sustain it, even at the cost of continued imprisonment. I am sure that appeal would not have been made in vain. They would have carried to their fellow-prisoners not only the true story of the bad faith of the enemy, but the evidences of the anxious desire of their Government to secure the honorable release of all of them.

The enemy have all along vainly hoped that if we refused to give equivalents for our officers and men, and they were returned into captivity, disaffection would spread amongst them and many would take a hated oath.

Unless I receive contrary instructions, so far as officers are concerned, I shall in the future send in return only such a proportion as will be a true ratio between the numbers respectively held. It is not so important to maintain this position as to non-commissioned officers and men, as I am inclined to believe the Federals have no considerable excess.

The position of matters as to the arrest and detention of non-combatants is unchanged. In some sections of our country occupied by the enemy almost every man within the conscript age who is supposed to be friendly to our cause is either imprisoned or compelled to leave his home. In many instances they have extended similar treatment to persons not subject to our conscript laws. In other sections they have allowed some of known Southern sympathies to remain within what they call their lines, but if any arrest of obnoxious parties who owe allegiance to the Confederate States is made by our military authorities they seize and imprison such as hostages. I respectfully recommend either that no arrests for political offenses be made within that portion of our territory which is held by the enemy or that all persons of standing known to be hostile be arrested and held in reptilian. I believe any middle policy to be the worst. My own conviction is that the enemy can only be made to abandon the arrest of our non-combatants by a sweeping retaliation. Any system looking to the mere exchange of such persons is obnoxious to very many grave objections.

In conclusion, I beg leave to say that I am very far from being sanguine or even hopeful of a general delivery or exchange. Independent of the obstacle which seems to have been purposely thrown in the way by the appointment and retention of General Butler as agent of exchange there are other difficulties, some of which threaten to be insurmountable. The chief of these is the inadmissible claim of the enemy that recaptured slaves shall be treated as prisoners of war. I am very confident that if they do not insist upon this being made a distinct agreement between the two Governments, they will at least retain our soldiers as hostages for all negroes who are known to be captured. While the latter position would not necessarily prevent the delivery of all our prisoners, excepting such as were retained as hostages, it would in the course of time make such complication as would almost certainly terminate the cartel. As yet the Federals do not appear to have found any well-authenticated case of the retention of a negro prisoner. They have made several specific inquiries, but in each case there was no record of any such party, and I so responded. Having no especial desire to find any such case it is more than probable the same answer will be returned to every such inquiry.

So long as the Federals hold an excess of prisoners I do not expect to see any disposition on their part to resume the cartel. Whenever the excess is held by us they may make an offer to that effect, but it will be accompanied with a determination to hold hostages for any negro troops. After their turpitude in this matter it becomes a very grave question whether, under any circumstances, we will any longer