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CORRESPONDENCE.
Correspondence solicited; but to receive atten
tion, letters most be accompanied by a responsi
ble name, not for publication, but as a guarantee
of good faith.
All letters should be addressed to
J. H. EHTILL, Savannah, Ga.
Dfinund lor an InmUgMion of the
Treasury Department.
Senator Davis having first examined
with evident conscientious care into the
J reasury accounts, supplements his reso
lution for a committee of investigation
by a speech which embraces facts and
figures, from which the Senator makes
both logical and mathematical deductions
of vital interest to the country and not at
all complimentary to the Treasury De
portment accountants. In justice to Secre
tary Uristow,SenatorDavisdisclairas “any
intention to reflect on the present efficient
head of the Treasury Department,” and in
his exhibit shows a difference of $3,271,-
®7O i.'t between two official statements
of the-sarne matter in different financial
reports. On faith in the result of his in
quiries, Senator Davis says : “If lam
correct, I do not hesitate to declare that
for certain years little confidence can or
should be placed in the statements of the
Treasury Department.” And again : “I
have no suitable words to express my
condemnation of anything that lookH like
a change in the books and statements of
the departments of the government, and
there is no escape from the fact that
changes in the books and statements of
the Treasury Department have been
made. The New York Tribune corre
spondent says:
“Mr. Davis delivered his speech in the
Benate to-day on the necessity of having
a close scrutiny into the manner of doing
business in the Treasury Department, and
although Mr. Jloutwell endeavored to
break the force of Mr. Davis's remarks
by explaining the routine of business—
be could not controvert the facts and
figures. The Administration party is
doubtless so strong in the Senate, and
the discipline so severe, that the resolu
tion of Mr. Davis will bo defeated. If
it does not carry, it is understood it will
be taken up in tho House, where it will be
sure to puss’”
The Menate, says the Washington Cap
ital, owes it to itself to prevent investiga
tions by the House over its own head,
and nothing should be more mortifying
to thut body than to have the veil with
which they concealed inoouipetency or
corruption, torn aside by the House of
Representatives. Senator Boutwell’s ex
planation of Senator Davis’s statements
wore not at all satisfactory. No doubt
Secretary Bristow can explain every act
of his administration, and will be glad of
the opportunity to show in his whole
ollicial career the consistency of a pains
taking and honorable servant of the
country.
—
Ex-Senator Trumbull oil Republican
Corruption.
The other day the Democracy of Chi
cago mt, in convention, and among *he
present w'-a ex- Senator JLyman
Trumbull, formerly one of the moat
prominent and pronounoed Republicans
in tho land. The burden of Mr. Trum -
bull's romarks, which wore loudly ap
plauded, referred to the profligacy and
corruption of tho Republican adminis
tration, from top to bottom, 110 started
out by saying that the school question,
so called, has no business in politics; it
has beon dragged in to distract the atten
tion of the people from real and grave
issues. Taking advantage, he said, of the
popular lassitude, the natural reaction
from the tremendous strain of tho war,
unworthy men had seized a political or
ganization and prostituted it to ignoble
uses. From Washington, as from a
fountain-head, corruption has diffused
itself through all the brnnches of the
public service. The example sot at tho
Capital has been copied only too faith
fully throughout the country. The whole
head is sick and tho whole heart faint. In
short, said Mr. Trumbull:
All branches of the public service ap
pear to be infected with dishonesty, a
disease which seems as contagious among
officials as is the suinll-pox among citi
zens. If the occupant of the White
House has not caught the real disease, he
has at least taken it in the milder form of
receiving gifts from those who have it.
Blind devotion to party, and ability to
extort money from subordinate officials
and tux payers, with which to corrupt the
people and maintain party ascendency,
have become the chief recommendations
for office. The spoils system, adopted
an l adhered to by the Republican organi
zation of late years, has debauched the
whole civil service, and wo cannot expect
honesty and integrity in official life till
some other qualification for office is re
quired than fealty to the Republican par
ty, or being crippled in its service, espe
cially if the crippling comes from con
nection with Credit Mobilier and other
dishonest transactions.
The fact that one Chinaman has been
naturalized in California, and the report
that two or three others have formally
declared their iutention to become Ameri
can citizens, have excited extraordinary
interest and no little apprehension in
that State. According to the San Fran
cisco Bulletin, if Chinese naturalization
is to go on, it is within the political pos
sibilities that within five years from date
10,000 Chinamen may be marching up to
the polls in San Francisco to vote, and
not less than 70,000 in the State of Cali
fornia. The Chinamen in that State eligible
to naturalization are considerably more
in number than one half the white voters,
and if all who are now in the State should
be naturalized within five years the choice
of Governor might depend upon the will
Of the heathen Chinee. The great majority
of them, as it is well known, retain in
California their native customs, barring a
weakness for soft hats and cowhide boots.
But as out of the immense emigration
from China during the past twenty years
only one immigrant has as yet developed
into a full-blown American citizen, it is
not probable that Ah Sin will be elected
Governor of the Golden State at an early
day.
Secretary Robeson being asked, a few
days since, what the present naval prep
arations mean, replied : ‘‘When the or
der was issued last October to put the
navy in fighting order there was a rea
sonable ground for doing it. Now there
is a more reasonable ground, and that is
the defense of national honor.” If it is
only to defend what Radicalism has left
of the national honor, the navy has got a
very small job before it.
The Boston Advertiser (Republican)
says : “The action of the House of Rep
resentatives on the question of amnesty
is the eveut of the year thus far. So far
as the Republicans are concerned, it is a
backward step, and is not in sympathy
with the spirit and tendency of the
J. H. ESTILL, PROPRIETOR,
Most Northern readers will be sur
prised at the ootfiparison made by Ma.
Hill, of Georgia, between the treatment
of prisoners on either side during the
war, and will hesitate to accept the
charges of cruelty that are brought
against our government.—i Veto York
Tribune.
If most Northern readers will read the
official records of their own officers, they
will get a much fairer view of the horrors
of the last war than by listening to the
declamations of the bloody-shirt orators
or swallowing the ex parte testimony
taken before tribunals organized to convict.
And if they will dismiss their be
setting Phariseeism, and adopt the
rational conclusion that the peo
pleof the South are just as
brave, humane, moral, conscientious and
patriotic as themselves, and that in peace
or in war are their equals in every respect,
they will get rid of much of the preju
dice that now blinds their judgments and
intensifies their resentment. The war de
veloped the sternest attributes of the
human character on both sides—it was
not favorable to the charities and ameni
ties of civi)u*d life, but in proportion to
tbeir opportunities and their means the
Confederate Government did as much,
if not more than the Federal Govern
ment to mitigate the horrors of the conflict.
With all our available force in the field,
our territory overrun and devastated, our
ports blockaded, deprived of all external
resources, it was not to be expected that
our prisoners of war could be sumptu-
ously fed or comfortably provided for,
when not only our own soldiers, but their
families, were suffering for the necessa
ries of life. The official records show
that the mortality among the Southern
prisoners in the North was considerably
greater than the mortality among the
Northern prisoners in the South. This
single fact is an unanswerable refutation
of the charges of cruelty that have been
made against the South. After all the
howling and raving over the “atrocities”
of Andersonville, history will place the
responsibility where it belongs—on those
who refused an exchange of prisoners.
That barbarity does not lay at the door
of the Confederate Government, nor is it
chargeable to the Northern people. But
it was the result of a ruthless policy on
the part of those who could afford to
swap two soldiers for one—who, while
they could readily rocruit their .own ranks
with fresh levies, knew that every prisoner
they held was a loss which tho Confed
eracy could not supply.
We have said that history will place
the blame where it belongs. Mr. Blaine
will find that the well-informed, honest,
public opinion of the country will not
w&it for history to refute the notoriously
false accusation which he made the pre
tense of his brutal assault upon Mr. Da
vis and the Southern people. Since writ
ing the above, our eye has fallen on the
following extract from the Chicago Times.
Commenting on the amnesty debate, the
writer says;
“ In bi>gpeocb in v reply to Mr. Blaine,
ilr. Hill did fan t forget the very import
ant point'W strangely overlooked by his
antagonist, that but for the savage policy
of refusing to exchange prisoners—a pol
icy which was hatched between Grant
and Stanton, and was made infamous by
tho cool atrocity of tho former, who com
pared it to the curtailment of cats’ tails —
the revolting scenes of the Southern
prison pens would have been impossible.
This policy, as Mr. Brown, an army cor
respondent on the Union side, truly
enough said, ‘dug all the unnamed
graves’ which skirted the palisades
of Andersonville. Orators who
take this subject for their theme should
make a show of impartiality, at least, and
while exhausting the language of invec
tive upon the brutal prison-keepers of the
Confederates, reserve a few mild but ex
pressive phrases wherewith to character
ize the men, living and dead, who heard
the cry of perishing thousands of brave
men, and—coldly calculating that it was
better to let them die, because their
places could be filled by conscription,
than to save their lives by exchanging
Confederates for them —mercilessly re
fused to say the word *hat would have
restored them to life, liberty, and home.”
Blaine’s Elimination. —The Spring
field (Hass.) Republican thinks Blaine is
eliminated from the roll of Presidential
candidates, remarking in its pithy way:
“The list is getting thinned out. There
remain Grant, Bristow and Washburne.”
And the Republican, as illustrating this,
publishes the following private note from
a leading Vermont Republican: “Blaine's
speech is a blunder and an offense! I
don’t wan’t any man capable of such mean
smartness for my candidate for the Presi
dency. What a way to begin the cen
tennial hearing, this tearing the scabs off
the old sores! Foor old Jeff Davis! He
bad no standing with his own people.
Blaine is setting him on his feet every
where. No use! These professional
politicians always fail to connect. They
are not fit to marshal in the new cen
tury!”
If that be not strong enough, perhaps
the following from the Washington cor
respondence of the Chicago Times, is:
“Never has a man so fallen in esteem.
Never did a man so quickly impair his
entire characteristics and standing so
completely as James G. Blaine. He
played for high stakes, and it is the ver
dict that he has lost the game even before
it began.”
Mks. Woodhull After 8150,000 Dam
ages.—Mrs. Victoria Woodhull, who it
will be remembered was prosecuted aud
imprisoned for first disclosing the Beecher
scandal, appeared before the Senate Com
mittee on Claims on Wednesday and
made a long speech on the damages which
herself and Tennie Claflin sustained by
the suppression of Woodhull and ClajUn's
Weekly in November, 1872, and the ar
rest aud thirty days’ imprisonment which
the firm endured while awaiting trial on
a charge of circulating obscene literature
through the United States mail, and also
by their subsequent arrest and imprison
ment in 1873 on a similar charge. Mrs.
Woodhull charges that the prosecution
against her was wilful, malicious and
illegal, and cited a long history of her
many grievances, which the committee
listened to with much attention. She
claims $50,000, paid as counsel fees and
legal expenses in the defense of the firm,
and SIIO,OOO as damages sustained by
the suppression of IFoodAuM and Cballin's
Weekly.
Widow Van Cott is a strong-minded
revivalist She opened one of her revival
meetings in Newark, N. J., last week by
saying : “I don’t care at alTwhat people
say or think about me ; I’d just as soon
you’d think lam a devil as an angel. I
am pining for souls.”
SPEECH OF
HON. BENJAMIN H. HILL,
OF GEORGIA,
In the House of Representative*, Taeaday,
January 11, IS?6.
[ From the Congressional Record.]
The House having nuder consideration the bill
(H. K. No. 814) to remove the disabilities im
posed by the third section of me fourteenth
article of the amendment of the Constitution of
the United States, the pending question being on
the motion of Mr. Blaine to rec insider the
motion by which the bill was rejected—
Mr. Hill said :
Mr. Speaker; The House will bear witness
that we have not sought this discussion.
Nothing can be farther from our desire and
purpose tnau to raise such discussion.
Mr. Atkina—l rise to a point of order.
The whole House desires to hear the gen
tleman from Georgia, but it is impossible
for them to do so unless gentlemen retain
their seats.
The Speaker—The point of order is well
taken, and gentlemen will retain their seats;
and order must be preserved not only within
the bar but outside the bar, and the Chair
directs the doorkeeper to give especial at
tention to the maintenance of order outside
the bar.
Mr. Hill—l say, Mr. Speaker, that nothing
could have been farther from the desires and
pur.poaes of those who with me represent
immediately the section of country which
on yesterday was put opon trial, than to re
open this discussion of the events of our un
happy psst. We (had well hoped that the
country had suffered long enough from
feuds, from strife, and from inflamed pas
sions, and we came here, sir, with a patriot
ic purpose, to remember nothing but the
country and the whole country, and, turning
our backs upon all the horrors of the past,
to look with earnestness to find glories
for the future.
The gentleman who is the acknowledged
leader of the Republican party on this floor,
who is the aspiring leader of the Republican
party of this country, representing most
manifestly the wishes of many of his asso
ciates—not all—has willed otherwise. They
seem determined that the wounds which
were healing shall be reopened, that the
passions which were hushing shall be re
inilamed. Sir, I wish this House to under
stand' that we do not reciprocate either the
purpose or the mauifest desire of the gen
tlemen on the other side, and while we feel
it our imperative duty to vindicate the truth
of history as regards the section which we
represent, feeling that it is a nortion of this
common country, we do not* intend to sav
anything calculated to aid the gentlemen
in their work of crimination and recrimina
tion,and of keeping up the war by politicians
after brave men have said the war shall
end. The gentleman from Maine on yes
terday presented to the country two ques
tions which he manifestly intends to be
the fundamental principles of the Re
publican party, or at least of those who fol
low him in that party. The first is what he
is pleased to term the magnanimity aod
grace of tho Republican party ; tho second
is the brutality of those whom lie is pleased
to term “the rebels.” Upon the fir-t ques
ti*i I do not propose to weary the House
to-day. If, with the history of the last fif
teen years fresh in the memory of this peo
ple, the country is prepared to talk about
the grace and magnanimity of
can party, argument would be wasted. With '
masters enslaved, intelligence disfranchised
society paralyzed,
States subverted* '•{legislatures dispersed by
the bayuhet, the people can accord to that
party the verd ct of grace and magnanimity;
may God save the future of our country
from graco and magnanimity.
I advance directly to that portion of the
gentleman’s argument which relates to the
question before the House. The gentleman
trom Pennsylvania (Mr. Randall) has pre
sented to this House, and he asks it to adopt.,
a bill on the subject of amnesty which is
precisely the same as the bill passed in this
House by the gentleman’s own party, as I
understand it, at the last session of Con
gress. The gentleman from Maine has
moved a reconsideration of the vote by
which it was rejected, avowing hia purpose
tQ--.be *o offe- - raffu
purpose of that amendment is to except '
from *.t-. wor.viOD of the bill one of the
citizens of this country, Mr. Jefferson Da
vis.
He alleges two distinct reasons why he
asks the House to make that exception. I
will state those reasons in the gentleman’s
own language. First, he says that “Mr.
Davis was the author, knowingly, delibe
rately, guiltily, aud wilfully, of the gigantic
murder and crime at Andersonville.” That
is a grave indictment. He then character
izes in his second position what he calls the
horrors of Andersonville. And he says of
them:
And I here, before God, measuring my word-,
knowing their full extent and import, declare that
neither the deejs ot the Duke of Alva in the Low
Countries, nor the massacre of Saint Bartholo
mew, nor the thumb-s rews and. engines of tor
ture of the Spanish Inquisition, begin to com
pare in their atrocity with the hideous crimes of
Andersonville.
Sir, he stands before the country with his
very fame In peril if he, having made such
charges, shall not sustain them. Now I
take up the propositions of the gentleman iu
their order. I hope no gentleman imagines
that lam here to pass in eulogy upon Mr.
Davis. The record upon which his fame
must rest has been made up, aud he and his
friends have transmitted that record to the
only judge who will give him an impartial
judgment—an honest, unimpassioned pos
terity. la the meantime, no eulogy from
me can help him, no censure from the gen
tleman can damage him, and no act or reso
lution of this House can affect him.
But the charge is that he is a mur
derer, aud a deliberate, wilful, guilty,
scheming murderer of “thousands of our
fellow-citizens.” Why, sir, knowing the
character of the honorable gentleman from
Maine, his high, reputation, when I heard
the charge fall from his lips I thought surely
the gentleman had made a recent discovery,
aud I listened for the evidence to justify
that charge. He produced it; and what is
it? To my utter amazement, as the gentle
man from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelley) has
well stated, it is nothing on earth but a re
port of a committee of this Congress, made
when passions were at their height, and it
was known to the gentleman and to the
whole country eight years ago.
Now, I say first in relation to that testi
mony that it is exclusively ex parte. It was
taken when the gentleman who is now put
upon trial by it before the country was im
prisoned and in chains, without a hearing
and without an opportunity to be heard. It
was taken by enemies. It was taken in the
midst of fury and rage. If there is anything
in Angio-Saiton law which ought to be con
sidered sacred, it is the high privilege of an
Euglishman not to be condemned until he
shall be confronted with the witnesses
against him. But that is not all. The
testimony produced by the gentleman is
not only ex parte, not only exclusively the
production of enemies, or at least taken
by them and in the midst of passion, but the
testimony is mutilated, ingeniously muti
lated, palpably mutilated, most adroitly mu
tilated. Why, sir, one of the main witness
es is Dr. Joseph Jones, a very excellent gen
tleman, who was called upon to give his tes
timony in what is cwtkei the Wirz trill, and
which is produced before itis House, and at
tention called to it by the gentleman. The ob
ject of the gentleman was to prove that Mr.
Davis knew of these atrocities at Anderson
ville, aud he calls the attention of the House
to the report of this committee, and thanks
God tjiat it has been taken in time to be put
where it can neither be contradicted or gain
said, as a perpetual guide to posterity to
find out the authors of these crimes.
One of the most striking and remarkable
pieces of evidence in this whole report is
loundin the report made by Dr. Jones, a
surgeon of fine character, and sent to Ander
sonville by the Confederate authorities to
inves'igate the condition of that prison.
That gentleman made his report, and it is
brought into this House. What is it? The
first point is as to the knowledge of this re
port going to any of the authorities at Rich
mond. Here is what Dr. Jones says :
I had just completed the report, which I placed
in the hands of the Judge Advocate, under orders
from the government, when the Confederacy
went to pieces. That report never was delivered
to the Surgeon General, and I was unaware that
any one knew of its existence until I received
orders from the United States Government to
bring it and deliver it to this court in testimony.
Now, he was ordered by the United States
Government, the first time this report ever
saw the light, to bring it and deliver it on
the trial of Wirz. In accordance with that
order he did bring it and deliver it to the
Judge Advocate General. And when the re
port itselt, or that which purported to be
the report, was presented to him while he
was a witness he discovered that it was mu
tilated. and he asked permission to state that
fact. Hear what he says on that subject:
I beg leave to make a statement to the court.
That portion of my report which has been read is
only a small part of the report. The real report
contains the excuses which were given by the
officers present at Andersonville, which I thought
it right to embody with my report. It also con
tains documents forwarded to Richmond by Dr.
White and Dr. Stevens, and others in charge of
the hospitals. Those documents contained im
portant facts as to the labors of the medical de
partment and their efforts to better the condition
of thing*.
All that part of the report is suppressed;
and with that suppression this magnifi
cent receptacle of truth is filed away in the
document room for the information of pos
terity !
The committee ask him :
Question. Are your conclusions correctly stated
in this extract ?
SAVANNAH, SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1876.
Answer. Part of my conclusions are stated—
not the whole. A portion of my conclusions, and
also m3j recommendations are not stated.
q. Well, touching the subject of exchange?
A. Yes, sir; the g nerai difficulties environing
the prisoners and their officers.
Q. What became of your original report ?
A. This is my original report.
. That is, he had there the extract as far as
it went.
Q. Did you make this extract yourself ?
The committee seem to suspect that he
was >he man that simply made the extract
and brought it before the committee. Now,
here is his answer ;
I did not. My original report is in the hands
of the Judge-Advocate. I delivered it into his
hands immediately upon my arrival in Washing
ton.
And this committee of Congress to which
the gentleman refers absolutely tells us that
this mutilated report was the one introduced
in evidence against this man Wirz, and it is
the one incorporated in this book.
Now, I want to call attention to another
extract from that original report—a part not
included in this book. There are a great
many such omissions; I have not been able
to get all of them.
Dr. Jones, in his report, is giving an ac
count of the causes of the sickness and mor
tality at Andersonville, and he says, among
other thmgs :
Surrounded by there depressing agents, the
postponement of the general exchange of prison
ers and the con*tantly receding hopes of deliver
ance through the action of .their own government
depressed their already desponding spirits and
destroyed those mental and moral energies so
necessary for a successful straggle against dis
ease and its agents. Homesickness and disap
pointment, menial depression and distress, at
tending the daily longing for an apparently hope
less release, are felt to be as patent agencies in
the destruction of these prisoners as the physical
causes of actual disease.
Ah ! why that homesickness, that longing
and the distress consequent upon it, and its
effect in carrying these poor, brave, unfortu
nate heroes to death? X will tell this House
before I am done.
Now, sir, there is another fact. Wirz was
put on trial, but really Mr. Divis was the
man intended to be tried through him. Over
one hundred and sixty witnesses were intro
duced before the military commission. The
trial lasted three months. The whole coun
try was under military despotism ; citizens
labored under duress ; and quite a large
number of Confederates were seeking to
make favor with the powers of the govern
ment. Yet, sir, during those three months,
with all the witnesses they could bring to
Washington, not one single man ever men
tioned the name of Mr. Davis in connection
with a single atrocity at Andersonville or
elsewhere. The gentleman from Maine,
with all his research into all the histories of
the Duke of Alva and the massacre of St.
Bartholomew and the Spanish Inquisition,
has not been able to frighten up such a wit
ness yet.
Now, sir, there is a witness on this sub
ject. Wirz was condemned, found guilty,
sentenced to be executed; and I have now
before me the written statement of his coun
sel, a Northern man and a Union man. He
gave this statement to the country, and it
has never been contradicted.
Hear what this gentleman says :
On the night before the execution of the pris
oner, Wirz, a telegram was sent to the Northern
press from this city stating that Wirz had made
important disclosures to General L. C. Baker, tho
well kuovvn detective.implicating Jefferson Davis,
uud that the confession would probably be given
to the public. On the same evening some par
ties came to the confessor of Wirz, Kev Father
Boyle, and also to me as his counsel, one of them
iftfarming me that ahiirfr-Cahinet officer wished
to aestffrtr^yjrZ'TnatTt lie .T,TSialicato Jetfer
sou Davis with the atrocities committed at'Am”
dersonville his sentence would be commuted,
file messenger requested me to inform Wirz of
tills. In presence of Father Boyle I told Wirz
next morning what had happened.
Hear the reply:
Captain Wirz simply and quietly replied: "Mr.
Schade. you know that I have always told yon
that I did not know anything about Jefferson
Davis. He had no connection with me as to
what was done at Andersonville. I would not
become a traitor against him, or anybody else,
even to save my life.”
Sir, what Wirz, within two hours of his
execution, would not say for his life, the
gentlemau from Maine says to the country
to keep himself and his party in power.
Christianity is a falsehood, humanity is a
lie, civilization is a cheat, or the man who
would .not- —-jUfl a lifo
vrjis never g of willful murder.
He who makes a charge must produce his
witnesses. They must be‘informed wit
nesses. They must be credible witnesses.
The gentleman from Maine makes his
charge but produces no witnesses. He
says that men sent by Jefferson Da is to
Andersonville were his officers, executing
his orders, commissioned by him, and he
therefore charges Mr. Davis with these
atrocities by inference. It was only when
the gentleman reached that portion of his
argument that I thought I began to dis
cover the real purpose of his movement. I
will not charge him with it, but a sugges
tion came immediately to my mind.
What was the proposition which the gen
tleman proposes to establish? It is that
those high in authofity are to be charged
with the sins and treacheries of their agents,
commissioned by them and acting under
their orders. Is tho gentleman artfully—l
beg pardon—under the cover of the preju
dice and passion against .Jefferson Davis,
seeking to assault President Grant? If Jef
ferson Davis sent General Winder to Ander
sonville, why did President Grant sent Mc-
Donald and Joyce to Bt. Louis. [Laughter.]
Nay, more, sir; is not the very secretary of
the White House, the private confidential
secretary, indicted to-day for complicity in
these frauds? Does the gentleman want to
establish a rule of construction by which he
can authorize the country to arraign Gener
al Grant for complicity in the whisky frauds?
[Laughter.]
Sir, is General Grant responsible for the
Credit Mobilier ? Was he a stockholder in
the Sanborn contracts? Was he copartner
in the frauds upon this district? With all
his witnesses, the gentleman never can find
a single man who was confidential secretary
of Mr. Davis and charged with complicity in
crime, t hat Mr. Davis ever indorsed any man
as lit fo r office who was even gravely charged
with any complicity in fraud. Yet the gen
tleman's President, as I understand it, ab
solute ly sent to the Senate of the United
State-s for confirmation to a high office the
very man who stood charged before the
country with the grossest peculations and
fraud s in this district, and that, too, after
these charges were made and while the in
vest! gation was pending.
Sir , I am neither the author nor the dis
ciple of such political logic. Aud I will not,
nor would I for any consideration, assume
the proposition before this House to punish
an e nemy which would implicate the Presi
dent of the United States in the gros-est
Iran ds. Yet if the gentleman’s proposition
bet: rue, General Grant, instead of being en
title i to a third Presidential term, is en
title and to twenty terms in twenty peni
tent iaries. But,'sir, he is not guilty. The
argument is false. It is a libel upon the
American rule of law and English pre
ce dent. You cannot find its precedent any
w acre in any civilized country. I acquit
G sneral Grant of complicity in the whisky
fr auds and revenue frauds, and the facts
acquit Mr. Davis of complicity iu any
at rocity anywhere.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I pass from the con
struction of that question to the real facts
ah out Andersonville. First, I want to cail
the’ attention of the House to the law of the
Confederate Government on the subject of
the treatment of prisoners. I read from the
act of the Confederate Congress on that
su bjeet; it was very simple, and directed—
The rations furnished prisoners of war shall be
tb.e same in quantity and quality as those fur
nished to enlisted men in the army of the Con
bsderacy.
That was the law; that was the law Mr.
Davis approved, and that was the law that
he, so far as his agency was concerned ex
ecuted.
The gentleman in his speech has gone so'
far as to say that Mr. Davis purposelv sent
General Winder to Andersonville to organize
a den of horrors and kill Federal soldiers. I
do not quote exactly his language, but I
know it is “to organize a den of horrors;”
but I ant sure I cannot use any language
more bitter than the gentleman used him
self. Therefore the next thing I will read
is tlie order given for the purpose of locat
ing this prison at Andersonville, or wher
ever it should be located. The official order
for the location of the stockade enjoins that
it should be in a “healthy locality, with
plenty of pure water, with a running stream,
and, if possible, with shade trees, and in the
immediate neighborhood of grist and saw
mills. That does not look like the organi
zation of a den of horrors to commit mur-
the official order. That was
not all. These prisoners at Andersonville
were not only allowed the rations measured
out to Confederate soldiers both in quantity
and quality in every respect, but they were
allowed a.so to buy as much outside as they
desired; a privilege, I am reliablv informed,
which was not extended to many of the Con
federate prisoners. Ido not know how that
is.
I do not wish to charge it if the facts were
otherwise. But in the book which the gen
tleman from Maine himself produces, we
find this testimony, given by a Union sol
dier. He says :
We never had any difficulty in getting vegeta
bies; we Med to buy almost anything that we
wanted of the Sergeant who called the roll morn
ings and nights. His name was Smith, I think ;
“® was Captain Warz's chief Sergeant. We were
divided into messes, eight in each mess; my mess
used to buy from two to four bushels of sweet
potatoes a week, at the rate of sls Confederate
money per bushel.
Jkl- got S2O of Confederate monev for $1
of greenbacks in those days.
Turnips we bought at S2O a bashel. We had
to buy our own soap for washing our own per
sons ard ciething; we hough; meat and eggs and
biscuit. There seemed to be abundance ot those
things; they were in the market constantly.
That Sergeant used to come down with a wagon
load ot potatoes at a time, bringing twenty or
twenty-five bushels at a load sometimes.
Now, sir, Mr. Davis himself alluded to that
privilege which was allowed to the Federal
soidiere. The Confederate authorities not
only aliowed them to purchase supplies as
they pleased outside, in addition to the ra
tions allowed them by law—the same rations
allowed to Confederate soldiers— but he
says:
By an indulgence perhaps unprecedented, we
have even allowed t e prisoners in our hands to
be supplied by their friends at home with com
forts not enjoyed by the men who captured them
in battle.
The Confederate Government gave Fed
eral prisoners the same rations that Confed
erate soldjam- in the field received. Fed
eral prisoners had permission to buy what
ever else they pleased, and the Confederates
gave their friends at home permission to
furnish them the means to do so. And yet,
Mr. Speaker it is true that, in spite of ail
these advantages enjoyed by these prisoners,
there were horrors, and great horrors, at
Andersonville. What were the causes of
those horrors ? The first was want of medi
cine. That is given as a cause by Dr. Jones
in his testimony; that is given by this very
Father Hamilton, from whom the gentleman
from Maine read. In the ei / same tea ti
nt my which the gentleman read, Father
Hamilton says:
I conversed with Dr. White with regard to the
condition of the men, and he told me it was not
in his power to do anything lor them; that he
had no medicine, and could not get auy, and that
he was doing everything in his power to help
them.
Now, how was it that medicines and other
essential supplies could not be obtained ?
Unfortunately they were not in the Con
federacy. Tne Federal Government made
medicine contraband of war. And lam not
aware that any other nation on the earth
ever did such a thing before—not even the
Duke of Alva, sir. The Confederate Govern
ment, unable to introduce medicines accord
ing to its right under the laws of nations,
undertook torun the blockade, and whenever
possible the Federal Navy captured its ships
and took the medicines. Then, when no
other resource was left, when it was sus
pected that the women of the North—the
earth’s angels, God bless them—would carrv
quinine and other mediciues of that sort, so
much needed by the Federal prisoners in
the South, Federal officers were charged to
capture the women and examine their petti
coats, to keep them from carrying medicines
to Confederate soldiers and to Federal pris
oners, and they were imprisoned. Surely,
sir, the Confederate Government and the
Southern people are not to be blamed for a
poverty in medicines, food and raiment en
forced by the stringent war measures of the
Federal Government—a poverty which had
its intended effect of immeasurable distress
to the Confederate armies, although it inci
dentally inflicted unavoidable distress upon
the Federal prisoners in the South.
The Federal Government made clothing
contraband of war. It sent down its armies
and they burned up the factories of the
South wherever they could find them, for
the express purpose of preventing the Con
federates from furnishing clothes to their
soldiers, and the Federalprisouei s of course
shared this deprivation of comfortable clo
thing. It was the war policy of the Federal
Government to make supplies scarce. Dr.
Jones in his testimony and Father Hamilton
in his testimony, which I will not stop to
read to the House, explained why clothing
was so scarce to Federal prisoners.
I —si”, whatever horrors existed at
Andersonville, hot bud Ofsthem could be at
tributed to a single act of loffishlfctUin of the
Confederate Go .ernmont or to a siugfiMXCz.
dor of the Confederate Government, but
every horror of Andersonville grew out of
the necessities of the occasion, which neces
sities were cast upon the Confederacy by the
war policy of the other side. Tho gentle
man Irom Maine said that no Confederate
prisoner was ever maltreated in the North.
And when my friend answered from his seat
“ A thousand witnesses to the contrary in
Georgia alone,” the gentleman from Maine
joined issue, but, as usual, produced no tes
timony in support of bis issue. I think the
gentleman from Maine is to be excused.
For ten years, unfortunately, he and h,s
have been reviling the people who wr not
allowed to oooio aero to uicSt the reviling.
Now, sir, we are face to face, and when yon
make a charge yon must bring your proof.
The time has passed when the country can
accept the impudence of assertion for the
force of argument, or recklessness of state
ment for the truth of history. *
Now, sir, I do not wish to unfold the chap
ter on the other side. lam an American. I
honor my country, and my whole country,
and it could be no pleasure to me to bring
forward proof that any portion of my coun
trymen have been guilty of willful murder or
of cruel treatment to poor manacled prison
ers. Nor will I make any such charge. These
horrorb are inseparable, many of them and
most of them, from a state of war. I hold
in my hand a letter written by one who was
a surgeon at the prison at Elmira, and he
says:
The winter of IS6I-5, was an unusually se
vere and rigid one, and the prisoners arriving
from the Southern States during this seasou were
mostly old men and lads, clothed in attire suit
able only to the genial climate of the South. I
need not state to you that this aioue wts ample
cause for an unusual mortlaity among them. The
surrouncings were of the following nature,
namely : narrow, confined limits, but a few acres
in extent—
And Andersonville, sir, embraced twenty
seven acres—
and through which slowly flowed a turbid stream
of Water, carrying along with it all the excre
meatal filth and debris ot the camp; this stream
ot water, horrible to relate, was the only source
of supply, for an extended period, that the pris
oners could possibly use for the purpose of ablu
tion and to slack their thirst from day to day;
the tents and other shelter allotted to the camp
at Elmira were insufficient and crowded to the
utmost extent; hence small-pox and other skin
diseases raged through the camp.
Here I may note that, owing to a general order
trom the government to vaccinate the prisoners,
ray opportunities were ample to observe the
effects of spurious and diseased matter, and there
is no doubt in my mind but that syphilis was en
grafted in many instances; ugly and horrible ul
cers and eruptions of a characteristic nature
were, alas ! too frequent and obvious to be mis
taken. Small-pox cases were crowded in such a
manner that it was a matter of impossibility for
the surgeon to treat his patient individually; they
actually laid to adjacent that the simple move
ment of one case would cause his neighbor to
cry out in an agony of pain. The confluent and
malignant type prevailed to such an extenl and
of such a nature that the body would frequently
be found one continuous scab.
The diet and other allowances by the govern
ment for the use of the prisoners were ample, yet
the poor unfortunates were allowed to starve.
Now, sir, the Confederate regulations au
thorized ample provision for Federal prison
ers, the same that was made for Confederate
soldiers, and you charge that Mr. Davis is
responsible for not having those allowances
honestly supplied. The United States made
provision for Confederate prisoners, so far
as rations were concerned, for feeding those
in Federal hands; and yet, what says the
surgeon ? “ They were allowed to starve.”
But “ why ?” is a query which I will allow your
readers to infer and to draw conclusions there
from. Out of the number of prisoners, as before
mentioned, over three thousand of them now lay
buried in the cemetery located near the camp for
that purpose—a mortality equal to, if not greater
than, any rrison in the South. At Anderson
ville, as I am well informed by brother officers
who endured confinement there, as well as by the
records at Washington, the mortality was twelve
thousand out of, say forty thousand prisoners.
Hence it is readily to be seen that the range ol
mortality was no less at Elmira than at Anderson
ville.
Mr. Platt—Will the gentleman allow me
to interrupt him a moment to ask him where
lie gets that statement ?
Mr. Hill—lt is the statement of a Fed
eral surgeon published in the New York
World.
Mr. Platt—l desire to say that I live within
thirty-six miles of Elmira, and that those
statements are unqualifiedly false.
Mr. Hill—Yes, and I suppose if one rose
from the dead the gentleman would not be
lieve him.
Mr. Platt—Does the gentleman say that
th use statements are true ?
Hill—Certainly I do not say that they
are true, but I do say that I believe the
state uxent of the surgeon in charge before
that of a politician thirty-six miles away.
Now Till the gentleman believe testimony
from il te dead ? The Bible says, “The tree
is knowi tby its fruits.” And, alter all, what
is the tes tof suffering of these prisoners
North ana’ South? Tne testis the result.
Now I ca; 1 the attention of gentlemen to
this fact, tL at the report of Mr. Stanton, the
Secretary of War—you will believe him, will
you not ?—on the 19th of July, 1866—send to
the Librarv and get it—exhibits the fact
that of the Fe ieral prisoners in Confederate
hands during be war, only 22,a76 died, while
of the Confer ’crate prisoners in Federal
hands 26,136 di ed. And Surgeon General
Barnes reports in an ofiieial report—l
suDpose you v 'll! believe him—that in
round numbers tl le Confederate prisoners in
Federal hands at uounted to 220,000, while
the Federal prison era in Confederate hands
amounted to 270,00 0. Out of the 270,000 in
Confederate hands 22,000 died, while of the
220,000 Confederated in Federal hands over
26,000 died. The rr .tio is this : More than
twelve per cent, of tl le Confederates in Fed
eral hand# died, and less than nine per cent,
of the Federals in C kmfederate hands died.
What is the logic of t hese facts according to
the gentleman from M 'aine? I scorn to charge
murder upon the offit ials of Northern pris
ons, as the gentleman has done upon Con
federate prison offi cuds. I labor to
demonstrate that stteh miseries are
inevitable in prison life, no matter
how humane the reg' ilationg. I would
scorn, too, to use a news paper article, unless
it were signed by one \ vho gave his own
name, and whose statei if not true,
can be disproved, and I would believe such a
one in preference lo any politician over there
who was thirty-six miles away from Elmira.
That gentleman, so prompt to contradict a
surgeon, might perhaps have smelled the
small-pox but he could not see it, and I ven
ture to say that if he knew the small-pox
was there he would have taken very good
care to keep thirty-six miles away. He is a
wonderful witness. He is not even equal to
the mutilated evidence brought in yester
day. But, sir, it appears from official record
that the Confederates came from Elmira,
from Fort Delaware, and from Rock Island’
and other places with their Augers frozen
off, with their toes frozen off, ana with their
teeth dropped out.
But the great question is behind. Every
American, North or South, must lament that
our country has ever impeached its civiliza
tion by such an exhibition of horrors on any
side, and I speak of these things with no d&-
gree of pleasure. God knows if I could hide
them from the view of the world I would
gladly do it. But the question is, at last,
who was responsible for this state of things?
And that is really the only material question
with which statesmen now should deal. Sir,
it is well known that, when the war opened,
at first the authorities of the United States
detei mined that they would not exchange
prisoners. The first prisoners captured
by the Federal forces were the crew of the
Savannah, and they were put iu chains
and sentenced to be executed. Jefferson
Davis, hearing of this, communicated
through the lines, and the Confederates
having meanwhile also captured prisoners,
he threatened retaliation in case thos6 men
suffered, and the sentences against the crew
of the Savannah were not executed. Subse
quently our friends froa* this way—l believe
my friend before me from New York (Mr.
Cox) was one—insisted that there should be
a cartel for the exchange of prisoners. In
1862 that cartel was agreed upon. In sub
stance and briefly it was that there should
be an exchange of man for man, and officer
for officer, and whichever held an excess at
the time of exchange should parole the ex
cess. This worked very well until 1863. I
am going over the facts very briefly.
Mr. Starkweather—l do not wish, and
none on thu side wishes to interrupt the
gentleman. I believe he has spoken over
fiis hour. We desire that he shall speak as
long as he chooses, but we wish to have a
free discussion, and want a little time on
this side.
The Speaker—The gentleman from
Georgia has not exhausted his hour yet.
Mr. Hill—l was reciting briefly the facts.
Iu 1863 this cartel was interrunted; the
Federal authorities refused to continue the
exchange. Now commenced a history
which the world ought to know, and which
I hope the House will grant me the pri
vilege of stating, and I shall do it from
official records. This, I say frankly
to the gentlemen on the other side, was in
truth one of the severest blows stricken
at the Confederacy, this refusal to ex
change prisoners in 1863 and continued
through 1864. The Confederates made
every effort to renew the cartel. Among
other things, on the 2d of July, 1863, the
Vice-President of the Confederacy, the gen
tleman to whom the gentleman from Maine
(.Mr. Blaine) alluded the other day in such
complimentary terms, Mr. Alexander H.
Stephens, was absolutely commissioned by
President Davis to cross the lines and come
to Washington to consult with the Federal
authorities, with a broad commission to
agree upon any cartel satisfactory to the
other side for the exchange of prisoners.
Mr. Davis said to him, “Your mission is sim
ply one of humanity, aud has no political
aspect.” Mr. Stephens undertook that
work. What was the result ? I wish to be
careful, and I will state this exactly cor
rect. Here is his letter :
CONFEDERATE STATES STEAMER TORPEDO,!
In James River, July 4, 1863. |
Sir—As er, I am the bear
er of a comuiunicwui Uvwrfi'.iig from Jefferson
Davis, commaij-ier-in-chie of ■ lib land and naval
forces of the Confederate *S afcisf to Abraham
Lincoln, c.ommander-in-chie f f the land and
naval forces; of -the United State*. He'D. Robert
Ouid, Confederate States Agent of Exchange, ac
companies me as Secretary, or the purpose of
and elivering the communication in person and con
ferring upon the subject to wlit:if it relates, i
desire to proceed to Washington in the ste&M|
Torpedo, commanded bv Lieipenant
vidsou, of the Confederate States navy, no
son being on board but Hon. Mr. Ould, myssH
and tilt' boat officers and crew. *
Yours, most respectfully,
Alex. H. Stephens.
This was directed tdlß. H. Lee, AdmiraJ*-
Here is the answer: *
Acting Rear-Admiral S. 11. Lee, Hampton Roads:
The request of Alexander H. Stephens is inad
missible. * * * * *
Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy.
You will acknowledge that Mr. Stephens’s
humane mission failed. The Confederate
authorities gave to that mission as much
dignity and character as possible. They
supposed that, of all men in the South, Mr.
Stephens most nearly had your confidence.
They selected him to be the bearer of mes
sages, for the sake of humanity, in behalf
of the brave Federal soldiers who were un
fortunately prisoners of war. The Federal
Government would not receive him ; the
Federal authorities would not hear him.
What was the next effort? After Mr.
Stephens’s mission failed, and after the
commissioner for the exchange of prisoners,
Colonel Ould, having exerted all his efforts
to get the cartel renewed, on the 24th pf
January, 1864, wrote the following letter to
Major General E. A. Hitchcock, agent of ex
change on the Federal side :
Confederate States of America, - )
War Department, >
Richmond. Va., January 24, 1564.)
Sir : In view o£ the present difficulties attend
ing the exchange and release of prisoners, I pro
pose that all such on either side shall be attended
by a proper number of their own surgeons, who,
under rules to be established, shall be permitted
to take of their health and comfort. I
also propose that these surgeons shall act as com
missaries, with power to receive and distribute
such contributions of money, food, clothing, and
medicines as may be forwarded tor the relief of
the prisoners. I further propose that these sur
geons shall be selected by their own government
and that they shall have full liberty, at any and
all times, through the agents of exchange, to
make reports not only ot their own acts, but of
any matter i relating to the welfare of the pris
oners.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
Robert Ould,
Agent of Exchange.
Ma.i-Gen. E. A. Hitchcock,
Agent of Exchange.
The Speaker—The hour of the gentleman
has expired.
Mr. Randall—l move the gentleman from
Georgia be allowed to proceed.
Mr. Blaine—l do not object; but before
the gentleman from Georgia passes from the
subject upon which he is now speaking, I
would be glad to know—
The Speaker—lf there be no objection the
gentleman from Georgia will have leave to
proceed.
There was no objection.
Mr. Blaine—l believe the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Hill) was a member of the
Confederate Senate. I find in a historical
book of some authenticity of character that
in the Confederate Congress Senator Hill, of
Georgia, introduced the following resolution
relating to prisoners—
Mr. Hill— are putting me on trial now,
are you ? Go ahead.
Mr. Blaine —This is the resolution : t .
That every person pretending to be a soldier or
officer of the United States who shall be cap
tured on the soil of the Confederate States after
the Ist day of January, 1863, shall be presumed
to have entered the territory of the Confederate
States with the intent to incite insurrection and
abet murder; and, unless satisfactory proof be
adduced to the contrary before the Military Court
before which the trial shall be had, shall suffer
death. This section shall continue in force until
the proor'ination issued by Abraham Lincoln,
dated at Wasiiingt m on the 22d day of Septem
ber, 1862, shall be rescinded, and the policy there
in announced shall be abandoned, and no longer.
Mr. Hill—l will say to the gentleman from
Maine very frankly, that I have not the
slightest recollection of ever hearing that
resolution before.
Mr. Blaine—The gentleman does not deny,
however, that he was the author of it?
Mr. Hill—l do not know. My own impres
sion is that I was ffbt the author; but I do
not pretend to recollect the circumstances.
If the gentleman can give me the circum
stances under which the resolution was in
troduced, they might recall the matter to
my mind.
Mr. Blaine—Allow me to read farther:
October I,lS62.—The Judiciary Committee of
the Confederate Congress made a report and of
fered a set of resolutions upon the subject of
President Lincoln’s proclamation, from which
the following are extracts :
2. Every white person who shall act as a com
missioned or non-commissioned officer command
ing negroes or mulattoes against the Confederate
States, or who shall arm, organize, train, or pre
pare negroes or mulattoes for military service, or
aid them in any military enterprise against the
Confederate States, shall, if captured, suffer death.
3. Every commissioned or non-commissioned
officer of the enemy who shall incite slaves to
rebellion, or pretend to give them freedom under
the aforementioned act of Congress and procla
mation, by abducting or causing them to be ab
ducted, or inducing them to abscond, shall, if
captured, suffer death.
Thereupon Senator Hill, of Georgia, is
recorded as having offered the resolution I
have read.
Mr. Hill—l was Chairman of the Judicia
ry Committee of the Senate.
Mr. Blaine—And this resolution came di
rectly from that committee?
Mr. Hill—lt is very probable that, like the
Chairman'of the Committee on Buies at the
last session, I may have consented to that
report. [Laughter.]
Mr. Blaine—The gentleman then admits
that he did make that report ?
Mr. Hill—l really do not remember it. I
think it very likely.
A Member (to Mr. Blaine.)—What is the
book?
Mr. Blaine—The book from which I have
read is entitled “Republicanism in Ameri
ca,’ by R. Guy McClellan. It appears to be
a book of good credit aud authenticity. I
merely waut it settled whether the gentle
man from Georgia was or was not the author
of that resolution.
Mr. Hill—l say to the gentleman frankly
that I really do not remember.
Mr. Blaine—The gentleman does not say
he was not the author.
Mr. Hill—l do not. I will sav this : I
think I was not the author. Possibly I re
ported the resolution. It refers in terms to
“pretended,” not real soldiers.
Mr. Blaine—l thought that inasmuch as
the gentleman’s line of argument was to
show the character of the Confederate poli
cy, this might aid him a little in calling up
the facts pertinent thereto. [Laughter and
applause.]
Mr. Hill—With all due deference to the
gentleman, I reply he did not think any
such thing. He thought he would divert
me from tho purpose of my argument aud
break its force by—
Mr. Blaine—Oh no.
Mr. Hill—He thought he would get up a
discussion about certain measures pre
sented iu the Confederate Congress having
no relation to the subject now under discus
sion, but which grew out of the peculiar re
lation ot the Southern States to a population
then iu servitude—a populatiou which the
Confederate Government feared might be in
cited to insurrection—and measures were
doubtio* proposed which the Confederate
Government might have thought it proper to
take to protect helpless women and children
in the South from insurrection. But I shall
not allow myself to be diverted bv the gen
tleman to go either int > the history of
slavery or of domestic insurrection, or, as a
friend near me suggests, “John Brown’s
raid.” I know this, that if lor any other
geniDmau on the committee was the* author
of that resolution, which I think more tharf
probable, our purpose was not to do injus
tice to auy mau, woman or child North or
South, but to adopt what we deemed
stringent measures within the laws of war
to protect our wives and children from ser
vile insurrection and slaughter while our
brave sons were in the front. That is all,
sir,
But, sir, I have read a from the
Confederate Commissioner of Exchange,
written in 1864, proposing that each side
send surgeons with the prisoners ; that they
nurse and treat the prisoners ; that the Fede
ral authorities should send as many as they
pleased ; that those surgeons be commis
sioned also as commissaries to furnish sup
plies of clothing aud food, and everything
else needed for the comfort of prisoners.
Now, sir, how did the Federal Government
treat that offer? It broke the cartel for tho
exchange of prisoners ; it refused to enter
tain a proposition, even when Mr. Stephens
headed the commission, to renew it; and
then, sir, when the Confederates proposed
that their own surgeons should accompany
the prisoners of the respective armies, the
Federal authorities did not answer the let
ter. No reply was ever received.
Then, again, in August, 1864, the Con
federates made two more nropositions.
I will state that the cartel of exchange was
broken by the Federal authorities for cer
tain alleged reasons. Well, in August, 1864,
prisoners accumulating ou both sides to
such an extent, the Federal Government
having refused every proposition from the
Confederate authorities to provido for the
comfort and treatment of those prisoners,
the Confederates next proposed, m a letter
from Colonel Ould, dated the 10th of Au
gust, 1864, waiving every objection tho
Federal Government had made, to agree to
auy and all terms to renew tho exchange of
prisoners, man for man aud officer for offi
cer, as the Federal Government should pre
scribe. Yet, sir, the latter rejected that pro
position. It took a second letter to bring
an answer to that proposition.
Then, again, in that same month of Au
gust, 1864, the Confederate authorities did,
this: Finding that the Federal Government
would not exchange prisoners at all, that it
would not lot surgeons go into the Con
federacy; finding that it would not let modi
ciues b' sent into the Confederacy; mean
while tl e ravages of war continuing and de
pleting the scan* supplies ofth^SouH^
Angus v?i!g ' 1 aßSßritiiieut
authori
ties that if they would send steamships or
transportation in any form to Savannah,
they should have their sick and wounded
prisoners without equivalent. That propo
sition, communicated to the Federal authori
ties in August, 1864, was not answered until
December, 1864. In December, 1864, the
Federal Government sent ships to Savannah.
Now, the records will show that tho chief
suffering at Andersonville was between
August and December. The Confederate
authorities sought to avert it by asking the
Federal Government to come and take its
prisoners without equivalent, without re
turn, and it refused to do that uutil four or
five mouths had elapsed.
That is not the only appoal which was
made to the Federal Government. I now
call the attention of the House to another
appeal. It was from the Federal prisoners
themselves. They knew as well as tho
Southern people did the mission of Mr.
Stephens. They knew the offer of January
24, for surgeons, for medicine and clothing,
for comforts and food, and for provisions of
every sort. They knew that the Confederate
authorities had offered to let these be sent
to them by their own government. They
knew that had been rejected. They know of
tne offer of August 10, 1864. They knew of
the other offer, to return sick and wounded
without an equivalent. They knew al!
these offers had been rejected. There
fore they held a meeting and passed the fol
lowing resolutions ; and I call the attention
of the gentlemen on the other side to these
resolutions. I #sk if they will not believe
the surgeons of their hospitals; if they will
not believe Mr. Stanton’s report, if they will
not believe Surgeon General Barnes’s report,
I beg from them to know if they .will not be
lieve the earnest, heart-rending appeal of
those starving suffering heroes? Here are
tho resolutions passed by the Federal pris
oners the 28th of September, 1864 :
Resolved, That while allowing the Confederate
authorities all due praise for the attention paid
to our prisoners, numbers of our men are daily
consigned to early graves, in the prime of man
hood, far from home and kindred, and this is not
caused intentionally by the Conlederate Govern
ment, but by the force of circumstances.
Grave men are always honest, and true
soldiers never slander. They say the hor
rors they suffered were not intentional, that
the Confederate Government had done all it
could to avert them. Sir, I believe this
testimony of gallant men as being of the
highest character, coming irom the sufferers
themselves.
They further resolved;
The prisoner is obliged to go without shelter,
and in a great portion of cases without medicine.
Resolved, That whereas in the fortune of war
it was our lot to become prisoners. We have
suffered patiently, and are still willing to suiter,
if by so doing we can benefit the country; hut
we would most respectfully beg to say that we
are not wiling to suiter to further the ends of any
party or clique to the aetrijnent of our own
honor, our families, and our country. And we
would beg this affair be explained to us, that we
may conunue to hold the government in the re
spect which is necessary to make a good ciliz :n
and soldier
Was this touching appeal heeded ? Let
any gentleman who belonged to the “clique
or party” that the resolutions condemn an
swer for his party.
Now, sir, it was in reference to that state
of things exactly that Dr. Jones reported, as
I have already read to the H >use, in his re
port which was mutilated before that com
mittee of Congress and in the trial of Wirz
—it was in consequence of that very state of
things that Dr. Jones said that depression
of mind and despondency, and home-sick
ness of these prisoners, carried more to their
graves than did physical causes of disease.
This was not wonderful at all.
But, Mr. Speaker, why were all these ap
peals resisted? Why did the Federal au
thorities refuse to allow their own surgeons
to go with their own soldiers and carry them
medicine and clothing, and comfort and
treatment? Why? Why did they refuse
to exchange man for man and officer for
officer? Why did they refuse to stand up
to their own solemn engagements, made in
1862, for the exchange of prisoners ? Who
is at fauit? There must be a reason tor
this. That is the next point to which I wish
to call the attention of the House. Sir,
listen to the reading. The New York Tri
bune, referring to this matter in 1804, said—
I suppose you will believe the Triljune in
1864, if you do not believe it now :
In August the rebels offered to renew the ex
change man for mac. General Grant then tele
graphed the following important order : “It is
hard on our men held in Southern prisons not to
exchange them, bnt it is humanity to those left
in the ranks to fight our battles. Every man re
leased on parole or otherwi-e becomes an active
soldier against us at once, either directly or in
directly. If we eminence a system of exchange
which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have
to fight on till the whole South is exterminated.
If we hold those caught they amount to no more
than dead men. At this particular time to release
all rebel prisoners North would insure Sherman’s
defeat and would compromise our safety here.”
Mr. Garfield—What date is that?
Mr. Hill—Eighteen hundred and sixty
four.
Mr. Garfield—What date in that year.
Mr. Hill—l do not note the day or month
I have read the telegram which is taken
from the New York Tribune, after August,
1864.
Here is General Grant’s testimony before
Ithe committee on the exchange of pri
soners, February 11, 1860. Yon believe
him, do yon not?
ESTABLISHED 1850.
Question. It hss oecu said that we refused to
exchange prisoners because we found ours starv
ed, diseased, and unserviceable when we received
them, and did not like to exchange sound men
for such men.
That was the question propounded to him.
His answer was:
Answer. There never has been any such rea
son as that. That has been a reason tor marine
exchanges. I will confess that if our men who
are prisoners in the South were really well taken
care of, (uttering nothin'; except a little privation
of liberty, then, in a military point of view i
would not be good policy tor us to exchange be
cause every man they get back is forced right
into the army at once, while that is not the cas;
with our prisoners when we receive them ; in
fact the half of our returned prisoners will never
go into t le army again, and none of them will
until after they have had a fnrlough of thirty or
sixty days. Still, the fact of their suffering as
they do is a reason for making this exchange as
rapidly as possible.
Q. Aud never has been a reason for not
making the exchange?
A. It never has. Exchanges having been sus
pended by reason of disagreement on the part of
agents of exchange on both sides before I came
in command of the armies of the United States;
aud it then being near the opening of the spring
campaign, I did not deem it advisable or just to
the men who had to fight our battles to re-intorce
the enemy with thirty or forty thwisand disci
plined troops at that time. An Uutnediate re
sumption of exchanges would have had that effect,
without giving us cor responding benefits. The
suffering said to exist among our prisouer. f-'puth
i,e tonr *^i u ‘
There is no disputing the fact siat,
wi'h the knowledge that his 2 >r * 80ue, ' a
were suffering in the South, he* insisted
that the exchange should uot be renewed,
because it would increase tho .military
power of the enemy. Now, that nay
have been a good military reason. 3do
not quote it for the purpose of reflecting
upon General Graut in tho slightest. I
am giving the facts of history. I insist
that tho Confederacy shall not bo hold
responsible for the results of the war
policy of the Federal Government, especi
ally when tho record proves that the Con
federate authorities made every possible
effort to avert those results. Nor do I allege
inhumanity on the part of General Graut or
the Federal Government. I give you the
facts, and I have given you General Grant’s
interpretation of those facts. Let the
world judge.
Now, sir, we have other authority upon
that subject. Here is a letter by Junius
Henri Browne. Ido not know the gentle
man. He signs bis name to the letter. Ho
writes like a scholar. He is a Northern gen
tleman, and I am not aware that his state
ment lias ever been contradicted. Now,
what does he say ?
New’ York, August 8,1865.
Moreover, General Butler, in his speech at
Lowell, Massachusetts, stated positively that he
bad beeu ordered by Mr. Stanton to put forward
the negro question to complicate aud prevent fhe
exchange. * * jt, V cry one is aware that
when tlie exchange did take place not the
slightest alteration tad occurred in the questiou,
aud tiiat our prisoners might as well have beeu
released twelve or eighteen months before, as at
the resumption of the cartel, which would have
saved to the Kepublic at least twelve or fifteen
thousand heroic lives.
That they were not saved is due alone to Mr.
Edwin M. Stanton’s peculiar policy and dogged
obstinacy; and, as I have remarked before, he is
unquestionably the digger of the unarmed graves
that crowd the vicinity of every f ontheru prison
with historic and never-to-be forgotten horrors.
That is tho testimony of a Northern man
against Mr. Stanton. And he goes on:
I regret the revival of this painful subject, hut
the gratuitous effort of Mr. Dana to relieve the
Secretary of War from a responsibility he seems
willing to bear, and which merely as a question
of policy independent of all considerations of
humanity must be regarded as of great weight,
lias compelled me to vindicate myeli from the
charge of making grave statements without due
consideration. , i
Once ior all, let me declare that I have never
found fault with any one becauee I was detained
in prison, for 1 am well aware that that was r
matter in which no one hut myself, and possibly
a few personal friends, would feel any interest;
that my sole motive for impeaching the Secretary
of War was that the people of the loyal North
might know to whom they were iudebted for the
cold blooded and needless sacrifice of their
Anthers and brothers, their husbands and their
derstand that Mr. Browne is a con-
Harper's Monthly, and was then.
JT ' ‘ “ —-.vv.vuij, wnu "I*o IUVU.
iJyitells you, who was responsi-
? lu m a u i t y;
I have proven tnat tney made medicine con
traband of war, and thereby left tho South
to the dreadful necessity of treating their
own prisoners with such medicines as could
be improvised in the Confederacy; I have
proven that they refused to allow surgeons
of their own appointment, of their own
army, to accompany tueir prisoners in the
South, with full license and liberty to
carry food, medicine and raiment, and
every comfort that the prisoners might
need; I have proven that when the Fed
eral Government made the pretext for in
terrupting the cartel for the exchange of
prisoners, the Confederates yielded every
point and proposed to exchange prisoners
on the terms of the FeJeral Government,
and that tho latter refused it; I have proven
that the Confederates then proposed to re
turn the Federal sick and wounded without
equivalent in August, 1864, and never got a
reply until December, 1864 ; I have proven
that high Federal officers gave as the reason
why they would not exchange prisoners that
it would be humanity to the prisoners hut
cruelty to the soldiers in tho field, and there
fore it was part of the Federal military pol
icy to let Federal prisoners suffer rather than
that the Confederacy should have an increase
of its military force, and the Federal Gov
ernment refused it, when by such exchange
it would have received more prisoners than
it returned to the Confederates.
Now, what is the answer to all this ?
Against whom does the charge lie, if there
aro to be accusations of any, for the horrors
of Andersonville ? ‘
Mr. Bright—What was the percentage of
deaths in the prisons ?
Mr. Hill—l have already given it. I have
proved also that, with all the horrors of An
dersonville, the gentleman from Maine has
so ostentatiously paraded, and for an obvi
ously partisan purpose of exciting upon this
floor a bftter sectional discussion, from
which ins party, and perhaps himself, may
he tho beueficiary, greater sufferings occur
red in the prisons where Confederate sol
diers were confined, and that the percentage
of death was three per cent, greater among
Confederate troops in Federal hands than
among Federal soldiers held by the Con
federates. And I need not state the con
trast between the needy Confederacy and
the abundance of Federal supplies and re
sources.
Now, sir, when tho gentleman rises again
to give breath to that effusion of unmiti
gated genius without fact to sustain it, in
which he says—
And I here, before God, measuring my words,
knowing their full extent and import, declare
that neither the deeds of the Duke of Alva in the
Low Countries, nor the massacre of Saint Bar
tholomew nor the thumb-screws and the engines
oftoitureof the Spanish Inquisition, begin to
compare in atrocity with the hideous crime of
Andersonville.
Let him add that the mortality at Ander
souville and other Confederate prisons failß
short by more than three per cent, the mor
tality in Federal prisons.
Sir, if any man will reflect a moment, he
will see that there was reason why the Con
federate Government should desire exchange
of prisoners. It was scare of food, pinched
for clothing, close up with a blockade of its
ports ; it needed troops; its rauks were thin
ning.
INow, Mr. Speaker, it is proper that I
should read one or two sentences from the
man who has been arraigned as the vilest
murderer in history. After the battles
around Richmond, in which McClellan was
defeated, some ten thousand prisoners fell
into the hands of the Confederacy. Victory
had perched upon its standard, and the re
joicing naturally following victory was heard
in the ranks of the Confederate army. Mr.
Davis went out to make a congratulatory
speech. Now, gentlemen of the House, gen
tlemen of the other side, if you are willing to
do justice, let me simply call your attention
to the words of this man that then fell from
his lips in the hour of victory. Speakieg to
the soldiers, he said :
You are fighting for all that is dearest to man
and, though opposed to a foe who disregards
many of the usages of civilized war, your human
ity to the wounded and tne prisoners was a fit
and crowning glory of your valor.
Above the victory, above every other con
sideration, even that victory which they be
lieved insured protection to their homes and
families, he tells them that at last their
crowning glory was their humanity to the
wounded and prisoners who had fallen into
their hands.
The gentleman from Maine yesterday in
troduced the Richmond Examiner as a wit
ness iD his beha f. Now, it is a rule of law
that a man Cannot impeach his own witness.
It is true, the Examiner hated Mr. Davis
with a cordial hatred. The gentleman could
not have introduced the testimony of per
haps a bitterer foe to Mr. Davis. Why did
it hate him ? Here are its reasons : “ The
chivalry and humanity of Jefferson Davis
will inevitably ruin the Confederacy.” This
is your witness, and the witness is worthy
of your cause. You introduced the witness
to prove that Mr. Davis is guiltv of inhu
manity, and he tells you that the humanity
of Mr. Davis will ruin the Confederacy.
That is not all. In the same paper it says :
“The enemy have gone from one unmanly
crueltv to another.” Recollect, this is your
witness. “The enemy have gone from one
unmanly cruelty to another. Encouraged
by their impunity until they are now and
have for some time been inflicting on the
H|es was
ton ton.
Ifoveff? '
kritiWs i
people of this poantry the worst horrors Of
barbarous and uncivilized war,” Tet, in
spite of all this, the Examiner alleged “Mr.
Davis, in hie dog Jog with the enemy, wm
as gentle as a sucking dove.”
Mr. Garfield—What volume is that?
'r. Hill—The same volume, page 531,
and is taken from the Richmond Examiner
—the paper the gentleman quoted from
yesterday. And that is the truth. Thoro -
of us who were there at the timeSknow it 1
to be the fact. One of the persistent'
charges brought by that paper and some
others against Mr. Davis was his
humanity. Over and over again Mr.
Davis has been heard to say, and I ure
h ; s very language, when applied to to retali
ate for the horrors inflicted upon our pris
oners : “The inhumanity to oar prisoners
can be no justification for a disregard by us
of the rules of civilized war and of Christi
anity.” Therefore he persisted in it, ard
this paper cried out against him that it
would ruin the Confederacy.
I am sure 1 owe this House an apology
for having detained it so lpng; I shall detain
it but a tew moments longer. After ail,
what should men do who really desire the
restoration of peace and to prevent the re
currence of the horrors of war? How ought
they to look at this question? Sir, war ;b
always horrible; war always brings hard
ships; it brings death, it brings sorrow, it
brings ruin, it brings devastation. And be
is unworthy to be called a statesman, look*
mg to the pacification of this oountry, who
will parade the horrors inseparable from
war lor the purpose of keeping up the strife
that produced the war.
I do not doubt that I am the bearer of ÜB
wt leomo messages to the gentleman from
Maine and his party. He says that there are
Confederates in this body, and that thevare
?;oiug to combine with a few from the North
or the purpose of controlling this govern
nunt. If one were to listen to the gentle
men on the other side, he would be indoubt
whether they rejoiced more when the South
left the Union, or regretted most when the
South came back to the Union that the’r
fathers helped to form, aud to which they
will forever herealter contribute as muoh of
patriotic ardor, of noble devotion, aud of
willing sacrifice as the constituents of U e
gentleman from Maine. O, Mr. Speaker,
why oanuot gentlemen on tho other
sr.de rise to the height of
'mgutueut of patriotism ? Is tho
of tho oountry always to be torn wiki
this miserable sectional debate whenever aj
Presidential election is pending ? To. theta
great debato of half a century before sece
sion there were left no adjourned questions.
The victory of the North was absolute, and
God kuows the submission of the South was
complete. But, sir, we have recovered from
the humiliation of defeat, and we come here
among you and we ask you to give us the
greetings accorded to brothers by brother*.
We propose to join you in overy patriotic
endeavor, aud to unite with you in every
patriotic aspiration that looks to the benefit,
the advancement, and the honor of every
part of our common country. Let us. gen
tlemen of all parties, in this centennial yezr
indeed have a jubilee of freedom. We divide
with you the glories of the revolution nud
of the succeeding years of our national life
before that unhappy division—that four
years’ night of gloom and despair—and so
wo shall divide with you the glories of
the future.
Sir, my mossage is this : There aro no
Coiiioderates in this House; there are no'*
Confederates anywhere ; there are no Con
federate schemes, ambitions, hopes, desires ,
or purposes here. But the South is here,
and here she intends to remain. (Enthusi
astic applause.) Go on and pass your qual
ifying acts, tramplo upon the constituiioi
you have sworn to support, abnegate tho
pledges of your fathers, incite rage up or
our people," and multiply your infidelities
until they shall bo like the stars of heaven
or tho sands of the seashore, without num -
ber ; but know this, for all your iniquities
the South will never again see a remedy iu
the madness of another secession. (Con
tinued applauso.) We are here ; wo aro in
the house of our fathers, our brothers aro
our companions, and we aro at homo to stay,
thank God. (Much applause.)
We come to gratify no revenge, to rotap
ate no wrongs, to resent no past insults, t
r e-open no strife. We come with a patriot)
purpose to do whatever in our political
power shall lie to restore au honest, ecouotr
ical, and constitutional administration <; ) tb
government. We come charging upon :) o
Union no wrongs to us. Tho Union novr
wronged us. The Union has bee n an uu
mixed blessiug to every Bectioil, to every
State, to every man of every color in Ante:
ica. We charge all our wrongs upon tha
“higher law” fanaticism, that never kept a
pledge nor obeyed a law. Tho South did see)
toffeare the association of those who, she be
lieved, would keep fidelity to their cove
nants; the South sought to go to horse)'
but, so far from having lost our fidelity fc
tho constitution which our fathers madejj
when we sought to go we hugged 1 hat c i
- to our bosoms and carried it wit!
ÜB. * A
Brave Union men of the North, followei^
of Webster and Fillmore, of Clay and
and Douglass—you know who fought itj
Union for the sake of tho Union; yoi
ceased to fight when the b&ttlo endel
the bword was sheathed —we have nol
| rol with you. whethe’-JJenubHcunß or 1
[crate. We felt vour heavy arm in tbj
■sire of battle; "bot t -*Esi
“SS-Tbr -vo Lor.rd-your VOieMl
calling, “Brothers, come *uj3
bear witness to you this day that That m
of kindness did more to thin the
rate rauks and weaken the Confederate arntJ
than did all the artilh ry employed in tmfl
struggle. We aro bore to co-operate witH
ya*u; to do whatever we can, in spito of a!P
out sorrows, to rebuild tho Union, to restore
peace, to boa blessing to the country, and
tii make tho American Union what our fath
ers intended it to be—the glory of AmericK*
and a blessing to humanity.
But to you, gentlemen, who seek still t"
continue strife, and wno, not satisfied witi
the sufferings already endured, the blood
already shed, the waste already committed
insist that we shall be treated as
and oppressed as victims, only hecaq
defended our convictions —to you we
no concession. To you who followed up thoi
war after the brave soldiers that fought i
had made peace and gone to their homes—
to yon wo have no concessions to offer. Mar
tyrs owe no apologies to tyrants. And wlnl
we are ready to make every sacrifice for tho
Unrju, oven secession, however defeatei
and humbled, will confess no sin to fanatic
ism, however bigoted and exacting.
Vet, while we make to you no concession,
wo come eveu to you in no spirit of revenge
Wo would multiply blessings in common foi
you and for us. Wo have one ambition, am
that is to add our political power to the pa
triotic Union men of tho North in order to
compel fanaticism to obey the law and live
in the Union according to the con
stitution. We do not propose to compe
you by oaths, for you who breed strife oni;
to got office and power will*inot keep oaths
•Sir, wo did the Union one great wrong.
Tho Union never harmed the South ; In
we of the South did tho Union odo greew
wrong; and we come, as far as we can, tc
repair it. We wronged the Union grievousl
when we left it to be seized and rent ant!
torn by the men who had denounced it a
“a covenant with hell and a league with Ur
devil.” We ask you, gentlemen of the !.■
publican party, to rise above all your ani
mosities. Forget your own sins Let ut
unite to repair’tho evils that distract am
oppress the country. Letusturn th
upon the past, and let it be said in the fu
ture that he shall be the greatest patriot
the truest patriot, the noblest patriot who
shall do most to repair the wrong ’ U.->
past and promote the glories of the future.
[Applause on the floor and in the galleries. J
The Nuvy Department in Trouble.
A Washington special to tho Baltimore
Gazette says: The Navy Department
in a quandary. The great naval pre >r ■
tions continue as far as the means i t
hand will allow, but money is absolo -iy
needed to carry forward the work, ai.r
the Secretary knows that this Cov • ss
will not condone his violation of the tv,
which forbids him making a larg--.iT'-
ciency bill, as the lastL Congr<-
when four millions wuAxjn ’ 1
ing the Virginia The e
maud is urgent. letu
ready to comm Congress sb*
reason for theie pro, re
tions. Some idea of the embarra,
can be formed when it is stated t la',
the officers and crew of the f T.ited
States steamer Worcester, at Nor‘oik.
ordered out of commission several weeks
ago, are still in commission because
there are no funds to pay off the crew,
The monitors are to be provided with
fifteen-inch instead of nine-inch e-ms
which will require an enlargement of the
port holes, and the order to store ter.
thousand tons of coal at Pott Royi- s h
abeyance for lack of funds. The adi -in -
istration knows that not one dolla v.-L'-
be appropriated except for good
fully explained, and the State Di rt
ment cannot just now reveal its ecrets
to the world. One thing in this
dilemma has been suggested, and the'.
is that the President communi
cate to the House confidentially his
message, which shall be read in es
executive session, an event that has no i
transpired in years, and a right wV
very few probably know is given
the rules of the House. In that event,
the House would be put in posses- on of
the facts, and if ihe reasons are sufficient.,
in open session the Appropriatioi com
mittee could report a bill, have 'or
mally considered in committee 1 the
whole, and pafl&ed without reveal) any
of the secrets of the administrate - 80
as Secretary Robeson has been enabled
all the vessels in commission have been
fully supplied with munitions of v or. AU
that is looking is seamen, and no . -‘i
could be shipped at this season in thirty
days to man every vessel afloat.
They have dug up a petrified woman
in Arkansas. Her eye had such a ston
glare that the workmen who resurrected
her took her for a mother in-law, regard
less of the fact that mothers -in-law never
die.