The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-10-26

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governments, ut the time, tell IN their
own way, me true story OF these events.
WHAT IONIEMEOHA-NEOU PAPERS
SAY.
1t is from these letters and other con-
teinpo,aneous orders and papers, tnat we
propose to snow wnicn sioe WAS Iespou-
sip.c 1or .Anuefsonslile. salisbury, The
LIBBY" and ''beae Isle" IN the South.
aud for Camp Doug.as. Gratot Street,
Fort Delaware, Johnson's lslaAd, Elni-
RI, POINT LOOKOUT ard other Ike PAGES
In the \ orth. IN dong this we co not
think il ea.ner necessary or proper TO re-
vtve the laies OF horror and misery con-
tainea in many OF the personal iectta1s
OF Tie captlves on either s.ce. such as
arc coilectcd III TIE Wu.ks OF LII. jones,
Inc Sanitary CommisslGnS anu others.
a.any Oh Lnese are simply heaLt-slCken-
ing ard Disgusting, ana making allow
ances for any exa operations necessarily
niciueni 10 Inc surtuencinss or the writ
ers, there as enough in them to convince
any candid reauer that there were ciuei-
Tues and abuses lnnYcted and winch we
hope tie higher Officers OF ne. tner gov
eminent would have permitted or toiel a.
ted Tor a moment.
IN But what We are concerned about Is.
to show by these Official Records,
.
,nent or representative OF the Coincide
rate Government was responsible Tor the
establishment of these prisons, and the
suffering therein, as hel etofore charged
by our enemies, and mat The &tcueia al
Government, through Edwin NJ. Stanton,
". H. Ealleck. and u. s. Grant as its re-
presentaute actors, was directly and
solely responsible for the establishment
OF these places. and Consequently for all
RI = N,
therein. -
Inc reports and correspondence reia-
tive to the exchange and treatment of
prisoners fill four Of the lalge volumes
+ OF the Rebellion Records, and whilst
we have strlven to tell the tue story.
or rather TO omit nothing essential to the
truth. 1t is simply impossible. within the
limits of this report, to do more than
call attention to some of TIE most I'M.
portant and salient features Of the cor.
respondence, etc., and only to an extent
neces sary to disclose the real conditions.
at the several dates referred to. This
is all that we have attempted to do, but
we haze tried to do this faithfully.
THE POLICY. OF THE CONFEDERATE
GOVERNMENT AS SHOWN BY
ACTS OF CONGRESS, ETC.
To snow the declared purpose and pol
icy of the Confederate government to-.
wards tie prisoners of war from the
beginning:As early as May 21st, 1861. two
months before the first battle Of Manas-
sas. the Confederate Congress passed an
act providing that
".all prisoners of war taken, whether.
on land or sea. during the pending hos
tilities with the United States shall be
transferred by the captors from time
to time, and as often as convenient, to
~, ~ ~ 11,o ~
the duty Of the Secretary of War, with.
the approval of the President. to issue
such instructions to the Quarter-Naster-
General. and his subordinates, as shall
provide for the safe CUSTODY. and susie
nance of prisoners of war: and that ra-
lions furnished prisoners of war shall be
the same in quantity and quality as.
those furnished men il the army OF tho
Confederacy.'
BY an act OF February. 1854. the Quar-
ter-Master-Gene-al was relieved of this
duty, and the Coranissary- General OF
Subsistence was ordered to provide for.
the sustenancc of prisoners of war; and.
according to General Order No. l5a. 40
juta -1nspector-Ge office it was
provided that Hospitals for prisoners
Of war are placed on the same footing
as other Confederate States Hospitals In
all respects. and will be managed accord
ingly.
GENERAL LEES ORDERS.
General Lee, in his testimony before
the Reconstruction Committee of Com
gross. saws of the treatment CT prisoners
on the field:
The orders always were. that the
whole field should be treated ali'Sn. Par
ties were sent out to take the Federal
wounded. as we'll as the Confederate an.a
tn surgeons were told to- treat the one,
as they did the other These orders.
given by me. we're respected on every
fled
And there is nothing in al, the records
SO far as we can find. which indicates
at any department of the Confederate
government. or any representative of
any such DEPARTMENT. failed to carry out
these provisions of the law and these or
ders. as far as they were able to do so.
Of course. there We're times. when, by
reason of insufficient transportation. and
insufficient supplies of food and cloth
ing Of all kinds. it was simply in,possi-
bic to get proper supplies in slif7 Gent
quantities to prevent great suffering
among the prisoners in Southern prisons
But this was equally true of the Conred-
crate soldiers in tbs field, and the as
sertion on page GS of the before referred
to publication by the Northern sanitarv