232 surgeons' reports — Connecticut — second district. 



The forcigii-boiii inhabitants of the United States, iTuder the proofs now requiietl, undoubtedly 

 commit gTeat frauds to escape when drafted, such as false swearing and false aftidavits of alienage. 

 It would be no great hardship to require such men to submit a full, detailed, and sworn i)ersonal 

 history of themselves since coming to this country, fortified by affidavits of persons iu the several 

 localities where such foreigners had resided since their arrival in the United States. 



Large bounties are a great temptation to enlist and "jump them," as the phrase goes. I would 

 recommend, in order to cure this evil, that the law should be so modified that uo State, city, county, 

 or town should offer bounties payable otherwise than in equal annual or semi-annual installments 

 during the period of service. The greatest frauds have been committed by the substitutes using 

 all conceivable falsehoods, and pretensions having show of truth and plausibility, in order, first, to 

 get into the service, and obtain the bounty, and then to get away. Connivance has often existed 

 between the substitute and his principal. It is uo uncommon thing for the principal to agree to 

 aid iu the desertion of his substitute, upon an agreement that a part of the sum i)aid should, upon 

 such escape, be refunded by the substitute to the principal. This could be avoided by accepting 

 no substitute unless he shall actually live in the towu from which the jjrincipal is drafted. The 

 substitute would then have a "local habitation and a name," and the restraints of fumily, reputa- 

 tion, relationship, i)ast probity and honor, to restrain him from the act of desertion. Thus, too, one 

 Slate by its large bounties would not draw from the population of others, and every section would 

 be equally burdened. Another source of fraud is the anxiety of sele<!tmen of towns and other civil 

 officials rather to fill quotas than to increase the military force with honest and able-bodied men. 

 Hence, it not uiitiequently happens that the periodically insane, the vicious, the lazy, and the un- 

 thrifty mendicant are foisted by fraudulent statements, false oaths, and unfair practices of city and 

 town officials upon boards of enrollment. To cure this evil, the penal enactments of the statute 

 should be severe and summary upon all such pioceedings. The disabilities imposed by statute 

 upon desertions from the draft should be more severe; immediate trial by court-martial should take 

 place, and speedy punishment be awarded. In dagraut cases, the punishment of death should be 

 inflicted. One or two executions would secure the good faith and prompt response of a whole dis- 

 trict. 



If substitute-brokers are to be considered a necessary evil, they should be licensed by the Gov- 

 ernment, approved by the Provost-Marshal-Geueral, and the law should make them, by the very 

 fact of receiving such appointment, a part of the military force, subject to court-martial and pun- 

 ishment; and they should be held to the same responsibility as are the regular ofBcers of the Army 

 and Navy when on recruiliug-service. 



The statute should also provide for charging against every locality all desertions from service, 

 to be made up by further drafts. In this way, a public sentiment ivould be created in favor of 

 honesty; the property-interests of the community would be eidisted, as all sums paid for bounties 

 would be lost to the town, or other locality, upon the desertion of the recruit or substitute, as the 

 case might be. By such a process, the public would be taught, from self-interest, to desire only to 

 strengthen the armies, and not merely to fill quotas. * # * 



In compiuing the first three nationalities, the American, the Irish, and the German, I consider 

 the native American, tcithoiU respect of color, possessed of the greatest i)hysical aptitude for military 

 service. In the purely physical elements of strength, agility, and endurance, the native American, 

 whether reared upon the farm or taken from the shop of the artisan, the counter of the merchant, 

 or from manufacturing, sea-faring, professional, or literary pursuits, compares favorably, on exami- 

 nation, with either the Irish or the German. • * » 



My experience as to the phj'sical qualification of the colored race for military service has' been 

 limited to the organization of the Twenty-ninth Kegiment of Colored Troops froni this State, and 

 the partial organization of the Thirtieth. The several companies of these regiments were forwarded 

 from this State, a large proportion of them having been recruited here. In regard to these regi- 

 ments, I have to say that, in size, weight, and well-formed muscular develoi)meut of the men, they 

 were superior to any regiments that went from this State. They were men constituted of the best 

 bone atid muscle, of superb, healthy organisms, and, for strength, agility, and apparent power of 

 endurance, unsurpassed by any soldiers from the State. • • • 



" Of tlu^ o[KTati(m of the enrollmentlaw as it now exists," I have to say that experience has 



