The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-02-18
SAVANNAH, MO-, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY IS, 1876
AMNESTY IN CONGRESS.
a Union Soldiers Reflections.
From the Hopkins journal.

Fromihe Hopkins journal.
Probably there has not been q time
since the close of the war for the Union
carefully watched and the record of Con-
greSsional debates SO eagerly read, or
so much discussion thereOn-both in
private conversation and through the
press-as during the present winter
The autumn elections have passed and
to the surprisc-if not dismay-of those
who have personally suffered most for
the preservation Of the Union-"one
and ndissoluble"-thc dcstinies of the
nation. the law-making power Of our
government, and the appropriation and
disbursements of our national resources
and wealth, seem to be, for season at
least, in the hands of the very men who
have done most to break up the Union
OF States, destroy our credit, ruin our
commerce, consign the flower of the
manhood of the nation to untimely
graves, fill the land with widows and
orphans and throw II pail, like the
blackncss OF despair, over the land.
One of the first things that cuts sol
dcr to the quick is the charge that the
people of the North are destitute of feel
ings of magnanimity toward the con-
quered South Magnanimi:y, indeed!
" hat means the presence Of over eighty
cN-coniederatcs in the councils of the
Nation, if it he true that the Northern
people are not forgiYing--Onc might al
most say to their own destruction?
What means the presence to-day of so
~,
cray uniforms for four years previous
to April. 1866, now in the Capitol build
ing at Washington, filling places that Il
grateful nation had bestowed on its
manned and crippled defenders who had
heroically laid their all upon their coun-
trv's altar, to step aside now, that the
very men who had helped to create the
necessity for such sacrifice might have
place. We believe there is not gov
crnment upon earth whose laws punish
treason in any other way than by death.
Treason is one of the highest, ii not the
highest, of crimes known; and the fact
that so many of the leaders Of the late
rebellion still live, hold Office under the
government they did their utmost to dcs-
troy, and occupy some of the highest
positions in the gift of Nation they
| had once sworn should not to-day be in
existence, proves spirit of forgiveness
on the part of the victors in our civil
war that is without Il parallel in the his
tory of the natl0ns of the earth. The
fact that Ben Hi! is permitted to hold
| forth in the halls OF ConTress--no mat
ter what his utterances may. be, OF with
what spirit he may be animated-i; an
argument that is unanswcrable against
the whole tenor of the speeches Of both
himself and sympathizers.
With reference to that part of the
discussion which relates TO the treat
ment of prisoners of war by the con-
tending armies. the writer is not able.
like so many others, to paint the hor
rors of Southern prisons 10y the relation
of personal suilerings therein, but can
testify to the manner in which prisoners
were treated right at the seat Of war
In Nav. 1868, we occupied n "bnnk y
in the Measle Hospital, inside TT. Will
liams, Baton Rouge, la. The hospital
building was one of the most comtorta-
BILE in the Fort, and, indeed, IN the
whole city. After the Uuion army, un-
der Gen Banks. began to have some
success at the seige of Port Hudson. and
had, an,ansr other captives, Il goOdly
number OF Confederate oilicers--many
of them sick-the inmates of the Measle
! Hospital were removed to other quar-
| ters, that the sick Confederate officers
might have comfortable rooms. We
remember we'll the difference between u
good, comfortable bunk in pleasant
room, and bed made Of lumber with Il
thickness var, ing from haif-inch board
| to two-inch plank. We also observed
that the tin cup and plate, that was Il
sick soldiers outfit, was supplemented
by the finest white china by the ladies
of the city, who were untiring in their
attentions to the sick Confederates, and
had every privilege granted them.
That which has cost man money
and sacrifice is thought to be worth TAX
ing care Of. Has not our country been
purchased at fearful costp AS we
look at the position it has, and is bound
to have, among the nations OF the earth,
is not this trust worth caring forp-
worth preserving and handing down,
unmpaired, to posterity? 1t then be-
hooycs every voter to watch carefully
the course of events, and not, as prcvi-
Gus to the late war. sleep while the en-
emy steps in and robs us of our means
of defense. and VIC awake, too late, to
find our nation burdened with the Con-
federate war debt. with the price of ev-
cry freed slave, and every man, who
was wounded while in arms against us,
pensioned as we'll as the man who
risked his life for the salvation of his
country. "Eteraal vigilance is the