The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-08-23

AA-iON PRtNONERS IN THE sos Cu-
EAGERNEsS or THE REBELS FOR ~
EXCHANGE.
Frsm ne Time,.
The anxiety Of the ReLcis iol &c exchange OF
prisoners at this time takes .ingularly contra.
dictoiy way Of maniicstug itself At Charleston
there is threatened recurrence to the t,rbarism
OF putting large number Of Union prisoners
unlcr fire. Six hundred OF ous officers are now
retained in Charleston ail fol the purpose OF
bciHa,thus exposed, provided the Rebel term, Of
cxchdngc are not scocded 20.
Jones, tho Rebel General in command at
ChaIlestoni has, meanwhile, been notified by
General Foster, COmmandirr the Union force,
| Letore the city, shat ho will place six hundred
hebei officers In an exposed position on Morris
Island the moment the threat Of putting the
ubionists der fire is carried out. We should
hope that whatever may be the temporary loss
we suiler in the exchange, this business will be
arrested before It goes further. General Foster
y Is understood has sent to Washington for in
sfuctons; let us hope that these instructions
viii embrace other considerations beside those Of
strict military cNpcdoncy.
That, OF course, would be not only the prime
Dut the only consideration were VIC reduced to
cue necessity Of fighting the Rebels man for man.
But with the vast prepOnderance Of the national
iorce in numbers, can afford to have rcgatd in
our exchange, as well 70 the long endurance Of
our poor, suffering, half-famished soldiers nov
on which strictly equitable mutual release
should take place. The patient endurance the
noble resignation, the uncouquerablo fidelity OF
the Union prisoners at tho South demand sicri-
noes by the War Department but they are sacri-
Gees which we feel assured our peorle would
make good by extra efforts at volunteer recruit
ing rather than have general exchange DELAYED.
1t must be remcmbcred-whcn we begin 20
|count heads with the Rebels in this business
that, in any event, they will have the advantage.
whether the exchange embraces one-balf or the
fhOle o. the prisoners new held on each side. IL
Ifs only too likely TO prove true, fear, that tue
vast proportion Of the 10000 Of our men now said
TO be at Andersonvl!e, were they released to-
morrow, would return unfit for military service.
On the Rebel side the very reverse of this will be
found true. The qUO3iddp herd Of starving raga-
mullins from the armies of Lee and Johnston
now in Northern ports will come out like STALL
fed oXen-in better condition, most of them,
probably than they ever were in before either
in private or military life.
No matter how we exchange, We cannot get
back our fighting material, man for man. Our
liberal treatment OF Davis conscripts, our
humanitarian doctrines and practices, our deter
minRiiOn here at the North TO avoid the eXpedcuts
.of savage warfare-all these tell against us
now, and must tell against Us all through--in
'counting heads in u general exchange of
prisoners. We have not lived ia close enough
lcontguity with q barbarous and brutaizing
system Of dealing with human beings. We
have not been familiar enough In peaCeaHlC
years with the calaboo,e, the whipping post. the
slave auction-bock, the traIned and trusty blood
hound, TO be able TO make anything like
profitable use Of prisoners of war. And all these
feeble attempts at initiating this portion Of tho
2SOuthern military systen-such as placing cap
1 tive men under firC-will prove but sorry eXpe-
dents in the end We shall all be ferocous enough,
no doubt, for an hour or two, possibly for ono
full day, and then Why, the end of Il will be
that our officers will give Up the business in dis
gust, and we shall commend them for doing 30.
In view Of this condition OF things, then, we
fcan conceive Of nothing more proper for the War
Department 10 do in the premises than find
a way at once TO make a general, sweeping eX-
change of prisoners. The Richmond papers OF
Thursday announce that the Rebel War Depart
ment has issued orders to recognize our negro
soldiers who may be taken as prisoners as enti-
tied to the same treatment as other prisoners of
war. There may be some limit to the application
of the order where the negroes have been taken
from Rebel plantations. But we take il that the
concession practically covers the whole case as to
The rights of the black troops. And If so, there
/ is another vast stumbling-block removed out OF
. the way of general exchange Let us hope
that it may he found practicable to make such an
exchange without serious injury to the national