The State of Louisiana is now, and has been for several weeks, in full possession of these forts; and Mr. Hatch of course intended that the government should be deprived of any chance of keeping the McClelland, even if her officers remained faithful to their trust. If these latter, as was the case, proved derelict, I had made ample arrangements to seize the vessel, and carry her to sea in defiance of any ordinary contingency to the contrary, could I have either found her or got her below the fortifications. As it was, however, this was impossible. She lay in the river, watched from shore, a distance of seventy-two miles above the forts, with a telegraphic line in working order, communicating directly between the city and garrison; and as I was subsequently informed by the commander of Fort St. Philip, he was determined to blow her out of the water rather than let her pass to sea.

I was therefore under the necessity of witnessing the transfer of this fine vessel, her stores and armament, to the State of Louisiana, and report to you that she is no longer in the United States revenue service. Her officers have likewise taken an oath of allegiance to the State, and have received and accepted commissions in her service.

I then, in further pursuance of your directions, proceeded to the port of Mobile to look after the cutter Lewis Cass, stationed in that harbor.

I found her at anchor opposite the city, within about one hundred yards of the wharves, and apparently deserted. On going to the custom-house, I fell in with Lieutenant Lawrence, and subsequently found Lieutenants Rogers and Shoemaker. I was informed by them that Captain Morrison had received your orders for him to repair to Galveston, but that he had refused to obey them, and had given up his vessel to the authorities of the State of Alabama.

On going on board the Lewis Cass I found her to be in very bad condition, no one on board but the men, and no order or discipline observed. Captain Morrison could not be met with; but in the letter-book of the vessel, which was lying in the cabin, I found the following letter from Collector Sandford, which will fully explain the manner in which that officer thought proper to perform his duty to the government of the United States:

STATE OF ALABAMA,

Collector's Office, Mobile, January 30, 1861.

SIR: In obedience to an ordinance recently adopted by a convention of the people of Alabama, I have to require you to surrender into my hands, for the use of the State, the revenue-cutter Lewis Cass, now under your command, together with her armaments, properties, and provisions on board the same.

I am instructed also to notify you that you have the option to continue in command of the said revenue-cutter under the authority of the State of Alabama, in the exercise of the same duties that you have hitherto rendered to the United States, and at the same compensation, reporting to this office and to the governor of the State.

In surrendering the vessel to the State you will furnish me with a detailed inventory of its armaments, provisions, and properties of every description.

You will receive special instructions from this office in regard to the duties you will be required to perform. I wait your immediate reply. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. J. MORRISON, Esq.,

T. SANDFORD, Collector.

Captain Revenue-Cutter Lewis Cass, Mobile, Ala.

Captain Morrison thereupon transferred his vessel, with her equipments, to the State of Alabama, and took an oath of allegiance to that State.

It is proper here to remark that the other officers of the Lewis Cass, viz: First Lieutenant Rogers and Lieutenants Lawrence and Shoemaker, remained faithful to their government, and rendered me much assistance at Mobile. They unanimously and cheerfully volunteered their services, in case an opportunity might be afforded, to recapture the McClelland, and this would undoubtedly have been effected if any chance could have been found to take her to sea.

I gave Mr. Rogers written orders to return to New London, his place of residence, and await there your instructions. In like manner Mr. Shoemaker was directed to repair to Baltimore, while Mr. Lawrence preferred to remain with his family on the shore of Mobile Bay.

The Lewis Cass, in her present condition, is entirely unseaworthy. Her seams are open, causing her to leak badly, and in fact she came very near foundering while beating up Mobile harbor, with but a whole-sail breeze.

Her late officers inform me that she will require extensive repairs to put her in any condition to do service to her present holders.

I then returned to New Orleans and made a final effort with the junior officers of the McClelland to induce them at least to consent for me to carry the vessel under sail as far as the forts, as I was desirous to test the question of the determination of the State of Louisiana to use force in retaining her, but they refused positively to have her removed from her anchorage.

Finding that nothing further could be effected by me that the two vessels were entirely lost to the United States, and no possible benefit could arise from my remaining any longer in New Orleans, I left that city, via the river-route, and reached here on Thursday evening, the 14th instant.

I propose to make the conduct of the officers of the telegraph company, with reference to official despatches, the subject of a special communication.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WM. HEMPHILL JONES,

Hon. JOHN A. Dix,

Secretary of the Treasury.

Special Agent.

PROCLAMATION OF MAJOR-GENERAL DIX

TO THE PEOPLE.

About the middle of July, 1863, a riot of a very serious character broke out in the city of New York and continued for three or four days, when it was quelled by military force. The immediate cause was the dissatisfaction with the draft for the army, the first attack having been made on the office of one of the provost-marshals. The number of killed and wounded is believed to have been about one thousand. The dissatisfaction, in which the outbreak originated, was created to a considerable extent by the opposition of newspaper presses and politicians to the act of Congress providing for the draft. It was opposed as arbitrary, oppressive, and inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States. Gen. Dix was at this juncture assigned to the command of the Eastern Department, of which the State of New York is a part. The draft, having been temporarily suspended on account of the riot, was resumed and carried into execution in August ensuing, and it was on this occasion that the following proclamation was published.

HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE EAST,}

NEW YORK CITY, August 17, 1863.

TO THE CITIZENS OF NEW YORK:

THE draft of men in this city to replenish the ranks of the army, in order to complete more speedily the suppression of the insurrection in the South, having, in consequence of forcible resistance to the execution of the law, been placed under my direction as commanding officer of the forces of the United States in this military department, I have thought it not out of place to present to you some suggestions for your consideration as friends of the Union and of the good order of society.

The law under which the draft is to be made is for enrolling and calling out the national forces. It is founded on the

principle that every citizen, who enjoys the protection of the government and looks to it for the security of his property and his life, may be called on in seasons of great public danger to take up arms for the common defence. No political society can be held together unless this principle is acknowledged as one to which the government may have recourse when its existence is in peril. There is no civilized country in which it is not recognized.

The law authorizing the draft has been persistently called a conscription law by those who desire to make it odious and defeat its execution. It is in no just sense a conscription like that which was put in force in the sixth year of the French republic, and abandoned on the restoration of the Bourbons, on account of its oppressive exactions. It is a simple law for enrolling and calling into the service the armsbearing population of certain ages, and differs in no essential principle from the law authorizing the militia to be called out, excepting that in the latter case complete organizations are brought into the field. The object of the very provisions of the law which are most beneficial to individuals has been most grossly perverted. If a drafted man finds it inconvenient to serve, he is allowed to furnish a substitute, or to purchase his exemption from service by paying the smallest sum of money for which substitutes are ordinarily obtained. Both these provisions have the same purpose-to provide for cases of hardship; and if either were stricken out, these cases would be proportionably increased in number.

The draft about to be made is for one fifth part of all persons between twenty and thirty-five years of age, and of the unmarried between thirty-five and forty-five. The entire class between eighteen and thirty-five was long since drafted in the seceded States, and the draft has recently been extended to embrace nearly the whole arms-bearing population. Compared with the burden they are sustaining, ours is as nothing. The contest on our part is to defend our nationality, to uphold the institutions under the protection of which we