The National tribune., 1907-01-24
PRISONERS OF WAR.

PRISONERS OF WAR.
A Delegation from the National Associa-
tiOn Has II Hearing Before the PEN
sion Committee of Both Houses
of Congress.
Last week Col. James D. Walker, of
Pittsburg, Pa, Commander of the Ma
tional Association of Ex-Prisoners of
led by Comrades ]. c. Palmer, Cleve-
land, O., and ]. F. Holliger, Toledo, o.,
to advocate the passage of the bill
which has been repeatedly recon-
mended by the National Association.
They were accompanied to the Capitol
by Comrade John McElroy. The House
Committee on Invalid Pensions, Hon.
Cyrus Sulloway. Chairman, gave them
a hearing on Tuesday, Jan. II, when
arguments in favor of the bill were
made by Comrades Walker, Palmer,
Holliger and McElroy. Most of the
members of the Committee present ex-
pressed themselves in favor of report-l
ing the BILL The bad weather inter-
fered with the meeting of the Senate
Pension Committee during the week,
but an appointment was made for Mon
day, Jan. 21, when the full committee
would be present ard Comrade John
McElroy was detailed to present the
case of the Ex-Prisoners. Before leav-
ing the city Commander Walker and
the others assured the Committee that
Comrade McElroy was fully authorized
to speak for them, and would speak in
the name of the whole Association.
Col. Walker presented to the Commit
tee the following petition, which was
made part of the record of the Com
mittee:
To the United States Senate Commit
tee on Invalid Pensions.
Gentlemen: Our Committee, repre-
sentfng the National Association OIL
Union Ex-Prisoners of War, respect
fully petition you in behalf of House
Bill No. 9, asking at your hands a fav-
orable report and that it be placed on
the Calendar of the Senate. In pre-
senting our memorial we feel that i'll
merits your attention and favor, be-
cause of the peculiar nature of service !
rendered by the prisoners of war, the |
sufferings endured and the extreme risk
10 health and life to which we We're
subjected We enlisted in the service |
of our country with the expectation and
desire to perform a soldiers duty on !
the march, in battle. or wherever we !
might be called Even the contingency |
of being captured by the enemy WAS
not unconsidered, but if captured. we
expected, as we had right to expect, |
that our Government would speedily !
release us and restore us to our COM
mands for further service. That ourl
Government failed to do this and aweIe !
entirely responsible for our unusual
length of imprisonment, is a matter4-oft
history and beyond a particle of doubt; |
the result of which was that our inn
prisonment was prolonged to a PERIOD
almost beyond belief. The average i'm
prisonment of our men was not less |
than six months while it extended in
20 ~, fHt-n ORG
prisoners captured at Winchester, Get
tysburg and Chickamauga in 1868
were retained, as many of them as sur
vived to the end of the war. The suf-
ferings and privations endured from
scarcity of rations, exposure to the ell
ements, scantiness of clothing, diseases
of all kinds without medical or surgi- |
cal assistance fattened the cemeteries
of the prisons. while they sapped the
health and strength of those who sur
vived, leaving them with broken~.con-1
stitutions and enfeebied minds. The
horrors of those prison pens are at
tested by the thousands lying in them
to-day. With total admissions of 49,
900 in Andersonville in one year,-14vao9t
attested their devotion with their lives.
and this was not the highest ratio,
Florence, S. c., in which the stockadel
was opened on October 2, 1864, and
abandoned in February. 1S6es~~ahdt
which never had 70 exceed 1900 ad-
missions, has in its cemetery to-day
$500 dead That they were true and
loyal soldiers of the Republic, and ac-
cepted death before Dishonor," can
not be denied, because the way of es-
cape from all their torture stood wide
open before them whenever they chose
to avail themselves of 1t. The offer Of
release from prison If they would for
swear their allegiance and Join the ar
my of the Confederacy was freely made
and pressed upon them but so few were
those who took service that they We're
scarcely worth counting. Thru the
hot days of the Summer, with scarcely
any shelter, and even not enough water;
thru the terrible days of Winter. with
out fires and scarcely any clothing,
they suffered and died in squalor and
extreme wretchedness: only the strong
est survived. During the Summer of
1864 an appeal of the prisoners was
sent thru to our Government from An
dersonvilln, in the hands of commit
tee of intelligent men. who We're pre-
pared to tell of our condition and the
fast increasing danger to health and
life as the prison w;U being crowded
fun, and who did their duty well, as
the records will show; appeals also
came from the loyal North, East and
West to our Government to exchange
us, and the pressure became so great
from iii parts. anu are ittliiIS
so intense at the delay that our Gov
ernment felt it could not with safety
any longer delay the exchange, and
one of the shrewdest and brightest Off
GERS in our Army was appointed Com
missioner of Exchange. for the purpose
of exchanging as fast IS possible every
prisoner on either side. Humanity de-
manded 1t, but the necessities of war
denied 1t. The preliminaries had even
been arranged and the exchange was
ready to be put in operation, when all
were stopped, and the
doors of our hopes were closed. To
Gen. Grant. the grandest General of
any age the country had assigned the
task OF ending the war, and every
means in the gift of our Government
was placed in his hands. His quick
mind quickly grasped the consequences
of releasing to the Confederacy $4,000
or more able bodied soldiers ready to
enter service the day they reached their
own lines. 1t meant an indefinite pro-
longation of the war; the possible rec,
ognition on the part of England and
France, of the Confederacy: the
slaughter of thousands more of brave
soldiers at the front, the expenditure
of millions of treasure and the uncer-
tainty of the result with all its con-
sequences to our country and mankind
A peremptory order to Butler broke
of all negotiations. The Confederacyl
was at the end of its resources; everyl
man or boy capable of bearing arms
was In the field. The $4,000 Union