Ionia County-JOHN C. BLANCHARD, Prosecuting Attorney.

Livingston County-F. C. WHIPPLE, Prosecuting Attorney.

! Genessee County-E. H. THOMPSON, Prosecuting Attorney.

JOINT DOC.
No. 7.

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LEGISLATURE 1845.

ANNUAL REPORT of the Adjutant General.

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Detroit, November 30, 1844.

To His Excellency JOHN S. BARRY, Governor
and Commander-in-Chief:

SIR-In compliance with the 11th section of the Act approved April 13th, 1841, which provides that the Adjutant General shall prepare a full return of the militia, exhibiting the full strength in each year, and also a return of the arms and military stores, designating the several kinds and their places of deposit, I have the honor to submit my annual report of the condition of this department for the year 1844.

It appears that the legislature, by an Act approved March 11th, 1844, repealing certain Acts therein named, intended to re-establish the rendezvous and drills by companies in their respective beats only, as provided by section 13th of the Act entitled "An Act to organize the militia," approved April 13th, 1833, which provides "that the militia shall rendezvous by companies in their respective beats on the first Tuesday in May in every year, at nine of the clock in the forenoon, for the purpose of improving in martial exercise, and also once in each year between the first and last days of October, by regiment and seperate battalion, at such time and place as the commanding officer of the brigade shall direct, for the purpose of inspection, review, and martial exercises, and at such other times and places, either by regiment, battalion, or company, as the commanding officer of the brigade shall direct, for the purpose of carrying into effect any order of the Commander in Chief, for calling into service of this territory, or of the United States, the whole or any portion of the militia, in obedience to any law of the United States, or for the defence of this territory, or to aid in the execution or maintenance of any law of this territory, provided that it shall be lawful for the commandant of a regiment or separate battalion to order a rendezvous by

regiment or battalion as aforesaid, after the fifteenth day of October in each year, should the same not have been previously ordered by the officer commanding the brigade." However desirable and salutary the re-enactment of this provision might be, in as much as it would abolish in part the general or brigade and division trainings in certain cases, and was intended to convene the militia in small bodies or companies, and that only within their several geographical limits or beats, still the provision is not revived, for the legislature seem to have overlooked the following enactment found in the Revised Statutes, title 1st, chapter 1st, section 4th, page 3d: "Whenever a statute or any part thereof shall be repealed by a subsequent statute, such statute or any part thereof, so repealed, shall not be revived by the repeal of such subsequent repealing statute."

Now it so happened that by the oversight of this 4th section of the Revised Statutes herein specified, the militia system, instead of being made more effective and less burdensome, has been thrown into general confusion; for some of the commanding officers, aware of the true construction of the statutes, have declined calling out the militia either by companies or otherwise, whilst others endeavored to carry the provision of the Act of 1833, above quoted, into effect, as though it had been re-enacted, by the orders for the trial of delinquents by courts martial, for non-performance of duty. In all cases where courts martial have been thus ordered, I endeavored with all dilligence to prevent their progress, and thus in part arrested their harrassing consequences. The militia being thus called out only in part, and in several portions of the State not at all, prevented the several commandants of companies in the latter case from completing their muster rolls, and from making their returns of the numerical strength of their commands, with a correct statement of the arms and accoutrements, to their superiors, as provided by law.

Although all possible care and attention have been taken by this department to transmit to, and supply at an early day, all the Major Generals, Brigadier Generals and their respective staffs, with a sufficient number of blank militia rolls, with positive instructions to distribute the same to the several assessors, supervisors and clerks of townships within their commands; still I have with regret to state, that by that mode little or no assistance to ascertain the whole of the

numerical strength of persons liable to do military duty, has been obtained, as but few of these township officers have made returns as provided in sections 7, 8 and 9, of the Act approved April 13th, 1841, which provides as follows: "The assessors shall, upon their oath of office, prepare a roll, to be called the militia roll, of all the inhabitants of the State, residing in the township or city, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, who are or shall be liable to do military duty; and said assessors shall have power to question under oath, (which they are hereby authorised to admininister,) any person whom they may believe to be liable to do military duty, but who denies the same; and if any person refuses to be sworn, the assessor shall enrol his na me in the same manner as though he admitted his liability. Any person who shall falsely answer such questions under oath, as aforesaid, shall be deemed guilty of perjury.

"Sec. 8. When such enrolment shall be completed, the assessors shall annually, at the time they return their assessment roll, return also, with the same, the militia roll, to the township or city clerk, as the case may be.

"Sec. 9. The clerk shall, within ten days after the receipt of said roll, transmit the same to the Colonel or other officer commanding the regiment, within the boundaries of which, such township or city is or may be included."

In order to obviate similar and almost insurmountable difficulties to obtain correct returns, and, if practicable, render the line more efficient, the adoption of the effective laws for the regulation of the militia now in force in some of the neighboring older states, might remedy the evil; and in order to attain this object, I have addressed circulars to the Adjutant Generals of the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Vermont, and others, and solicited an interchange of their existing laws now in force, and have the gratification to report that to all and every application to these officers, I have not only been honored with the prompt and courteous transmission of copies of the laws, but in several instances have also been favored with the contemplated plans and projects to be laid before the respective legislatures of those States for consideration. All these laws and documents are now deposited in the archives of this office. The State of Massachusetts has disbanded her militia throughout, and repealed