Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1866-08-25
jefferson Davis.

Lnc TSpOTO VI tllc COullinJJSc OH INC Juol-
ciary, to whom was referred the resolu-
tions of the House of Representatives of
April 9th and April 30th, 1866, instruct |
ing the Committee to inquire into the ev-
idence duplicating jeff. Davis and others
in the assassination of President Lincoln,
and also whether any legislation is nee
essary in order to bring such persons TO
a speedy and impartial trial. The report
is very voluminous, embracing seven col
umns of the Tribune. That paper, in its
editorial columns, comments as follows
upon the report:
The report which has been given TO
Congress on the investigation of the
charge ofassassination against the rcspon-
sible head of the rebellion, furnished good
reason for the time which has been en-
ployed in its preparation. The Commit
tee charged by Congress with the matter
make it plain at the outset that the tcsti-
mony before them is not sufficient to con-
vict Jefferson Davis in court of justice
But the whole story has not yet been told,
while that which appears is more than
enough to confirm the profound suspicion
under which Davis was charged by Pres
ident Johnson, and his case placed in the
hands of an investigating committee, wit
nesses of his completely in the murder
meanwhile waiting to conduct them to
the proof The champions of the ailing
prisoner in Fortress Monroe must estab-
lish that all the witnesses are periurers,
or fail in their case. Ifthey fail there can
be no doubt, moral or legal, that Davis
himself was Immediately responsible for
the inhuman treatment of the Union
prisoners of war and by inference was
none too religious character to direct
the desperate work which remained
Pending any attempt at the rebuttal of
the charges, the testimony, as it appears,
both with respect to the usage of prison
ers ofw and the murder of anoble man,
is formidable even now. r. 1t is stronger,
however, as it affects the former
The Committees report traces the
assassination from its general antecedents,
of which the slow murder Of the prison
crs at Andersonyille is the most important.
The Committee expresses no doubt that
Davis had full understanding of the acts
of his subordinates at Libby, Salisbury,
and elsewhere, grounding their faith on
! the added proof of the rebel archives to
the accumulated testimony already in the
Governments hands. The report of reb-
el committees, extracts from the rebel pa
pers, letters of rebel officials, and an ap-
pealing letter to Davis from a Southern
lady are given to show that the treat
ment of our prisoners was notorious, and
that in contempt ofthcir misery each com
plant on their behalf was tossed back
from the hands of the rebel President, and
between his careless and criminal subor-
dinates, till it fell to the ground. The
chapter on the events Immediately prece-
ding the assassination has testimony that
we cannot slightingly pass over. The
witness Bates who heard the rebel Pres
ident at Charlottesville say that the muir.
der if done ought to be wen done; the
official authorization to DIR. Blackburn tc
, enlist a company Of men for special ser
. vice in burning the st. Louis steamboats,;
, the letters to DR. J. w. Booth, found on
record in the books of the rebel War De-
partment, in company with other entries
to the name of Bennett II. Young, and
other secret agents of the rebellion-are
concurring circumstances tending to a
dismal conclusion The New Y ork Meas
is plausibly supposed to have advertised
for the arch rebel direction for the pay.
ment of s2o,o 900 secret service money to
Jacob Thompson. There is more of this
testiomny which we oannotnow revicw.-
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 Andersonville niseries.
The friends of the State prisoner 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 testimony of the witnesses who avow.
ed their falsehood, with what motive il
does not appear. The charge of Dayis't
completely still exists if we have judged
Alright the tenoroftheir eport. But more
important, more welcome than anything
else in the result of the investigation, is
the promise that Jefferson Davis will be
brought to trial, and, if guilty, convicted
and punished Nothing bars the way.