CONGKESS, UNITED STATES. 



225 



Government of the United States to procure an alle- 

 viation of their sufferings while in imprisonment, or a 

 just and equitable exchange : Therefore, 



Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs 

 be instructed to inquire into the expediency of pro- 

 viding by law, if such treatment of Union prisoners 

 is persisted in, for confining rebel prisoners in our 

 hands in such prisons, and allowing them such kind 

 and quality of rations, as may be adopted by the 

 rebel government, to the end that the rebel authori- 

 ties may be thereby compelled to treat the Union 

 prisoners in their hands according to the rules and 

 usages of civilized warfare. 



On the next day, the following resolution, 

 previously .offered by Mr. Ingersoll, of Illinois, 

 was considered : 



Resolved, That the Secretary of War is hereby di- 

 rected to report to this House what obstacles, if any, 

 now interpose to prevent an early and full exchange 

 of prisoners of war now held by the rebels. 



To which Mr. Cox, of Ohio, offered the fol- 

 lowing amendment as a substitute : 



That, if not incompatible with the public interest, 

 all communications in reference to the exchange of 

 prisoners, not heretofore published, be communicated 

 to this House by the Secretary of War. 



He said : " My object in offering this amend- 

 ment is, not that we may have the suppositions 

 or inferences of the Secretary of War as to 

 obstacles in reference to an exchange of prison- 

 ers, but that we may have all the facts and cor- 

 respondence in his possession relating to this 

 matter. 



" As the House is a^ware, there is a long his- 

 tory connected with this subject. Soon after 

 the beginning of the war we adopted, in the 

 interest of decency and humanity, a joint reso- 

 lution recognizing a full, fair exchange of prison- 

 ers ; and a cartel was made for that purpose. 

 I am not now here to inquire what obstructions 

 have been supposed to impede this exchange. 

 It has been stated that difficulties have occurred 

 on account of the negro soldiers. Perhaps that 

 is to some extent true. There may be other 

 reasons why the rebels have not been prompt, 

 or why our Government has not been prompt, 

 to exchange prisoners. "We ought to have all 

 the correspondence on this subject, and not 

 merely the ideas of the Secretary of War as to 

 what may be an impediment or obstruction to 

 the making of exchanges." 



Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, said: " This res- 

 olution seems to imply, by its being offered, that 

 the War Department has been remiss. Now, 

 sir, unless I have some such suspicion, I do not 

 know why I should interfere with them. If I 

 believed they were derelict in their duty, if I 

 thought they were not doing all that under the 

 laws of war, and the laws of humanity, they 

 ought to do, I would pass some censure upon 

 them. But I have not yet seen any thing to 

 induce me to believe that. I therefore move to 

 refer the resolution to the Committee on Mili- 

 tary Affairs." 



Mr. Pendleton, of Ohio, in reply, said : "I 



hope that course will not be adopted, and I 



hope this resolution will be passed. There is 



one fact I suppose well known to every gentle- 



YOL. v. 15 A 



man upon this floor, and that is that great dis- 

 content prevails in relation to this exchange. 

 A deep impression has been produced upon the 

 people of the country, and these accounts of 

 barbarities inflicted upon Union prisoners by 

 the South have filled the country with horror. 

 They are discontented with the condition of 

 affairs. They think it ought not so to continue, 

 and they believe it is not necessary that ifc 

 should continue. I am not prepared to say that 

 anybody is at fault ; but I am prepared to say 

 that the people believe somebody is at fault ; 

 and if nobody is at fault the War Department 

 should be prepared to show to the country that 

 every thing has been done that can be done to 

 relieve the people from their suspicions that 

 our citizens who are captured are needlessly 

 suffering." 



. Mr. Thayer, of Pennsylvania, followed in 

 favor of the resolution, saying : " With refer- 

 ence to the resolution which is now before 

 the House, I desire to say that it is a resolu- 

 tion which, m my opinion, is demanded by the 

 public sentiment of the country. There is 

 hardly a fireside, sir, in the land, which is not 

 painfully interested, immediately or remotely, 

 in the question raised by this resolution the 

 question of a speedy and general exchange of 

 prisoners. I do not regard the resolution or the 

 amendment of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. 

 Cox) as containing any imputation either on 

 the Administration or on the War Department 

 of the Administration. It conveys no such im- 

 putation. It simply calls for information with 

 reference to that in which the people of the 

 country feel a very deep and earnest interest. 

 I have never yet seen the man who has been 

 able to give me an intelligible account of what 

 has occurred with reference to the negotiations 

 that have taken place in regard to the exchange 

 of prisoners, or what have been precisely the 

 obstacles in the way of a general exchange of 

 prisoners. The people of the country desire 

 information upon this subject nay, I may use 

 a stronger term they demand information on 

 this subject ; and the resolution being properly 

 guarded so as not to require the Secretary of 

 War to impart any information that may be 

 detrimental to the public interests, I am in 

 favor of the resolution of the gentleman from 

 Ohio." 



The amendment was adopted, and the reso- 

 lution agreed to. 



In the Senate, on January 16th, Mr. Wade, 

 of Ohio, offered the following resolution relative 

 to an exchange of prisoners : 



Resolved by the Senate and House of Representativet 

 in Congress assembled, That from and alter the pas- 

 sage of these resolutions, all prisoners, both officers 

 and soldiers, of the Confederacy, so culled, who are 

 now or shall be in the power, control, and keeping 

 of the Federal Government, shall receive the same 

 rations, the same amount of clothing, and be subject 

 to the same treatment in every respect, as Federal 

 prisoners of war, both officers and soldiers, who are 

 now or have been in the power, control, and keeping 



