Press scrutiny of the Conscription drawings
A Democrat paper went to Auburn 150 years ago today to make sure the draft was carried out fairly. It reported that everything seemed fair – as long as the names in the box were copied accurately from the enrollment lists.
‘Civil War induction officer with lottery box’
From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in August, 1863:
The Draft.
The Draft for our county was completed at Auburn on Saturday of last week [July 25th, I’m pretty sure] and the names drawn may be found in to-day’s paper. They are substantially correct, tho’ an occasional error may be detected in the spelling of names. Quite a number from the county were present during the drawing, and so far as we were able to judge, the proceedings were conducted with fairness. If the names were all copied from the enrollment on to the slips of paper placed in the box, there can be no doubt of the impartiality of the proceedings. It seems, however, a little strange that so many of the poorer class should have been conscripted. In our town [Seneca Falls] out of the 150 names drawn from the box, there are not five of the number who can pay, without great inconvenience, the commutation fee. The draft, therefore, falls with particular severity upon the laboring class. Then, again, full two-thirds of the conscripts in this county are Democrats, as singularly as it may seem.
Efforts are being made in the different towns to mitigate somewhat the evils of the draft. This can be done either by levying a tax for commutation fees, or by paying bounties to those who are compelled to go into the service. There are some towns in the county, according to the instructions of the Provost Marshal General, that are exempt by virtue of the excess of volunteers furnished over the several quotas called for. This is true of Seneca Falls and Waterloo, and we are glad to learn that there is an effort being made to convince the authorities of this fact. If it should prove unsuccessful, however, the tax payers will probably be called upon to share equally the burthens of the conscription.
I’m not as surprised that two-thirds of the draftees were Democrats. In the local elections of 1862 Democrats were elected to every single Town of Seneca Falls office, including all eight (I think) constables. I was a little more surprised that the newspaper knew the party affiliations of everyone in the county.
Here’s an image of the resumption of the draft in New York City during the latter part of August 1863 from the September 5, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly at Son of the South.
RESUMPTION OF THE DRAFT—INSIDE THE PROVOST MARSHAL’S OFFICE, SIXTH DISTRICT—THE WHEEL GOES ROUND.
