The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-02 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

TIMES.—The last surprise of the American war
has been the appearance of a new Confederate
cruiser, the Tallahassee, which has achieved unpre-
cedented success. The Alabama has been destroyed,
the Georgia sold, the Florida is in some other seas,
and the merchant vessels engaged in the Atlantic
trade were thought once again secure. But all at
once a long swift steamer is discovered haunting
the coast, and preying upon Federal commerce
with even more than the activity of its predeces-
sors. It is commanded by a captain intent upo❑
his business of capturing merchantmen, but, if re-
port is to be trusted, very little troubled with that
restless heroism which takes men into unnecessary
danger, for he says that he shall run rather than
fight, his ship being especially constructed
for the former purpose. Within a few days
upwards of fifty vessels, great and small, have
been destroyed by this daring but prudent adven-
turer. The rate of insurance on American bottoms

has risen, and not without good cause, for nothing
has been found yet to resist or even to catch the
Tallahassee. The naval department has been
confused by these sudden and multiplied disasters.
It has despatched a whole squadron of steamers in
search of the hostile vessel. Yet there is an opinion
that the Tallahassee will not be taken. Like some
phantom ship, she appears every now and then to
vessels on their way, but those who seek her seek
her in vain_ Merchant captains come into New
York and Boston and report her capturing, burn•
ing, and sinking vessels, or exacting bonds for the
payment of money as the price of her safety. She
cuts away the spars of the Federal ships and
scuttles them, carrying off their men to the nearest
land, and then putting them pitilessly on shore.
All this it has been as yet impossible to prevent.
The Federals have some swift vessels, but the Tal-
lahassee is swifter. For the second time a
single "pirate" paralyses the trade of the whole
union. The success of the Tallahassee must pro-
duce more than one imitator, and it is consequently
•the first wish of the Federal navy to put a atop to
her depredations, and to show that a reputation
such as Captain Wood has earned is in its nature
shortlived. But as yet the Tallahassee has not been
touched, and it is quite possible that she may have
as long a career as the Alabama—all the more as
her captain will probably not fall into the error of
Captain Semmes, and feel himself bound in honour
to accept the challenge of a more powerful vessel.
Such exploits cannot be contemplated without some
surprise. The English notion with respect to marine
warfare is that it is much more certain and scientific
than that on land, and with quick vessels and
powerful guns, and convenient coaling stations a
nation must soon drive off the seas a rival which is
less well provided. Powerful land armies may be
opposed by the valour and patriotism of a weaker
enemy, but numerous efficient and well-managed
vessels have seemed almost irresistible. The achieve-
ments of these Confederate cruisers, however, seem
to show that there is a chance for the weaker even
at sea. It is only necessary, when the lion's skin
fails, to piece it out with the fox's. By speed, in-
cessant watchfulness, and early information, such a
vessel as treTallahassee can multiply itself fivefold.
The command if no doubt given by the Confederate
Government to officers of the utmost skill and re.
forced by the very nature of
source, and these are
their employment to use all the faculties they pos.
sass. They stand out before the world; there are
seldom more than two or three of them at sea at the
same time. Their duties, though strictly within the
rights of belligerents, are of so invidious a kind, and
bring down on them such hatred from the enemy,
that they know that if taken prisoners they would
be treated with unusual harshness, if even no worse
inflict
the befell them. They strain every nerve to
the utmost amount of damage on the enemy,and to
escape being taken themselves. Hence, though the
Federals have a most powerful navy at their dispo-
sal,though they can send out some six or eight vessels
on purpose to search after the Tallahassee. though
they have their coaling ports close at hand, while the
Tallahassee has to take the chance of being ordered
off as often as she asks for a ton of coals at a neigh-
bouring English port, yet, unless some chance ren-
contre brings a superior Federal force against her,
the Confederate vessel may continue her career of
devastation for months to come. The half patriot,
half buccaneer, who used to play so great a part in
old wars is represented in the present day by such
persons as Captain Semmes and Wood. The man
who imbibes the spirit of this irregular warfare is
generally more than a match for the regular sea-
man, accustomed to the routine of a fleet, and re-
ceiving into his mind that element of slowness
which is almost inseparable from men who obey a
strictly constituted power accirding to rules tradi-
tionally handed down. Did not Paul Jones defy
the whole British fleet, sail up the Frith of Forth,
and fight a British frigate with impunity P Even
the French, in the worst days of their naval rills.
fortune, generally had two or three well-known
officers who were the terror of the British mercan-
tile marine, and raised the rates of insurance as
Captain Wood is raising them in New York to-day.
But though we must acknowledge the energy and
skill of these Confederate commanders, we can have
no sympathy with the particular kind of warfare
which they carry on. Looking upon it as a retali-
ation for the many excesses and cruelties of the
Federals on land, we may excuse it; but the whole
system is barbarous, and it would be well if the war
could be waged without such hateful doings. These
prizes of the Tallahassee are, many of them, almost
too petty for the dignity of a ship of war. The
little schooners of the American cuasting trade and
the fishing vessels which are sent out of the New
England ports appear to have chiefly made up the
list of the Tallahassee's captures. Nothing is more
likely to weaken the Peace party et the North
than the story of these captures, which must irri-
tate the Northern people everywhere it is told, and
make enemies of a large number who have no
sympathy with Mr. Lincoln and his party. But
while the war lasts there can be little hope that
either side will pause in the course that i; has
chosen. Never did war appear more clearly in
its true light than in the present contest, when
all amenities have been east aside, and each
belligerent has used every means at his dis-
posal to harrass or overthrow his adversary.
POST.—The Cotton Supply Association have just
offered to the public certain facts of much interest
and curiosity, in addition to the dry statistical
details which commonly form the staple of their
proceedings and reports. The recent changes in the
tendency of the cotton growth are very remarkable.
It seems likely, for instance, that the supply of
cotton from Egypt, a quarter from which so much
was originally expected, will soon come altogether
to an end. The Egyptian climate has been found
quite unsuited to the cultivation of the plant, and
already it has been almost entirely abandoned.
This is a result which cannot fail to be a serious
disappointment to those who have interested them-
selves in the Alexandrian trade. In Turkey and in
India the case is just the reverse. Both countries
have shown themselves adapted in a very high de-
gree for the culture of the cotton plant ; and it is
not improbable that there may be a sharp competi-
tion between them for the supply of the English
market with the raw material. If Turkey can pro-
duce it at the same cost as India, she will of course
have the advantage, for the distance of the Turkish
ports from Liverpool is less than one-third of the
distance of the Indian ports ; and the difference of
time, shipping cost, and interest of money, will be
in favour of the former. We will, however, com-
mence with India. Bokhara appears to be one of the
most favoured regions,but as is well known it is not
a part of British India, and the export of cotton
from thence is an overland one through Russia. Five
years ago the exports of cotton from Bokhara
amounted to no more than 1,500,0001 b., whereas
they are estimated for the present year at
20,000,0001 b. These figures are safe as ground.
works for calculation; but the association are apt
to lead the public astray when they argue from
the difference of relative value, They say that
in 1859 the trade was worth only £25,000,
whereas now it is worth £1,65.0,000; but it will
be seen at a glance that this ratio is out of all pro-
portion with the ratio avoirdupois—the fact being
that cotton is worth four or five times as much in
the Liverpcol market now as it was in 1859. The
increase, however, in weight and quantity is suffi-
cient to show that Bukhara has succeeded in esta-
blishing a anteing trade, and in cultivating the
cotton plant with very different results to what we
now find in Egypt. In Scinde the cultivation is at
present experimental, but there is a disposition to
promote it, and a fair prospect of a successful issue.
On the coasts of the Mediterranean cotton has been
cultivated with a variety of success much more than
in proportion to any possible varieties of climate.
We must, therefore, conclude that the soil has been
as influential as the atmosphere. We have already
said that in Egypt the cotton cultivation is about to
be abandoned. In Tripoli, again, the attempt has
proved itself hopeless ; but more on accoant of the
want of capital, labour, and water, than through
any tested inaptitude on the part of the soil itself.
But in Algeria, in the reuse latitude, and on the
same Southern shore of the Mediterranean as
Egypt, great expectations of success appear to be
entertained. Last year nearly 1,000,00u1b. of
cotton were exported from that country ; and
during 1864 it is expected that between three and
four times that quantity will be shipped. The
French Government, however, still cling to the old
usage of making their colonies as useful to the

imperial country as possible, and nearly the whoaa
of the Algerian produce is consigned to commer-
cial houses at Marseilles and Havre. It appears,
however, that the cotton growth in Algeria has
been stimulated artificially by the Government,
and tempting premiums are offered to the cultiva-
tor of the soil to plant his fields with cotton in-
stead of maize. No doubt, however great the
Algerian produce may be, the protective and inter-
colonial system, still partly recognised in France,
will prevent us from obtaining any of it_ It wilt, in
all probability, be entirely absorbed by the French
markets. In the Turkish empire—that is in Europe
and Asia, and excluding Africa—the success of the
cultivators hes been as various as the climates that
belong to it. But in Turkey the competition has
been more recent than in most of thecouritries on the
Mediterranean Sea, and it has not therefore at pre-
sent had equal advantages, or been so much deves
loped. But the promise on the whole is greater than
in any other of these lands. Taking the central
province of Ronmelia as an example, it appears that
the cultivation was only begun in 1863. In the dis-
trict of Adrianople 3,600 acres were then planted,
and during this year the amount has been doubled.
This small quantity of land, however, yielded
400,0001 b. in 1863, and double the quantity is ex•
petted during the present season. In another dia.
trict, that of Enos, more than ten times the guano
tity has been planted ; but the crops appear to be
there absorbed by contiguous factories, and Turkey
seems likely to become an extensive manufacturer
as well as an exporter of the raw material. In the
district of Rodosto, again, on the sea of Marmora,
there is a large produce, but it goes entirely either
to Constantinople or Marseilles, and fails, therefore,
to supply the English market. On the north western
coast of the iEgean, on the plains of Arta and Saloa
nice, there appears to be an excellent prospect of
success, if adequate labour can be obtained. It is
therefore proposed to obtain a supply of Bulgarian
peasants whom a prospect of high wages will pro-
bably tempt to leave their own country. Cotton seed
has also been sown in the Herzgovine, but in all pro•
bability the coast of the Adriatic will be found too
northerly for the success which promises to attend the
cultivation both in Roumelia and Asiatic Turkey.
In the meantime the Brazilian supply shows
same sign of abatement; but the bulk of what is
shipped from Rio Janeiro comes to this country.
It is remarkable to find from figures of the associa-
tion that the quantity of cotton now being exported
from the Brazils is no greater than it was ten years
ago. In 1853 more than 14,000 tons of cotton were
shipped ; in 1863 the amount was but 15,000 ; and
for the last nine months the amount was 11,000
tons. The popular monetary cry of " Silver to pay
for cotton in Brazil" really resolves itself into this
—that there is just the same amount of cotton im-
ported from Brazil than there used to be, but that
it costs more money per pound. In Fiji and in
Queensland the export is on the increase, bat it is
not positively large from either country. It appears
therefore that, independently of them, it is only
from Turkey and India that the amount exported
for this country is on the increase; that the Ameri-
can war has had no effect whatever on the amount
of our imports from Brazil, except in regard to
price; that in Egypt the cultivation of cotton is
exploded ; and that from Algeria the produce goes
entirely to France. We have therefore to depend
in the main on India and Turkey.