Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-01-14

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of war at Eimira. He read portions of thar
tality of Elmira was no less than az Antar-
sonville.
Mr.. Plat. of New Jersey. asked him wdo
was the author of that letter.
Mr.. Hill replied he did not know.
Mr.. Platt declared as living within thirty
six miles of Elmira, that the statements
were unquali6edly false.
Mr.. Hill replied that he did not say thar
the statements were true, but only thar
thew we're as good as the statements quotei
on the other side. He merely used them 4,
a set-off But, after all, the test as to the
degree Of misery suffered in Northern and
Southern lprisons was the result. Alr
Hill then quoted from the reports OF Mr.
stanton, Secretary of War, and of Surgeon
General Barnes to the efee; thar
out OF 10000 prisoners in COnfederAte
hands only - $40 had died while out 1l
22O 900 Confederate prisoners in Feder.
hands. % ,i36 had died. The ratio. sail
Hin. of Confederate prisoners vh1 die!
in Federal hands was L. per cent. and les
than o per cent of the Federal prisoners died
in Confederate hands and, my friend (il-
dressing Blaine with great emphaslsl, VII
is the murderer
WAsHISGTOS, Jan. =
Mr.. Garfield, of Ohio, in the debate lu
the amnesty bill, said ANY one who real
the reporr of the speeches of Cox and u
would not suppose that tho House VA d..
cussing the question of relieving men from
political disabilities. He would rather hay-
said that it was an arraignment OF the al
ministratiOn of the country. Ii lie hal
been called upon to pick out wOrds which
constituted the topic of debate, be shoe
have picked out the opening paragraphs
Hills speech in which he prayed, thar 3D.
the history of the past fifteen years Is an
evidence of grace and magnanlmity OF ths
republican party, the country might b.
spared any future exercise of those virtue
lie desired to bring the House back u tnc
real issues before it. 10 doing 20 he stated
the two pending propositions-ODe made ~
Randall and the other by Blaine. lie SAM
that the speech made by B.aIne had been
answered in the first place by the speech ol
Cox. full of brilliant sallies, but II w
like ioking at funeral TO Joke On such A.
occasion; and in the second place by the
speech OF Hill, in which he arralgncd, nos
the republican party alone but arralgue3
twenty-five millions OF people, arrIIguci
the history of the republic, arralsu-i
everything that was glorious IN Its rec1-I
and high and worthy IN It's achievement
He was deeply and painfully sorry tAa-
such an arraignment should have been
made on such subject. lie should Try O.
be responsive to points made by the GENT.
gentleman from Georgia lie dlt o.
desire to hold Jefferson Davis resp
sible for the rebellion. lie did uI-
believe in the doctrine of vicari0us atone
ment in human affairs jefferson Dlv-
was no more guilty than any other MAJ
who went into the rebellion with Cill.
light and intelligence. The question vi
whether he who was the head OF the rebellion
praeticed in the dread court OF war t.-
rules OF war Whistler in appealing % war
he Obeyed the laws OF war, OF whether be .I
Violated the laws of that high tribuna.
that he did not deserve permission 10 come
back into his place In Congress. Inat Va
the whole question. and It was a. PLAIN AMI
fair question for delDerati1n a. had 5ve-
been stated in the House. lie wished tll-
it had been discussed without passion All
without passionate thoughts. Comm
down 10 Hills denial OF the authority .
the charges in regard to Andsrsonyille, be
remarked that the charges, whether just r
unjust were made by the government ..
the nited States, and in that c0nnecu0l
be quoted q communication from the
rotary of war. in May. 1874, calling ai,t..
ton to the condition of the large number ut
federal prisoners who had Just returned AMI
arrived az Annapolis, anu stating tla- t4-
euormity OF the crimes committed again.
those prisoners were such, and ~
known TO the civilized world, that It ol--,
to be put on record IN some permau-r-
form. 1t was then that the joint commit
tee Of the two Houses was appointed .W1Ic-
committee had been characterized bV The
gentleman from New York a. a humh
committee, and by the gentleman tr.n
Georgia a. a partisan Committee Ilei-
were four democratic members on that lil-
committee, and they coineided N the g..
port, which was unanimous. That report
declared that 1t was clear from the eyi1rn.-
that it was the deliberate purpose Of I'll
authorities of the rebel government sl o.
reduce those soldiers by prIvatiOn Of iulI
and clothing, as that they might be un1ti
re-enter the ranks \ large number 4
these prisoners had come home from Bel
Isle and Libby. where they had been under
the very eyes of the chief head OF the Con
FEEDER ate government. Referring 10 the or
der Tor the establishment of the Antersln-
vile prison, a. quoted yesterday by o.
gentleman from Georgia, he asked hos
was the order executed AMI 70 whose hand
was it committed 1t was committed 81
the hands OF Gen. Winder. man OF whom
the Richmond Examiner said the day thai
be took his departure Tor AntersJuvI4ls-
Thank God that Richmond Is at last riI
Of old Winder, God have mercy on those O.
whom be has been sent" Garfield thea
spoke in regard to Hills comparison Of the
atrocities OF Elmira and AudersonyIlle. lie
challenged any democratic member from the
neighbOrhood Of E!mira, Camp Douglas.
or Fort Delaware. 10 rise and say that any
inhumanity had been prVctised there. No
democrat doing so, he denounced the asser-
ton a. ieartully and awiully untrue.
Mr.. Plat, oil New \ Ork, here read q toie-
gram received by him from Gen. BIZ. Tracy.
late commander Of the military post OF {
mira, stating that the facts justified hin
(Plattl Yesterday in his denial Of inhumau-
ity or neglect in the treatment Of pris5ne--
at E!mira.
Mr. Walker, Of New York. rose on the
democratic side OF the House, and, stating
that he lived within Il miles OF Elmira. en-
dOrsed the statements IN the telegram ap-
plause on the republican sidel. Mr.. Hill, "a
Georgia, disclaimed any purpose in bis re
marks yesterday of charging inhUmanIsy an
any body about Elmira or anywhere tl-e.
He had only read. yesterday. a letter from
q
ties inseparabie from prison life, ani le-
had wound up a statement By saying r14t
the Official records showed the relative
mortality to be greater among southern
prisoners at north. than among northern
prisoners al south
A member-Do You charge thaI tac nor
taiIty among confederate prisoners az tie
north Was owing to cruelty?
Mr.. Hill do not undertake 10 say T. ~
the m ortalIty was attributable. / say thl-
II was attn patsble 10 those horrors In-a.-
arabic from. PRISON life anywhere. au1
intended my point against striving % wl-z
up these horrors of the past and to kc5q
alive the strife which ought 10 be hlric1
Applause
Mr.. GARFIELD remarked that even on tie
testimony Of the anonymous letter read ya--
terday BY Mr.. HILL, the post Of the Eimi-s
prison had been located in O. healthya p'a,s
as there could be found in the STATE 90 NsE
\ Ork. He called attention - tn Ast
that the place in which theConiederata pr-
Dners who died at Elmira were h1rc-
had been enclosed and cared fo7 hv t--
which had been chlri..---
zed by the gentleman from Geo-ss
ferOciOus, constitution hath.
and South hating.
decorating the graves in the South, Slu,iern
people united with some Northern soldiers
in decorated in harmonious accord tine
CAVES of fallen Federals and Conieicr-
ates, and 1t was because of that GLORIOUS
feeling that he protested against reyiva
Of the history of such horrors, Applau-e
Mr.. Garfield said So do l. Who brought
II here. Chorus from Democratic member
Blaine. Blaine. Blaine Garfield said Dr.
wished that the same fraternal feeling could
follow the forty MANNED Union soldiers VIII
had recently lost their places about tls
house.
After some discussion, Mr.. Garfield pas
ng from that point, proceeded to discus
The question of exchange of prls0ners-to
relate its history and to detail the cause
for the interruption Of exchange. lie show
ID that the central point of difficulty wa
N the determination of the Confederata
neonle IN erclnds f-1.a