The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1865-07-08

the real guilty parties! The public already
know that Jake Thompson had full control of
the rebel conspiracy fund, and Sanders now
assures us that he (Thompson) used 1t to stir
up a rebellion in the Northwest. We have no
doubt but that If Sanders will tell all that be
knows Of Thompsons operations he will open
the road for a pardon from the hands OF the
President, or at least furnish an excuse for Mr..
johnson to withdraw the reward for his head.
He has already published sufficient to make
Thompson his mortal enemy, and he has
nothing TO gein from silence. We all know
what he means by his hits on Thompson; why,
then, withhold the details? He has an oppor-
tunity to serve himself and the whole American
people. Will he avail himself of the oppor-
tunity by making a full statement of facts?
Inhuman Treatment Of Union Prisoners
OF War-Letter or Henry 8. Foote.
Our comments upon the report Of the COM
mittee of the late rebel Congress on the treat
ment of prisoners Of war confined in Southern
prisons have brought out reply from Henry s.
Foote, who, it seems, has found resting place
in Montreal. We stated, upon what we con-
his son-in-law that the starvation of our prison
ers was decided upon in Cabinet meeting.
This statement Mr.. Foote now corrects by the
explicit assertion that among the documentary
evidence before the committee was commune
cation from the rebel "Oommissary General, Mr..
Northrup, to Mr.. Seldom, Secretary of War, pro-
posing to withhold meat altogether from mill
tary prisoners then in custody, and to give
them nothing but bread and vegetables"
Upon this document, he further states, is the
official endorsement Of Mr.. Seldom, in which
the latter substantially says the time had ar
rived for retaliation upon the prisoners of war
of the enemy" In addition to this important
fact Mr.. Foote states that he "frst learned from
government officer that the prisoners Of war
In and about Richmond were suffering Sc
verely for want Of provisions, and that it was
manifest that Systematic scheme was on foot
for subjecting these unfortunate men to starva-
ton" While, therefore, Mr.. Foote denies some
of the details of our letters, he more than sus-
tains other material facts. He shows that the
treatment of our prisoners was not the work
merely Of the men in charge of the different
prisons, but that it was authorized by Cabi-
net official, and was systematic throughout.
Now these are the class Of facts which the
public have been for long time try ing to get
hold Of II, then, our comments and structures
on the report Of the committee Of the rebel
Congress have accomplished no other results
than to draw out this letter from Henry 8.
Foote, their publication has been fully justi-
fed. The people of the North have seen their
neighbors, brothers and sons returning from
confinement in Southern prisons mere walking
skeletons. They are familiar with tho barbar-
GUS treatment, the hundreds and thousands of
deaths from starvation; and if there is one
thing about which they wish to know, It is who
Is responsible for this barbarian. The people
could not believe that the officials in charge
Of the prisons could be allowed to continue
that system of inhumanity to helpless and de-
fenceless men for months and months, save
with the sanction OF the ruling power at
Richmond. II ia but natural that the inquiry
should come up from every nook and corner Of
the loyal North, Who IL responsible! There
are too many graves of Northern men within
sight of these black prison yards, too many
broken constitutions and men diseased for life
| by the sufferings endured there, for 1t to be
otherwise. The reports which were flying
around the country, although numerous, were
| contradictory. In order that these might be
set at rest, the report of the committee of the
rebel House of Representatives was un-
| earthed and spread before the public.
This document, instead Of throwing any
light upon this important subject, denied
that there had been any i'll treatment In
stead of satisfying the public mind, 1t only
increased the anxiety and embittered the
| feeling against the Southern leaders. But
we now have the whole statement from
Henry s. Foote at whose instigation the
committee was raised, and upon whose sug-
gestion an investigation was had. From his
version Of the affair 1t appears that the COM
mittee made q regular withdrawing report,
neither based their statements upon the evil
dence before them nor allowed the evidence to
be published. All the documentary evidence
VIC have alluded TO, which, as It will be seen
by perusal Of the letter which we publish
elsewhere, not only corroborates the reports of
starvation, but proves II to have been done by
design and sanctioned by at least one member
of the Cabinet and perhaps more.
We have thus Ut last been able to obtain
light upon this important subject 1t appears
that Mr.. Northrup, o Southern vegetarian
philosopher, who believes in feeding the human
family on grass and hay, used his position as
Commissary to put his theories in practice on
the Union prisoners. Obtaining the sanction
of the chief Of the rebel War Department, who
endorsed the scheme for the purpose Of retalia-
ton, as he claimed, the experiment was tried
and was followed by horrible results. We COM
mend Mr.. Foote'S letter to the special attention
of the administration at Washington, and urge