CONFEDERATE STATES. 



Soon after, some measures were taken to test 

 the constitutionality of the law before the 

 courts of that State. James M. Levingood. who 

 had been enrolled as a conscript, sued out a writ 

 of habeas corpus before Judge T..W. Thomas, 

 of the superior court in the county of Elbert, 

 Georgia. The principal point made before the 

 court was thus expressed : li The conscript act 

 is unconstitutional, and therefore the act itself, 

 and all regulations and orders based upon it, are 

 likewise void.'' A lengthy opinion was given 

 by the court, which concluded thus : 



In the preamble of our Confederate Constitution care 

 is taken to assert and maintain that the States are sov- 

 ereign and independent. In what sense can this be 

 said of Georgia, if every man of her militia can be 

 taken from under the control of her constitutional com- 

 mander-in-chief without his consent ? Must he abdi- 

 cate his most important duties by permitting himself 

 to be disarmed of his forces, and "all this too in viola- 

 tion of his oath of office, in case he should think them 

 necessary for the protection of the State ? 



If Congress can pass a conscript act with certain ex- 

 emptions, they can pass it without exemptions. Xo 

 one will deny this. If, therefore, they have the power 

 to prescribe "what shall be militia and to conscribe at 



Eleasure, they may take the governor, general assem- 

 ly, and the "whole judiciary, and thus annihilate the 

 State government. 



The palpable infraction of the Confederate compact 

 is sometimes indeed, principally defended on the 

 plea of necessity. What a dangerous fallacy ! We 

 have expended 100,000 lives anof untold millions of 

 money to maintain the constitution and the independ- 

 ence of the States, aud shall we now violate it, and de- 

 stroy the State government ? As reasonably might we 

 commit suicide to avoid personal danger. 



Xor is this plea of necessity true in fact. The con- 

 script law can only furnish men. We have, and had 

 before, State laws to reach every man in the State be- 

 tween IS and 45, and to say the "conscript law was ne- 

 cessary to procure men is to maintain the arithmetical 

 absurdity that there is more men in the countrv be- 

 tween IS and 35 than between 18 and 45. 



Whereupon, and for these reasons, it is ordered and 

 adjudged by the court that the act of the Confederate 

 Congress known as the conscript law, and entitled " An 

 act to further provide for the public defence," is void ; 

 and the plaintiff, James M. Levingood, be released and 

 discharged from the custody and control of Sidney P. 

 Bruce, and from the custody and control of the sheriff 

 of this court, and be set at" liberty, to go wherever he 

 pleases. 



The case was immediately carried up, to the 

 Supreme Court of the State, which overruled 

 this decision. 



Subsequently, on the approach of the Federal 

 forces into Camden county, an application was 

 made to Governor Brown for authority to call 

 out the local militia for its defence. Instead 

 of authorizing the call of the non-conscripts, 

 he laid the subject before the Legislature. The 

 joint committee to whom it was referred were 

 divided. A majority reported most decisive 

 resolutions against the constitutionality of the 

 conscript act, but the minority recommended 

 acquiescence in the measures of the Confederate 

 Congress. (See GEORGIA.) While the discus- 

 sion was going on in the Legislature, the subject 

 was taken up before the people, and Mr. A. H. 

 Kenan, a member of the Confederate Congress, 

 delivered a public address at Milledgeville. the 

 seat of government, in which he thus stated 



that their safety depended on the success of the 

 conscription law : 



Georgia is the last State that ought to complain and 

 resist this law. Georgia has not yet been invaded. We 

 have not yet suffered at our doors and in our estates 

 from the presence of a hostile foe. The battles in our 

 defence have been fought hundreds of miles away from 

 us. The Virginians have suffered in person and" prop- 

 erty to an extent that you who are at home and far 

 from the enemy cannot appreciate. You have uever 

 had your patriotism and devotion to our cause aud 

 country tested. The people of Virginia have lost their 

 property, their negroes, their food, their all. Their 

 houses, their barns and fences have been burned before 

 their eyes, their wives and children insulted and driven 

 from home, and themselves carried away captives, and 

 still they are true. You know nothing of the ravages 

 of war. When you and your wives and children are 

 driven from home without "food and clothing, to hide iu 

 the mountains and caves, your negroes stolen and the 

 torch applied to your premises, then your patriotism 

 will be tested. Can you endure that ? Had you not 

 better do all you can to keep the war away from your 

 borders? Is it well for you to be squabbling about 

 State rights and who shall appoint captains and colo- 

 nels when the enemy is thundering at your doors '? We 

 have had brilliant victories, and our arms have per- 

 formed such deeds as history has nowhere recorded. 

 Conscription has done it for us. If this war goes on, 

 we have to whip 500,000 of the best men the enemy 

 has got before next spring, or they will whip us. If 

 we whip them, conscription will have done it without 

 it we will fail. 



In Alabama a citizen not exempt under the 

 law, was elected a justice of the peace. The 

 probate court refused to accept his bond on the 

 ground that he was ineligible, being between 

 the ages of 18 and 35, and virtually a conscript. 

 An application was made to the circuit court 

 for a mandamus to the probate court. The 

 circuit court, Judge Henry, ruled: 1st. That 

 the probate court had no right to inquire into 

 the question of eligibility. 2d. The court also 

 ruled, obiter dictum, that by the passage of the 

 conscript law, and the call of the President, 

 and instructions of the Secretary of War, every 

 man between the ages fixed by the law was vir- 

 tually a conscript, and could not, by having 

 office cast upon him subsequently, escape the 

 conscription. 



These were the most important instances 

 of opposition to the law. All methods were 

 resorted to by private individuals to escape 

 its operation which the most skilful inge- 

 nuity could devise. In the city of Mobile, 

 nearly 500 men of the ages subject to military 

 duty, applied for and received certificates of 

 citizenship from consular agents. These were 

 certificates of their allegiance to other powers 

 than the Southern Confederacy. Others took 

 shelter under the exemptions to be found in the 

 militia laws of the State Legislatures. This, in 

 some instances, was acquiesced in by the Con- 

 federate authorities, although the conscript law 

 did not recognize any acts of State Legislatures. 



The call of the President was for the whole 

 body of men between the ages of eighteen and 

 thirty-five. Immediately after the publication 

 of the call the enrolment commenced. Much 

 time elapsed during the preliminary arrange- 

 ments and it was not until the month of June 



