The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-31 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN. AMERICA.

(From the Times' Correspondent.)
NEW YORK, Aug. 18.
Peremptory orders from Washing Lon have been
issued for the recommencement of the draught in
this city. To-morrow has therefore been fixed upon
for the renewal of the lottery, which, in the words

of a labourer who declares that he will neither serve
as a soldier nor endeavour to find a substitute, if he

die for it, is to decide whether " the bodies of the

men of the working classes are their own property

or that of Abraham Lincoln." Governor Seymour's
remonstrance has not been altogether without effect

upon. the President's determination, for the officers
chargei with the duty of the conscription hav re-

clued their demand upon six districts of the State
of New York from 26,299 men to 12,300—a conces-
sion which amounts to an administration of the
truth of Governor Seymour's charge that the enrol.
ment was partial and unfair. In other respects the
President holds firm, and has appointed Gan. Dix,

the Federal officer in succession to Geu. Wood act(

ing independently of the authority of Governor
Seymour, to carry out the provision of the Conscript
Law and to maintain the peace of the city. Gen.

Dix, who is one of the few respectable and judicious
officers in the service of the President, has a large
force under his command, and, in anticipation of

disturbance, receives almost daily such reinforce-
ments as the Secretary of War can spare.
It is thought by all those quiet citizens who love
tranquillity so much that they fancy all others must

Love it as affectionately as themselves, that the

action of the municipality of New York in voting

,hree millions of dollars to find substitutes for

unwilling conscripts will act as a conductor to

carry off the electricity of popular wrath. When
the working classes are once convinced that, if

...
draughted, the maternal city of New York will pay
the exemption money that will enable them to re-

main at home with their families, in ownership of

the fee simple of their own bodies, it is exceedingly
probable that Gen. Dix, his armies, and his gun.
boats will have nothing to do, and that no further

breach of the peace will occur. Were there a new
insurrection ever so little more formidable than the

last, it is scarcely probable that three millions of I
dollars would pay for the damage that would be
done to property, to say nothing of the loss of life;
so that the civic magnates in insurieg the safety of
the city for that handsome premium have perhaps
done a prudent stroke of business ; but if it should
happen that they cannot borrow three millions of
dollars for the purpose, the Federal Government, in
their default, might ultimately find itself in a very
serious dilemma. Time presses, as Mr. Lincoln takes
occasion toremind Mr. Seymour,and as no draughted
man is likely to offer himself for service, after such
an offer has been made to him by so wealthy a cor-
poration as that of the Empire City, Gen. Lee may
take advantage of the halcyon days that have so un-
expectedly dawned upon his cause as to resume the
offensive, and once again try his chances against
the city of Washington. It is possible, if the Mayor
do not veto the bill of the two branches of the City
Legislature, that the three millions of money may
be borrowed upon the security of the local taxation,
which these bodies have it in their power to levy ;
but it is also possible that capitalists may refuse to
take stock in the loan. In the neighbouring city of
Brooklyn, where the working classes are resolutely
determined and closely banded not to serve in the
Federal army, the municipality has agreed to bor-
row one million of dollars, for the purpose of paying
substitutes to replace the bone and sinew that pre-
fer work to fighting. But the banks have refused
to advance any funds on the security offered, and
the loan, on being put up to public competition, has
produced only 20,000 dots. This is but a small step
towards a million; and as the working classes
require cash down, the chances are that Brooklyn
will take nothing by its action but the merit of good
intentions. It remains to be seen whether the
capitalists of New York have no greater sense of
the impending danger than those of Brooklyn, or
whether house proprietors and others will not in-
vest in a stock, the issue of which may more effectu-
ally protect their property from plunder and con-
flagration than all the soldiers that General Dix can
bring to bear in their defence.
The city is full of troops, the militia is under
arms, and will remain so during the night; but it
is not probable any riots or disturbances will take
place. The difficulty, as stated in my letter of the
21st ult., will occur when the Government shall en-
deavour to carry off the draughted men forcibly
from their homes, unless, in the meantime, all
danges from that cause shall be obviated by the
judicious expenditure of the £3,000,000 which the
corporation have voted to pay exemptions.
While such is the aspect of political affairs in this

city, -Wall-street takes no heed of any of the angry
portents that flare and flash ou the horizon. It
looks for the immediate capture of Charleston, and
the certain repulse of General tee, should that
daring soldier once more resolve to attempt the
capture of 'Washington. It considers, in the slang
of the day, that Mr. Jefferson Davis is "squirm-
ing" under the heel of Mr. Abraham Lincaln ;
that the rebellion is "squelched ;" and that now is
the time for 'stocks of all description to rise rapidly,
and for those who understand the manipulation of
those articles to make fortunes before they begin to
fall. The Stock-Exchange is wild with excitement.
A veritable scrip mania has set in with a virulence
equal to that of the dog-days. Lines such as the
Harlem Railway, that prior to the war were at a
discount of 75 per cent., and that have in no sense
increased their traffic in the interval, have shot up
to enormous premiums. The intrinsic value of the
Harlem stock is estimated to be about 30, but it
sold yesterday as high as 170 to persons who expect
it will reach 180 to-morrow. The Erie, that long
slept between the fifties and sixties, was yesterday
at 109-4- ;
the New York Central at 130 ; the Illi-
nois Central at 124; and the Pacific Mail at 235.
In the Harlem line the advance has been 10 per
cent. since yesterday; on the New York Central. 2i;
on the Erie, 2s; and on another line—the Pitts
burg and Fort Wayne—which has suddenly risen
into popularity, 81. It is not surprising under such
circumstances that all legitimate business stagnates
or dies, Well-street, Exchange-plane, and William-
street, monopolise the presence of all the old and
young speculators of the capital. Their pavements
n oi
s difficult.thronged wlitt hi gs
trheee do
old
gsat
omrbyl eorfs
tilt he est
South
tcho m o
Sea-
at
iroe s
Bubble and the Mississippi Scheme revived in ft
new latitude, a story that will run through the same
developments,
contawintlisa
same
crash,episodes andinflict the
same miseries, end ith thesame
point
the same moral. Change-alley
and the Rue Quin-
campoix never witnessed more madness, more in-
veterate and desperate
gambling, more rotten and
baseless speculation of far- • seeing knaves and over-
wise fools, than may be witnessed to-day within a
circle of 300 yards in circumference, of which the
centre is in -William-street, up the narrow entry
that leads to the hall of mooting
of the Board of
Brokers; and all the people who rush to this Temple
of Fortune know that the speculation
that attracts
and dazzles them is based upon nothing—that it is
unsound as a soap bubble, and must as certainly
collapse. But, no ono cares to-day—as no one eared
during the similar insanity of the Mississippi
Scheme, or the more recent railway madness of the
time when Hudson was King, and all England and
Scotland thought of nothing but making profits
upon the sale of railway scrip, leaving the loss, the
misery, and the broken hearts to the last new
comers, who happened to be in possession when
" Panic' blew on the card-castle with his hot breath,
and brought the fragile fabric to the ground. There
is a likelihood, too, that this is not even the climax,
but only the commencement of the "mad term." Mr.
Chase is compelled to issue more paper, whether be
desire to do so or not, or else the armies of the Re-
public will go unpaid, and the contractors will
grow clamorous for the realisation of their enormous