The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-05-05

States. The colored Union soldiers were to
be returned, as far as possible, to the masters
| from whom they had escaped. The white otfi-
| GERS who commanded them were held to be in.
| citers of instruction among the slaves, and
were to be turned over to Governors of States,
| to be punished under the laws thereof, the
| offense being capital crime in all the Slave
| States.
Gen. B. F. Butler as United States Commits
| sioner of Exchange made proposition to the
| rebel authorities in the early Winter of
1865, 64-months before the prison at Ander-
sonville was established-for a general ex-
change of prisoners, officer for officer, and man
for man. In May following he addressed a
note to the rebel Commissioner OF Exchange
asking whether the Confederate authorities
intended to treat as prisoners of war the colored
soldiers of the United States Army" To this
inquiry no answer was ever returned, ana
eight long weary months from the date OF his
proposition to exchange prisoners wore away
before that proposition was accepted. Mean.
while the fires of shcol had been lighted at
Andersonville, and during the time of the de-
lay of the rebel authorities in accepting the
proposed offer of exchange, 1856 of our brave
crave boys had been consumed. NotWlth-
standing all this, we are told by I" the Southern
S. te" that the United States authorities pre-
vented an exchange of prisoners, and thereby
secame responsible for three-f ourths of the lives
io't in prisons North and South The civil
lied world" to which the rebels so often
appealed, will readily see at whose door lies
the responsibility for preventing an exchange
of prisoners.
4. The arrest, trial, and execution of Capt.
Wirz, for alleged cruelties to Union prisoners,
was desperate subterfuge of the Federal Gov
eminent to draw public attention from the
cruel acts of its own representatives, upon
whose heads the responsibility of the sufierlngs
at Andersonville must rest.
This man Wirz, according to our author, was
tender hearted, refined gentleman and accom-
plished soldier. 1t was utterly foreign to his
gentle nature to commit any act of cruelty
toward prisoner He conducted the affairs of
the prison in his charge much after the Same
manner rs a pious Sunday school superintend-
ent directs the affairs of his school. He never
cursed a prisoner, knocked down weak and
defenseless men, nor did he ever fire his re-
volver into lot of them huddled together.
The United States Government must have
scapegoat for its own sins, and this inoffensive
subordinate officer was chosen for the sacrifice.
1t is alleged that not single charge was proved
against him by competent witness, and that
his life was taken away by suborned testimony
and perjury.
The foregoing statements, which have the
Endorsement of the principal leaders OF the re-
bellion, are few specimens of the arguments
by which Southern chivalry seeks to undo the
ponderous milestone which it deliberately hung
about its neck. We cannot wonder that it
should seek to "erase" this dark stain "a
stain darker than any ever yet placed upon the
pages of history in the annals of civilized war
fare.
Other statements in cxtenuation Of the cruel
suflerings of Union soldiers in Southern pris-
ons are of the same warp and wool as those
already cited: The Federal Government block
AIDED the Southern ports and declared drugs and
medicines contraband of war, therefore no
remedies for the sick could be obtained. 1t re-
fused to sell to the rebels medicines for the
sick prisoners to be paid for in gold or cotton.
1t refused to respond TO the urgent request of
the rebel authorities to send its own Surgeons
to care for its sick and wounded soldiers In
rebel prisons. The same rations in quality
and quantity were issued alike to the prisoners
and their guards; and so the attempt to
"erase" runs on dd nauseum
But this stain upon the boosted chivalry Of
the South is indelbly fixed, and there it will
remain forever. The impartial judgment of
history concerning this crime of the 10Th Gen.
fury will never be reversed. Let the comrades
who still survive their suiforings In the prison
hels of the South speak ont, and through the
columns Of THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE put on
record the story of their wrongs for the en-
lightenment of the present generation and the
use of the future historian.-J. r. KEYEs Co.
L, 5th Ohio Cav, Pastor Methodist Episcopal
Church, New Philadelphia, 0.