The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-29 00:00:00

The Southern States of America.

The following is an extract from a private letter
which has been received in Manchester how
Mobile

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" April 22, 1663.
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" Dear —, —My last was of Jan. 20. Yours,
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only as to the uncertainty of what prices may be
when peace is restored, but that the prospect of
peace is more remote now than ever. My opinion
has been, and is still, that the war would last during
Lincoln's administration. I thought that the Demo-
crats wouldget into power, and restore peace by a
recognition of the independence of the Confederate
States. I believe they will get into power and elect
the next President, but I tear now, from the present
action of the Democratic patty at the North, that
any idea of their being a peace party has been a
mistaken one. Their 'recent successes in elect ions
have made them bold to show their true polies ;
either that, or they are changing to meet what
seems now to be the growing feeling at the North,
' a determination to prosecute the war till the South
is brought back into the Union,' and they are car-
rying out this idea by styling themselves ' the con-
stitutional war party.' If, therefore, they elect the
next, President upon this platform, another four
years after Lincoln's term may be added to the
duration of the war. I know well the power
of the North in superiority of numbers and
resources, but what can those avail to con-
quer such a people as the Southerners, It
is out of all human possibility. It seems
that nothing but a long war will convince the North
of this, and a long war, therefore, it must be. The
impression no doubt exists at the North that a long
war will exhaust the South and she will have to
yield. What a fallacy this is. 'We must not judge
from past expel iences as to the resources and energy
of the South. Nothing ever occurred to call out
their energies before this war, because everything
was furnished them by other people, but we see
them now full of energy, spirit, and enterprise. Be-
fore the war theywere almost powerless in military
strength and internal resources. They had no arms,
no ammunition, nothing apparently to sustain them-
selves with in the great struggle they had entered
into. But what do we see now ? An immense army
all armed to the teeth, and with the best military
equipments,ararnunition,and war materiel in abund-
ance. Ali this with ports closed. We see every-
where around us the internal resources of the
country being steadily and rapidly developed—
such as coal, iron, and salt mines springing into
existence, old dilapidated iron foundries being re-
built and worked with heavy profits, turning out
candle,
cannon of the heaviest calibre, powder, shot and
nail factories and all sorts of small manufacturing
match,
soap,
sr.
establishmentseThegnrtohwaitngpaurpt of the agricultural , such
as
re-
sources of the country that has heretofore been
used for the production of cotton and tobacco
are now being turned to the production of food,
and ere long food, will be no longer a question
of any anxiety. With ell these increasing re-
sources, the military strength of the country is
increasing in like ratio. Every place is being
thoroughly fortified and strengthened ; our soldiers,

from Jong experience and severe trims, have become
veterans, and acting on the defensive are equal to
thrice their number. Where, then, is the South
getting weaker ? It is true she has not the men to
fall back upon to replenish her armies that the
North has ; but as the South never can act upon the
offensive to any great extent her strength is in her
defensive policy, to carry on which she has men suf-
ficient for a 30 years' war; and the longer the war
the stronger she becomes, because all the elements
of strength are growing up within her herself. The
duration of war depends, therefore, upon how long
the North will stay unconvinced of the impossibility
of subjugating the South. From the immense war
materiel they have brought into play, and their
spirit of determination in the contest, we may look

for a long, long war. We did think the north-west
would soon withdraw from the contest, and thus end
the war; but now the signs are that they are as de-

termined as the east to restore the Union. All their
protestations for peace only amount to reconstruc-
tions.' They are less bitter than the east, inasmuch

as they would favour an armistice for reconstruc-

tion, and receive the South back with forgive.
ness and open arms, while the other section is
for effectually wiping out the rebels. Neither

plan can prevail. The South is not so bitter

against the west, for with a treaty of peace
now the west separate could obtain the most

advantageous terms ; but the east will be blotted

out from existence so far as commercial al-

liance is concerned. From what I have said you
can judge yourself how little hope there is for an
early peace, and you know me well enough to
feel satisfied that I do not write from passion or

undue enthusiasm, I write only a cool, dispas-
sionate, and truthful statement of things that
have come within my knowledge, and I do this

simply to give you some grounds to 'rake up

your opinion of matters as they exist in this

country, not, however, wishing you to take as
your chief guide what I say, but merely to weigh
my statement in the balance with others.
"There has been very little cotton planting
this spring, and my estimate of 700,000 to 1,000,000

bales as the probable production is a very full
_ .

one. I should now incline to reduce it to 500,000
to 700,000, as the planting is mostly for the pur-
pose of keeping up seed. There is a good deal
of cotton going out by the steamers running the
blockade, and that sort of business is increasing

rapidly. There seems now to be but little trou-
ble in evading the blockaders ; the reason is that

steamers adapted to the business are now being

obtained from abroad. Middling cotton is worth

,n the interior from 20c. to 30c. according to loca-

ion. Sterling exchange is selling at 600 per

cent.
" Congress has now passed a direct tax bill,
which will, no doubt, arrest the further depre-
ciation of the currency, and in time will mate-
rially improve it. Amongst farmers the tax is
'in kind,' that is, instead of money, they take
at market value articles of food to the extent of
the tax. You have, of course, heard that the at-
tacks on Vicksburg and Charleston have proved
serious failures, though, of course, it is under-
stood that they will be renewed at some future
time."