The seizure of the property was fully warranted by its authority to support armies, but beyond this the law possesses a peculiar interest as being in reality the first step toward conscription. The property was not alone seized, but, without their consent, the personnel of railroads from the president down were declared to be a part of the military establishment of the United States, subject to all the restrictions imposed by the rules and articles of war."

The effect of this law was no less gratifying than surprising. Ignoring the States, it applied directly to the people and met with the people's response.

The railroad presidents did not wait for the Government to take possession, but anticipating its wants, they, with a patriotism that will ever do them honor, met in convention at Washington, where they submitted for the approval of the Government a tariff for the transportation of troops and supplies, which, regardless of the depreciation of the currency, continued in force till the close of the war.

The extraordinary powers conferred on the Government by this law will best be understood by the following order, issued by the President from the War Department, February 10, 1862:

Ordered, That D. C. McCallum be, and is hereby, appointed Military Director and Superintendent of Railroads in the United States, with authority to enter upon, take possession of, hold and use all railroads, engines, cars, locomotives, equipments, appendages and appurtenances that may be required for the transport of troops, arms, ammunition, and military supplies of the United States, and to do and perform all acts and things that may be necessary and proper to be done for the safe and speedy transport aforesaid, a

In regard to the operation of this law, the Secretary of War in his report for 1862 states:

**

*

It has not been found necessary to exercise within the loyal States the power conferred upon the President by law, to take actual military possession of the railroads of the country. The various companies met in convention in this city united in proposing a uniform tariff for Government transportation, which appears to be just and equitable, and they have performed all the services required of them by the Department with a promptness, efficiency, and cheerfulness which do honor to the patriotism of their managers.

*

In his report for 1865 he added:

*

* The agreement made early in the war with the railroad companies of the loyal States, fixing reduced rates of military transportation, remains in force, and has been extended to the railroads in the Southern States since the termination of hostilities.c

INCREASE OF MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.

April 16, a law was passed adding to the Medical Department a Surgeon-General, with the rank of brigadier-general; an AssistanSurgeon-General, and a Medical Inspector-General, each with the rank of colonel of cavalry; 8 medical inspectors, with the rank of lieutenantcolonels of cavalry; 10 surgeons, 10 assistant surgeons, and 20 medical cadets.

Under section 4 of the law, the Surgeon-General, Assistant SurgeonGeneral, Medical Inspector-General, and medical inspectors were appointed by selection from the Medical Corps of the Army and from

@McCallum's Report, Messages and Documents, War Department, 1865–66, pt. 3, p. 1. Report of Secretary of War for 1862, p. 12.

e Messages and Documents, War Department, 1865-66, Report of Secretary of War, pt. 1, p. 38.

the surgeons in the volunteer service. The 10 surgeons and 10 assistant surgeons were appointed by promotion from the Medical Corps. The seventh section made the increase provisional for the war, with the equitable provision that officers promoted from the Medical Corps of the Army should revert to the rank they would have held had they not accepted provisional advancement.

The objections to the next law of May 14 have been stated under the head of discharges. It was entitled-

An act to facilitate the discharge of enlisted men for physical disability,

and unwisely gave each medical inspector absolute power to discharge on his own certificate, without superior approval, any man whose physical disability might "make it disadvantageous to the service that he be retained therein."

The next important law, approved July 2, was both national and confederate in character. The first section authorized the President to appoint 40 surgeons and 120 assistant surgeons of volunteers; no appointment to be made until the officer had been examined by a medical board convened by the Secretary of War. The law further enacted that the vacancies in the grade of surgeon should be filled from the grade of assistant surgeon, "on the ground of merit only.' The second section abolished the title of brigade surgeons, designated them surgeons of volunteers, and placed them all under the direction of the Surgeon-General.

The humanity of these two sections, whereby the best medical attendance was insured to such of the sick and wounded as came under the care of the regular and volunteer surgeons appointed by the President, is too obvious to need comment. The third and last section, by contrast, reveals the bad features of the State rights or confederate system. It authorized an additional assistant surgeon to each regiment of volunteers, but as these officers, more than a thousand in number, were appointed by the governors, any qualifying examination was out of the question.

The ablest as well as the most ignorant practitioners in the land were eligible for appointment. Such as came into the Army without receiving a previous license or diploma were permitted to experiment with the lives and health of their patients until found to be incompetent; or, detected in malpractice, they were at last brought before a board and dismissed from the service.

PENSIONS.

July 14, a law was passed relating to pensions.

The first section prescribed that noncommissioned officers and privates of the regulars, volunteers, and militia, "disabled by reason of any wound received or disease contracted while in the service of the United States and in the line of duty" should, on due proof, receive for the highest rate of disability" the following pensions:

In case of the death of officer or soldier by reason of wounds or sickness contracted in the line of duty, the same pension was made. payable to the widow, or if no widow, then to the children, subject to the condition that the pension should continue to the widow during her widowhood, or to the children till they severally reached the age of 16. Another scale of pensions was established for inferior rates of disability, and the law was also made applicable to the Navy.

TREASON AND SLAVERY.

July 17, an important law was passed relating to treason and slavery. The first section enacted that any person adjudged guilty of the crime of treason should suffer death, or, at the discretion of the court, imprisonment for not less than five years, and a fine of not less than $10,000; in both cases his slaves were declared and made forever free.

The ninth section enacted that all slaves of persons engaged in aiding and abetting the Rebellion who should escape to the lines of the Army, should-

be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude and not again held as slaves.

The tenth section forbade any slave escaping to another State or Territory, to be given up to his lawful owner except on condition that the owner had not borne arms against the Government, nor in any way given aid or comfort to the Rebellion. The same section also forbade any military or naval commander to give up any slave to his owner, or judge of the validity of the latter's title, on pain of being dismissed from the service.

The eleventh section looked to the military employment of the slaves. or freedmen. It authorized the President

to employ as many persons of African descent as he may deem necessary and proper for the suppression of this Rebellion, and for this purpose he may organize and use them in such manner as he may judge best for the public welfare.

The same date, July 17, a second law " tended to promote the efficiency of the Regular Army.

The twelfth section placed it within the discretion of the President to retire any officer whose name had been borne on the Army or Navy register forty-five years, or who had reached the age of 62 years. In the Navy this discretionary law was soon superseded by another, which made retirement compulsory at 62 years of age.

In the Army this discretionary power, still vested in the President, is the source of much annoyance to the Executive, while its uncertain exercise, chiefly controlled by personal and political considerations, blocks promotion, keeps officers who are unfit for field service in high station, paralyzes instruction, and destroys the independence and manliness of character, which are alone compatible with the efficient and faithful performance of duty."

a Callan's Military Laws of the United States, p. 200.

The Army Retiring Act of June 30, 1882, provides "that when an officer has served forty years, either as an officer or soldier in the regular or volunteer service, or both, he shall, if he makes application therefor to the President, be retired from active service and placed on the retired list, and when an officer is 64 years of age he shall be retired from active service and placed on the retired list." Military Laws of the United States (Davis).-EDITORS.

15836-04-28

The seventeenth section related to summary dismissals, and read—

That the President of the United States be, and hereby is, authorized and requested to dismiss and discharge from the military service, either in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, or Volunteer force, in the United States service, any officer for any cause which, in his judgment, either renders such officer unsuitable for, or whose dismission would promote, the public service. "

The twenty-second and last section added 1 colonel, 2 lieutenantcolonels, and 9 majors to the Adjutant-General's Department, abolished the grade of captain, and as a further means of promoting efficiency and lessening favoritism, prescribed that all the vacancies in the grade of major should be filled by selection from among the captains of the Army.

For the want of such a law relative to the administrative departments, it is not uncommon to see first lieutenants made majors and paymasters over the heads of all the captains of the Army; second lieutenants in like manner have been made captains and quartermasters over the heads of all the first lieutenants. In such cases promotion has been gained not by any pretension to merit, but by the unscrupulous use of political influence.

MILITIA AND VOLUNTEERS.

The next law, approved July 17, reads like a chapter from the Journals of the Continental Congress during the darkest days of the Revolution. The two military committees which were primarily responsible for military legislation seemed incapable of profiting either by history or their own experience. Trust in the militia and a persistent adherance to short enlistments had bankrupted the Government in the struggle for independence; had led to Harrison's and St. Clair's defeats in the Indian wars of 1791; and more humiliating still, had led to the burning of Buffalo and the destruction of the capital in the war of 1812. To this policy, both impotent and extravagant, Congress again returned a fortnight after the close of the Seven Days' battle, at the very moment, too, that the Confederates were meditating their second advance upon Washington and the Potomac.

The first section of the law, looking to the States, authorized the President to call out the militia for any period not exceeding nine months.

It further provided that "if by reason of defects in existing laws or in the execution of them in the several States or any of them," it should be found necessary to "provide for enrolling the militia and otherwise putting this act into execution," the President should be authorized," in such cases, to make all necessary rules and regulations," the enrollment to embrace all able-bodied male citizens between the ages of 18 and 45.

The second section prescribed that the militia when called into service should be organized in the mode prescribed by law for the volunteers. A comparison of this law with the Constitution, will show that Congress, in declining to raise its own armies, again needlessly exposed the Government to a grave danger. The appointment of the officers of the militia was, by the Constitution, expressly reserved to the States; nevertheless, if any governors, through negligence or opposition refused to commission the officers, the law encouraged the President to

a Callan's Military Laws of the United States, p. 529.

go over their heads by conferring upon him the fullest authority for enrolling the militia "and otherwise putting the act into execution." The second section, under the constitutional right reserved to the States, implied a new army of raw troops, who, under State laws, could only be commanded by officers elected by their men. The mania for raw troops and short enlistments was not confined to the militia.

The third section, in addition to the million of volunteers previously authorized by law, empowered the President" to accept the services of any number of volunteers not exceeding 100,000, as infantry, for a period of nine months, unless sooner discharged," the said volunteers to receive, on being mustered into the service, one month's pay and a bounty of $25.

66

While patriotic men were thus encouraged to enlist in new regiments of militia and volunteers for the short term of nine months, the veteran regiments in the field were not wholly forgotten. For the purpose of filling their ranks the President was authorized to accept the services of volunteers in such numbers as may be presented for that purpose for twelve months if not sooner discharged." These volunteers, who by association with veteran comrades would become the best of soldiers before the date of their discharge, were granted $50 bounty, a sum equal to half the bounty granted in 1861 to the patriot army which enlisted for three years.

The seventh section, for the speedy trial of minor offenses, substituted a field officer's court in place of the regimental and garrison courts-martial, the punishment inflicted by the sentence of a field officer not to exceed that inflicted by a regimental court-martial.

Although late in the day, the ninth and tenth sections authorized the creation of army corps, with a corps staff consisting of one assistant adjutant-general, one quartermaster, one commissary of subsistence, and one assistant inspector-general, each with the rank of lieutenantcolonel; the officers so assigned to be selected by the President from the regular or volunteer forces. Each corps commander was also allowed, on his own recommendation, three aids-de-camp, who also belonged to the corps staff-one with the rank of major, the other two captains the officers so recommended to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

The tenth section also prescribed that the senior officer of artillery of each army corps should, “in addition to his other duties, act as chief of artillery and ordnance at the headquarters of the corps," but it gave him no increased rank or command.

The eleventh section prescribed that all cavalry forces in the service of the United States should be organized into regiments of twelve companies each. The twelfth section authorized the President to organize and receive into the service of the United States for the purpose of constructing entrenchments, or performing camp service, or any other labor, or any military or naval service for which they may be competent, persons of African descent," the persons so employed to receive, under the fifteenth section, one ration per day and ten dollars per month, three of which might be paid in clothing. Among the resolutions of Congress in 1862, one wisely prescribed: That whenever military operations may require the presence of two or more officers of the same grade in the same field or department, the President may assign the command of the forces in such field or department without regard to seniority of rank."

a Callan's Military Laws, p. 539.