The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1863-11-13

ne peeol1tent lies Of thA Yankee Journals
abouf he starvation 9Ad cruel treatment II
sAels psiss16gs N RleAmond are only intend.
- . blow up the declining war spirit IN the
NostA, and 70 justify Themselves upon tho
psetaxt Of N Ahomluablc fhlsehood, In In
melting new craeltIes upon our unhappy cap
tivss In their hands. We have made inqai-
~ upon The subject which satisfy ~ that
I'll y doas Tor the support and comfort Of
~ Yankee multitude which the Confederate
Government h capable Of doing. A fact
came 10 oar notice yesterday morning which
wrl BE- Astriking illnstraaion Of the true state
of things TO Ill fair minds. Several person .
al respectable standing In this community
were endeavoring TO obtain small quantity
Of somc portions Of the beef which have
been permitted 10 DO sold Mt the commits
cary shops to the general public, but were
Informed BY the man in charge that they
could not have Il, - II was now required by
The Yankee prisoner. Here are our people
denied provisions for themselves and their
children to feed these Yankees, who have
come 70 destroS us! We do not mention
this In the way ofcomplaint; on the contrary
" give the Government credit for its merci-
hlAispositiou, but this single fact sufficient
j dlspEoves the base and malignant false
hood thst We are seeking TO starve the. Yam
ken, when, In reality, It h orr own people
thaE are In danger Of starvlng in order that
these prisoners may be fed.
To any one willing to Aisten 10 reason and
tsuth, It must be apparent that thirteen thou
sAad Yankee prisoners thrust upon COM
munify already overcrowded, and having
great dlfaculty to provide the plainest arti-
cIes Of food for ito own tables, cannot ex
pecf, with the best dispositions on our part
10 IRE sumptuously every day. We know
people, once In afflnence, who would be glad
to Be assured Of a. liberal daily provision
- these Yankee prisoners. II may be that
their food IL plain, and not abundant, but it
10 - good and a. plentiful as, with our
enlightened means, we can supply. Liars
ought 70 have good memories, and to keep
up . show 1t least Of consistency, and there
fore We would suggest to the mendacious
Yankee scribes who accuse ms of deliberately
starving our prisoners, whether, ii it be true,
~ they daily assert, that the people of Rich
mond are threatened with the horrors OF
tAmine, It may not be that the alleged fam
Inc among their prisoners is involuntary ?
II We are starving ourselves, how can We
keep them from starving: But the truth is,
that, though Strengthened In our own means
Of life, we are doing as well for our prisoners
~ for ourselves. Seventy bullocks q day
arc sacrificed for their commissariat, and
bread In proportion to their numbers. Our
own people, az we know Of our own per-
sonal knowledge, are in some cases denied
meat for their own families, because it is ne
ceesary for the Yankees. Thus much we
say, not because we consider any explanation
due to our enemies, or likely TO be saiisfac-
tory, but because the facts ought to be
known, in vindication of our own charac-
ter, and In justice to our own prisoners
whom they wish,to harass and torture upon
false and malignant pretext.
In regard to accommodation it is undoubt-
eddy true that we are deficient in the means
Of comfortably accommodating the multi
tude on our hands. We had no room in
Richmond before the war for large surplus
population. Since the war our population
haa been doubled; people who once lived in
large mansions are glad to get two rooms :
the Confederate Government has been com
PEELED to occupy for the uses of State many
at our principal public edifces. Artisans
and builders having been drawn upon largely
for the army, very little building has been
going on since the war commenced. The
consequence is, that after packing all our
spare factories with Yankee prisoners, we
have been compelled to encamp the others
ON Belle Isle, which ia the most agreeable of
places In summer, but not Better in winter
than the usual winter quarters of soldiers
What can we do? Arrangements have been
made to send them away as fast as we can
ind places for them In the interior of the
country, and in the meantime they must
submit to disagreeable position with the
best philosophy they can, knowing that it is
the result Of necessity and not of wanton
cruelty on our part.
We have abstained from referring TO the
unSpeAkable horrors which our prisoners
have suffered In Fort Delaware aud other
Yankee prisons, because two wrongs do not
make right. But we may at least cay to
the Yankee prisoners that If they suffer here
# p NOT our fault, who cannot help it but
tho FAULT OF their own Government, who will
not exchange prisoners-who will only send
n back orr sick and wounded men, and
when We return others in the same condi.
tton, bassiy and Of wsnton malice pretend