ENROLMENT AND DRAFT. 



365 



of office of any person claiming exemption under the 

 provision mentioned may be required to be shown. 



54. To establish exemption under the second, third, 

 fourth, fifth, and sixth provisions of section two of the 

 act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, &c., 

 the board shall require the affidavits of the persons seek- 

 ing to be exempt, and of two respectable men (heads 

 of families) residing in the district, that the man in 

 question is " the only son of aged or infirm parent or 

 parents dependent on his labor for support," or other- 

 wise according to the particular provision of the sec- 

 tion under which the exemption is claimed. These af- 

 fidavits will be made according to the forms hereinaf- 

 ter prescribed, and must in all cases be taken before a 

 civil magistrate duly authorized to administer oaths. 

 These forms of affidavit shall be published by the 

 board of enrolment in the newspapers of the district, 

 for the information of the public, where a draft is or- 

 dered. 



55. Persons claiming exemption from enrolment 

 must furnish clear proof of their right to such exemp- 

 tion. They will be enrolled where the proof of their 

 exemption'is not clear and conclusive. 



There were still other causes of exemption 

 arising from the errors of the enrolling officers. 

 Those who were enrolled and were not citizens 

 of the United States nor had declared an inten- 

 tion of becoming such, were entitled to a dis- 

 charge if their names were drawn. In some 

 districts large numbers were dismissed for this 

 reason. Again, those who were under twenty 

 or over forty-five years of age were entitled 

 to a discharge if their names were drawn. For 

 all these reasons the proportion of those ex- 

 empted was large, as compared with those who 

 were held unless they could pay $300 or pro- 

 vide a substitute. The ratio of rejections, how- 

 ever, for mental and physical infirmities in the 

 United States, France, and Great Britain, at the 

 periods stated, was as follows : 



On the 19th of October the provost-mar- 

 shal-general made a report of the results in 

 seventy-three districts where the draft had 

 been completed, or was nearly so. Of those 

 who were drawn, including the fifty per cent, 

 additional, over eighty per cent, reported in 

 accordance with the orders of the boards. Of 

 all examined, about thirty per cent, were ex- 

 empted on account of physical disability ; an- 

 other thirty per cent, were exempted under the 

 provisions of the second section of the act 

 above quoted, or found not liable on account 

 of alienage, unsuitableness of age, non-resi- 

 dence, etc. About forty per cent, of the men 

 examined have been held to service ; about 

 one half of these paid the commutation of 

 $300 ; about two thirds of the remainder fur- 

 nished substitutes, and the other third went 

 in person to the field. Thus, if the number 

 drafted is supposed to be 150, then deduct 20 

 per cent, for those not reported, it becomes 

 120; then deduct 60 per cent, or 72 for ex- 

 empts, it becomes 48 who were held for ser- 

 vice ; then deduct one half for those who paid 



commutation, and it becomes 24 of this num- 

 ber two thirds (16) furnished substitutes, and 

 the other third (8) went to the field. In this 

 proportion, the enrolment of 3,113,305 would 

 have sent into the field 66,043 as conscripts ; 

 132,686 as substitutes total, 198,129 men. 



Several of the Western States were not 

 subjected to the draft on account of an ex- 

 cess of volunteers, and in other Western States 

 the quota was quite small from the same 

 cause. Of the twenty per cent, who did not 

 report, some were unavoidably absent, others 

 deserted. The amount of commutation money 

 received was $10,518,000. This money was 

 used to procure recruits for old organizations, 

 and as bounties to promote the reenlistment of 

 veteran volunteers then in service. A bounty 

 of $300 was so generally paid by cities, coun- 

 ties and States, that drafted men could either 

 retain it and go to the field, or purchase a sub- 

 stitute who was not liable to military service. 

 Relative to physical disability the following 

 statement of the provost-marshal-general is of 

 interest : 



Since the present rebellion began about two hundred 

 thousand soldiers, after entering the service, have been 

 discharged on surgeons' certificates of disability. It 

 is probable that at least one half of them were unfit 

 for service when received. It may be safely said that 

 forty millions of money were uselessly expended in 

 bringing them into the field, to say nothing of their 

 subsequent expense to the Government. 



In Great Britain, under the system of voluntary en- 

 listments, the rejections average over twenty-seven 

 per cent. In France, from 1831 to 1842, the average 

 number of exemptions annually was 94,860 ; so that, 

 to secure the contingent of 80,000 men, 174,860 con- 

 scripts were annually examined. Of the recruits who 

 presented themselves for enlistment in our regular 

 army in 1862, seventy per cent, were rejected for phys- 

 ical infirmities, exclusive of age or stature. Between 

 the 1st of January and the 1st of July last more than 

 one half were rejected. These were men who desired 

 to be accepted. These proportions are of interest in 

 connection with the fact that less than one third of the 

 drafted men who desire not to be accepted have been 

 exempted on account of physical unfi tness. 



The draft was forcibly resisted in New York, 

 Boston, and Troy. {See RIOTS.) 



Many writs of habeas corpus were served 

 upon the officers connected with the draft. 

 (See HABEAS CORPUS.) The practice adopted 

 in regard to those issued by courts of the 

 United States was to obey the writs and abide 

 the judgment of the court. In the cases of 

 like writs issued by State courts, the practice 

 was to deny the jurisdiction of the State courts 

 and decline to produce the person held. The 

 courts in many cases continued to claim juris- 

 diction, and regarded the officer making the 

 return as guilty of contempt. The civil courts 

 also assumed jurisdiction in cases of claims for 

 exemption from military duty, both before and 

 after the boards had given final decision on 

 them. The fourteenth section of the act is as 

 follows: "All persons drafted and claiming 

 exemption from military duty on account of 

 disability, or any other cause, shall present 

 their claims to be exempted to the board, 





