The National tribune., 1905-12-28


1t is to be earnestly hoped that Con-
gress will not fail to pass the Prisoners
OF War Bill this Winter. OF all the
soldiers of the war who escaped death
or grievous mutilatien, those who were
confined in rebel prisons had much the
this statement. No man who had a
taste of Andersonville, Florence or
Salisbury but will say that he would
willingly take six months Of the hard
est service he saw in the field rather
than one month Of either Of those pris
ons.
The best proof are the statistics.
Andersonville proper, may be said to
have lasted not much over three
those confined there did not enter the
prison until the last of May, and they
left early in September. Yet in those
dreadful three months one out of ev-
cry three who so much as set foot in
side the prison died, and one of the re-
naming two had his constitution SO
broken that he died in some other pris
prisoners sent to Andersonville from
first to last. OF these nearly $4,000
died before they were taken away.
How many died after their transfer to
other prisons God only knows. We
only remember that when we got off
the cars after a short journey we left
dead comrades on every car. and that
when We camped for a night in the
woods we left dead comrades lying all
around when we boarded the cars to
renew the journey.
The records of every fighting regi-
ment i'm the army will show that the
IN ortality among those members cap
tured far exceeded that among those
who remained with the regiment, no
matter how much fighting it afterward
did, or how many terrible hardships
IL suffered. These facts are undenia-
BILE, and completely support the strong
est stories that have been told Of the
sufferings in rebel prisons.
1t must be remembered all the time
that the awful mortality in the prisons
was not among unseasoned recruits or
weaklings of the hospital. Almost In
variably the prisoners were hardy.
seasoned veterans. taken from the very
line of battle. If the sufferings were
such as to kill off within a few weeks
men who had passed through the indie
scribable strains of the swift march
under a burning sun to Gettysburg.
whose strength had been superior to
the months of campaigning in the ma
larious swamps of the Mississippi, or
over the rugged nights Of the Cumber-
lands, what words can adequately pic
ture their horrors?
The next point is that where the
starvation and hardship were sufficient
to kill at least three out Of every five
men subjected to them, the other two
must have had their constitutions ir-
rcparably injured. They earned and
deserve unusual recognition from the
mere fact that they were in prison. and
had to endure for their country much
more than fell to the lot Of the soldier
in the field
The force Of these arguments has al
ways been recognized by Congressman
familiar with the history Of the war,
and every year we have had assurances
that the Ex-Prfsoners OF War Bill
would be passed. Every session has
been grievous disappointment In the
failure to pass the bill. In the mean
while thousands OF those whose bodies
were forever wrecked by the awful suf-
ferfngs Of Belle Isle, Andersonville,
Salisbury, Florence and Camp Ford
have passed from beds of pain to the
rest Of the grave. They have gone
mourning a Nations ingratitude to
men who gave it all that men could
give, and yet which neglected them
cruelty in the days when they terribly
needed help.
Now that but a remnant OF these
martyred men survive Congress can
not in decency longer neglect this
great duty. Let us have the Prisoners
Of War Bill passed at once In sacred
memory Of the 1900 brave men who
laid down their lives in rebel prisons,
and in scant and tardy justice to those
who Vet survive