The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-31 00:00:00

LETTER ',ROM GENERAL NEAL DO TV.

Brigadier-General Neal Dow, in a letter to the
secretary of the Alliance, Mr. T. H. Barker, writes
as follows :—" Head-quarters, Fort at. Philip,
Sept. 28,:—1 shall receiveeon information of the pro-
ceedingsr e s t.
The o
et youree
asoccasion
ngreat
no prospect of being eateleeeel
failven convention nb with
ea
greatd e
c ci
you.eest se ,-
s it
yot uitsl
to my
me not
ytoetr
post,bteh .s
and I see
months
and much
tdmhuustcitehoe Iccoogninrfiieen.veel,m,thheantotl
liberty to leave it for some
drags its slow length
along, and must continue to do so until our govern-
ment adopts a policy At present it seems to be
entirely afloat, drifting with every wind and cur-
rent. The rebels are terribly terribly in earnest, and
come in time; and perhaps ex-
haust their strength and resources in mighty
effort, while our
Government has yet to make
up its mind full to anything. it has yet to adopt
some plan, some system, policy. That will
some
should linger in this way, and go on with various
fortune, that the Northern mind may be firmly
made up on the subjectwith
tiesthpuhe war
For myself I
of slavery.
believe this dreadful war is a controversy that God
has with this nation on account of its great sin—
slavery ; and he will
not permit us to have peace
until we repent of that sin and forsake it. Our
people are beginning
to see the matter in that
light, and public
opinion
has made great progress
in the right direction during the last year, as the
acts of our congress prove. As to the institution of
—lt
slavery •
. is virtually
overthrown already, indeed
it is literally so, everywhere within our military
lines. The slaves think themselves free, and will
masters
not work for their until they choose to do
a
so, and unless they e paid. Many masters now pay
their slaves, some 10 dols., some 12 dole. a month ;
and some stipulate to give them one-third of their
entire crop for their labour in
saving it. The slaves
leave their masters as they please, and go away
without fear; nor have they the least fear for the
old despotism. I have now about 600 of them at
these forts, constantly employed in Government
service, and they have no fear at any time to go
back to the plantation to get their things. They
have no fear of their masters, nor of ethe laws of
Louisiana. They rightly judge that these latter are
no longer of any account. Some time ago I went
into a large village, and hearing that a loyal man
was confined in the gaol, I went to it, and made the
keeper exhibit his list of prisoners. Among them
were many slaves, who were committed for ' safe
keeping,' and three whites on a charge of murder.
I demanded to see the slaves, and was taken into a
large airy room occupied by the alleged murderers.
In the floor of this apartment was a trap-door, which
the keeper raised, bidding the slaves come up, which
they did. The effluvium coming up from the den
below was so offensive that my officers could not en-
dure it. After a little I looked down into the hole,
and found it a wretched place, with only
two small
heavily-grated windows for light and air • . They
were in confinement under the laws of
Louisiana, but
I bade them go, and they went. This was trampling
those laws under foot, and the slaves all
since that time that they are no longer in bondage
by the law, for the slave laws are null. Many plan-
tations are abandoned by their owners, and I am
taking possession of them_ Yesterday I sent an
officer to a great establishment, the crops of which,
now upon the ground, are 1,000 hogsheads of sugar,
besides great quantities of other produce' worth in
all over 100,000 dols. All the whites
are gone' leav-
ing 100 negroes behind, and my officer is ' to superin-
tend the estate and secure the crops ; and this week
I shall take possession of two other great planta-
tions in the same way and for the same purpose. In
Louisiana, before ,the war, negroes
sold for more
money than in any other state, because the sugar-
planters were making immense profits, and were
continually extending the cultivation of the cane.
At present slaves are without value here, and there
is no market for them whatever. The entire busi-
ness of the State is destroyed, and vast numbers of
men of princely fortunes before the war are beggars
now. Their trade is entirely stopped, and their last
year's crops are destroyed or seized and appropriated
by the rebel Government, Ithey are left without