the same manner, and greater care would be thereby insured on the part of principals in procuring reliable men as substitutes.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

N. B. Baker, adjutant-general of Iowa; A. L. Russell, adjutant- general of Pennsylvania; Peter T. Washburn, adjutant and inspector general of Vermont; D. W. Lindsey, inspector and adjutant general of Kentucky; Aug. Gaylord, adjutant-general of Wisconsin; William Schouler, adjutant-general of Massachusetts; Edward C. Mauran, adjutant-general of Rhode Island; B. R. Cowen, adjutant-general of Ohio; H. J. Morse, adjutant-general of Connecticut; Natt Head, adjutant-general of New Hampshire.

[Indorsement.]

PROVOST-MARSHAL-GENERAL'S OFFICE, Washington, D. C., January 28, 1865.

Respectfully submitted to the Secretary of War.

The first proposition is that the volunteer recruiting service shall be put entirely under the control of the Governors of the States, and that the United States shall have nothing to do with the business before muster, except to pay the expenses which the Governors and their recruiting agents see fit to incur. Such an arrangement would not be in accordance with law and the public interests.

The second proposition is one which Congress alone can deal with. I suggest that a copy of it be furnished without remark to the Military Committee.

JAMES B. FRY,

Provost-Marshal-General.

[Another copy of the foregoing document is on file bearing the following indorsement:

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, Providence, February 2, 1865.

The action within taken is without the knowledge, consent, or approval of the Executive or Legislature of Rhode Island as far as this State is concerned.

JAMES Y. SMITH,

Governor of Rhode Island.]

PHILADELPHIA, PA., January 18, 1865.

Honorable CHARLES A. DANA,

Assistant Secretary of War:

Will you accept a full new regiment from the Union League for one year, to be commanded by veteran officers whom the Governor will commission, the men to be credited on the present call?

GEO. H. BOKER,

Secretary.

OFFICE ACTG. ASST. PROVOST-MARSHAL-GENERAL,

Concord, N. H., January 19, 1865.

Brigadier General JAMES B. FRY,

Provost-Marshal-General, Washington, D. C.:

GENERAL: I would respectfully call your attention to the fact that burglars, house-burners, and thieves, felons of all grades and kinds, are daily taken from jails and prisons with the consent of judges,