The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-12-21

WiInDnt
| Without credit, eight million w;'ha,nyli
i ihirty-thirty, yes, the world was ~
recruiting ground of the north and hn, m
for this, the eight millions wopid haua
defeated the thirty. nave
! Ii Is said 5lr. Davis made ,r;stol,aa
and bnt for them the south would nave
| been successful. be latter is mere
speculation, and if the former were NOT
true, he would have been more than
nan. Had Washington failed his mis-.
| taxes would have been magntied. but
ing successful they are forgotten.
But in view of all the surroundings it
may be asked, who could have done
better than Mr.. Davis-whO SO well?
II ! could venture { criticism at all
and that without in the least detracting
IRON the fame of any who rank SO
justly high ii wOald be this: that after
HE Valley campaign, when the genius
Of jackson, like a meteor in the
heavens. lit up the ornament OF war,
iiillng the civilized world with wonder
aud admiration and the foe with con-
oiernalion, Mr.. Davis failed to give
him the command OF all the armies of
the confederacy. For the student of
the worlds great battles will hereafter
made Napoleon great, Jackson alone in
that highest order OF genius may claim
equal greatness.
.ssDI Mr.. DIYis il may truly be said he
did all as a senator to avert the war;
OF all The southern senators he was the
most conservative; when war came, in
ppllrlng energy, in devotion to the
cause q tnag giaminity 10 his foes, his
tor i1i y furnish 4 apafailel; 4 furnishes
%; Z feat df !. z - - -
And iilis satafzsls ia4lia me fossn-
other snbjsct Eshddress on iisis ee-
| caslon would DC complete did Il. not
contain repetition, by lne plain state
meht OF indispniable facts of The in
sideous, persistent and wicked defama-
non Of the character of Mr.. Davis by
| MS enemies. ! aliude TO his treatment
oi lhe prisoners whom the fortunes of
war placed in his hands. MIR. Davis,
| is Tue correspondence shows, repeat
ediy, persisienlly offered, urged by his
| tenderness Tor his own men, and
| humanity i0r his enemies, all exchange
| OF prisoners. To cover the inhumanity
| OF iheir own course in refusing, the
north has brought the false charge OF
cruelty against MIR. Davis. The con-
iederate government offered to ex-
change man Tor man. This WAS for
while accepted, then refused. On Aug.
Is, 1864, General Grant wrote:
| ''lt Is hard on our own men held in
| southern prisons not 10 exchange them
| bat il is humanity not TO do so
at this particular time TO release all
rebel prisoners the north would insnre
Sherman's defeat and would compro-
mise our safety here'
Then AL offer was made by Mr..
Davis TO exchange The sick on each
side; this was refused. IL " as propos.
ed TO let the north send medicine
made c0nlraband of war--to their pri-
soners south, and their own surgeons
10 accompany il. his was declined,
as was The further offer of tne sonfl f0r
purchase hospital supplies Sorth, for
! its own prisoners in nUrlhern prisons.
A. .a>,. as a final appeal, Mr.. Davis
scn, ID delegation of prisoners from
Andersouville to plead their own canse,
Shall tell the story - Mr.. Lincoln
refused even TO see them.
AS conclusive as is this mere recital
of the facts, statistics are however, if
possible, far more so.
According to the report Of Surgeon
General Barnes Of tie United States
army, there was held by the United
States in round numbers during the
/. was 100000 prisoners, while during
the same time the Confederate States
held 270,O00, or an excess over the
north OF $4,000.
The report of Secretary of War
Stanton dated July 10, 1866, states of
, this number 26,246 died in northern
prisons, and 22,576 i'll southern prisons.
2 Thus with medicine made conIraband
: aud supplies difficult to get, with the
I soldiers III the field frequently and for
weeks on quarter ratlons, nine per
} cent. of the prisoners i'll southern hands
/ died, while with plenty TO be had at
{ the north twelve per cent. of prisoners
. died i'll northern prisons. Where does
the charge of cruelty and Humanity
{ rest! Was SANDER more malicious and
wicked was falsehoud and defamation
Y more brazen than the invention which
+ lays at the door OF MIR. Davis, the
I charge of that cruelty which the re-
= corded facts demonstrate must ever
c rest on the north, under the inhunanity
t of military policy, rejected by civil
q l'Zed nations. which proceeded on the
lines. as declared by Gen. Grant: of
y we hold those caught they amount TO
: no more than dead men,"
: The facts in this matter are on
, record, the history will be written /;
l. when written neither Mr.. Davis nor
V the southern people will have cause to
blush. Truth crushed to earth will rise
a again, the storm but momentarily OBJ
d scures the sky-taisehood cannot long
q pass undetected.
q | have thus sought TO show. First:
r That the south was not responsible for
Y the causes leading TO secession. Second +:
g That the people were not responsible
II in 1861 for The existence of slavery,
nor their ancestors for its establish
Is ment. Third: That the charge oi
e cruelty brought against Mr.. Davis is q
G fabrication.
g In 1865 the political sun seemed to
- have set in impenetrable darkness to
L rise no more. But now looking back
il over the past we can all rejoice that the
a war ended when it did and as it did
If The federal soldier invaded the land
v rs All enemy, with the torch sometime;
h in his hand, yet in fact his coming wal
G "a beue336tion, and in truth he was
IS irisn<1< 4d eeHslssince Mr.. Calhoun de
y clasS 31lkt .tesssssalllet could not b'
J.. !. nSGiI1s "SSis e19aSssS sswsSa q, 1T iG' hi'
er neau1iar nj ssv5 81 ~ irrsprsssi i, re s
F BILE conflict: w31 ~ lnsstatet
it the union could - <f 1na hsl
e free aud one half slave X HG1<
J. Lincoln were denoniidN1[ -
! south. Yet all-Calbouns :
% and Lincoln, uttered a seif-etl. &
,e truth written by the hand of -
n. in our civil polity. Here was an fas
r. passabie barrier placed i'll 3 people
n. pathway; it had 10 be met Yhe wal
Id was inevitable. Tho south had tht
ID legal right upon her side. She bat
the right to seccde. But at the same
time the establishment of a rival repub
~ " lie as her neishbor, with the geograph
- . ical surroundings and complications
~ was Just cause ui war 10 the north. a
,, least whether it was or not was s
a. a. question tor the north alone TO decide
-, =" since there is no judge between nations
y, ~ Let, then, the North cease attemptiu!
,,pp to justify herself by denouncins
~ secession and the SOut .-ior on tina
" subject the vantage must ever remail
"' with the South-hut let her place he
justification where il belongs-the righ
ne of nations to declare war for any ant
II. all causes deened just by them alolie
as And as a united country the future o
be this iaud for mans happiness, To-
hy civilizations for all that UOes 10 make