The government has done at least what it was considered treason six months ago to suggest, it should do – viz: treat Privateer prisoners as prisoners of war. The Rebels are to all intents and purposes belligerents and had they been treated so sooner, the Federal prisoners would not have been suffered to languish in Rebel prisons uncared for and almost forgotten by their Government.
Now, the government does ungraciously what it might have done with a good grace, gratifying the prisoners who fell into the hands of the enemy, and depriving the enemy of the weapons of taunt and Satire which have been used effectively against the Federal Government.
Some time ago, we suggested that the Rebels be recognized as belligerents, not for the purpose of giving them any advantage but to enable the government to carry on the war against them in an effectual manner, unrestrained by the Constitution, which protected them even as rebels. But we were called and denounced as a traitor for our advice, which will have to be taken yet before the war can be carried on successfully. While the rebels are treated as rebels, they have constitutional rights, of which no act of Congress nor no Military Proclamation can deprive them; but if they are acknowledged as belligerents in the attitude they have assumed outside of the Constitution, they could be treated accordingly, in person and property, according to the laws and usages of war.
When will the Government learn to act in accordance with the emergencies in which it is placed. Will it ever? It is doubtful.
– Published in The Dubuque Herald, Dubuque, Iowa, Friday Morning, February 7, 1862, p. 1
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