Virginia Legislature. [Extra session.]
Senate.
Saturday, January 21, 1865.
The Senate was called to order at 12 o'clock M. Prayer by Rev. Dr. McCabe.
In response to a resolution passed by the Senate a few days since, requiring the Commissioners for the Board of Public Works to make a statement of the tolls allowed by them to be charged on railroads, canals, etc., and the reasons therefore, a report was received from the Board, which was laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
Mr. Armstrong presented a memorial from the proprietors of religious newspapers in Richmond, asking that the hands in their employ be exempted from militia service.
Referred to the Committee on Exemptions.
The bill providing an additional appropriation for the Virginia Military Institute was, on motion of Mr. Christian, of Middlesex, taken from the calendar, read the third time and passed.
On motion of Mr. Graham, the House bill amending the duelling code of Virginia was ta
of self-preservation, will justify all that was done by our country and her officers.
Means for Securing Cleanliness.
The next charge is that the Libby and Belle Isle prisoners were habitually kept in a filthy condition, and that the officers and men confined there were prevented from keeping themselves sufficiently clean to avoid vermin and similar discomforts.
The evidence clearly contradicts this charge.
It is proved by the depositions of Major Turner, Lieutenant Bossieux, Rev. Dr. McCabe, and others, that the prisoners were kept constantly and systematically policed and cleansed; that in the Libby there was an ample supply of water conducted to each floor by the city pipes, and that the prisoners were not only not restricted in its use, but urged to keep themselves clean.
At Belle Isle, for a brief season (about three weeks), in consequence of a sudden increase in the number of prisoners, the police was interrupted, but it was soon restored, and ample means for washing
