The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1876-01-13

ties broke the cartel deliberately. / have |
proved that they refused to reopen that
cartel when approached by Mr.. Stephens
as commissioner, solely on the ground |
OF humanity. / have proved that they
made medicine contraband of war, and
thereby left us to the dread necessity of
supplying prisoners with such medicine as
could be improvised in the confederacy. l
have proved that they refused to allow sur
geons OF their own army to accompany their
prisoners to the south Fl have proved that
the confederate authorities proposed to re
turn your sick and wounded without an
equivalent, in August, 1864. and that you
never deigned to reply until December,
1854. have proved that your high Off
GERS in command gave as a reason why
they would not exchange prisoners that it
would be humane to the prisoners but cru
city to the soldiers in the field. 1t was a
part OF your military policy to let your
prisoners suffer rather than that the con-
federacy should have an increase of its
military force; | have also proved that
with all the horrors which you have made
such noise about as occurring at Ander.
sonville, greater horrors occurred in the
prisons where you held our troops, and
that the percentage of death was three per
cent. greater among our prisoners in your
hands, than your prisoners in our
always horrible. War always brings h ard
ships, death sorrow, pain, and restitution,
| and he is unworthy to be considered a
statesman, looking toward the paci6cation
Of a country who will parade the horrors
inseparable from war for the purpose of
keeping up the strife which produced
those horrors. My message to the gentle
man from Maine is this: There are no
confederates in this house. There are no
confederate ambitions, desires, or purposes
in this house; but the south is here, and
demonstrations on the Democratic side
and in galleries. Let fanaticism do its
work. Let it pass It's multiplying act;
trample on the constitution; abrogate the
pledges of our fathers incite raids on our
people; multiply inGdelities until they shall
be like the stars of heaven, or the sands of
| the seashore, without number, but know
this, for all your impurities the south will
never again seek remedy 10 the madness
of another secession. Renewed applause. |
We are here. We are in our father S
house. Our brothers are our com paniors
and we are at home.thank God. Enthusi-
astic applause. We come to crafty DO
vengeance; to retalate no wrongs; to re-
sent no past insults; to reopen no strife.
We come with patriotic, purpose to do
whatever in our political power shall be to
restore an honest, economical, and constitu-
tional administration of the government.
We come charging on the union no wrong
to US. The union never wrouged the
suuth. The unicn has been en- unmixed
blessing to every section, to every state; to
every man of every color in America. We
charge all our wrongs to that higher law
(tanaticism) which never kept pledge or
law, We sought to leave the association
of those who would not keep fidelity to
covenant. We sought to go by ourselves,
but SO far from having lost our fidelity to
the constitution, we Rugged it to our bosom
and carried it with US, Brave union men
of the north, followers of Webster and
Fillmore, of Cass and Douglas, you who
fought for the union for the sake of the
union; you who ceased to fight when the
battle was ended and the sword was
sheathed, with you we have no quarrel
We felt your heavy arm in the midst Of
the struggle, but above the roar of cannon
we heard your voice of kindness calling
Brothers come back" We are here tC
help cooperate with you, to do whatever
we can in spite of all our sorrows to rebuild
the union; to restore peace; to be q
blessing to the country, anu tC
make the American union what our father;
intended it should be-the glory O
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