The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1876-01-20

Here were those 35 900 poor, helpless
naked. starving, sick, and dying men.
I This Catholic priest states that he went
to Gen. Cobb to represent to him that IL
he could not exchange them they should
be taken before the Union lines in Flor.
/ ida and paroled, and let go free; and
\ yet, If the Union forces were to get with
in seven miles, that regular order to Mr..
/ Davis officer was to open a battery of
grape-shot on those poor wretches, with
I out the slightest possible regard to what
was going on outside. Now | do not ar
raign the Southern people for this. God
forbid that / should charge any people
with sympathizing with such an order
! There were many evidences Of great un.
easiness among Southern people about il,
and one Of the great crimes of Mr.. Davis
was that he concealed il from the South
ern people. We have obtained a com
plete series of Mr. Davis messages with
the official imprint at Richmond, and
they are now in the Congressional Libra
ry. | have looked over them, and find
in his message Of December Z, 1864, at
the very time when these horrors were
at their acme, at their EXTREMIST verge
of desperation, he says: The solicitude
of government for the release Of our cap
tive fellow citizens, has known no abate-
nltHN, bub mas on the contrary Deen
still more deeply affected by the addi-
tional suffering to which they have been
wantonly subjected, by the deprivation
of. adequate food and clothing and fuel,
which they have not been permitted TO
purchase from the prison suffers, and
then he adds that the enemy attempt to
excuse their barbarous conduct by the
unfounded allegation that il was retslia-
tory for like conduct on our part Now,
/ undertake to say that there is not
Confederate soldier now living, who has
any credit as q man in his community,
and who ever was n prisoner in the
hands of the Union force, and who will
say that he ever was cruelty treated that
he ever was deprived Of the same rations
which Union soldiers had, or the same
food
COOK, of fGa.-Thousands Of them.
BLAINE-Well, l take issue on that,
and say that not one can truthfully say
it, As for the measures of retaliation
though goaded by this terrific treatment
Of our friends in prison by Mr.. Davis, the
Senate of the United States specially re-
fused to pass resolution Of retaliation
as contrary to modern civilization, and
to the first precepts Of Christianity.
justified 1t was refused, and Jefferson
Davis knew il was refused-just as we'll
as he knows it today, because what took
place in Washington, or what took place
in Richmond, of that kind, was known
on either side of the line within a day or
two thereafter. Now this is not a prop
osition. to punish Mr.. Davis. There is no
one attempting to do that. very frank
ly say that | always thought that the in
dictment of Mr.. Davis at Richmond, un-
der the administration OF Mr. johnson,
was a weak step, for he was indicted only
for that Of which he was guilty in com
mon with many other gentlemen who
went into the Confederate movement,
and therefore there was no particular
reason for singing him out for indict-
ment, but ] will undertake to say this,
and with good deliberation, that there is
not a civilized government. on the face
of the globe-yery certainly not an Eu-
ropean government-which would not
have arrested Mr.. Davis, or which, when
it had him in its power would not have
tried him for maltreatment Of prisoners
of war, and shot him within thirty days
France, Russia, England, Germany, Aus
tria, any of them would have done it.
The poor victim Wirtz deserved his
death for brutal treatment of prisoners,
but / always thought it was weak
movement on the part Of our government
to allow jefferson Davis to 90 at large
and hang Wirtz. Wirtz was nothing in
the world but a mere subordinate tool,
and therefore there was no philosophy
in selecting him for punishment Still
do not say that he did not deserve il.
He did richly, fully deserve it, and he
deserved no mercy; but at the same time
his execution put me in mind of skip
ping the President, Superintendent. and
Board of Directors OF a railroad company
in case of great railroad accident, and
hanging the brakeman on the rear car
Laughter There is no proposition
here to punish Mr.. Davis. Nobody is
asking to do it. The time for such
thing has gone by. The statute Of limi-
tation and the common feeling Of hu-
manity would intervene for his benefit.
What you ask US to do is to declare,
by a vote of two-thirds Of both braaches
OF Congress, solemnly that we consider
Mr. Davis worthy to ill the highest Office
in the United States. if he can get a con-
stituency to trust him. He is n voter
he caif buy, and he can sell. He can 90
and come; he is as free as any man in
the United States There is long list
Of subordinate offices to which he is eli
gible. But this bill proposes, in view Of
his record. which / have read to declare,
by a two-thirds vote Of the Senate aud a
two-thirds vote of the House, that Mr..
Davis is eligible and worthy to fill any
Office up to the Presidency OF the United
States For one, on full deliberation, !
will not do it.
1t has been frequently said in mitiga-
ton Of Mr. Davis, in the amnesty mat
ter, that the men who died in such large
numbers (the victims. ] believe. number
l5,O0O.) fell victims to an epidemic and
died Of diseases which could not be
avoided Now the record shows that out
Of IS. 900 men, about 33 per cent. died.
That is one in 3. OF the soldiers who
we're encamped within half mile Of the
stockade, and who guarded il, but one
IN an in 400 died. Now, as to general
amnesty. il is too late to debate whether
il has in all respects been wise or unwise
| shall not detain the House in discuss
ing. even if had convictions on that
question. / do not know that it would
be productive Of any great good TO dis
cuss il, but at the same time IL Is a very
singular spectacle that the Republican
party, in possession Of the entire govern
ment, has deliberately called back into
public power the leading men Of the
South. every one of whom turns out its
bitter, relentless, and malignant foe, and
that to-day, from the Potomac to the
Rio Grande, the very men who have re-
( ceived this amnesty are as busy as they
/ know how to be in consolidating into
one compact political organization, the
old slave States, just as before the war,
. and we see the banners blazoned again
/ with inscriptions that with a United
/ South and q few votes from the North
this country can be governed. want
the people to understand that this is
precisely the motive, that this is the an
/ imus and intent ! do not think that