Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-12-04

directly under the llws Of var. Upnn such
70 aliatiun we can stand before the sations Of
the world, just as We can upon the punisil-
ment of any deHerter from our rauks, or of
treason upon the part ofsany of our people.
"The right Of postliminium," says Vatsel,
.'s that in virtue Of which psrsons and things
taken by the .enemT. are restored to former
sratc, when coming again under the power Of
the nation to which the5helonged."
And the American jnrist, Wheaton, saYs:
"Thc jus postlimiaiie was fiction of tie
Roman Law, by which persons or thing ta-
ken from the enemy were held to be res orei
to their former state, when coming under the
power of the nation to- which they formerly
belonged. II was applied to free per.oos ,r
slayes returning pos1i@inii." Har", then, i
tho law of nations undes which the right IS
return slave to his mssteris plainly aad full
" laid DOWN as,f and falseapon the
right 10 punish.kina ias asssag fsuna in tie
ranks of the enemy, the Confederate anthori-
ties will stand, and i}om which they will not
depart.
If the enemy snpp>se thoy can prevent it,
full and complete exercise By refusing to ex-
change prisoners, they muEl try the expert
ment and see what wisdom i. will teach them,
The condition Of their prisoners hers il ore
Of great dcst'ution; d rpondent maa
choly, broken in snir T. at the prospect Of MAJ
years of dreary Imprisonment. ;hey are dying
in large numbers, not from starvation, but
from tho depression of spirit which fastens
the g,ip of disease with .ungelenting power
upon them. The devastation and waste in
ficted by the enemy have so strAish.tnr,i a.
reduced the resources nf tho r'untry that 0rr
own people and army are forced tn use the
greatest economy. The prisoners fare az our
army DIES; bat, bnoyed M with none Of
these hopes and feelings, and bitter, unrelcnt-
ing animosity which keep alive the spirir
Of our people and soldiers. and oven cheer
and animate our captured mon in their
irearv r-'s"na, the Federal prisoners fall rasi
ly before d'-ease, which might, III der other
circumstances, Prove harmless. Death is fat
relieving nuv Tetonrcca from the burden Of
their support Is MIR. Whiting believes that
feeding The F'dcral prisoners contribute. +"
the exhaustion of orr supplies, Why does h.
not. urge upon his Government T. send back
our captured roldiera. As the United StGte-
n"w hold, according to their papers over
forty thousand. while we hold hut little more
than twenty thousand, hs would cause ,w"
mouths TO be fed, where only cne is now
scantily supplied. But starvation will rro"r
n very slow means Of ''quelling the rebellion"
We have 10 present purpose or expectation Of
starving. We may be reduced to hnlf RI
'inrs and then to quarter ra;ion-. hut the
Yankee prisoners will he reduced also. |. is
not "had faith" nor refusal to cxchang" ne
.rocs," nor even the hope of starving u.s. thai
arcYents In exchange hut it is the desire of
the enemy to keep as many of those soldiers,
whose blows they have so often felt, from rhr
ranks of our armies. They prefer to hare
wcpty thousand of their men dying in Rich.
nnnd =" -"eeing and feeling twenty thousand
our men in the ranks. At present, they
have, Us they had once before during this war,
great excess of prisoners, but the warts not
Nver nor near its end.