Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1865-08-31

.SlE WIS e:.:.:: :A1e g.
CAST. vvless 0nA llrA 0sansea.
Aoeeriipg 70 the testimony thus fer ID
dsesd bsbb lfilisiry, tjiIission try
il Caet WirtA - y sprpts sd Z tyssst
Of the deepest dy?, i alpaas freezes ones
blood to read. t6c etide1ce exhibiting the
treatment Of ~. 0aion aclai9, 4, Andsr.
.o.AN.s UNlsss thS witasSss6 irStks host
unblushing perurcrs, such : record Of
cruelty i,aA afav been made ID ny coun-
try. Making Ill due allowance for the real
.c.scity Of food in the South, and The dim
Guilty Of providing proper supplies for tire
pr;,oncrs. there is sufficient proof TO show
that the prison AUTHORITIES did not exert
themselves 10 do what even they could have
done for the comfort and health Of their
c,ptives. The disciplinewas arbitrary and
ssvsre beyond parallel. The sick we're a.
most totally neglected. The dead were A.
loved To rot without decent interment, and
the unwholesome exhalations from their
bodies 70 swell the current and volume Of
noxious vapors already great and terrible
from the garbage and filth Of the prison.
Medicines and supplies Of food furnished BY
the rebel government were withheld, and,
In short, il the neglect and barbarous treat
,nsut Of the Union soldiers were not actually
designed rs . means Of reducing the Federal
army, they were pursued in individual
cases TO such Al extent Is TO certainly bear
the appearance of pre- arranged system.
II is with no design Of attempting TO ex.
cuss or palliate the charges against Wirtx
that We recall the fa6t thata great amount,
if not all, the mortality and suffering ex-
perisnced by our troops At Andersonville,
could have been prevented but for the OBJ
s,inacy Of certain officials belonging to our
Government. Not long tgo NJ. Junlus II.
Browne, who, with another correspondent
Of the New York Tribune, Mr.. Richardson,
had been prisoner in the South. published
an article in the paper with WHICH he il
connected (tho Tribune showing up Mr.
Stanton in unvable colors. We quote:
Mr.. Richardson and myself spent nearly q
week in the national capital after our es
cape, endeavoring TO do all that was posi-
ble for the release of the brave iuen in the
hands Of the enemy; and every one We met
told the same story, that the Secretary Of
War was the obstacle in the way Of the re-
sumption Of the exchange.
Moreover, Gen Butler, in his speech at
Lowell, Mass, stated positively that he had
been ordered by Mr.. Stanton to put forward
the negro question TO cotnplicate and pre-
vent the exchange Col. A. b. Straight, OF
Indianapolis, q fellow prisoner with us III
the Libby, told Mr. Richardson, after oul
return to freedom, that, in an interview be
tween the Secretary and himself, the forme,
declared 10 him that the Government could
not afford to exchange able bodied men foI
skeletons. Other officers and civilians
whose names cannot remember, have as
sured me that he had used to them the sam,
language, in effect; and there is no doub
whatever that that was his policy and dc
termination until the clamors the peopl
compelled him TO retire from his barbxrou
position.
Every one is aware that when the cx
change did take place not the slightest alter
alton had occurred in the question. an
that our prisoners might rs well have beer
released twelve or eighteen months bcfor,
IS at the resumption Of the cartel, which
would have saved to the Republic at leas,
twelve or fifteen thousand heroic lives
That they were not saved is due alone t
Mr.. Edwin N. Stanton's peculiar policy and
logged obstinacy and. ~ have remark
cd before, he IL unquestionably the diggc
Of the unnamed graves that crowd the Vi
cinity Of every Southern prison with his
toric aud ncver-to- be-forgotten horrors.
.,nll S6re.1 Pentsence.
The late tremendous developments q
financial frauds In New York have presented
such an astounding view Of the spcculativ,
aud enterprising element in its business liit
that, If CONSERVATION did not pcrvade al
classes, Il would be lamcntable proof that
the standard OF commercial morality had
sunk to very low point inaeed. Yet we
fear that the vast amount Of lamentation
aud virtuous indignation called forth by the
stories of Mumford and Jenkins, and Earle
and ketchum, and SO many others, will last
no longer than till similar discoveries arc
made in relation to hundreds or thousands
Of others in the same walks Of life, and
tempted by the same opportunities 1t is
easy to declaim against the corrupting
tendencies Of the present state Of society
and the facilities afforded by our prevalent
business system for pcrpetrating frauds
"But." rs leading New York journa
says:
But what can We hope from such decla
nations Will they make it possible for