Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1873-10-28

Col. Hughes Connection with che Exam
iner," and the Question of Retaliation,
Killing Prisoners, Putting Negro Cap
tives TO Death, and Putting the Foreign
ers, Union Men and Dunkards in the
Army.
Under the above caption, the Richmond
Whig of the 18th contains number of extracts
from the Eraminer published during the war
when Robert W. Hughes was writer for that
paper, showing that, if the policy advocated by
that journal had been pursued by the Confed-
crate Government, 20 prisoners would have
been taken alive, and that no class Of persons
on account of political or religious opinions
would have been exempted from military SER
vice.
On the 2nd of August, 1862, that journal de-
iberately urged the proposition that our SOL
ders should take no prisoners Despalring of
the Government s adopting that inhuman poll
cy. that journal appealed to the soldiers to do
it in spite of the Government It said
LET every Confederate soldier constitute
himself an avenger of the brigandsh warfare Of
the North; let there be no quarter on the bat
tle-feld for Federal assassns. LET NO PRISON
ERs BE TAKEN, let the blood on the bayonets
of our troops attest to savage foe the spirit of
retaliation and the fury of awakened vengeance. !"
On the 7th Of July, 1864, it used this Ian
guage:
''7o treat such aoretches as honorable prison
ers s0OuEd be as absurd as to tYy moral Sudsion
on aoolf, or the effects of a religious tract upon
a Blackfoot Indian
On the 4th of August, 1864, in speaking of
the capture of negroes at Petersburg, it said:
"7he taUo hundred black rasca7s taken a7iue IN
the Petersburg trenches. (MosT IMPROPERLY IA
KEN ALIVE, as they proclaimed no quarter
now that they are In our hands, are worth over
half a million"
On the 5th of August, 1862, whilst adveca-
ting the torcible conscription of Union men, it
said:
Call it leniency, call it Indifference, call it
by whatever name the spirit which impels the
government to excuse any class or locality from
the duty of providing its portion of the soldiers
necessary to the defence of the country, in the
greatest emergency that ever confronted COM
munity, is grave moral delinquency, is seri-
Gus public crime.
From this point We copy the remarks and ex-
tracts of the Wing in full.
We next copy, says the Whig an article of
the goth of December, 1862, which, in its hos
tility to the foreign-b born population, so strong
ly resembles Mr.. Hughes own editorial of the
25th of September, 1861. that we cannot but
believe they were penped by the same hand
Zone has but to walk through the streets and
stores of Richmond to get an impression of the
OF nQr Of
and of fat and gaudy non-conscripts who wait
behind the counter of the extortioner. Every
auctiou-room is packed with greasy Jeacs and
the EXHALATIoNs OF THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
60 up from every den Of extertion iin 10 Rich
\ The war has been to the protessed
foreigners in the South rich and glorious for
tune. They extort without fear of patriotic re-
proaches; they trade in Substitutes they
are free to sell even their own bodies. and with
out scrupe of conscience or a thought in this
war beyond dollars and cents, they are turned
loose to prey upon our people, and the widow
or orphan of the soldier"
We take up next iu order the views of the
Ecanainef upon the subject of the enforcement
of military service upon the members of the
Society Of Friends and Dunkards, who we're
The Confederate conscription act Of l1th Octo-
Der, 1862, allowed among its exemptions from
military duty, lone editor of each newspaper
now being published and such employees as
" the editor or proprietor may certify, upon
"oath, to be indispensable for conducting the
publication and also, "all persons who
shave been and now are members Of the Soci-
"ety Of Friends and Association Of Dunkards,
"Nazarenes and Mennonites 10 regular mem
"bership in their respective denominations. I"
It was also provided by the law that the Friends,
Dunkards, Nazarenes and Mennonites should
furnish substitutes or pay tax of $500 each I;
but with the great quantity of Confederate cur
rency then in circulation, to pay this tax was a
very easy matter indeed Efforts were subse-
ouently made to change both these provisions,
to limit or curtail the number of employees
upon each newspaper and also to force the
Friends and Dunkards into the army. The Es-
onainer loudly protested against conscribing the
newspaper employees but thought at the same
time that the Dunkards should be sent to the
front. The Confederate Congress In their act
of 18th February, 1864, perpetuated both these
exemptions, and when late in that year Genera
Kemper, disabled from field duty, was assigned
to the head IF the Conscript Bureau at Rich
mond, he found both these exceptions embodied
in the law, and carried them out most faithful
| ". He did not put the editors in the army
nor did he meddle with the Friends, Dunkard
| and Mennonites. We mention this because al
attempt has been impudently made to misrep
resent General KEN pers's course at that time
General Kemper simply followed and obeyet
the law which gave this exemption from th'
army to all persons holding these religion
views Had he followed the wishes of tht
Richmond Examiner he would have put ever
Friend, Dunkard, Nazarene and Mennonit
then in Virginia in the army. Let these voter
mark we'll the language of the Ecanainer on tn
oath of November, 1864:
$50 If has happened in the Valley of Vir