Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-01-14

alonrside Of them to hear their confessions:
found them almost living in vermin IN those noies
they could not be in any other conaiuon out
flthy one, because they got no soap and no change
of clothing. and were all huddled up together.
Lei me read further from the same witness an
other specimen:
aThe first person l conversed with on entering
the stockade was countryman Of mine, men,
Der Of the Catholic church, who recognized me as
q clergyman. / think his name was Farrell. lie
was from the North of Ireland He came toward
me and introduced himself. He was quite boy
/ do not think, judging from his appearance, thai
he could have been more than sixteen years ola
found him without hat and without any cover
ing on his feet, and without jacket or coat lie
told me that his shoes had been taken from him
on the battlefield. found the boy suffering very
much from wound on his right foot; IN fact the
foot was split open like an oyster; and on inquir-
ing the cause they told me it was from exposure
to the sun in the stockade, and not from ar y
wound received in battle. l took off my boots and
gave him pair of socks to cover his feet ana toiu
him would bring him some clothing, as e1-
pected to return to Andersonville the following
week. had to return to Macon to get another
priest to take my place on Sunday. When re-
turned on the following week, on inqulrlng LOT
this man Farrell, his companions told me ne hao
stepped across the dead-line and requested the
guards to shoot him. He was not insane at the
time was conversing with him.
Now, Mr.. Speaker, / do not desire to go INTO
such horrible details as these for any purpose OF
rousing bad feeling. l wish only to say that tne
man VINO administered the affairs OF that prison
went there by order Of Mr.. Davis, WIS sustained
bv him; and this William John Hamilton, from
whose testimony have read, states here that ne
went to General Howell Cobb, commanding that
department. and asked that intelligence as 10 the
condition of affairs there be transmitted to the con-
federate government at Richmond. For the mat
ter of that, there are great many proofs to show
that Mr.. Davis was thoroughly informed as to the
condition of affairs ct Andersonville.
One word more and shall lay aside this book
When the march Of General Sherman, or some
other invasion of that portion of the country was
under way, there was danger or supposed danger
that it might come into the neighborhood OF An
Jacksonville and the following order, to which
invite the attention of the House, regular mill
tary order-Order No. IL, dated headquarters
Confederate States military prison Andersonville
John H. Winder
"The officers on duty and in charge of the bat
terry Of Florida artillery at the time WILL upon re,
ceiving notice that the enemy have approached
within seven miles of this post, open fire upon the
stockade with grape-shot without reference to the
situation beyond these lines of defense"
Now, here were these $1,000 poor, helpless,
naked, starving, sickened, dying men. This Cath
Ole priest states, that he begged MIR. Cobb to rep
resent that if they could not exchange those men,
or could not relieve them in any other way they
should be taken to the Union lines in Florida and
paroled for they were shadows, they were skele.
tons. Yet it was declared by regular order Of
Mr.. Daviss officer that if the Union forces should
come within seven miles the battery of Florida ar
tillery should open fire with grape-shot on these
poor helpless men, without the slightest possible
regard to what was going on outside.
Now, do not arraign the Southern people Tor
this. God forbid that should charge any people
with sympathizing with such things. There were
many evidences Of great uneasness among the
Southern people about it; and one of the great
crimes Of Jefferson Davis was that, besides con-
niving at and producing that condition Of things,
he concealed it from the Southern people. He
labored not only to conceal it, but to max false
statements about it. We have obtained, and have
series Of Mr.. Davis messages-the official imprint
from Richmond. have looked over them, and
have here an extract from his message Of Novem-
her Z, 1854, at the very time that these horrors
were .t there acme. Marx you, when those nor
rorS of which have read specimens were at their
EXTREMIST verge OF desperation, MIR. Davis sends
. message to the confederate congress at Rich
mond, in which he says:
"The solicitude of the Government for the re.
lief Of our captive follow-citzens has known no
abatement, but has on the contrary been still more
deeply evoked by the additional sufferings to which
they have been wantonly subjected by deprivation
of adequate food, clothing and fuel, which they
were not even permitted to purchase from the
prison suffer-
And he adds that the
ENEMY attempted to excuse their barbarous
treatment by the unfounded allegation that it was
retaliatory for like conduct on our part"
Now l undertake here to say that there is not a
confederate soldier now living who has any credit
prisoner in the hands Of the Union forces, who
will say that he ever cruelty treated; that he
ever was deprived Of the same rations that the
Union soldiers had-the same food and the same
clothing.
Mr.. Cook. Thousands of them say it-thou-
nd of them mi nj ne hiph Chara cfo "
in this House.
Mr.. BLAINE. take issue upon that. There is
not one who can substantiate it-not one. AS for
measures of retaliation, although goaded by this
terrific treatment of our friends imprisoned Mr..
Davis, the Senate of the United States specif-
cally refused TO pass a resolution Of retaliation,
as contrary to modern civilization and the first
precepts of Christianity. And there was no
retaliation attempted or justified. 1t was refused
and Mr.. Davis knew it was refused just as well as
l knew it or any other man, because what took
place in Washington or what took place in Rich
mond Was known on either side of the line within
a day or two thereafter.
Mr.. Speaker, this is not proposition
to punish Jefferson Davis. There is no.
body attempting that. l will very frankly
say l myself thought the indictment of Mr..
Davis at Richmond, under the administration of
Mr.. johnson, was a weak attempt. for he was in
dicted only for that Of which he was guilty in
common with all others who went into the confed-
and, as it may be considered an extreme speech, |
want to say it with great deliberation, that there
is not government, a civilized government on the
face Of the globe-1 am very sure there is not
European governm ent-that would not have ar
rested Mr.. Davis, and when they had him in their
power would not have tried him for maltreatmsnt
of the prisoners of war and shot him within thirty
days. France, Russia, England, Germany Aus
tra, any one of them would have done it. The
poor victim Wirz deserved his death for brutal
treatment, and murder of many victims, but al
ways thought it was weak movement ON the part
of our Government to allow Jefferson Davis TO 90
at large and hang Wirz. | confess do. Wirz
was nothing in the world but mere subordinate,
tool, and there was no special reason for singing
him out for death. | do not say he did not de-
serve it-he did richly, amply, fully. He deserved
no mercy but at the same time as have often said
it seemed like skipping the president, SUPER
intendent, and board of directors in the case of
great railroad accident and hanging the brake
man of the rear car. Laughterl
There is no proposition here to punish jefferson
Davis. Nobody is seeking to do it. That time
is gone by. The statute Of limitations, common
feelings Of humanity, will supervene for his bene-
mt. But what you ask US to do is to declare by
vote of two-,hirds Of both branches of Congress
that we consider Mr.. Davis worthy to fl the high
est offices in the United States if he can get
constituency to indorse him. He is a voter he
can buy and he can sell; he can go and he can
como. He is as free as any man in the United
States. There large list nf of6 ana