Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-02-24

Vim. Glass, arrested at Hopkinsvillo, KY
low in Camp Chase; Colonel Poiadexter'
confined at st. Louis; Colonel j. o. Moore
,sad, Lieutenant James Baker, and L'euten'
mt VIM. Garnet, arrested between nernAn"
10 and Memphis last june, now confined AT
Jackson's Island in Lake Erie. Every OH
car and soldier in this list (Which VIC have
to make much longer was long
since exchanged by the agreements between
the Federal and Confederate Commissioners,
and ought to have been, ere now, in our &C
tive service again.
These things were becoming multiplied snu
aggravated, when our President, !" pecs'''-
Der last, felt that something must 90 "''e'
In Justice to our devoted soldiers tnen p
ming in foul Dungeons, counting the hours
and gazing wearily out through the'r 'a'S
over the Yankee olcarings Of Ohio or tbs
o,.v waters Of the Capsdion Lakes. Their
equivalents in the exchange (thonyh far from
their equivalents in .uy attributs Of man-
hood, were long ago blazing again in llus An's
gold, and marching to tho suhjngat'on OF
their homes All; country! This coui' "o'
go on.
Accordingly, after Commissioners ouid
had made his last representation ana fue-
nished his last list, requiring a satisfactory
adjustment in fifteen days-and, after twen-
ty-five days bad elapsed, and no adjustment
and no answer-tha President, evidently
with reluctance, yielded for the first time to
the pressure of public opinion in these States,
and to his own feeling Of the hard necessity
of the case, and made proclamation, on De-
cember 23d, that in view OF the numerous
and grievous breaches of all the laws OF war
and of express and positive agreements, the
commissioned officers Of the enemy thereAf-
ter to be taken should not be parolet for ex-
change.
They could still hs. and they still have
been exchsneed per capita, or, man for man,
in actual p1eeenco on the lines; but our gov
eminent was taught by painful experience
that if We Gent off our captives without pay
nent in hsnd, tho enemy would Inake pre-
texts to throw some Of their prisoners into
tiuDgeoas, or even neglect OF decline, to ad-
nit them to parole, without any pretcxt at
all. In dea Jug with our Yankee brethren,
we cannot altogether expect e. be treated OH
the principles which iognlste the ussgcs Of
honorable war, or peace either, amongst
other nations Of the earth.
The next event in ordpr i',the Proclamation
Of President Lincoln, declaring that all our
slaves are free, plainly inviting them to REVOLT
and murder their masters, End commanding
officers and soldiers Of TIE United States 10
aid such instruction ami slaughter. eve
do not give the words, but this is tho thing,
Now let the human imagination try 10 con-
ceive any atrocity SO diaho!ical as this at
tempt. The British tariff of prices payable
to ludit rs for Americans sca]ps was nothing
to this for those Indians were not inmates
of every Americans household. Future
ages will hereafter point to the Proclamation
OF Mr.. Lincoln, that tho warning may peve'
be lost to the human race, when parents
shall tell their incrsdulous children TO WHIST
extremities philanthropy and |" military
necessity" once drove the Yankee natisn
Officers aud soldiers, after that Lincoln
Proclamation, making war in the OonfeoeI ate
States under its instructions, are instigators
of negro insurrection, and therefore .teloalS
by the laws Of ali the States. Accordingly
our President in his Message, read to Cor.
gress few days after, announced that he
should. if authorized by CongreBs, deliver up
such criminals (being commissioned Olficers)
to the authorities of the States respectively
in which they should be takon in the perps-
trstion Of that crime-there to be dealt with
according to law.
This was right, and WAS the only right
thing; as we shall take occasion to demon
strate another day. Congress, however, has
not yet acted upon it.
AS tho case stands now, however, some
thing has already been gained by the Presi-
dents Proclamation of December %. The
Federal Commissioner has now agreed to de.
liver up all those Confederate officers and
soldiers who had been wrongfully detained
previous to the roclamation-whether be-
longing to tie regular Confederate army, or
to irregular orgsnizstions-also all non-cem-
batants-also tho officers detained by Butler
and such soldiers rs have been tried by their
military tribunals and sentenced. In short
all those cases which provoked the President's
Proclamation are now to be redressed: snd
if tho Yankees act in good faith, every Con-
prisons Except officers captured since the
Proclamation will be delivered within three
weeks. This will include the brave and I'm.
fortunate Zarvona. Mr.. Commissioner Ould
who has indefatigably negotiated this ar
rangement, will, however, do we'll to hold on
to his prisoners until there is an actual de-
livery of the others. Yankees do not ressm-
BILE white men.
So it stands with respect to all prisoners
taken on either side before the President 8
proclamation of 23d December. The future
begins new score; and it demands the most
anxious attention of tho President and Con-
gress. 1t may be interesting to know that
The enemy has at this moment almost or
quite as many officers of ours in their hands
as we have of their officers. But Of privates,
We hold much larger number than they. We
shall again ask the readers attention to the
matter; in tho meantime We give the foregoing
statement by way of formal protest and re
monstrsnce against tho attempt being now
made by the Yankee nation to persuade the
world that we have broken faith with them.
For the Enquirer