New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1866-07-28
JHFFERsON DAVIS AGAIN.

The report which has been given to Congress on the
investigation of the charges OF assassination against
the responsible head Of the Rebellion, furnishes good
reason for the time which has been employed in its
preparation. The Committee charged by Congress
with the matter make it plain at the outset that the
testimony before them is not sufficient to con-
Wet jefferson Davis in court Of justice
But the whole store has not yet been told,
while that which appears is more than enough to con-
firm the profound suspicion under which Davis was
charged by President Johnson aud his case placed in
the hands Of investigating Committee witnesses Of
his completely in the murder, meanwhile waiting to
conduct them to the proof The champions OF
the 'ailing prisoner in Fort Monroe must es-
tabsh that all the witnesses are perurers,
or fail in their case. If they fail, there
can be no doubt, moral or legal, that
Davis himself was Immediately responsible for
the nhuman treatment of the Union prisoners of war;
and, by inference, none too religious character
TO direct the desperate work which remained. Pend
ing any attempt at the Tebuttal of the charges, the
testimony, as it appears, both with reepeet to the
usage of prisoners Of war and the murder Of noble
man. Is formidable even now. It's stronger, however,
as it affects the former.
The Committees report traces the assassination
from its general antecedents Of which the slow muir
der Of the prisoners at Andersonye is the most I'M
portant The Committee express no doubt that DAVIS
had full understanding Of the acts of his subOrnaes
at Libby. Salisbury and elsewhere grounding their
faith on the added proof Of the Rebel archives 10 the
accumulated testimony already in the Governments
hands The report Of Rebel committees extracts from
the Rebel papers letters Of Rebel officials, and APP.
l. leIv pva IN
to show that the treatment OF our prisoners noto.
rOus and that in contempt Of their misery each com
plant on their behalf was tossed back from the hands
of the Rebel President, and between his careless and
criminal subordinates till il fell TO the ground. The
chapter on the events Immediately preceding the
assassination has Testimony that cannot
sllghtingy pass over. The witness. Bates, who
heard the Rebel President at Charlottesville
say that the murder if done ought to be well
done; the official authorization to DR.. Blackburn to
enlist q company Of men for special service
in burning the st. Louis steamboats, the letters TO
DR.. J. W Booth, found on record in the book of the
Rebel War Department, in company with other en-
tries to the name Of Bennett III. Young, and other
secret agents of the Rebellion-are concurring
circumstances tending TO a dismal conclusion The
Neu- York Neps is plausibly supposed to have
advertised for the archrebc direction for the payment
$4,000 secret service money to Jacob Thompson.
There is more of this testimony which we cannot now
review. The general impression Of the report will
fortify the opinion which has hardly at any time
failed TO manifest itself against the author of the An
dersonyille mseres. The friends Of the State Prs-
oner profess to have something to say in his defense
The Committee affirm on their part, that the work OF
investigation is not done.
The Committee have properly rejected the teSti-
mony of the witnesses who ayowed their own false
hood, with what motive it does not appear. The
charge Of Dayiss completely still exists, if we have
judged Alright the tenor of tho report. But more I'M
portant welcome than anything else in the re-
suit of this investigation is the promise that Jefferson
Davis will be brought to trial, and, If guilty. con-
yicted and punished. Nothing bars the way.