748 NortH Carotina Troops, 1861-’65.

When Colonel Gibbs completed his regiment (the Forty-
second North Carolina Troops), and left for service in the
field, Colonel A. C. Godwin took command of the prison.

Like Colonel Gibbs, he was a gentleman and a sol-
dier. His management of the prison may be inferred from
the fact that, while he was occupying a similar post in
Richmond, he showed himself so generous to some Federal
officers that, when he was captured on the Rappahannock and
sent to the Northern prisons, he was sought out and signally
favored in grateful return by either the individuals he had
kindly served in their captivity, or by their relatives and
friends.

It was during his command that a lofty flag pole was
erected near the main entrance in front of headquarters, and
a number of citizens, including ladies, went down to witness
the raising of the Confederate flag.

When the cartel for exchange of prisoners was agreed upon
by the commissioners of the two governments, all the prison-
ers of war were exchanged. This left only Confederate con-
victs, Federal deserters and political prisoners.

The following official documents, together with a list of
the. civilian prisoners, copied from a paper kindly furnished
by Governor Swain, is published with the conviction that
while they indicate the government in the premises, they will
be of interest to many in the future: :

Ricumonp, Va., February 27, 1868.
To the House of Representatives:

I herewith transmit a communication from the Secretary of War, cov-
ering a list of the civilian prisoners now in custody at the military prison
at Salisbury, N. C., in further response to your reselution of the 5th
Inst.. and invite attention to the recommendation in regard to a class of
officers to be charged with the special duty of inqniring into the cases of
prisoners arrested by military anthority. I think such officers would
be useful, they being selected for special qualifications and invested
with special powers. JEFFERSON Davis.

CoNFEDERATE SraTEs oF AMERICA,
War DEPARTMENT,
Ricumonp, Va., February 27, 1863.
To the President of the Confederate States:

Tn answer to a resolution of the House of Representatives, I have the
honor to inclose a list of the civilian prisoners now in custody in this
city and in Salisbury, N. C., under military authority. No arrests have

SALISBURY PRISON. 749

been made, at any time, by any specific order or direction of this de-
partment. The persons arrested have been taken either by officers of
the army commanding in the field or by provost marshals, exercising
authority of a similar nature, and the ground of arrest is, or ought to be,
founded upon some necessity, or be justified as a proper precaution
against an apparent danger. The department has had commissioners to
examine these persons, with directions ‘‘to discharge those against
whom no well-grounded cause of suspicion exists of having violated a
law or done an act hostile or injurious to the Confederate States ”

The department appointed in November last a commissioner to exam-
ine prisoners in the Southwestern Department, embracing a portion of
Georgia, Alabama and a portion of Mississippi. This commissioner
found some obstructions in the performance of his duties from the pro-
vost marshals and some difficulty in obtaining reports from them. He
resigned in the latter part of January, without making a report of the
prisoners remaining in the department for which he was appointed.

These commissioners have been found useful, and [ recommend that
the department may be authorized to appoint them for the objects be-
fore mentioned, and that they be clothed with the authority of commis-
sioners under the act of the Provisional Congress, No. 273, respecting
commissioners appointed by the district courts.

In conclusion, I have to say that under the examinations that have
been made a large number of prisoners have been discharged, and none
are retained unless there be a cause of suspicion supported by testimony
rendering it probable that the discharge of the prisoners would be preju-

dicial to the public interests.
Most respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
JaMEs A. SEDDON,
Secretary of War.*

* List of political prisoners at Salisbury, N. C., omitted.
SUSPENSION OF HABEAS CORPUS.

Remembering the long and bloody struggle which the
friends of liberty have waged in the defence of the privilege
of habeas corpus, recognizing it as an inestimable security
and protection of the individual against the arbitrary acts
of ambitious power, I am, nevertheless, forced to the confes-
sion, from my own observation, that occasions may arise
when the most devoted defenders of liberty may with pro-
priety, aye, must from necessity, suspend it for the protection
of the country.

The fundamental principle and design of all proper gov-
ernment is the well-being and defence of society in its rights
and privileges. Occasions may, and often do, arise in time
of war or insurrection, when the right to suspend the writ is
to be decided by the plain question between a single indi-

vidual and the whole community. It often happens, further,