The National tribune., 1890-06-05

places of paradise when compared to the miserable
bells on earth at Camps Douglass and Chase John
sons Island Elmira and other death holes in the
| North where Confederate prisoners were confined
| during the war.
The official statistics show that the United States
prisoners held by the Confederaoy amounted to
| 10000.
And the Confederate States prisoners held by the
| United States 10000.
The United States prisoners died I'm Confederate
hands was 90 0OO
And Confederate prisoners died In United States
hands 26 600
And these figures show that with 30 600 more
Federal prisoners in the hands Of the Confederntes
than there of Confederates In the hands Of tho
Federals yet there 900 more Confederate
Than there were Federal deaths among the prison
ers With these figures of official record in Wash
ington City there has never been Northern man
in Congress with sufficient honesty and hut one
Southern man Oh. II. Hill, OF Georgia) with suffi.
cient courage to stand up aud tell the world tho
truth.
The South was willing at all times to exchange
prisoners with the North This the Federal au-
thorties would not do.
The Confederate authorities then invited those
of the North to send their doctors and medi-
cine to relieve Federal prisoners In Southern
hands
This they refused
Then the Confederate authorities offered TO de-
liver to the Fcderals their prisoners without re-
ceiving Confederntes in return.
This was also refused.
Then, my feow-oountrymen, on whose soul Is
branded the crime OF cruelty to prisoners of war
surely not upon that of the people of tho South,
but on those whose faithlessness provoked the war
There is not correct statement even by
accident, in this
In the first place there we're 476 1859 rebel
soldiers captured during the war, of whom
2l5599 were parolcd on the field leaving
227,o7O to be confined in prison. OF these
exactly 26,77I died while in confinement, or
about one in every nine.
There were 2i2,608 Union soldiers cap
tnred during the war, of whom about 80 900
were paroled on the field This would leave
l7760S to be confined. The War Depart
ment has some disiointed and incomplete
returns showing the death of 90, 725 of these
Graves in various National Cemeteries To-
Gated near these prisons indicate a mortality
of about 10000, while other evidence goes to
show that fully 1000 Union soldiers per-
ished while in the hands of the rebels, or
about one in every two aud halE
IL is not true for an instant that the rebels
offered to let the prisoners go free. On the
contrary, they shot down mercilessly anyone
suspected of trying to escape, they pursued
those that got out of prison with blood
hounds, and resOrted to every possible
cruelty to keep them captive They obsti-
nately refused every overture Of our Gov
eminent for an exchange of prisoners, unless
the Government would parole the large sur
plus which it held-which meant giving the
rebels about 100000 fresh, vigorous men to
put in front of Grant or Sherman.
1t is the worst kind of falsehood that
the rebels offered to let our Government send
clothing, food and medicine to its suffering
soldiers There was an arrangement of this
kind entered into in the Winter of 1868 a.
but after the Government had delivered at
City Point ID tons of food and Ave tons of
clothing, the rebel Congress passed an act as
sorting that II was "repugnant to the dignity
of one sovereign power to permit another
power to feed and clothe its prisoners of
war and thereupon the food aud clothing
with characteristic rebel perfdy-were
confscated
1t is amazing that any man should have
the hardihood to attempt to deceive people
with such monstrous falsehooda