The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-29 00:00:00

NEW ORLEANS.

The following is an extract from a letter dated New Or-
leans, June 30, 1 2 :—" lam now going to give you an
idea of how thins are in this quarter of the globe. 'We have
passed through a most exciting year, the details of which,
1 suppose, will be written by some future United States
historian. By the means of enormous armies, well supplied
with every possible war material, their fleets of gunboats,
mortar vessels, and heavy ships of war, they have captured
this city, and will soon obtain control of the navigation of
the Mississippi River. But lam inclined to think that the
conquest has been dearly bought. Wherever their armies
approach, property of all kinds, and more
particularly cotton,
will be destroyed. How far the people are justified in such
general destruction I cannot say. The sacrifice of such vast
representative wealth is terrible to contemplate, yet it is
none the less true. An intimate friend of mine, the represen-
tative of a large English house, had occasion to leave here
shortly after the arrival of the United States' fleet on some
business connected with his firm, and travelled through
Mississippi up as far as Vicksburg, through the interior of
the State, thence to the Ouachita country, and across to
North-Western Texas, down the Red River to Shreveport,
Nachitoches, and Alexandria, taking in his journey a belt
of the most productive and valuable cotton lands in the
Slave States, and hence he is able t si eak with authority
upon the condition of affairs in the interior—perhaps bet ter
then anyone in New Orleans just now. In Mississippi and
Louisiana, bordering on the river, nearly all the cotton was
being destroyed within six miles of the bank. He came
down the river some 90 miles in a skiff, and rowed through
dense masses of loose cotton, partially burnt, that had been
thrown into the stream from the gin-houses, where it had
been lying unbaled. The Legislature of Mississippi had
taken the subject of the destruction of cotton into their own
hands ; and, even if there should be any planter indispos,d
to destroy his crop, committees had been appointed in diffe-
rent counties and parishes to proceed to every plantation,
have the cotton placed in the open field, and prepared for
immediate ignition the moment it should be endangered by
the approach of the Federal forces. This, he says, was not
necessary, as there did not seem to him to be any necessity
for legislative action whatever to compel the planter to this
course, for, without an exception (and he saw a great num-
ber), they were all enthusiastic in the determination to lay
waste and destroy their crops and plantations. lie saw
several who had burnt from 2,000 to 4,000 bales, and in one
instance a large planter below Vicksburg not only destroyed
his crop, but his plantation residence, gin-houses, negro
quarters, and outbuildings, and removed his slaves 30 miles
back from the river. This was, he says, by no means a
solitary instance, as there were many others following his
I example. In the remote and almost impenetrable section
of country known as the Ouachita country, in North-West
Louisiana, the same spirit of destruction prevailed as in
Mississippi, and in some instances he met planters, whose
places were situated in Bayon, Bartholomew, and Lake
Bortenears (which are only approachable by very
light-draught boats, at a high state of water, and where no
immediate danger was to be apprehended), who had already
burnt their cotton, not from apprehension of its being cap-
tured, but to give the United States' authorities to under-
stand that any attempt to get possession of their cottons
would be utterly futile. He travelled from Monroe on the
Ouachita River, to Shreveport, en Red River, a distance of
nearly 200 miles, by stages, passing through an extensive
and vsry productive cotton region, and on every plantation
he found the cotton everywhere so prepared that it could be
immediately destroyed. He learned (I have myself) from
well informed planters that the same determination prevailed
throughout the cotton country in Texas contiguous to
Shreveport and down the Red River to Alexandria. This
is no imaginary statement, for the reports received here
every day from all sections not only confirm the above, but
the determination which the planters have come to seems,
it' possible, to have become even more decided than ever.
Factors, and others interested in cotton, are inclined to think
that, under ordinary circumstances and a free export, we
should have received at all the ports nearly 4,000,000 bales.
The amount already destroyed is placed somewhere in the
vicinity of 300,000 bales: and, what with the waste from
the want of bagging and carelessness in picking, the avail-
able crop, presuming all our war troubles at an end at this
moment, would not exceed 3,000,000 bales—circumstances
may greatly diminish this last figure. With regard to the
prospective crop of 1862-3, it is very doubtful if sufficient
cotton has been planted to yield more than 3,000,000 bales.
The attention of planters has been turned almost entirely
to the production of cereals, and a gentleman told me that
he saw plantations that last year produced 2,000 bales and
upwards planted almost entirely with corn. Now, the pro-
spects of returning trade are very gloomy, and, under the
most favourable circumstances, it will take a long time to
restore confidence and place the commercial community in
a position to afford facilities to the planters. The cotton
factors even now are hopelessly insolvent. It is impossible
to tell what this class will do in the event of further de-
struction of property in the interior. Our banks in Sep-
tember last suspended specie payments—perfect robbery,
and the subsequent withdrawals of their specie beyond the
reach of their creditors must eventually go into liquidation,
and the question is, will their present issues ever be re-
deemed. You see now that affairs look very gloomy ; a
source of no small regret to myself, for my future prospects
were exceedingly bright. The suspension of the banks
affected me to a small degree. Everything is in a deplora-
ble state. Flour now commands 30 dots per barrel, beef
30c per lb."