The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-02-17

WASHINGTON, D. G., Feb. 6.-Jeferson
Davis has written the following letter to
Judge Lyons, of Richmond, Va:
New ORLEANS, Jan. q, 1876.
Hon. james Lyons
My DEAR FRIEND: Your very kind
letter of the 14th inst. was forwarded
from Memphis, and has been received at
this place. | have been so long the OBJ
ject of malignant SANDER and the subject
of unscrupulous falsehooG by partisans of
the class of Mr.. Blaine that, though |
cannot say it has become to me a matter
of Indifference, it has ceased to excite my
surprise, even in this instance, when it
reaches the extremity of accusing me of
cruelty to prisoners. What matters it to
one whose object is personal and party
advantage that the records of both Fed
eral and Confederates disprove the
charge; that the country is full Of wit
nesses who bear oral testimony against
it, and that the effort TO revive the bitter
animosities of the war obstructs the pro-
gress toward the reconciliation Of the
sections2 1t is enough for him if his
self-seeking purpose be promoted, 1t
would, however, seem probable that such
expectations must be disappointed, for
only those who are willfully blind can
fail to see in the circumstances of the
case the fallacy of Mr.. Blaine's state
ments. The published fact Of an attempt
to suborn Wirtz while under sentence of
death, by promising him pardon if he
would criminate me in regard to the An
IorcnY, vi lla yNriCOf,orS 10 nnnnlt1cixa 10
the wish Of the Government to make
such charge against me, and its failure to
do so shows that nothing could be found
to sustain it. May we not say the evil
dence of my innocence was such that
Holt and Conover, with their trained
band of suborned witnesses, dared not
make against me this charge, which
Wirtz for his life would not make? But
which Blaine, for Presidential nomina-
ton, has made. Now let us review the
leading facts of the case The report of
the Confederate Commissioner for the
Exchange Of Prisoners shows how per-
sistent and liberal were our efforts to Sc
cure the relief of captives. Failing in
those attempts, l instructed Gen. r. E.
Lee to 90 under flag of truce and seek
an interview with General Grant to rep
resent to him the suffering and death of
the Federal prisoners held by us, to ex-
plain the causes which were beyond our
control, and to urge in the name of hui
manity the observance of the cartel for
the e change Of prisoners. To this, as
to all previous appeals, deaf ear was
turned. l will not attempt from memory
to write the report made to me of the in
Cidents of this mission. Lee no longer
lives to defend the cause and the country
he loved so well and served so efficiently;
but General Grant cannot fail to remem-
ber so extraordinary visit, and his OBJ
jections to executing the cartel are well
known to the public. But, whoever else
may choose to forget my efforts in this
regard, the prisoners at Andersonville
and the delegates permitted them to
send to President Lincoln to plead for a
resumption of the exchange of prison
ers, cannot fail to remember how willing
/ was to restoreth to their homes, and
to the comforts of which they were in
need, provided the imprisoned soldiers
of the Confederacy should be in like
manner released and returned to us.
This foul accusation, though directed es-
pecially against me. was no doubt intend
ed, and naturally must be the arraign-
ment of the South, by whose authority
and in whose behalf my deeds were
done. 1t may be presumed that the feel
ings and the habits of the Southern SOL
diers were understood by me, and in that
connection any fair mind would perceive
in my congratulatory orders, to the army
after victory in which the troops were
most commended for their tenderness
and generosity to the wounded and other
Captives, as well as the instincts of tie
persons who issued the order, as the
knightly tempers of soldiers to whom it
was addressed. 1t is admitted that the
prisoners in our hands were not as we'll
provided as we would liked to have had
them, but it is claimed that we did as
well for them as we could. Can the other
side say as much? To the bold allega-
tion of ill treatment of prisoners by our
side, and the humane treatment and ade-
quate supplies by our opponents, it is
only necessary to offer two facts: First,
1t appears from the reports of the United |
States War Department that though we
bad 10000 more Federal prisoners than
they had Confederate, 5000 more of Con-
lederates died in the Northern prisons. |
Second, the want and suffering of our