such substitution, shall constitute a portion of the whole of said force, as the case may be, from the respective dates of such substitution. This force shall be raised by a general impressment throughout the whole State whenever His Excellency the Governor may order or direct such agent of the State as he may appoint to make such impressment under the provisions of this act. But if the impressment of a less number than one-tenth would produce should be found to be sufficient, then the impressment shall be made on the State at large, according to one uniform rule of equality, to be prescribed in the order of the Government directing such impressment to be made by the State agent; and whatever number greater than ten shall be so prescribed as a divisor to make the apportionment by, no fraction of slaves, either below or above such number selected as a divisor, shall be considered or taken into the apportionment unless it is at least one-fifth or more of such divisor; and in such divisor; and in such cases the fraction of one-fifth shall be taken by requiring the party owning it to furnish one hand for two months, with the same right of substitution as in case of whole numbers, and the same rule as to fractions shall be observed where the number ten is used as the divisor in making the apportionment.

* * * *

XI. If the Confederate Government should make any impressment of slave labor over and above what is to be furnished by the provisions of this act in view of greater emergencies than are contemplated in this act, then and in that event the owners of such slaves shall have credit as for so much labor furnished for coast duty.

XII. That all acts and parts of acts heretofore passed by the Legislature of this State on the subject of furnishing labor on the coast or fortifications be and the same are hereby repealed.

Passed December 23, 1864.

HEADQUARTERS GEORGIA RESERVES AND MILITARY DISTRICT OF GEORGIA,
Macon, Ga., December 25, 1864.

Hon. JAMES A. SEDDON,

Secretary of War, Richmond, Va.:

MY DEAR SIR: I hope you will pardon me for repeating at this time the suggestion I have heretofore made of resorting to the volunteer principle to recruit and increase our Army. What I see and realize around me so strongly illustrates the correctness of the views I have so often and urgently pressed upon the Government upon this subject, that I am constrained again to urge them even upon unwilling ears. At the hazard of incurring the criticism that I have not been equal to the duty of enforcing the conscript law in Georgia, I say to you that you will never get the men into the service who ought to be there through the conscript camp. It would require the whole Army to enforce the conscript law if the same state of things exists throughout the Confederacy as I know is the case in Georgia and Alabama, and I may add Tennessee. As much as I regret that such are the facts, I state them frankly to you that you may adopt the only policy of meeting them. The old organizations can never be filled up. Two years of earnest effort have demonstrated the utter impracticability of doing it. It is time to give it up, and let the old organizations be consolidated. The country cannot afford to consider