THE STATE OF THE FEDERAL PRISONS AND HOSPITALS.

[The following is an extract, of a letter from an officer in the Federal Army, for whose honour and accuracy we can ourselves vouch, and whose statement is so interesting in its bearing on Mr. Mason's violent letter mentioned last week that we cannot with- hold it from our readers. The numerical returns alone, showing that not 5 per cent. of the Confederate prisoners in the prison named have died in sixteen months, not 4 per cent. per annum, would be sufficient to refute the charge of ill-treatment, without other details.—En. Spectator.] January 19, 1865. MY DEAR --,—I promised you a further account of the con- dition of the prisoners at Point Lookout—here is the result of my further investigations. I began with the hospitals. Dr. Thomp- son, the surgeon in charge, showed me his books, and explained to me the whole system under which the record was kept. At my request he had a copy of the recapitulation for 16 months copied for me, and I inclose it to you ; it pretty much explains itself. You will see that about 66 prisoners were received per day during that period, and that 3 only died each day, making the average mortality in 16 months about 4} per cent. This, unless my recollection deceives me, is far less than the average mortality in European armies in time of peace, and it is the mortality among men a peculiarly large average of whom arrive wounded or in a diseased condition. The deaths are mainly from diarrhoea, dysentery, pneumonia, and a few cases of fever. Starvation is, as you will see, simply impossible, even as a remote cause of death. The average of mortality is now about the same as that stated in the paper I send, and as bearing on an opinion I expressed in my last, Dr. Thompson stated that there was probably not a division 10,000 strong in our whole army where the mortality, apart from casual- ties, was so small at this time as among these prisoners. The number now on hand is just about 11,000. I then, accompanied by Dr. Thompson, inspected the hospitals, going through every ward, dispensary, store-house, and kitchen. The wards I described to you before. In the dispensary I questioned him about medi- cines,—he told me that he was in no way limited ; he drew for all he wanted, and always got it. I asked him about blankets and bed-clothing,—he said he had all that he needed. In the kitchen I questioned him about the rations,—he said the reductions ordered did not apply to the sick, that on his certificate any men who might not be in hospital and yet might not be well were supplied with tea and coffee, and that he drew the full army ration for all men in hospitals. Certainly the kitchens looked to me more like those of an hotel than of a prison hospital ; everything scrupulously clean ; all the cooks rebel prisoners, and the immense boilers full of soups far more savoury than any I ever saw. Here I saw large tin apparatuses for conveying food kept hot by warm water to the beds of the sick ; there were pans of deliciously roasted apples, tea, coffee, rice, all sorts of farinaceous food, and a general air of activity and good living most pleasant to contemplate. I had now examined all parts of the hospital, and asked Dr. Thompson in what the hospitals for our troops were different from what I had seen ?

He replied, " In no respect whatever ; this hospital is now exactly the same as our hospitals in the large cities, with the exception of individual charities and contributions."

I had now finished the medical side, and went over to the pri- soners' camp. I called on the commissary, and told him I wished to inspect his kitchens. He did not expect me, but immediately joined me, and we went through the buildings. The whole camp is laid out in streets, on each side of which the prisoners have their tents; there are ten of these streets, and each street constitutes one division. At the head of these streets are the mess and cook- houses, one to each division, long, one-storied, wooden buildings, the front part filled with long tables, on which are arranged the battered tin cups and plates of a rude mess-table, all set out, however, as regularly as an hotel table, and all perfectly clean. The kitchen is partitioned off in the rear of this room. In it are the usual large boilers, and the cooks (all the employes are prisoners of war) were busy at their work. The ration for prisoners does not include tea and coffee, and is one-third less than the army ration; cooked in the mess this should be amply sufficient to keep men well fed. The one-third thus cut off constitutes no saving to the Government, but it turned over in the form of money to what is known as the prison fund. This now amounts to about 6,000 dols., and is expended, under supervision of the officers, for the benefit of prisoners. With it are purchased some clothing, lumber, shelters, and so on. The prisoners themselves live under canvas. By general orders the army long ago turned in all their large tents, and had the small shelter tent issued in their place ; these large tents were turned over for the use of prisoners of war.

Having finished the mess-rooms and kitchens, nothing more remained in the prisoners' camp. That I have before described. The Southern race is neither a cleanly nor ingenious one, and their opposite peculiarities stand boldly out in a camp of prisoners. The best among them seem quite comfortable, having supplied them- selves with fire-places, sand floors, and beds raised from the ground, —hundreds of others, however, drag listlessly along in squalid misery, making very unsatisfactory use of the material supplied them, and doing nothing for themselves. All matters of internal comfort of quarters depend mainly on individual thrift and ingenuity. A large portion of the prisoners are scarcely better off than the mass of Irish peasantry, resting lazily satisfied with put- ting the canvas given them somehow between them and the sky, and living beneath in mud and filth, with a fire built of their wood in the middle of the floor. The outside of the tents—the streets and the ditches—are kept carefully policed, and the interiors so to a degree.

Having thus finished the camp, it only remained for me to call on General Barnes and look over his papers. The General gave me an enormous mass of undigested communications from prisoners, and I glanced over them. They were applications of every descrip- tion, chiefly to be allowed to take the oath of allegiance ; the majority told one story, " conscription, weariness of the war, a longing to go away and live in peace." In this camp there are now over 2,000 prisoners anxious to take the oath, and who would keep it. In sixteen months you will notice that 2,434 were so released. I further asked General Barnes about the clothing of prisoners. He showed me his figures. Since July 1, six months, he had issued 3,500 pairs of shoes and 5,000 blankets, with other articles in proportion ; in addition tothis the prisoners receive boxes and assistance from the prison fund. They are, however, I should say, insufficiently clad.

NUMBFJI OF PRISONERS OF WAR RECEIVED, TRANSFERRED, &O., FROM JULY 31, 1863, TO Novalomn 30, 1864.

Received ... ... ... ... ... 32,140 Average per day 66 Transferred and other losses ... 20,232 „II 411

Died ... .., ... ... ... ... 1,532 „

97

3

RECAPITULATION.

Received ... ...

... 32,140

Died ... ... ... ...

1,532

Transferred ...

... 10,489

Released ... ... ...

2,434

Exchanged ...

... 7,261

Escaped

Remaining, 10,376.