Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1865-05-20
uNMAsK1Ne.

4 uHMA6n49SSs
Still fresh in the minds Of the people Is
,hs recollection of the shlieks, the moan
;n. the whining and the groanins OF the
nj. when the tide Of war first began to
,nrn ,p.inst them, and they first began to
.rssr the horrors of the war they had
~;ctedly and wantonly commenced, and
which they had vauntingly boosted was to
he conducted on northern soil" They
;nspsura,ed their "christian and civilized
warfare" with 6urnings, crucihxioIs,
massacre and starvation, and exhibited in
their treatment of prisoners refinement
of heartless cruelty which put to the blush
the ingenuity of the barbarous Oriental
and the American savage; but the first
screech Of q northern shell over one Of
their own cities, they answered with q
shrek about "BARBARIrY" Stern
threats Of retaliation put stop o'their
holder and more shameless cruelties but
for years past they have persisted in the
slower, more cruel, and cold-blooded sys-
TEN of starvation of prisoners. The pro-
tests Of the National Government sgainst
this inhuman system Of torture have only
been answered by indifference, denials, or
assertions OF the inability Of the rebel
commissary to furnish the needful sup
plies Of food, medicine and clothing. The
advance Of our armies, the seizure Of rebel
documents and, archives, and the comics
sions Of captured rebels have exposed the
falsity Of these pretenses. Even as the
Federal troopers stripped the petticoats
and bonnet from the one-eyed and tooth
less "old woman" and revealed the hid
eous form, the stogy-boots and bowie
knife Of JEFF. Davis, so do late revelations
strip the mask from the Confederacy, and
divulge the fact that all this wanton cru
city to Union prisoners was in accordance
with the instructions Of the Confederate
Government. The following extract from
the archives Of the rebel Senate, We pub
lished yesterday without comment. Read
il once more:
ResoEred, By the House Of Representatives
Of the Confederate States, the Senate concur
ring, That we do adhere to the opinion that
the so-called emancipation proclamation Of
the President Of the United States, and the
enlistment Of negro slayes in the several Fed
eral armies now opposed 10 10, are NOT among
the acts Of legitimate warfare, but are prop
erly elasSed among such acts a. the right 70
puI TO death prisoners Of war without special
cause tn riahE TO use poisoned wsaponS,
and the right to lSsaSsinate; and II persisted
in they viii justify this Government in the
adoption Of measures Of retaliation.
In coroborAtion Of this, we learn from
this mornings dispatches that the rebel
Senator Foote was a member Of the COM
mittee in the Senate to examine into the
treatment of prisoners and the reports Of
their harsh usage and starvation. His
story, Is told BY his relatives, shown &
deeper intention than 10 generally auppoS-
ed. and fasten upon JEFF. Davis and hi,
Cabinet crime startling ard appalling in
its details. Foote, il Is said, states thai
the Investigations showed conclusive svi.
dence that it was decided in q Cabinet
meeting to reduce the rasions served to
the prisoners that It should so weaken
their constitutions, in connection with
confinement, that it would destroy them
as soldiers and make them, when exchang-
ed, worthless. Poote determined to re.
port these fact. to the Senate. but the
balance Of the committee oveTuled him
and suppressed the facts. 1t was on this
point that the quarrel between DAVIS and
Foote broke loose afresh, which resulted
in the latter leaving Richmond.
Read that /! fathers, mothers, widows
and brothers Of the starved thousands Of
Libby, AndersonvilIe and Columbia
Read that record Of cold-blooded horror
Read 1t, ON rulers Of the nation, and lest,
perchance, the theory Of an eternal Hell
hereafter should prove to be Smyth, create
a temporal Hell on earth for those who
planned and relentlessly executed these
dark deeds Of dAmnation. -Et -