11 tnKFilt, Editor and Proprietor. r'oob IIUTCIIIXSOtf , Publlstier. FOR THE UNION. .T0Rr OF THE OPERATIONS AD VrTU0D OF BUSINESS OF THE PRO VOST-MARSHAL'S OFFICE isTnE 17th DIST., PA., SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT km 1863. Concluded. SUBSTITUTES. 'c detailing the operation of 6ubstitu- n it is cot ncce-:s iry for uie to mention .1 r&iioss spedicnti resorted to in dif- ;r nt localities by means of which some n n-cre induced to enter the army as rifutes for their relatives, friends, iLlibors, or for whatever principal seem- aost noeral n ottering compensation. hall be my object more particularly to e the manner of dealing with thisclas individuals, from the time they pre- td themselves lor examination until , lad been delivered at general ren ou3 as so!dicr3 of the United States. Vlttr a short experience, the Board ;.orolluieiit were convinced thattoper- u their duty to the Government in rr case, it was necessary tnat persons . . 1 - - ! Wting thcmsclvc lull always be rega i s-picion ; a ad ins tuemscivcs as suubiuuieti arded with more or 1 icui maxim which instructs us to insider every man innocent until proven ity," it was policy if not duty in these Is to interpret it conversely. So nu- oui and trlaripg were the frauds per- Ltrated by substitutes and pcrsous having ni in charge to seeuro tueir acceptance ) service, that it became sometimes a latter of very grave doubt with consci jious cfueers whether duty to the Gov $,'Dcnt did not require them to reject uch persona, unlc.-s they could pro- re satisfactory evidence that their in- I'.t? wore houorable. I'Len the substitute had been carcful id rigidly examined, on his cath, by I)ard of Enrollment, end they ; satisfied in regard to his age, nation- and purpose, he was then subjected he fcurjreon to an examination of his cd, not less ririd than the one thro' eli lie had just passed. It was thought xt, and was in accordance with m ctions, to raiso the standard in phys- qualifieations for a substitute a little "e that of cither a drafted man cr inteer, bo that while the Government fcht bo and very frequently was de cided by this class ot persons m many T5, it at least should not be weakened u,e acceptance of men into its servico tjliy si cully competent to perform ruili .. dutv. After a substitute had passed examinations aud was ascertained to ,e!l qualified in every respect to do dutv of a soldier, he was mustered the serv: usual oath the ci?e o ce bv administering to him h employed for that purpose. )f substitutes, 1 see no dis- fctiou between an enlistment and a mus- or, rather, I think there is no eolist :mt, uuka the agreement between hiin I his principal might be considered as M. ill is. however, djea not nnnear to have I same binding force upon him that ". . .1 - . m ailt's(me?it by a recruiting officer docs i a volunteer. The latter binds the a:t in military law to perform his part contract, while it docs not affect the eminent in this way, until the man teen mustered. The former would i. S ! ic I: fno c:Tect, only as a civil contract be- :or, )k. the principal and substitute, the iry law not taking cognizance ot the 1 Until nffpr f!ii rn-in had Kocn rma- to .13 lie- 1 fhis is the distinction which I have rved id receiving and mustering into 'ce those who enter the srmy as sub- cs ior individuals, and those who go oluntccis '"ora thi3 time until they are forward- the p perioral rendezvous, tneir treatment Jsctly the same as I have before de--d in reference to drafted men, with s'lDule exception that like their exam- er ed. er- VP- lion, the guard maintained over them fiiore rigid than that exercised over any "d'assol soldiers. The suspicion that iriably attacnea to them upon their entrance into the office for examina does not icave them until they have s delivered safely at the proper ren- pe descriptive rolls used for substi- fiM2 the same as these for drafted pi Modified of course in column of re- tun ium uaiuiv v iuviuii, aim disposed of in the same manner. focebs, as far as the operations of wuce are concerned, for furnishing accessary information by means of : the proper credits may 'be ascer- and reported, is virtually the same P-case either of substitutes, drafted For volunteers. plojment of enforced milirary ser atid t?ben the wisdom of the "com cn clause" of the Act of March 3. J Was doubted by many eminent men, u, a very general tear perceptible 2 mds of .he people that perhaps stem or policy of substitution would lone, ocd unjustly oppress that large V..l . 0 wllu wtre uuaDio to pur P 6ubstitutfR. 4 n i me course of time, I think all ap. fpLTJME 7. prehensions of. this nature have disap peared, and that part of the law which at present authorizes the employment of sub stitutes, with the limitations therein im posed, is acknowledged to be a wise and politic provision. Prominent in importance' among the enactments in reference to the employment of substitutes, is the fourth section of the Amendatory Act approved February 24, 1SG4. In accordance with its provisions, scores of men have been added to our armic9 in times of their greateot depletion, who have gone as sub stitutes for enrolled men previous to draft, and whose principals havo never been drafted. VOLUNTEERS. The means employed to procure volun teers were principally of a pecuniary na ture, accompanied most generally by the apprehensions of . conscription. In the early part of 18G4, the Government of fered a premium in money to such por sons as should present either veteran or new recruits who upon examination should be accepted and mustered into the service. This incentive to volunteering, or rather the procurement of volunteers, had a very good effect, and was the means of fur nishing to our armies many of the very best quality of soldiers. The great inducement, however, to men entering the service as volunteers was that of" bounty. In addition to the monthly pay of the soldier, and the very liberal bounty offered him by the Government, nearly every sub-district increased this amount by lcal taxation or subscription, until it reached a 6um not a little tempt ing to a great majority of the people, and much above that which many of them might hope to possess through the ordin ary avenues ol labor. The prospects of obtaining a little fortuuein this way, even at the risk of life in the service, was more pleasing for the poor man to contemplate than the idea of being drafted and forced to incur these perils without any pecunia ry compensation, and with perhaps the additional regret of being hurried from a family who were de.-titute of the necessa ries of life or ot the means of procuring them. When the war had been raging for two or three years, that impulsive patriotism which was so prevalent at its commence ment, and which told so plainly how little of its desolations and sufferings wo then comprehended, had settled down ia the mind of the nation to stern resolve and cold calculation. Motive, that potent agent in the affairs of men, became more apparent in every movement of the people, and while their purpose to suppress the rebellion was no less fixed and unalterable now than at first, they yet demanded that reason and judgment should no longer be sacrificed to impulse. They. deplored the existence of war and the suffering it entailed, but while sensi tive to these, they felt it not inconsistent with duty and the purest patriotism to accept the pecuniary compensation prof fered them by the national r.nd municipal authorities, as sn equivalent for the perils they were likely to incur in entering the army. Thus the bounties became in course of time, and as the war progressed, a much more important consideration in the inindsof volunteers : and it was through this mean", perhaps, more than auy other, that men were induced to enter the service in this capacity. The manner of examining volunteer by the Surgeon was the same precisely r.s that practised in the examination- of draf ted men and substitutes, with perhaps the single exception that it was mote rigid than the former and less to than the latter. The enlistment of volunteers was most generally done by person? whom the Gov ernor of tha State had commissioned recruiting officers. Under nearly if not all the calls for men made by the Presi dent ot the United States, the different State Executives were permitted to raise a part or the whole of the force levied up on them, by forming new organizations. In this case, volunteering was much more rapid and active than when the recruits were compelled to enter veteran compa nies and regiments in which, most likely, the officers would be unknown to them, and where they imagined often that they would not be treated with impartiality. When men had been enlisted by these recruiting otricers, they were brought to these head-quarters, subjected to a careful physical examination, and if found quali fied to endure the life and perform the duties of the soldier, they were mustered into the service, either singly or in squads, by administering to them with uplifted baud the accustomed oath. The recruit having entered the service of the United States and received the clothing to which he was entitled, the manner of providing for him was exactly tho same whether he be a volunteer, drafted man or substitute ; and as this has already been noticed in the case of the second of these classes, I shall not revert to it again in this connection. The manner of forwarding and credit ing this class of recruits differs from thoso already spoken of only in the unimportant item of 6ome entries on their -descriptive rolls in the column of "remarks," that they may furnish more plainly all Deces eary information in ascertaining to what sub-district the men should properly be credited- . I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT THAN PRESIDENT. Hexry Clay. EBENSBURG, PA., THURSDAY, JUNE The volunteer soldier, which every mil itary nation acknowledges the best in the world, has preponderated largely over every other class in the composition cf American armies. Our Government being essentially democratic in its constitution, and designed to be so in its administration, the people, to sustain, defend, and perpet uate that which is their own work, come naturally from the peaceful shades of a citizen to the sometimes warlike and per ilous life of the citizen soldier. The ideal volunteer soldier i3 not driven by any fear of conscription iuto the service of his country; he does not follow in the long and perilous march of her armies through any sordid or selfish motive, for plunder and gain; but his own voluntary choice, induced by the purest and most exalted patriotism, leads him in her defence to the field of carnage, if need be to die for her cause. Thousands of these noble voJunteer private soldiers have fallen in the late war for the Union, while other thousands lived through thp dark nights of despair and storms of death-hail, to be examples of patriotism for us all to the latest posterity. DESERTERS. The most numerous class of deserters in this District has been that of men who uever reported ia obedience to notice ot draft. The number of those who "left their commands in the field or camp is comparatively small, while those who really never entered the service have been swelled by successive drafts to the pro portions almost of a little army. Every locality wa? for a time infested by theso skulkers from duty, until tho Government, with a more fixed purpose aud determina tion, directed its energies to their arrest and punishment. In some of the more disloyal portions of the District, where they were encour aged by their numerical strength and by the private counsel ot influential men, tbey leagued themselves together for purposes offensive and defensive in ease any attempt should bo made to bring them to justice. Their rcsh act and imprudent demon strations of resistance only resulted in their own injury, for it became a necessi ty on one or two occasion! to awe them into subjection by maiming or mortally wounding some of their number. To avoid ss far a? possible, however, any unnecessary loss of life, strategy and ta king by surprise were reported to whea the desertcr3 secsced determined in their resiatance, and generally this mnde of procedure was attended vith greater suc cess than the employment of force could have becn- Deserier3 were arrested in this District principally hy detachments of tho Veteran Kescrve Corps under the command of deputy provost marshals, and special agents, who were men well acquainted with the people and natural configuration of their respective counties. It would sometimes become necessary to employ 33 guides the citizens of the immediate neighborhood in which the deserter resi ded or was harbored, and occasionally one or two persons of the same township would arrest their own neighbor and bring him in, to secure their exemption, or the release of one whom they deemed more worthy than he, and who had been de tained in custody be?aas of his failure to report. It would bo impossible for me to detail the exact manner of making arrests, fur ther than I have already done in giving the agents by means ot whom this was accomplished ; for in every cao there nrose circumstances which necessarily modified the method" of procedure and left it with the judgment of the guard as to what manner of strategy he should em ploy to most certainly sccuro succcs?. 1 have been constantly in receipt of descriptive lists of deserters from the army, transmitted me from the Uureauof the Provost Marshal General at Washing ton, which lists were at once distributed by mail to the deputy provost marshals and detachments of the Veteran lleserve Corps, stationed at the different strategic points in the District. Many deserters and stragglers have thus been ferreted out and brought to justice almost before they were aware of any effort: being made for their apprehension, and some even while, they yet imagined the fact of their deser tion a profound secret. The manner of disposing of deserters after they had been arrested and brought to these headquarters was very simple. Their description, date of desertion and date of arrest were entered into a llecord Book kept for that purpose, after they had been carefully examined by the Board of Enrollment and ascertained without doubt to be deserters. They were then placed in the barracks under rigid guard or locked into the. county jail, as the enormity or suspicious nature of their case might seem to demand. Here they were kept in strict custody, being subsis ted in the same way as volunceers and drafted men, until such time as they could be turned over to the Provcst Marshal of the Post at Ilarrisburg, Penna., either for punishment or to be forwarded to their respective organizations, or for both. In forwarding deserters, descriptive rolls or lists were made out in duplicate, and the provisions of paragraph 40 in Revised Regulations for the Provost Marshal Gen eral's Bureau, strictly adhered to. ) When the Government nrst Dan tae arrest of deserters, the reward offered for their apprehension and delivery to Pro vost Marshals was so small as to be very little inducement to any person to en-'ae in so unpleasant a busine. When it? the course of time, however, the country became infested and almost flooded with strag glers and deserters, and the Government saw more plainly the necessity of securing and remanding them back to their com" mands in the field, orders more stringent and rewards more liberal were promulga ted to accomplish their arrest. The sum of (830) thirty dollars auth orized in paragraph 35 of the Revised Regulations for the Provost' Marshal General's Bureau, is sufficient to defray all ordinary expenses incurred in the arrest of deserters, besides liberally com pensating for time employed and any hazardous risks which sometimes must be encountered. I believe this allowance to have been a strong incentive for the arrest of scores of deserters, aud it is a wise provision which directs that it shall be deducted from the pay of the soldier who deserts, thus compelling him to pay the reward for his own arrest. As a general thing, deserters from the draft, or con-reporting drafted men, are much more unprincipled and defiant in their denunciations of the Government, and more difSeult to apprehend, than those from the army. The latter class of per pons possess more apparent honesty of purpose and Teal manhood than the for mer. They have been in the service of their country nod witnessed the pomp and power of il.'armie on occasions cai culated to impress thera with an abiding sense ot its terrible earnost, and inspire a belief in the justice of its cause. Many of them bear honorable scars that tell of their gallantry and noble daring in the presence of the loe; and all this ead experience seems ta have awakened and deepened in them a feeling of awe and respect for tho Government, which has no lodgment in the hearts of the fcrmer class. But men, who have not the disposition to volunteer their services in the hour of their country's greatest peril, and who, having been .chosen by tho honest in strumentality of a draft, prefer by dishon orable means to evade the just claims of a magnanimous Government, rather than do one single act of loyalty ; whose suspicious deeds and guilty consciences shun the pure light of day and drive their adherents into swamps and forests to form a broth erhood with beasts and reptiles ; men like these should scarcely longer be called men, for they have merited uo appellation do less odious than that of deserter. ACCOUNTS. The manner I have uniformly pursued in keeping and settling accounts is very simple and ea?y, and will require only a brief notice. Before forwarding them for payment at the close of each month, I make an entry of them in a ledger, prop erly ruled, under the general heading of "Abstract of Indebtedness." This entry is of such a nature as to furnish at a single glance all necessary information in regard to them, until they havo been paid by the proper Disbursing Officer, when it is completed in such way as to show the number oi the voucher, the name of the claimant, the nature of the account, its amount, the date on which it was forwar ded for payment, the bureau to which it is sent, the number of the check by which it is paid, the date of payment by Disbur sing Officer, the date of payment to claim ant by District Provost Marshal, the amount received on cachaccount and the amount 'deducted as internal revenue tax. It will be observed that until the ac count has been paid, tho entry in the ledger is not complete, but a3 soon as it ha3 been setttled by the proper Disburs ing Officer, the necessary additional in formation is placed therein, and accounts between the Government and claimant, to employ a familiar expression, are "squar ed." At the time I received the appoint ment of Provost Marshal and entered up on the duties of the office, I found the finances not a little embarrassed. Ac counts of various natures had been allowed to accumulate, and the time at which they ought to have been paid having gone by, their settlement became more difficult than it would otherwise have been. Especial ly was this true in regard to the accounts of enrolling officers. In many cases their appointments had nevcrbeen approved, or even so much as forwarded to the proper Bureau for approval. In others, their oaths of allegiance and office wero not oa file, and thus, prevented and barred by a score of little irregularities cr . omissions, their account had not been audited and settled for several months. A little close attention to established rules and the accustomed routine of busi ness, however, in this branch as well as in all others of the department, soon re moved every obstacle in the way of a reg ular settlement of claims of this and every other nature. On several occasions I found it extreme ly difficult to determine by any light in my possession to what bureau or depart ment some accounts properly and legit imately belonged. In eases of this nature, when I hesitated ic deciding I frequently consulted the A. A. Provost Marshal General of the State before torwarding the accounts for payment. In preparing claims for liquidation, I hava always adhered as strictly ks possible 7, 1866. to the instructions given in the Revised Regulations for tho Provost Marshal General's Bureau, and when a case arose in which they did not apply, or in which they were net sufficiently definite, I was guided in its settlement by my own judg ment aided by all relevant knowledge I could acquire. In dismissing this important subjeet in my report, it affords me great pleasure and satisfaction to refer you to the healthy financial condition of this office, and to assure you ot the comparative insigniF. cauco of the present outstanding debts. GENERAL RESULTS. In submitting the result of the opera tions cf thij o5ec with reference to draft ing, volunteering, and arresting deserters, I have deemed it best to make them of the most general character ; and the in quirer for details in relation to the efforts or any particular 6ub-districts is respect fully referred to the proper reports from these headquarters on file in tho bureau of the Provost Marshal General. It will be seen by the following exhibit, that I have net kept feparate the varicu3 drafts or even the different calls, but that all the District quotas which have been announced since the commencement of conscription, beginning with the craft of August, 1863, have been combined, and tho separate results of each draft blended into one common Thole. The table or statement given here pertains only to those things which are conceived to be the chi?f objects for tha accomplishment of which Provost Marshal's offices were established that is, to obtain recruits for the army, either by draft or as volunteers ; and.though there have been other results of interest springing legitimately from the operations of this office, they are in this case discarded as of secondary im portance. EXrilCIT OF RESULTS. Pennsylvania, t Congressional Diatrict. Number required under all calls 7429 Number drafted 9719 2393 923 356 Number failed to report Ileld to per. service o .E Subs, for drafted men g 2 Paid commutation 4i "o Total number obtained " -Per. physical disability 11 B All other causes " 180!' 3C79 1916 3 g Total no. exempted ,42 V0I3. accepted ft mustered Sub3. for enrolled men - ; Deserters from the array m Deserters from the draft Miscellaneous arrests 91 7C 5s c Total number arrests made 4G8 De3erter3 who reported under President's Proc. of March 11.1865 41 Although this exhibit may not be in every item scrupulously correct, it is be lieved to be as close an approximation to the truth in it3 general results as is possible to have it. In attempting to arrive at the present deficiency of the District from the data given here, it would be necessary not only to consider the whole number obtained by draft, the number of volun teers, and the number of substitutes for enrolled men, but also the veterans or those soldiers who re-enlisted in the field, the credits frr seamen, and other miscel laneous credits from various sources; so that if a calculation for that purpose based upon the information furnished in the foregoinir exhibit, be undertaken and completed, its result would most likely fall tar short of the real truth. With reference to the relation of the number required and the number drafted, it must be noted that on different calls there were different percentages to be added in drawing, so that the totals in these columns cannot be expected to sus tain to each other the exact proportions which they might do, had the percentage beeu uniform on all draffs. Under the last calls for men, too, the enrollment of different sub-districts was exhausted be fore obtaining even the real number re quired, so that in cases of this nature it was of course impossible to add any per centage. Many considerations such as I have ad verted to here would materially modify the foregoing exhibit were it designed to shew results in detail, but this not being the intention, as will readily ba perceived by its general nature, it is respectfully sub mitted in its present form. CONCLUSION. Having noticed in the course of this report under the divisions to which they properly belong, some of the principal difficulties encountered in the faithful ex ecution of the laws which govern the bu reau of the Provost Marshal General, I have no occasion again to recur to them here, but in closing shall offer in brief one or two suggestions, the adoption of which, in my humble opinion, would make the pres ent statutes on this subject more com plete and efficient. The conscription law as it now stands, needs but few modifications to-render it perfect it creates no privileged class allows of no commutation and requires but a short term of service. It bears with it the best possible argument for its own 'justification, for it makes conscription the last resort, and provides liberal means for avoiding it. The principle adopted in the 14th section of the Amendatory Act, ap proved March 3, 1865, though too late to be of benefit, should never be abandoned Had it been in operatiDn two years ago, it would have saved endless embarrassment i.n the administration of the law, filled ail quotas without a draftf and reudored it ISS.OO IS ADVAXCE. NUMBER 34. unnecessary to incur an enormous load of municipal debt for bounties, which will in juriously affect the people and the Govern ment for many years. The lack of this provision made the law so burdensoma upon poor rural districts that agricultural industry had necessarily to be suspended wherever a draft under the last call was made, and the close ot the war alone has saved the country from suffering a want of the necessaries of life. The records of the various Provost Marshal's offices will show, as a result of" competition in bounties, that rich and populous districts have filled their quotas and their resident citizens are all. at home, while in rural districts the able-bodied men are all gone and the quotas are yet unfilled. The country has paid a heavy price for tha timidity of its legislators, which was perhaps as much the lault aa their inexperience. On behalf of the Government, I would suggest that volunteers for old organiza uatiocs should receive a liberal Govern ment bounty, and ia all other cases no bounty of this nature be paid. The effect of this rule would be to equalize bounties, and to send a constant stream of volun teer recruits into old regiments. They would come principally from poor rural districts, which furnish the best men to the service. All stringency should plainly appear in the law, and all possible iiberality should be manifested in its ccnstruction. Unfor tunately thL has net universally been tho case, and the inclination has been too general to decide all doubtful points in favor of the Government, sometimes em barrassing a liberal provision by a strin gent or cumbrous regulation. I might cite, as an instance of this, the rule requi ring greater stringency in the examina tion ot volunteers than conscripts. The reasoning is, "a volunteeer is examiued with reference to his acceptance into tho service by the Government a conscript is regarded as already in the service and is examined with reference to his discharge." It is certainly very difficult to see why a volunteer, regularly enlisted by competent authority and reporting for examination, is not as much in the service as a drafted man. I need not sav that the above rnlp. under isVi Lh ' e sa?c. medical officer has 4r-.v , V man 33 A bountied volunteer jmi ii .aras eti.ii im as a penni N.ess and unwilling conscript, has always Deen regarded as exceedingly unjust, and politically injurious to the Government; while, in a military point of view, it could not but be detrimental to the service. The knowledge I have acquired, during the !a9t two years of the rebellion, in re gard to the general character of aliens ia this country, leads me to cherish tho hops that future legislation will impose upon them some of the military burdens which attach to natural born citizens in time of war. Were it possible so to modify the existing laws that foreigners, of whatever nationality, whether aliens or naturalized citizens, could be enrolled by the Govern ment as a part of the military forces to suppress civil war or rebellion, originating in tho country where they at the tima reside, it could not but be a wise and equitable provision. I cannot concieVe wherein it would necessitate a violation of allegiance to tha nation whence they came, so long as they are not required to take up arms against the Government to which they owe fealty or to engage in a war with any foreign power, but only to assist iu the suppression of rebellion. It would seem to me that where aliens are tho beneficiaries, in bo many instances, of the protection and magnanimity of a Government, as they are of ours, on the score of gratitude, alone, if no other, they should assist ia maintaining it agiinst the ' treasonous assaults of internal foes, when 6uch assis tance cannot possibly conflict with their duty or allegiance to the land of thsir birth. I am, General, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, A. M. LLOYD. Capt. and Provost Marshal 17th Diat. Pa. What a Democratic Congressman Couldn't See. A Democratic Congress man called upon Postmaster General Deunison and solicited the appointment of a constituent of similar faith to a PosV mastership in his District. "What is he?" blandly aked Gov Dennison. "Why, he is a Union man, and supports President Johnson s policy, replied th M. C. 'But what teas he, and for whom, did he vote in the last Presidential elec tion ?" further interrogated tho postal chief. "He voted for M'Clellan," was ths frank and ready reply. "We are not ap pointing any men postmasters who voted for M'Clellan," quoth Gov. Dennison, to tho evident disgust of the expectant Con gressman, who retired in a bewildered state of mind, .growing out of his effort to see the preciso benefit to his party of its vigorous support ot the President's policy. Cu A patriotic little chap began his prayers the other night with "Now I lay me down to sleep, shouting the battb ory of freedom." CSrlt is believed that tha telegraph can be constructed through Siberia with little trouble, because the Poles aroalmdj on the ground. n