Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1865-09-29
The Trial of Wirz.

The trial now going on in Washington
has a marked national importance. Ii is
not so much the wretched creature, Wirz,
who is on trial, as il is the temper and
the authorities of the late rebel govern
ment. They are charged with having
starved and tortured thousands upon
thousands of Union prisoners who bad
fallen into their hands, having inten>
tionally and Systematically deprived them
of shelter and of food having with.
held from them all care during sickness,
of hunting them like wild beasts, Of
killing them and manning them for the
most trihing offences,--in word, OF con-
duct toward them which should brand
them forever with the scorn ard contempt
of the civilized world. These allegations
have been denied-not so loudly or dis
tinctly by the Confederates Themselves,
as by their allies and sympathizers
abroad. Wher the present correspon-
dent of the London Times recently sent
to that journal statement CT these al
legged offences, it was received with in.
dignant incredibly. The charges were
branded as false and slahderous, and it
was boldly asserted, on The ether side,
that rebel prisoners met treatment equal
ly severe at the hands of the govern
ment of the United States.
The Wirz trial will give these foreign
sympathizers with the rebellion an OPP
portunity to test the correctness of their
opinions. The sworn testimony of men
some of whom were prisoners, and 9th
ers, rebel officers and employees in these
rebel prisons, all of whom were person
ally cognizant of the incidents they re-
late, is now submitted for their inspection.
1t embodes distinct facts which speak for
themselves. 1t tells precisely what was
done, by rebel jailors and guards, TO the
Union prisoners in their custody: and il
will remain for British readers to form
their own opinion whether the things
thus proved to be done were, or were
not, in accordance with the laws Of war
and the usage Of civilized nations. II is
possible they may yield to the evidence
thus placed before them, and concur in
the judgment that the rebel treatment Of
our prisoners was, in its infamy aud bar
barity, unparalleled in the history of the
civilized world.
There is another aspect of the case 10
which, we trust the government will give
attention. 1t is charged upon Wirz that
his treatment of our prisoners was a vi
olation Of the laws and usages of war.
1t will be perfectly competent for the
court to show what are those laws and
usages, aud what was the treatment ex
tended 10 rebel prisoners in Union hands.
Some 10000 of them were brought into
the Northern States for custody. There
are thousands of them, officers and pri-
Yates, whose testimony can be had MS to
the treatment they received. We trust
the court will see they are summoned
We are not only willing, but anxious,
that their testimony should be taken
We are perfectly ready to submit to the
world, as decisive of the whole question,
their evidence ms to our treatment Of
them while they were prisoners in our
hands. We have not the shadow Of
doubt that it would silence, utterly and
forever, the wretched ISLANDERS by which
rebel iugitives seek to brand the charac-
ter and conduct Of our government in the
eyes Of foreign nations. But il such ev
idence should convict any officer, in any
instance, of cruel and inhuman treatment
Of any prisoner in his hands, we shall
insist upon his prompt and exemplary
punishment, as due alike to justice and
the honor of The country.
We hope the Court will not deem such
an inquiry beyond the scope of this trial
1t mill tend to clear up, for the perma-
nent purposes Of history, one of the most
vital and important questions connected |
with the recent civil WARY. y Times