Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1863-12-21


promptly paid.
-n1Db4 THE AMY. ~ snEi4 -
: The rebel army, according to the message, is
In better condition than ever before, but men are
still greatly needed:
''In view of the large conseription recently or
dered by the enemy, and their subsequent call for
volunteers, TO be followed, il Intellectual, by
still further draft, we are admonished that no
effort must be spared TO add largely to our effect
i've force as promptly as possible. The sources
Of supply are to be found by restoring tothe
army who are improperly absent. putting an end
to substituton, modifying the exemption law,
restricting details, aud placing in the ranks such
of the able-boded men now, employed rs wagon
ers, nurses, cooks, and other employees who are
doing service for which the negroes may be found
competent"
The message recommends the organization of
and Invalid Corps, and urges that all new re
cruits be assigned to veteran organizations instead
Of being formed into distinct companies and regi
ments. AS to the Ordinance Department, It is
said: rrre A. fr-fefT re.1 rs'rfr
"The reports from the Ordnance and Mining
Bureaus are very gratifying. and the extension of
our means of supply of arms and munitions of
war from our home resources has been such as to
insure our ability soon to become mainly, if not
entirely, independent of supplies from foreign
countries. The establishment for the casting of
guns and projectiles, for the manufacture Of small
arms and of gunpowder, for the supply of nitre
from artificial nitre BEDS and mining operations
generally, have been so distributed through the
country as to place onr resources beyond the
reach Of partial disaster."t M u
EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS.
The suspension of the exchange of prisoners
is laid, of course, at the door of the Federal
thorities: ~
"a systematic and concerted effort has been
made to quiet the complaints n.the United States
of those relatives and friends of the prisoners in
our hands who unable to understand why the
cartel is not executed in their favor, by the
groundless assertion that we are the parties who
refuse compliance. Attempts also made to
shield themselves from the execration excited by
their own odious treatment of our officers and
soldiers now captives in their hands, by mis- state
ments, such as that the prisoners held by us are
deprived Of food. To this last accusation the
conclusive answer has been made that. in accord
auce with our law and the general orders of the
department, the rations of the prisoners are pre-
cisely the same in quality and quantity as those
served out to gallant soldiers in the field,
and which have been found sufficient to support
them in their arduous campaigns, while it is not
pretended by the enemy that thew treat prisoners
BY the same generous rule By an indulgence.
perhaps unprecedented, we have even allowed the
prisoners in our hands to be supplied by their
friends at home with comforts not enjoyed by the
men who captured them in battle. In contrast to
this treatment, the most revolving -inhumanity
has characterized the conduct Of the United
States toward prisoners held By them. One
prominent fact, which admits no denial or palia-
ton, must suffice as a test The officers of our
army, natives of Southern and semi-tropical eli
mates, and unprepared for the cold of Northern
winter, have been conveyed, for Imprisonment,
during the rigors of the present season, to the
most northern and exposed situations that could
be selected by the enemy. There, beyond the
reach of comforts, and often even of news from
home and family, and exposed to the piercing
cold of the northern lakes they are held by men
who cannot be ignorant of, even if they do not
design, the probable result How many Of our
unfortunate friends and comrades, who have
passed unscathed through numerous battles, will
perish on Johnson's Island. under the cruel tria
to which they are subjected. none but the Omnis
cent can foretell."
THE REBEL NAVY.
The Report of the Secretary of the Navy
gives in detail the operations of that Department
since January last, embracing information of tht
disposition and employment of the vessels, off
GERS and men, and the construction of vessels al
Richmond, Wilmington. Charleston. Savannah
Mobile, Selma, and on the rivers Roanoke
Neuse, Pedee Chattahooche and Tombigbee
the accumulation of ship timber and supplies
and the manufacture of ordnance stores anC
equipments The foundries and workshops hav,
been greatly improved. and their capacity to sup
ply all demands for heavy ordnance for coast anC
harbor defence is only limited by our defcienc,
in the requisite skilled labor. The want of such
labor and of seamen seriously affects the OPERA
tons os the Department
! The skill, courage and activity of our cruisers
at sea cannot be too highly commended. The
have inflicted heavy losses on the enemy withou
suffering a single disaster, and have seriously
damaged the shipping interests Of the United
States by compelling their foreign commerce 4
seek the protection of neutral flags.
POST OFFICE md
| The Postmaster General reports the receipts o
that Department for the fiscal year ending tn
30th of June last TO have been SO 1897 .s5l Oh
and the expenditures for the same pero,
| 81 662, e04 81. The statement thus exhibits al
excess of receipts amounting to S675, 0S4 "A, in
stead of deficiency of more than a million o
dollars, as was the case in the preceding 6sca
year 1t is gratifying to perceive that the De
i partment has thus been self sustaining in accord
ance with sound principles, and with the expires
requirements of the constitution that its expense
should be paid out of its own revenues after tn
LIST March, 1858.
CONDUCT or THE ENEMY.
cannot close this message without again ad
verting to the savage feroctv which still mark
the conduct of the enemy in the prosecution of III
war. After their repulse from the defences be
tore Charleston, they first sought revenge by a;
abortive attempt TO destroy the city with an in
cendiary composition. thrown by improved ar
tillery, from a distance of four miles. Failing il
! this, they changed their missiles but fortunate
| have thus Gar succeeded only in killing two wo
men in the city. Their commanders, Butler
Mcneil and Turchn, whose horrid barbarite
! have made their names widely notorious, an
| everywhere execrable. still honored ard cher
| ished by the authorities at Washington Th
first named, after having been Withdrawn frou
the scenes of his cruelties against women an
prisoners of war, lin reluctant concession to th
demands Of outraged humanity in Europe,) ha
just been put in a command 1T Norfolk
where helpless women and children are agai
/ placed at bis mercy. -.
Nor. has less unrelenting warfare been wage
by these pretended friends of human rights an
libreties against the unfortunate negroes Wher
ever the enemy have been able to gain aces
they have forced into the ranks of their arm
every 6ble- bodied man they could SEIZE an
have either left the aged. the women and th
children, to perish by starvation, or have gather
ed them into camps where they have been waste
by frightful mortality. Without clothing, %
shelter. often without food, incapable. withou
supervisors, Of taking the most ordinary precau
TONS against disease, these helpless dependent:
accustomed to have their wants supplied by th
foresight Of their masters, are being rapidly ex
terminated wherever brought into contact wit
the invaders By the Northern man, on who's
deep rooted prejudices no kindly restrained in
iuence is exercised. they are treated with aver
sion aud neglect There is little hazard in pre-
dieting that. in all localities where the enem
have gained temporary foothold, the negroe.
who under our care increased skiold in numbe
since their importation i'm the Colonids of Grea