Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Volume IV, Number 11, 16 March 1865 — The Barbarous Treatment of Federal Prisoners in the South. [ARTICLE]

The Barbarous Treatment of Federal Prisoners in the South.

In the whole history of the wor!d we know of nothing that equals the hornble perpetrated by the rebels upon Nortbrm pmoners. There is ample evidence to prove the trut!i of this statesnent. The United States Sanitary Commission appointed a Comimttet-. comprising some of the most eminent clergymen, physicians and lawyers m the-countr\". to investigate the facts on tbis subject. Tlnthey have done, and have since pubiished volume of 282 pages, containing their Rcport, together with the testimony whieh wa> given under oath bv returned prisoners, sargeons and others. The twelve thousand returned prisoners. who were lately exchanged zt Charleston and Savannah, all tell the same sa4 story. They were all in the most dreadful condition. They were reduced almost to skeietons with sunken eyes, and skins bUck with dirt, many of them almost naked, and a large propertion m a dying condition. .The brgeM of the prisons in whieh thesp poor fellows were kept was at Andersonville, in Gecrgia. Be« fore they entered this prison, they were deprived of all their blankets, ovexcoats, and Bometimes shirts, of their watches« moaey, canteens and haversacks, and of all extra clothing. The Pen at An<ter*onYi!le. Thisfamous prison isanopen 6e]d ofabout 25 acre», and about 350 yards in lesgth and breadth, without a tree orsheiterofaay kindL This fence is built of upright logs p!aced together aboat 20 feet high, on the top of whkh are smail platforraa» where the guards aie stationed.

There were generally 64 guards 011 duty at a time. There is a slight railing paraliel to the fence, and 20 feet inside of it, called «*the dead line." The projection of even a foot or fīnger beyond this was sure to bring the deadly bullet of the sentinel. About two a day werethus shot, some of whom, in their extreme misery and despair, yoluntarily exposed themselves to be shot. Outside were four battcries on high grourid overlooking the yard, and mounting 24 Parrott guns. Besides this the rebels had packs of blood hou»ds to track them with, if they should escape to the woods. There were no houses; no tents, no shelter of any kind, and 110 blankets, and this too in the middle of winter. A fewdugholes in the ground, in whieh they burrowed to sheltcr themselves from the weather. Their food was half a pound of eom bread a day, the cob being ground with the kemel, and two ounces of old pork, offensive in appearance and smell. This ration was often raw or only half cooked. Occasionally a little rice and molasses, abouttwo tablespoonfuls apieee, was ~given them. This food was brought into the pen onee a day, at 4 P. M., in wagons, and thrownon the ground, the prisoners being arranged in divisions of two hundred and seventy, subdivided into squads of nineties and thirties. They were allowed no dish or cooking utensil of any kind. *

They had no water fit for drinking or even vvashing. A litt!e stream runs into the pen, about ankle deep, and in about the middle of the enclosure, spreads out into a s\vamp of six acres. Before this stream reached the pen, it passed by the eamp of the rebel guards, from whieh it received a large quantity of the vilest material. Tho eoole house for the prisoners was also on the edge of this stream, and the refuse from it was thrown into the water. The prisoner ured to filter this water, before using it, through pieces of cloth. The swamp mentioned above was the reoeptacle for all kinds of filth, and became a plaee too horrib!e to be described, and was enough of itself to breed a pestilence. In this horrible plaee 30,000 rnen were confined. They were so crowded together that it was difficult to go in any direction without jostling.and being jostled. Of course the number of deaths was fearfully great. At first it averaged about 30 a day, but the latter part of the time it averaged 130 a day, amounting in a few months to 11000 men or one third of all the pr»Soners conSned in this "hell upon earth." Brav r e soldiers the heroes of a hundred battles, are lying on the cold ground, naked and sick, and reduced in some cases to insanity by their sufferings. These diabolical c.ruelties have not been perpetrated at Andersonville alone, but at Kichmond, at Coluflbia in South Carolina, and ia other places. lt is now cert<\in that it was done in obedience to orders from the Kebel Govemment and in pursuance of a deliberate policy. By such conduct the rebel government have sunk themselves lower than the eannihal Feejees or the North American Indians, and will bring upon themselves the contempt and abhorrence of the civilized world. On the other hand the rebel prisoners in the North have been well fed, warmly clothed, lodged in comfortable tents or huts, and carefully tended when sick, in excellent hospitals. When exchanged 5 they were returned to the rebel army in better condition than when tliey left it. Some people have urged Pres. Lineoln to retaliate, but a Christian Government eannot compete with another in the commission of such deeds.