St. Mary's gazette., 1867-08-15
Or. the Witness Stand.

Sooner than we bad expected. ana no
doubt much against his will, Gen bran'
Mas been placed. through the lnstrumen-
salty of Butler, upon the witness stand
It will DO recollected by the reader that
IN an article on the exchange OF prisoners
published few weeks since. we express
.cA the hepo that Grant and Stanton might:
he called 70 the witucss stand and made to
discover to whom responsibility attached
for tie pon-exchange of prisoners during
the war. We were satisfied that the ed
eral authorities were culpable in the mat
trr,. but we thought it might be Shown
that this culpability was the result OF neg
l.ct or inability, and not of design, and
that there was no moral turpltude lnvoIv-
ed ID the business Gen. Grant has un-
derceived u. In the first place, by his
silence for two long years, he permitted
the mcst atrocious falschoods in regard to
this matter TO gain currency and belief IN
tic country. and now, it is not by vol
.uunrY, but by an extorted confession that
be has brought the truth at last to the sur
face = The Federal authorities are not
only admitted to be responsible for the
non n-exchanpc of prisoners during the war,
but it is also admitted that this non-ex
change was the result, not of neglect or
inability, but of design on their part
Thus. after two years Of the foulest slam
der, almost daily repeated, with the evil
dcnce of the innocence of the Confederate
authorities locked up in has breast, Grant
has been E1rccd to stand up and acqult
thcn.of-all responsibility in .his business
If Butler deserves to 90 to the penltentla-
ry he is entitled to some indulgent treat
mcnt, we think, for prtHyng the truth out
Of Grant in this matter. But unoer this
state of the case, to whom docs response
bility attach for the horrors of Anderson
Vile aud other Confederate prisons? We
have no doubt that it will be established, 3,
when the truth can be safely told at the
South, that these horrors have been great
ly exaggerated, and we are certain that 1t
can be shown, Mr.. Washburn to the con-
trarr notwithstanding, that the horrors OF
Andcrsonville were not more horrible than
the herrors of some Federal prisons we
could name. We have Federal authority
at least for the statement, that until the
closing battles of the war, the number OF
prisoners III the hands of the Contcdcratcs
was 20 pcr cent in excess of the number
held by the Federal authorities, and yet
this same Gata informs US, that the num-
Der Of deaths in Federal was 10 per cent.
In excess of the number of deaths III Con
federatc prisons. From this showing, the
fact is elected, that though the Confedc-
rates held much the larger number fprls-
oncrs, the mortality was much less IN
Southern than in Northern prisons. This
does not, of course, explain or vindicate
Andcrsonvillc, but it shows, We think,
that prison 'horrors' were not peculiar to
the South. But TO return. 10 whom
does responsibility attach for the horrors
of Andersonvillc and other Confederate
prisons We have no disposition to con-
trovert the fact that much suffering exis-
ted among the Federal prisoners of war
in Southern prison. This was admit
ted by the Confederate officials long before
the close Of the war and was communicated
to the Federal authorities, with tho reason
for its existence, namely, scarcity of food
and clothing and proper medical supplies
The South by the Federal blockade was
cut of in great measure from all foreign
intercourse, and to foreign sources it was
almost exclusively indebted, especially dur
the last two years Of the war, for its
quartermaster and medical stores The
separation by the fortunes of war of the
trans Mississippi from the Eastern States
o: the Contcdcracy, and the subsequent
dissection of the latter by the conqucrinc
nrmv of Sherman, reduced the available
food producing area of the South to the
narrowest limits. Transportation, owing
to the worn out rolling stock ofthe railroads
and the scarcity of iron to supply breaks
made hv Federal raids in the railroad tracks.
had become tedious, prccariouS aud unccr-
tain, so uncertain and precarious, indeed
! that on more than one occasion Gen. Lee
was compelled to appeal to scanty private
sources to furnish his army with bread un-
ill he could re-cstablish rail connection with
hts depot of supplies Thc truth is, dur
ing the last eighteen months of the war.
every body involved in it At the South,
citizens, soldiers and prisoners suffered
more or less for food and ramcut. AMI
if sick, for proper medical supplies So