East Saginaw courier., 1863-08-19
RETALIATION.


parties in this war from its grasp can
be devised, we rush rapidly andinev-
itably into a system of downright muir
der which the civilized world will not
fail to condemn.
a year go, or more, our forces cap
tured little town III Missouri, which
had been held for some time by band
ofrebel guerillas. A prominent Union
man was Missing, and it was believed
the rebels had spirited him of-per-
haps butchered him. The command
er of the Union forces thereupon ar
rested ten citizens, of secession sympa-
thies, and told them and their friends
they could have certain number Of
days in which to produce the missing
Unionist. If they did not produce
him, they must suffer death. They
:o"ld 9nt prndnce, him, and were shot
III cola blood. a short time AFTER
wards the missing man turned up
He had been all the while voluntary
exile in free State.
We denounced this butchery at the
time. The rebels had been guilty of
barbaritics scarcely less shameful and
cruel, but had not committed them in
the name of Retaliation" We said
then, 'the work of retaliation oncc
commenced, finds no end; and thou
sands ofinnocent men may suffer death
before we get through with it. We
should retaliate, if at all, upon the guilty.,
and not upon the innocent, with view
of involving the guilty also in their
miseries.
Some time ago Gen. Burnside found
two men recruiting for the Confedc-
rate army in Kentucky. He ordered
their execution, and they suffered this
penalty. The Confederates declared
this to be a violation of the usages of
civilized war, and straightway pro-
posed to retaliate. They forced GER
tain Union officers in the Libby prison,
at Richmond, TO draw lots, and thus
selected two innocent men for the scaf-
fold. We read, a few days ago, a let
ter from one of these unfortunates to
his wife in New Jersey, and found it
impossible to avoid shedding tears.-
1t was most touching letter; and all
the more touching because il was man
ly. We never cursed jeff. Davis so
heartily as when we had finished read
ing it.
Now we have ''retaliation" in anoth-
er shape. jeff Davis decides thatn
gro soldiers are barbarians, and rcfu-
ses TO treat them, when captured, as
prisoners of war. He once suggested
turning them over to the States in
which they might be found, to be dealt
with under the local laws. But the
Confederate congress passed no law on
the subject, and he is left to do with
them what he deems proper. IT rs
said, by whatauthority we donot know,
that he intends to sell them into slav-
cry. 1t is said, too, thatat Fort Wag-
ner they were butchered like hrutos.
1t is also said that Davis threatens TO
arm all tho slaves who are loyal TO
their masters, and put them forward
to butcher Northern men. We get no
reliable authority for either of these
statements; but President Lincoln
seems to believe that the colored SOL
diers, when captured, are not to be
treated as prisoners of war. He be-s
lieves they are to be sold into slavery
or butchered. He assumes, very prop
erly, that it is the duty Of the govern
mcnt to protect its soldiers, of whatev-
er color or race, in the rights of sol
diers; and he therefore brings forward
a remedy for this threatened outrage
against the rights of the blacks. He
will enslave, or kill, man for man.
can eye for an eye, and tooth for
tooth"
Unhappily his penalty does not
reach the guilty parties. He does not
propose to hang or outlaw JEFF. Davis,
or whoever else authorizes the outra-
ges he complains of His language
is: 'It is therefore ordered that for
every soldier of the United States
killed in violation of the laws Of war,
a rebel soldier shall be executed: and
for every one enslaved by the enemy
or sold into slavery, a rebel shall be
placed Mt hard labor upon the public
works and continued at such labor
until the other shall be released and
receive the treatment due to prisoners
or war.
We hear that the "missing" of the
5ith (colored) Massachusetts, regiment
in the assault on Fort Wagner num-
bered nearly two hundred. These are
probaly prisoners in the hands of the
rebels. If jeff. Davis so ordains they
will be shot or hung. This would be
develish. But look at the remedy!
1t takes the same number of rebel
prisoners men, il may be, who were
forced into tho rebol army by conscrip-
ton, and who despise the barbarism
of Davis order,-and forces them to
the same fatel They, innocent though
they are, NEST be shot or hungl
Is this a proper remedy? 1t looks
to us inhuman. Is there no other
way of bringing the Confederate au-
thorities TO their sensesp Certainly
the civilization of ages viii not long
Justify or excuse this method, though
it may possibly find some justification
in the old war usages. 1t was 20 set
tie this very matter, we suppose, that
Davis sent Stephens North with a
flag Of truce. We wish il had been
received - p,or,dssce Post