The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-16 00:00:00

THE ciCIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,

(Fr 07?1 the Correspondent of the ToaeQ.)
NEW YORK, Nov. 3.
It may si.ppear incredible, but we have up to this
moment no intelligence to communicate of the pro-

grass of military operations. The experience of the
last tw,o years has sufficiently familiarised us with
the phenomenon, yet it tasks all our powers of corn-
-prehension to realise the fact that some of the
greatest armies the world ever mustered, stirred by
the most intense feelings of Cain-like animosity the
human heart ever harboured, under the most auspi.
cious circumstances of bright, bracing, inspiriting
weather, should run on week after week, month
after month, so close to each other that the pickets
on one side fling " chaff," when they do not pop lead
at the sentries of the other ; and yet the news from

beginning to end of a whole autumn season should

be no news.

The summary of one week's information reads
like a parody and a mockery, rather than a repeti-
tion of the foregoing one. " All is quiet in the army
of the Potomac." " Sumter has undergone from the

Union batteries the heaviest bombardment that ever
took place. From sundown on Wednesday till sun-

down on Thursday the Federals fired 1,200 shots
from 15-inch mortars and 300-pounder Parrots."
"They might as well have fired at the moon. The
enemy gave back noise for all this noise. The rebel

loss is seven wounded."
From. Tennessee the bulletins are even more fiat,
stale, am d unprofitable. General Thomas never tires
of exalting the heroism of the victors in the fight of
the 28th. " General Hooker," he writes, took many
prisoners, among whom were four officers and 103
men." The rest must have been cattle. Hooker him-
self had 350 officers and men dead and wounded.
Gen, Grant had reached the camp at Chattanooga,
w here " sin ce the bloody battle on the Chickamauga,
the army had settled downi in the usual quiet of
camp life." Some way, it s generally felt, must be
found to break this dead lock. " Bragg must be
evicted from. his present position. This is the busi-
ness of General Grant ;" but he takes his time
about it like his predecessors. Complaints are raised
by people competent to form a judgment on such
matters that the Federals are leaving too many
troops in their rear. "It is held to be necessary to
guard strongly all roads, and to garrison all towns.
An immense army is held between Nashville and
Louisville. In those cities themselves the military
authority is omnipresent. The streets are swarm-
ing with soldiers, the military hand is everywhere."
From these statements we may gather-1, That the
position of the army of the Cumberland is yet in-
secure; 2, that.rebel guerillas overrun the land in
every direction, gathering together, sometimes,
when strengthened by Bragg's cavalry, into bands
several thousands stronc, ; 3, that the allegiance of
Tennessee and Kentucky, even in the largent centres
of population, is not to be relied upon.
This is election day in New York. We learn it
from the newspapers, for otherwise one would not
be made aware of the fact by any unusual stir per-
ceptible in the town. The truth is, these State elec-
tions have been not inaptly compared to those
"scrub races with knock-kneed, broken-winded
Screws with which the multitude are entertained,
while their betters are making ready for great
sweepstakes." No popular vote of importance will

be elicited in America, till the time comes for the
P-rusidential election, a year hence.

Governor Seymour has been " stumping " at
Utica, at Rochester, and on Saturday evening at
-the Cooper Institute in this city. It is difficult
to dislike Mr. Seymour, for be is a gentle, amiable
man, or to withhold one's esteem from him, for he
is well-meaning and honourable—though he is
reviled by his adversaries in downright American
fashion as if he were a common pickpocket. But,
'whatever regard one may have for the man, it is
difficult to deny,that, as a politician, he is in a false
position. No one can dwell at greater length on the
horrors of the American civil war, no one can with
greater minuteness enumerate the evil it inflicts
upon the country. "The President," he informs
us, " has in progress of this war demanded a
total of two millions of men ; he asks for 600,00
more—more than 1,400,000 have already gone forth
to the battlefield." " Experience has shown," he
continues, " that every year wastes one-half of our
armies. If it now numbers 700,000 men, each day
diminishes its number by 1,000." To carry on this
murs:,erous war the country is " burdened with a
debt, which is variously estimated to be from
1,500,000,000 dols. to 2,000,000,000 dols. ;" and so
he goes on, talking of " Inevitable bankruptcy,
national ruin, social anarchy, and disorder." But,
when he has said all this, could any man believe
that he ends by declaring that " he is in favour of a
vigorous prosecution of the war ?" He is as willing
to "put forth the exertion of every material power"
as any one of nis opponents. Only, while the Re-
publicans wish to employ " force, force alone," he is
disposed to " superadd the power of conciliation."
What aannot be achieved by subjugation he would
hope to effect by compromise.
:his is, and ever will be, the stumbling-block for
fnese amiable Union-Democrats. They agree with
the Republicans that " the Union must be saved,"
that " the Constitution must be upheld." Were
they to come into power to-morrow, they would con-
alder themselves bound to carry on the war—nay,
to push it on with still greater vigour, but they
'Would give the Southerners to understand that they
tbehed for peace ; that they would make peace with
41 elk any terms that might save the Union
anti h'a 1 -
d the Constitution. This presupposes, '
couruition t:, that there is a corresponding dispo-
,-Nir. sayrateamaciliation and reunion in the South.
thousands nOttLrii tells us " there are hundreds and
believes that at this
at the South ; nay, more, he
people, if theytais hour a majority of the Southern
Union,
return once again within the
foltl.s of this
by its Constitution, and
feel themselves protected
Would again come back to their
conceit of a man
'allegiance." Thi i,l \
s
who lives Seymour's opinion, the
Albany, deep in offi-
cial business, and knave 311
no more about the South
than what he learns from
hearsay,e But, place him
to-morrow at the head of th
Government, invest
:him, not only with the President's
dictator's powers, and What voulia ,h. he
with all a
bat insisted
would he do if he found that the Southe
ut do ? What
would hear
nothing of conciliation or eomprotaise
on separation from the abhorred Yankeaa This is
the Republican answer to a.ll Seyraeu t's g
and since, all Probabilit peci-
ous arguments ; Y, they
say, the Opposition would not get us out of the
scrape of this war any sooner than the present Ad.
o'
ministration with all the people s forces, asI
It
°11137
is
very
can best be secured by undivideri.
Seymour'saction. t
speech
was, indeed, that, long as n
was, it 'did not convey- the whole of the orator's See
mind. It is possible that, like his friends Fernaudo
Wood and Vallandighans, the Governor of New
York cares less for the Union and the Constitution
than for peace, and that, where conciliation
fro m
might
be found impracticable, he would not shrin
separation ; but, were it so, it would prove that
k
either his character is not sufficiently strong, or
that the time has not yet come for him to be out-
spoken on this subject. The hour and the man for
that object may, perhaps, never come. The longer I
live among these Americans the stronger I feel the
conviction growing upon me that it is neither power
of eloquence nor prestige of authority that can move
them out of their fond conceit of national Union.
They must have their country, their continent,
their world all to themselves. They will make
one People so long as such an object can be
attained by " the expenditure of the last
dollar, or the sacrifice of the last man." They
are a boasting, vain
glorious race, and delight
in hyperbole ; but in this matter
of, the Union I
believe they are mainly in
earnest. They will not
go forth themselves
asfighting men so long as con-
scripts can buy substitutes, and natives can bribe
foreigners, and whites can impress negroes. As
with all commercial and industrial people, they will
fig!it with gold (or paper) rather than iron ; but
they will not give up the
game without along,t
stubborn, desperate strife ; and they will side with
these, no matter how ruthless and fanatical, who are
least likely to "lay hands on the plough and look
backward," ostracising the Peace-at-all-price poli-
ticians of the Vallandigham school, and sneering at
Seymour and his milk and-water Peace.uninti
and
concoliation theories.
There is, in the meanwhile, no lack of efforts

made to minister fresh stimulus to the innate san-

guineness and endurance of these stiff-necked

Yankees. The papers here incessantly • eat that

"the suppression of the forces of the ri` ellion can

and should be completed within tre next six
months." It is difficult to guess wio re the fools

deceived by these mad predictions. Privately, no
one dares to assert that the war will end at the close
of three or 36 years.
Again, there is no end of crowing at some alleged
improvement in the state of the national finances.
" Within seven months," we are told, the people
of the North have subscribed and paid for at par
over 330,000,000 dols. of six per cent. bonds." The
amount of 5-20 bonds taken by the people in the
course of last week was over 36,000,000 dole. ; on
Saturday and Friday alone 23,000,000 dols. of such
bonds were taken. This is hailed by many as a proof
of the people's confidence in the Government and
faith in the destinies of the country. The Opposition,
however, sees little reason to congratulate the Go-
vernment on the results of these operations. " A
great parade is made of the stock sold," they say,
" but little is said of the certificates paid;
30,000,000 dole. of 5-20 bonds at 6 per cent, were
sold by the Treasury, but as large a sum
of certificates at 5 per eeet. was sold ; and
mrinpo
nge re. y
Thec. e cent.
The
h eovperr process
certificatesrGovernment
Odu,nyoeo:o:edaroryelslm.itotaflsesns
realises, fm pi nl
y
3das: b:utoae maturing.
converting paper, on which it pays 5 per cent. in
" greenbacks," into other paper, on which it pays 6
per cent, gold—i.e., at the present of
state gold 9
per cent. The necessity of issuing more paper
money is not removed thereby. ln fact, the opera-
tion is one to put more paper in the market, after
the conversions which have been effected.
Without
presuming to enter
into the merits of
this financial question, w •
hich seems to me to puzzle
Americans even more than strangers, there is no
doubt but the "inflation of the currency," as they
love to call it—the rise in the premium of gold and
in the price of all commodities—is severely felt by
the lowest classes; labour is not to be procured on
any terms, and there are incessant strikes among
mechanics of every description. These Northerners
console themselves with the assurance that their
enemies are worse off than themselves. " Mr.
Memminger," say the Confederate journals, " still
grinds out, night and day, currency of which
it takes five dollars to buy a pound of pork,
and one dollar to buy a pound of flour." The
Northerners repeat these statements, and fancy
they can easily reconcile themselves to gold at
1461 when they hear that at Richmond "it takes
12 dollars of paper to buy one dollar in gold," No
doubt it will take time to break down the almost
boundless prosperity of the North, and the ruin of
the South is daily being accomplished. But the
North should consider that the Confederates are
fighting for dear life ; that any amount of sacrifice
is cheerfully made if thereby the great object can be
accomplished; and if that object is frustrated, the
bankruptcy of the South will fall with all its
weight on the victorious North, and it will be a
consolation, however meagre, for the Southerners
that their country should fall as utterly ruined, de-
solate and worthless, a prey into the hands of its
conquerors, as the despair of its defenders could
contrive to make it.
The Democrats are very indignant against the
Government for sending home thousands of soldiers
that they might vote in this day's election. Over
4,000 of these transportation tickets were received
at one single office in Washington on Saturday last.
From 20,000 to 30,000 men are said to have left
Meade's army on a ten days' leave of absence. The
complaint of the men in opposition is chiefly that
the public money has been squandered in the interest
of one party, as the soldiers to whom furloughs have
been granted were all declared Republicans, while
the Democrats sued in vain for leave of absence.
They protest, besides, that by thinning the ranks of
the combatants the position of the army is impe-
rilled, as it was at the time of the Pennsylvania
election, when, owing to the same cause, Lee was
enabled to drive up Meade to the defences of Wash-
ington. " What," they say, " if Lee should happen
to be particularly anxious for battle during these
days 9—he must be at the trouble to seek the Army
of the Potomac at New York."
Several persons have been arrested at Columbus,
Ohio, charged with a " diabolical plot to upset the
Government of the State, or, at least, to release the
State or war prisoners, more than 3,000 of whom
were confined at Camp Chase and in the Columbus
Penitentiary. Among these is the famous John
Morgan. The liberated captives were to cross the
Ohio River at Maysville, probably to initiate a gue-
rilla warfare in the rear of the Army of the Cum-
berland. The whole charge rests on the assertion
that one of the alleged conspirators had supplied
the money for the purchase of axes and chloro-
form. The persons arrested are Mr. Cathcart,
late School Commissioner, Mr. Crisop, Mr. Slade,
and Dr. Gazelle (obscure persons, but suspected of
Copperhead tendencies), and two washerwomen,
Mrs. Parmenter and Mrs. M'Donald, who had
busines at Newport, a suburb of Cincinnati on the
Kentucky side of the Ohio, and are supposed to
have been the bearers of treasonable correspondence
The prisoners have been admitted to bail on 10 ,000
dols. securities each, and have retained as their
counsel the Hon. George Pugh, late Democratic
candidate for the Lieutenant-Governorship of the
State, and the most eloquent barrister in Cincinnati.
Nov. 4.
No news of deeds of arms to-day, but only the
anticipation, vain and vague as usual, of something
that may come to pass to-morrow. The results of
the elections were such as all sensible persons anti-
cipated. According to the returns of the Democrats
themselves,the Administration has obtained a majo-
rity of more than 15,000 votes in the State of New
York. The city itself, though it still gave the De-
mocrats an absolute majority of 21,000 has fallen
short by 10,000 of the majority by which Governor
Seymour was elected last year. There is no doubt
but the success of the Republicans has been equally
great in Massachusetts, Illinois, Wisconsin, Min-
nesota, Michigan, Missouri, and Kansas, where
partial elections came off also yesterday, everywhere
with the best order and calmness; indeed, with an
apathy which naturally sprang from security on the
part of that party which has actually achieved the
victory. The peace-at-any price men have gone to
the wall, with Fernando Wood and Vallandigham.
The war-with-conciliation men have followed them,
with Seymour and his friends. It will take no
small amount of adversity to sober these Yankees ;
still, no one can predict what would happen were
the Southerners to hold out in their present posi-
tion till the next Presidential election.