ber of men previously furnished by different localities, and the periods of their service, shall be considered so as to equalize the draft.

The number of men liable to military duty is to be determined by the enrollment lists.

The number of men which had been furnished by the various localities, and their periods of service, were ascertained, and previous accounts having been adjusted, the excesses, wehre they existed, were carried forward under the last draft.

The amount of service furnished is determined by multiplying the number of men raised by the number of years for which they enlisted.

Having thus ascertained the number of men enrolled on the 31st day of December, 1864, the number of men furnished up to that date, the localities from which they come, and the periods of their service, it is proposed do distribute the call for 300,000 men among the several districts and parts of districts according to the number enrolled in each and the number of men furnished, and the periods of service previously rendered by each.

The rule by which this is accomplished is as follows:

Take the whole number of years of service furnished by the districts of the United States from the commencement of the rebellion to the 31st of December, 1864. From that sum deduct the whole number of men furnished from all the district of the United States up to that date. The remainder will be the excess of years of service furnished by all the districts. Multiply the cal of December 19, 1864, by 3, to have the number of years of service upon that call, and to this add the excess as ascertained above. Then, as the number of men enrolled from the whole United States, up to the 31st of December, 1864, is to the period of service as above ascertained, so is the number of men enrolled in a given district to the number of years of service it is required to furnished, including its pro rata share of the excess. From this sum deduct the actual excess the district furnished; thee number of years of serviceict is required to furnish under the call of December 19, 1864, which, divided by 3, gives the number of men required from the district.

As this call is for 300,000 men, that number cannot be reduced by men going in for a period longer than one year. Inequalities produced by men going in under this call for longer periods than one year must be equalized on future calls.

It will be perceived that though the aggregate of the excess furnished is added to the whole call, the excess of each district is afterward subtracted from its quota. Thus the number of men allied for is neither increased nor diminished, but equality produced, considering the number of men and the periods of their service. Localities which have heretofore furnished a greater amount of service have been, in proportion to their enrollment, a less amount to furnish under this, and e converso.

Men having heretofore enlisted for one, two and three years, it was necessary to take one of those periods as the basis of the calculation. As three years embraced both the other periods, it makes the calculation more simple to adopt that. The same result would be arrived at by adopting either one or two years as the bases, but the process of calculation would be more complicated.

Such we find to be the rule adopted by the Provost-Marshal- General. The rule is in conformity with the requirements of the laws of Congress, and is just and equitable.

We have carefully examined and proved the work done under this rule by the Provost-Marshal-General, and find that it has been done with fairness.

We file in the Provost-Marshal-General's Office our calculations of the quota of the each and every district indorsed by us as correct.*

JAMES SPEED,

Attorney-General of the United States.

RICHARD DELAFIELD,

Brigadier-General and Chief Engineer, U. S. Army.

C. W. FOSTER,

Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General.

Approved February 17, 1865.

A. LINCOLN.

By order of the Secretary of War:

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

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*See p. 1135 et seq.

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