I have thought that, in this connexion, some details touching the systems
of France and Prussia, and their workings, would not be without interest
and perhaps value, and have accordingly included them in the
accompanying paper.
I have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient
servant,
System of recruiting in Belgium.
The present legislation on the military service in Belgium, which is
based on the law of the 8th January, 1817, consists in no less than
twelve laws, besides numerous royal decrees and a large number of
administrative regulations. The consequence is that it is far from
being as clear as might be desired, and meets with great
difficulties in its application.
On the other hand, reforms having been loudly called for, the
government, after taking the opinion of a special committee, has
brought forward a bill, of which a copy is herewith annexed,
revising the laws relative to military service. In this bill the
existing fundamental principles have been maintained, a long
experience having proved their superiority over all other systems
recommended.
In summing up the provisions of the law now in vigor, the alterations
introduced by the bill referred to will be vindicated.
The Belgian army is recruited by drafts and voluntary enlistments; it
consists—
1st. Of the effective force maintained under arms.
2d. Of the men who are left at or sent home on furlough.
By the terms of article 119 of the constitution the contingent of the
army is voted annually by the Chambers; the law which regulates it
is in force for one year only.*
The contingent of the army is fixed at 80,000 men, but the effective
force at present, as stated in the budget, amounts only to 35,000
men, 11,000 of whom are volunteers and 24,000 conscripts. They early
contingent of the levy has been fixed for upwards of twenty years at
a maximum of 10,000 men.†
The contingent is furnished by drawing by lots from among all young
men, Belgians, married or unmarried, who on the 1st of January of
each year have attained their nineteenth year. All foreigners who
have attained their naturalization before accomplishing their twenty
sixth year are subject to the draft, and also all foreigners who,
born in Belgium of foreign parents, claim the quality of Belgians
according to art. 13 of the “code civil.”*
[Page 236]
The annual levy is distributed among the provinces and communes in
proportion to the number of men inscribed for the levy, deduction
being made of those who are in the service as volunteers.†
Every person has the right to furnish a substitute (remplicant) in lieu of service, or to exchange numbers
with another on the same list (substitut)
under conditions securing their respectability and fitness for
service. The person furnishing a substitute is responsible for him
during the whole time of service; he. may, however, free himself
from this responsibility on condition of paying into the treasury
the sum of 150 florins, ($60.)‡
The term of service is eight years, but more than half that time is
spent on furlough. Those in the infantry generally serve only two
years and a half; in the artillery three or four years, and those in
the cavalry four or five years.§
The number of young men inscribed each year for the draft is, on an
average, about 44,000. After deducting the final and temporary
exemptions, the figure of 44,000 is reduced to about 28,000; the
exceptions granted, therefore, amount to about thirty-six per cent.
of the yearly contingent.|| Belgium could, however,
whilst repecting vested rights, put on foot every year about 30,000
young soldiers, i. e., three times the amount
of levy made for more than twenty years past.
Exemptions.
Exemptions are temporary or definitive; they are physical
defects¶ or family relations. Physical defects are
decided upon by medical men, and exemptions granted on the
production of documents signed by the burgomaster and two members of
the common council. The letter of the law must be strictly held to
with regard to exemptions; they can under no pretext be extended by
analogy. Where parentage is a cause of exemption it must be
legitimate.
Persons condemned to infamous punishment cannot be admitted into the
army unless they have been legally rehabilitated.
Definitive exemptions are given to—
1st. Those who, having attained the age of twenty-two, are below one
metre 570 millimetre in height.**
[Page 237]
2d. Those who, by reason of deformity or incurable infirmity, are
forever unfitted for military service.*
3d. Those who prove, by a regular and final discharge, that they have
been released from the land or sea service on account of
infirmities.
4th. The ministers of different religions.†
5th. The brothers of those who have accomplished their term of
service, or who have been discharged for physical defects contracted
in and by the service, or who have died in the service. This
provision is not applicable to the case of “substitution.”
6th. The brothers of those who, having furnished a substitute, have
freed themselves from all responsibility on that head, or whose
substitutes, having accomplished their term of service, have been
discharged;‡ for bodily defects contracted in the
performance of their duty, or who have died in the service.
7th. Volunteers who have served the term required by law.§
8th. Foreigners belonging to a country where Belgians are not liable
to military service.
Temporary exemptions.
The following are exempted for one year:
1st. Those who have been condemned to an infamous punishment.||
2d. Those who are less than one metre.570 centimetre in height, and
who are judged by the military board unfit for the transport
service.||
3d. Those having temporary infirmities who are decided to be unfit to
serve in the course of the year.|| Those subject to temporary
diseases or infirmities are not exempted from the service, but they
cannot be employed on active duty before they are perfectly cured.
They are, nevertheless, placed at the disposal of the provincial
commandant to be assigned to a military corps, and sent, if
necessary, to the hospital for treatment.
4th. The only brother of him or those who are struck with palsy,
blindness, total insanity, or infirmities presumed to be
incurable.
5th. The only unmarried brother in a family, provided he lives with
his father and mother, or the survivor of the two, if he provides
for their support by his labors, and if that labor is indispensable
thereto.
6th. Divinity students.¶ They must present every year to the military board a
certificate establishing that they are really students in divinity
with the intention of following the clerical profession. Those who,
after accomplishing their twenty-third year, have not embraced the
clerical profession or taken orders are obliged to serve during five
years or to furnish a substitute.
7th. Those who are serving in the land or sea forces, including the
cadets of the military schools. The cadets who, before attaining the
age of twenty-three, leave the service of their own free will and
without having obtained the rank of officer, shall be, as in the
case of students in divinity, who at that age have not taken orders,
bound to serve on the same footing as the latter. The students
attached to the large hospitals of the kingdom are included in the
same group as those of the military schools.
[Page 238]
8th. Seamen by profession who make long voyages, (de long cours,) those are considered such who have been
engaged in that profession on board a merchant vessel, or a vessel
fitted out for whale fishing during at least the two last years
before being enrolled, and who are still engaged in it. This
exemption ceases in case of a war; if they have not yet completed
their twenty-third, year they are liable to be immediately called
into service.
9th. That son, or, in case of the death of the parents, that grandson
of a widow, or of a woman legally separated, or divorced, or
abandoned, four years, who provides by the work of his hands for the
support of his mother or grandmother. This exemption does not obtain
when the mother or grandmother is engaged in any trade or profession
by means of which she can earn her living. This exemption only
applies to one of the sons or grandsons.
10th. Widowers having one or several children, provided these
children be not brought up in charitable establishments.
11th. Only children born in lawful wedlock, if they are the support
of their parents, or the latter being deceased, of their
grandfathers or grandmothers, in the manner and according to the
provisions mentioned.
12th. The only son, who is at the same time an only child
legitimate.
13th. That brother or half brother of orphans who has to provide for
the sustenance of his brothers and sisters who have no means left
for their own maintenance, provided there be no other exempted for
the same motive.
14th. He whose only brother or half brother is, either in person or
by replacing a substitute, in active service in the land or naval
forces in a rank inferor to that of sub-lieutenant, or should have
been drafted.
When the sons in a family are even numbers, only half are called to
the service; when the number is odd, the uncalled for shall exceed
by one the number of those called. Thus, should there be three sons
in a family, only one is liable to serve; should there be five, two
only, &c., &c.
15th. Persons under arrest, whose cases are pending before the courts
and have not been decided before the opening of the fourth sitting
of the military board.
16th. Those in prison for police offences whose term of imprisonment
has not yet expired.
The brother of a substitute is not exempted.
The brother of him who exchanges a number with another is only
exempted when the number which has been exchanged against a lower
one shall have been called to service.
Article 24 of the bill on military service introduces a modification
in the present legislation, it is as follows:
“In the cases provided for by the present law, the drafted soldier
acquires, by the death of a member of his family, the same right to
exemption as if the death had occurred before his designation for
service.
“This provision does not apply to volunteers, substitutes, or
refractory soldiers.
“The claim must be addressed to the governor of the province
accompanied with vouchers.
“Should the claim be admitted by the permanent committee of the
provincial council, the soldier is henceforth exempted from
service.”
This provision is important; in France motives for exemption are only
admitted when they exist before the draft and mustering in.
[Page 239]
B.
Royal decree of January 19,
1861.
SCHEDULES OF DISEASES AND INFIRMITIES WHICH CAN NOW
CAUSE EXEMPTION FROM MILITARY SERVICE.
Schedule I.
Diseases and infirmities admitting immediate or definitive exemption
from the mere fact of their existence. (Law of January 8, 1817, art.
91, letter B:)
1. Total blindness, or loss of a single eye, or of its use, owing to
another cause besides amaurosis.
N. B.—The medical man shall specify, as far as possible, for each
case, the organic cause of the infirmity.
2. Total loss of the nose.
3. Hare lip; loss or want of a part of the roof of the palate.
4. General decay of the teeth; loss of the upper or lower cutting and
eye teeth, or of all the grinders of both jaws.
5. Dumbness, owing to a defective formation of the tongue, or the
loss of a part of that organ.
6. Loss of the whole or a great part of the ear.
7. Deafness, owing to the absence, obliteration, accidental or
congenital, of the outward auricular passages.
8. Great deformities of the face, broad, livid, hairy, or hideous
spots.
9. Very large goitre.
10. Herniæ.
11. Loss of penis or testicles.
12. Epispadias, hupospadias, situated in the middle or at the root of
the penis; hermaphrodium.
13. Permanent retention of the testicle at the ring, or in the lower
part, of the inguinal canal.
14. Artificial arms.
15. Loss of an arm, leg, foot, or hand, or incurable loss of the
motion of these parts.
16. Thoroughly characterized atrophy of the limb.
17. Permanent contraction of the extensor, or bending muscles of a
limb.
18. Aneurism of the arteries of the neck, or of the principal
arterial trunk of the limb.
19. Spina ventosa, osteosariosm, and other serious diseases of the
bones.
20. Crookedness of the long bones, or rachilis, carried so far as to
hinder the motion of the limb.
21. Decided lameness.
22. Total loss of forefinger of the right hand; total or partial loss
of a thumb or great toe; of two fingers of the same hand, or two
toes of the same foot; irremediable loss of the motion of the same
parts.
23. Flat feet.
N. B.—Flattened feet not to be confounded with flat feet. The latter
alone entitle to immediate and definitive exemption.
Schedule II.
Diseases or infirmities which may give rise to definitive or
temporary exemption. (Law of January 8, 1817, art. 91, letter B;
art. 94, letter B B, § 1.)
1. Extensive injury to the skull.
2. Deformity to the nose to such extent as to render the aspect
repulsive, or habitually to hinder breathing.
3. Caries of the bones of the nasal cavities, or of the roof of the
palate; polypus of the nose.
[Page 240]
4. Deformity of a jaw from loss of substance narosis, or any other
cause capable of habitually hindering mastication.
5. Fistulæ of the maxillary sinus.
6. Difficulty of swallowing, proceeding from an habitual obstacle to
the free passage of food.
7. Sarcocelus, hydrocelus, varicocelus, in so far as to impede
locomotion, and other serious affection of the testicle, spermatic
chords, or scrotum.
8. Deformities, or affection of the feet, hands, limbs, or other
parts of the body, capable of rendering walking difficult, the
handling of weapons difficult, or of preventing the carrying of the
whole or part of the equipment. The superposition of the toes, so
far as it can hinder walking; alopecia, bowlegs, or knock-knees, in
excess, are also excluded.
9. Extensive adhering, tender scars, impeding the performance of
movements.
10. Voluminous and multiplied varicose veins.
11. Weakness or deterioration of the constitution.
N. B.—Constitutional weakness entitles to postponement only.
Schedule III.
Diseases, or infirmities, entitling to an exemption for one year, or
to examination by the provincial commandant, in order that those
suffering from them, or who petition on account of their existence,
may be sent, if necessary, to the hospital. (Law of January 8, 1817,
art. 94, letter B B, § 3:)
1. Amaurosis of both eyes, or of one eye.
2. Weakness of the visual faculty, permanent defects of the sight,
preventing from sufficiently distinguishing objects, or in so far as
is required by military service, such as short-sightedness,
nyclalopia, hemeralopia, dylopia, presbytia.
N. B.—Those who can clearly distinguish objects near at hand with the
help of short-sighted spectacles, bearing Nos. 2 and 3, or distant
objects, with the help of spectacles No. 6, may be considered as
short-sighted.
3. Chronic ophthalmia, frequent fluxions of the eyes, habitual
diseases of the eyelids, or of the lachrymal conduits.
4. Fetid and obstinate ulcers of the nasal organs.
5. Salivary fistulas.
6. Habitually fetid breath.
7. Dumbness; permanent aphonia, owing to other causes than those
mentioned in schedule I.
8. Permanent defects or affections of the organs of speech, of the
voice, and hearing, carried so far as to hinder their functions.
9. Fetid runnings from the ear.
10. Pulmonary consumption, and other serious affections of the
pectoral organs.
11. Internal aneurisms.
12. Dropsy of the abdomen, (ascitis;) swelling of the abdomal
organs.
13. Vesical caculi, gravel, habitual incontinence or frequent
retention of the urine, urinary fistula, and other diseases or
injuries of the urinary conduits.
14. Voluminous or ulcerous hemorrhoids, abundant or habitual
hemorrhoidal flux, incontinence of the fœcal matter, prolapsa of the
anus, habitual restriction of the anus, fistula of the anus.
15. Habitually offensive, whether partial or general,
perspiration.
16. Inveterate cutaneous affection, congenital or acquired, scab,
raw, damp and extensive tetters, obstinate itch, elphantasis.
17. Scorrhus, cancer, inveterate or bad ulcers.
18. Decided cacheta, scrofulous, scorbutic, or syphilitic
condition.
19. Epilepsy, general or partial, convulsive movements, habitual
tremor of the whole body or of a limb.
20. Mental derangement of any kind, insufficiency of the
understanding.
[Page 241]
Results of the levy for the
years 1859 to 1861.
| Description. |
1859. |
1860. |
1861. |
Average. |
| Whole number inscribed for the
levy of the year |
43,434 |
44,196 |
41,894 |
44,175 |
| Contingent of the year |
10,000. |
10,000 |
10,000 |
10,000 |
| DEFINITIVE EXEMPTIONS. |
|
|
|
|
|
Law of
January 8, 1817. |
|
|
|
|
| Under size |
11 |
4 |
3 |
6 |
| Incurable deformities or
infirmities |
2,396 |
2,360 |
2,138 |
2,298 |
| Definitively discharged on
account of infirmities |
10 |
9 |
3 |
7 |
| Ministers of different
religions |
|
|
|
|
|
Law of
April 27, 1820. |
|
|
|
|
| Brothers of those who had
accomplished their time of service |
953 |
1,023 |
1,107 |
1,028 |
| Brothers of those whose
substitutes had accomplished their time of service |
87 |
79 |
74 |
80 |
| Brothers of those who died in
the service |
177 |
175 |
157 |
170 |
| Brothers of those whose
substitutes died in the service |
27 |
28 |
31 |
29 |
| Brothers of those who had been
discharged for bodily defects contracted in the
service |
2 |
4 |
39 |
15 |
| Brothers of those whose
substitutes had been discharged for bodily defects
contracted in service |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
| Brothers of those who had paid
the sum of 150 florins ($60) for their substitues |
13 |
2 |
13 |
9 |
| Volunteers having completed the
time of service required by law. |
|
1 |
|
|
| Foreigners belonging to a
country in which Belgians are not liable to military
service |
11 |
14 |
12 |
12 |
| TEMPORARY EXEMPTIONS FOR ONE
YEAR. |
|
|
|
|
|
Law of
January 8, 1817. |
|
|
|
|
| Condemned to an infamous
punishment |
7 |
3 |
12 |
9 |
| Under size |
3,829 |
3,565 |
3,397 |
3,597 |
| Sick or infirm |
1,861 |
1,821 |
1,803 |
1,828 |
| Only brothers of those who bad
incurable infirmities |
15 |
9 |
8 |
11 |
| Only and unmarried brothers
dwelling with their fathers and mothers, and providing for
their subsistence |
43 |
49 |
41 |
44 |
| Students in divinity |
41 |
55 |
45 |
47 |
| On the land or sea
service |
657 |
645 |
692 |
665 |
| Pupils of the Military
School |
3 |
3 |
8 |
5 |
| Seamen by profession, making
long voyages |
63 |
50 |
45 |
53 |
| Widowers with one or several
children |
|
|
|
|
| Sons of widows or of wives
legally separated, divorced, or abandoned, providing for the
sustenance of their mothers |
783 |
768 |
789 |
780 |
| Brothers of orphans providing
for the sustenance of brothers and sisters |
30 |
31 |
31 |
31 |
| Brothers of those serving in the
national or in the land or sea forces |
3,463 |
3,427 |
3,300 |
3,397 |
| Brothers of those who have
furnished a substitute in actual service |
432 |
524 |
534 |
497 |
| Brothers of those who have
changed numbers in the rolls in actual service |
216 |
237 |
259 |
237 |
| Prisoners under arrest |
3 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
| Those in prison for police
offences |
69 |
50 |
39 |
53 |
|
Law of
April 27, 1820. |
|
|
|
|
| Only sons of legitimate birth
supporting their parents, or grandfathers and
grandmothers |
208 |
201 |
177 |
195 |
| Only sons of legitimate Birth
who are at the same time only children |
|
|
|
|
| Brothers of those serving as
substitutes |
1,079 |
1,173 |
1,083 |
1,112 |
| Total numbers exempted by
law |
16,492 |
16,319 |
15,845 |
16,219 |
| Remaining inscribed on the list
for the formation of the contingent |
26,942 |
27,877 |
29,049 |
27,956 |
| MEN SUPPLIED. |
|
|
|
|
| Incorporated “d’office” |
|
|
|
|
|
Volunteers by the law of January 8, 1817
Substitues—“remplicants”
|
1,263 |
1,192 |
1,269 |
1,241 |
| Those who have changed
numbers |
1,078 |
1,323 |
1,289 |
1,230 |
| Sent to hospital as being
attacked by temporary diseases or infirmities (law of 8th
January, 1817, art. 94, 66) |
|
|
|
|
| Others liable to serve |
6,072 |
6,479 |
6,389 |
6,313 |
|
8,413 |
8,994 |
8,949 |
8,789 |
| Men who failed to appear on the
contingent |
206 |
198 |
171 |
195 |
[Page 242]
|
Those
inscribed in the preceding levies called to form part of
the contingent of the year.
|
|
|
|
|
| Substitutes |
71 |
30 |
10 |
37 |
| Those who have exchanged their
numbers in the rolls |
180 |
58 |
72 |
103 |
| Others liable to serve |
1,098 |
647 |
699 |
815 |
| When missing from the
contingent |
32 |
73 |
99 |
68 |
| Sent back to hospital, &
c |
|
|
|
|
|
10,000 |
10,000 |
10,000 |
10,000 |
SYSTEM OF RECRUITING IN FRANCE.
The organization of the French army is based upon three distinct
provisions of law:
1st. The law passed March 21, 1832, establishing the principle that
every Frenchman is liable to respond to a call in defence of his
country, and that none but Frenchmen are admissible into the
army.*
2d. The law fixing annually the number of recruits to be levied.
3d. The annual appropriation act which fixes the number of men to be
maintained in active service, and the number of those to be called
for.
The French army is recruited by drafting, voluntary enlistments, and
re-engagements of veteran soldiers, and is composed of—
1st. The effective force maintained under arms.
2d. The reserve, comprising the contingent not yet called in, and
those who are sent home in anticipation of the expiration of their
term of service.
The annual levies are raised by drafts; every Frenchman who has
attained his twentieth year within the preceding twelve months is
bound to present himself to the authorities of his district. The
draft is made by cantons, and the number of men furnished by the
department and by canton is in proportion to the number inscribed on
the service rolls of each canton.
Up to the year 1830 the annual contingent was based on the
population; from 1831 to 1835 the proportion was graduated according
to the average of young men inscribed on the conscription lists of a
certain number of years preceding.†Since 1836 the basis is no longer upon
such average, but upon a list of the year.
[Page 243]
The annual levy in ordinary times is fixed at 80,000 men.
The number of men registered for drafting averages annually about
300,000.
The number of young men enrolled was—
| For drafting: |
And the contingent: |
| In 1855 |
318,461 |
140,000 = 43.9614 per cent. |
| In 1856 |
310,833 |
100,000 = 32.1716 per cent. |
| In 1857 |
295,309 |
100,000 = 33.8628 per cent. |
| In 1858 |
305,943 |
100,000 = 45.7601 per cent. |
| In 1859 |
306,930 |
100,000 = 32.5807 per cent. |
|
1,537,476 |
|
| Average |
307,495 |
|
According to M. Leon Lalanne, it is calculated that, owing to the
number of exemptions, about 175,000 men must be drawn to form a
contingent of 80,000 soldiers. In other words, 100 men have to be
drafted in order to secure 46 fit for service. In the department of
Lozere and Dordogne 73 men in 100 drafted were exempted.
Notwithstanding this, says M. Lalanne, France could raise annually
132,000 recruits, taking into consideration all kinds of exemptions,
and respecting the rights and satisfying the interests of all
concerned.
The legal service of a soldier is fixed at 7 years, counting from the
1st of January after his 20th birthday.
Under the law of March 21, 1832, the young soldier is permitted to
furnish a substitute, subject, however, to rigorous conditions as to
morality and aptitude for service.
This system of substitution obtains only in practice, at present,
with regard to brothers, brothers-in-law, and relations up to the
fourth degree. Moreover, by the law of April 26, 1855, modified by
act of July 24, 1860, the exemption from service can be secured at a
fixed sum, which is applied to a fund for enlisting veteran
soldiers, by re-engaging at the end of their service as substitutes.
These re-engagements are for terms of not less than two years, and
not more than seven years.
Substitutes can be entered on the registers of the districts where
they present themselves in lieu of drafted men, provided they are
admitted as fit for service by the military board.
Young men of proper size, health, and morality can enter as
volunteers at the age of 16 in the navy, and at the age of 18 in the
army.
The reserve is formed of men who, although comprised in the levy,
have not been called upon to join their regiments, and are
consequently not in active service, and of such soldiers who have
been granted furloughs, in anticipation of the expiration of their
legal term of service.
[Page 244]
Exemptions and exclusions.
The following are excluded from military service, and can serve in no
form in the army:
1. Those who have been subjected by an infamous or afflictive
punishment.
2. Those who have been condemned for misdemeanors to an imprisonment
of two or more years, and have, moreover, been placed under
surveillance of the police, and have lost their civil and family
rights.
The following are exempted, and are placed in the contingent of young
men who have been drafted, but who fall within the following
conditions: (Article 13, law of March 21, 1832.)
1. Those who are less than 1,560 metres in height.
2. Those afflicted with an infirmity rendering them unfit for
service.
3. The eldest of orphan children, having lost both father and
mother.*
4. The only son, or the eldest son, or where there is no son-in-law,
the only grandson, or the eldest grandson of a widow, and who is
still such; of a father who is blind or incompetent to take care of
himself.*
In the cases provided for in Nos. 3 and 4, the younger is exempted if
the elder brother is blind or incompetent.*
5. The eldest of two brothers, when both are enrolled and drafted at
the same time, provided the younger is fit for service.
6. When another brother is serving otherwise than as a
substitute.†
7. He whose brother has died in active service, or has been honorably
discharged or permitted to quit the service on account of wounds
received in the execution of orders, or on account of infirmities
contracted in the army or navy service‡.
The exemptions granted in the cases cited in Nos. 6 and 7 supra apply in the same family as many times
as the same causes occur; exemptions already granted in favor of
living brothers, by virtue of this article, being, however,
deducted, except in cases of infirmity.
Those absent, or not duly represented at the draft of their class,
cannot claim the exemptions indicated in Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of this article, if the causes for
these exemptions have only arisen after the close of the rolls
forming the contingent of their class.§
Those coming within the following conditions are considered as having
purged their liability to draft, and their names are struck from the
rolls.||
(Art. 14, law of 31st March, 1832.)
[Page 245]
1. Those who are actually in the land or naval forces, provided they
have enlisted for a term of seven years.
2. Registered seamen, and ship carpenters, sailmakers, &c., upon
the lists of the maritime inscriptions.
3. Pupils of the “Ecole Polytechnique,” provided they are present at
that institution and enlisted in the public service for a term of
seven years.*
4. Members of public institutions who have engaged themselves before
being drafted, to follow the profession of instructors, also pupils
of the central normal schools at Paris; those of the schools called
jeune de langues
† and the
professors of deaf and dumb asylums.
5. Pupils of the large seminaries authorized for ecclesiastical
(Catholic( studies; young men authorized to follow studies for the
ministry of other beliefs, salaried by the state, under condition,
as regards the former, that they shall be held to service if they do
not enter holy orders on attaining the age of twenty-five, and with
regard to the latter, if they have not been consecrated within the
year after the term when they could have obtained the same.
6. Young men who receive the great prizes at the institute or the university.
Young men who have drawn numbers, placing them in the contingent, but
have been exempted conditionally by virtue of the stipulations of
Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, shall, when they cease to follow the vocation which
exempted them, notify such by a declaration to the mayor of their
district within the year when they ceased to be in the service,
employment, or studies, and receive a copy of such declaration.
Failing to make such declaration and to get it vise by the prefet of the department within one month,
they are liable to the penalties indicated in the first paragraph of
art. 38 of law of 21st March, 1832. They will be replaced in the
contingent of their class, without any deduction for the time
elapsed from the cessation of their services, employment, or
studies, up to the time of declaration.
In the case of exemptions on account of infirmities professional men
are consulted. Other cases of exemption or deduction are decided
upon the production of authenticated documents, or in default
thereof, upon certificates signed by three heads of families,
domiciled in the same canton, whose sons are liable to draft or have
been drafted.
These certificates must, moreover, be signed and approved by the
mayor of the commune of the person seeking exemption.
SYSTEM OF RECRUITING IN PRUSSIA.
Unlike the practice which obtains in most countries of Europe of
recruiting by conscription, military service in Prussia is
compulsory upon all, and without the chances of a draft or the
privilege of furnishing a substitute.
The basis of the Prussian system is the law of 3d September, 1814, by
which every Prussian is bound to military service from the age of 17
to 49.
During this period the service is divided as follows:
From the age of 20 to 25 (except in Westphalia, where it begins at
21,) every Prussian is liable to be called out for active service;
as a rule, however, he remains only three years with his regiment;
during the remaining two, in time of peace, he is sent home and
placed in the “reserve.”
From the age of 25 to 32 he serves in the “Landwehr,” first class;
and for a further term of seven years, say from 32 to 39, he remains
enrolled in the “Landwehr” of the second class.
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In time of war and great emergency every man is liable up to his 49th
year to serve in the home guard, (Landsturm,) beginning, as above
stated, at the age of 17.
The duration of service is calculated from the date of entering the
army, so that if he present himself at an earlier age than required
by law the time is deducted,
Liability to serve dates from the 1st of January of the year of
arriving at the age of 20.
Those who have been educated at a military school or at the institute
of noncommissioned officers must remain in active service beyond the
usual three years—two years additional, if they were educated
entirely at the public expense, or one year if partially.
Those who volunteer before the age of 20, and are able to equip and
keep themselves, and capable of passing a specified examination,
remain for a term of one year only with their regiment, which is
considered as equivalent to active service of three years.
The present government of Prussia proposes to extend the term of
actual service to four years, and to augment the contingent of the
standing army, whilst the liberal party contend for a diminution of
the contingent, as well as a reduction of the time of service, from
three to two years. This conflict is still going on, but up to this
date no change has been made.
The government bases its proposition upon the fact that the army has
not kept pace with the population. The annual levy has varied for
the past thirty years from 60,000 to 63,000 men. This number, under
the law of 3d September, 1814, was based upon the then existing
census; thus, in 1816, Prussia had a population of 10,136,000
inhabitants, the levy amounting to 125 per cent.; it has now a
population of 18,210,000, and the levy amounts to 112 per cent.
According to Dieterici, Handbuch der Statistik des Preussischen
Staates, the Prussian army in active service in 1855 was 165,537
men; of these the service requires a renewal of one-third every
year. The number of recruits required annually is, therefore, 55,179
men, while by the census of the same year, 1855, the number of young
men of the age of twenty in the Prussian monarchy amounted to
147,614; about one-third, however, are found unfit for service, or
exempted on other grounds.
The following data of population, &c., taken from Witsleben
Heerwesen der Preussechen Armee, (1864, page 64,) are interesting in
this connexion:
| The population of Prussia, according to census,
was in 1854 |
16,737,670 |
| Of these there were of young men between the age
of twenty and twenty-five |
633,331 |
| Those having attained twenty years, and liable to
call |
177,416 |
| The other four classes, being respectively
twenty-one, twenty-three, and twenty-four years old |
263,820 |
|
Total of roll of men |
441,236 |
|
From the above the following reductions are made,
viz: |
|
a. |
Volunteers serving one year |
|
12,458 |
|
b.
|
Serving as a punishment |
|
245 |
|
c.
|
Definitively exempted— |
|
|
|
|
Totally unfit |
13,885 |
|
|
|
Unfit for field duty, but serviceable for
garrison duty |
8,373 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
22,258 |
|
d.
|
Temporarily exempted— |
|
|
Owing to infirmities |
143,863 |
|
|
|
Under size, less than five feet |
43,200 |
|
|
|
Other exceptional considerations |
13,604 |
|
|
200,667 |
[Page 247]
|
e. |
Absentees with permission |
50,352 |
|
|
Without permission |
|
34,054 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
84,406 |
|
|
|
Total men |
378,827 |
| Number remaining liable to serve |
62,409 |
|
(Equal, as above, to 441,236.) |
| Of which have been called in |
40,391 |
| Leaving subject to call |
22,018 |
The following table shows the relative percentage of the preceding
statement, compared with the average during the previous years, from
1831 to 1854:
|
1854. |
Average from 1831 to 1854. |
| Volunteers |
2.82 |
2.46 |
| Serving by reason of punishment |
.6 |
.9 |
| Definitive exemptions |
5.04 |
6.40 |
| Temporary exemptions |
55.72 |
53.58 |
| Other considerations |
3.08 |
3.50 |
| Absentees |
19.12 |
15.85 |
| Total |
85.84 |
81.88 |
| Remain to be called |
14.16 |
18.12 |
| Have been called in |
9.15 |
8.84 |
| Remaining subject to call |
5.01 |
9.28 |
Exclusions and Exemptions,
They are definitive and temporary; certain conditions, or temporary
service, suffice, in some cases, to entitle to a furlough, with
liability to be called upon at any time to join their regiments.
Those who have undergone infamous or afflictive punishments are
excluded from the army, and those who have lost civil or civic
rights, if the loss of the latter be temporary only, this cause of
exemption is valid only until legal rehabilitation. If not
rehabilitated on attaining the twenty-third year, such persons are
incorporated in disciplinary companies as laborers.
Those who wilfully disable or mutilate themselves, with the view of
avoiding service, are treated in the same manner.
Conditional exemptions are granted to Quakers and Mennonites.
§ 14 of the law of December 9, 1858, stipulates that those
immigrating from other German states shall be exempted from service,
provided they have complied with the laws of their state on the
subject; but that they shall be, on becoming residents in Prussia,
incorporated in the reserve, and be liable to serve in the
“Landwehr.”
Foreigners emigrating from other countries than German states are
liable to service according to their age, no matter whether they
have served at their former homes or not.
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Those who live in Prussia, without being naturalized as citizens,
shall not be called on nor be admitted into the service.*
Temporary and conditional exemptions are granted to pupils of
seminaries, and tutors of the same, on condition that they join
once, for a period of six weeks, a regiment, after which they are
exempted from farther service.
The same exemption is accorded to those who, at the time of the call,
are studying at the seminary of Guadenfred and the college of
Wielski; also, those of the Jewish college at Minister, provided
they bring testimonials showing their fitness for holy orders.
Those who serve as attendants in military hospitals for a term of one
year are exempted from farther service, but remain four years with
the reserve, and are afterwards liable to service in the
“Landwehr.”
Those who have served six months in the military train or transport
service are held to serve the remaining portion of their time in the
reserve, or “Landwehr,” if required.
Those enlisting for service in the navy are subject to the same
rules; they remain in the first class from the age of 20 to 25, in
the second from 25 to 32, and in the third from 32 to 39.
Those found to be under size, i.e., below five
feet, (Rhenish measure,) are put back into the next class, and the
military board decides whether the men are definitively exempted or
held at disposal, in which latter case “the men are liable to be
called in case of war.
With regard to size, the lowest for regiments of guards is 5 feet 5
inches, for one-fourth; another fourth must have at least 5 feet 6
inches, and the remaining one-half at least 5 feet 7 inches and
more.
For infantry, the size is 5 feet 2 inches, and 5 feet by exception,
if the man be otherwise robust.
For fusileer companies, such men who show natural agility, aptitude,
&c., are selected; size as above.
Riflemen, as a rule, must not be less than 5 feet 2 inches, and not
above 5 feet 7 inches; some exceptions are admitted at 5 feet.
The same stipulations obtain with regard to the soldiers for the
military train.
The fitness for service is determined by professional men, but their
decision is not binding on the commission appointed for
examination.
In cases of infirmity the reports of the surgeons are subject to the
confirmation of the military board, which alone decides whether a
man is to be definitively discharged, or, unless he suffers from
incurable infirmity, is to be held at the disposal of the military
authorities, as provided in the preceding paragraph.
The following provisions to exemptions are made for persons who shall
be “favorably considered,” or are recommended for temporary
exemption:
1. Those who, in the opinion of the examination board, are the
support of families which might otherwise be subjected to want.
2. The only son of a widow, when there is no other member of the
family to provide for her or her family.
3. Persons who inherit, or unexpectedly acquire otherwise than by
purchase, property which they cannot leave in the hands of others,
without detriment to their interests, provided such property is of
sufficient value to furnish the means of living.
4. Tenants of crown lands, or other real estate, whose lease, owing
to the death of a parent or relative, or other circumstance, must be
renewed, and the occupation of which cannot be ceded to another
without prejudice to the property.
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5. Owners of factories, or other industrial establishments, who are
employing a number of workmen, and cannot find a manager to take
their place, provided they have not actually acquired the property
by purchase at the time when liable to serve.
6. Those who, as sons of disabled parents, are considered as the only
and necessary assistants for the management of their property,
whether real or personal, factories, &c., provided they are
unable to procure elsewhere the necessary assistance.
If it should turn out that the conditions indicated in the foregoing
six paragraphs result from purchase, leasing, or transfer of
property by the free will of the parties, the exemptions are
inadmissible. As a rule, no one liable to serve shall, before having
satisfied the provisions of the law, enter into any engagements
which tend to preclude, or render difficult, compliance with the
terms of the law.
Marriage contracted before the time of service is no cause of
exemption from service.
All temporary exemptions are granted, as a rule, for one year
only.
Exemptions are also accorded—
1. To those who bring indubitable proof of being engaged in acquiring
the knowledge of a profession, or art, the result of which would be
seriously affected by interruption of the studies.
2. Pupils of the industrial schools at Berlin.
3. Pupils of the medical school.
4. Pupils of veterinary schools.
On the 15th January, each year, the parish priest must send in a
minute of the births in his district for the past year. The local
authorities make up from these registers a list of all individuals
who have attained the seventeenth year, and these are entered on the
rolls.
Registers are also kept of those persons who have a legal residence
in the district, or who, without being born in the district, are
domiciled as servants, managers, clerks, apprentices, students, or
pupils.
