion by the local authorities be neces-
sary, in any part of the country. This
project has been tried, apparently with
results not altogether satisfactory,
whether for the reason that the law it..
self was crude and defective, or that
the system was not in accordance with
the habits and genius of our people, it
is not necessary now TO impure. The
Presi ent has, for whatever reason, in
his proclamation of October last, "call-
ing upon the Governors of the different
| States to raise and have enlisted into
the United States service, for the vari-
Gus companies and regiments in the
field from their respective States, their
quotas ofthree hundred thousand men,"
returned to the old system, which looks
to recruiting as the chief reliance for
Strengthening the military forces. The
demand that the enlistments should all
be "for the various companies and regi-
ments in the field" also indicates de-
termination to cease ornamenting am
bilious civilians with the insignia of
military command, and in its stead to
reinforce the veteran corps by enlist
ments into their well trained ranks, un-
der officers of tried courage and skill !;
a policy so wise that it is only wonder
full that it was not adopted long before.
AS soon as practicable after the issue
of this call, the quotas of the several
States were made known 10 them. that
of Michigan being little in excess of
eleven thousand. 1t was the duty of
the State to respond to this call for
volunteers with the promptness and
energy which has characterized our
people since the war began, and has
made Michigan soldiers pride and a
glory in every army in which they have
served. TO do this required. that all
our recruiting machinery, which had
been laid aside for the draft, should be
again brought into full operation.
Some little delay was unavoidably oc-
casioned in consequence of the draft
being at the time in actual progress ;
but all things considered, the success
has been more than equal to the most
sanguine expectations. Recruiting has
been brought back to the standard OF
enthusiasm of the first year of the war,
and the ability of the State still to fill
its quotas by the process of voluntary
enlistments, has been proved beyond
doubt.


i -. BoUNTIES.


i This has been accomplished mainly
~ offarino of liberal bOunties &c