The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-19 00:00:00

( From the_ Special Correspondent of the Times.)
WASHINGTON, OCT. 4.
In the first place let me state that there is no!
truth whatever in the report that General Fremont
has been superseded by General Wool. Such a step
Would be dangerous, but as General Fremont is not
a regular officer, and as he is in need, perhaps, of
another " adlatus," the Government have sent Gen.
'Wool from Fortress Monroe, to be ready in case of
emergency, and to step in to-aid the General, to im-
prove any success, to assist him in any difficulty,
and to succeed and supersede him in case of failure.
General Mansfield, a regular officer of some reputa-
tion here, a man of vigour and decision of character,
takes the important command of Fortress Monroe
and its vicinity, and so far only are the positive
I3tatements in New York papers founded on fact.
On or about October 10 a great naval expedition
will sail from the fortress and the various points
along the coast to renew offensive operations against
the Confederate seaboard, from which signal results
are expected. The Government of the United States
are determined to open a cotton port. They do not
Believe in the loyalty of the South, or in their fer-
vent oaths that they never will give a bale of their
cotton to the Yankees. They hold that cotton is
King and will rule in spite of recent experience.
And so, if they can get a port, they believe cotton
will come there, and that the temptation of higher
. prices than were ever known will induce them to
end their cotton there for exportation. Then again,
theres is the theory that in reality an immense pro-
portion of the citizens in every State, except South
Carolina, are in heart Union men, and that therefore
they will flock in myriads, cotton laden, to the arms
of their deliverers. Thus another phase of a despo-
tic absolute Power may be developed in the great
republic, and a Government monopoly may be
created in cotton. Whether it will be for the interest
of the consumers and manufacturers to see such a
monopoly established it is easy to determine. But
a strong-protectionist Government will scarcely fail
to put on the screw with their foreign customers
when they hold in their hands the only supply of an
article of the first necessity. If the war continues
and the South remain obstinate, it may be doubtful
whether another large cotton crop is ever produced
in the United, or, rather, in the Confederate States.
But it will be a hard test of the sincerity of their
convictions to offer to the needy planters and the
"poor white trash" of the seceded States a certain
market and enormous profits for their stock. As
cotton must eventually come from foreign countries,
it may be found that the seat of his power has been
transferred to India, Egypt, or Brazil ; and both the
North and the South may be astonished to discover
that the lever with which they thought they could
rule the world is broken for ever. Meantime the
authorities in the Confederate States are discourag-
ing any accumulation of cotton at the ports, and, as
I wrote long ago from the South, the planters will
for the present retain the cotton on their estates.
The amount of their produce which has been sub-
scribed to Government is clearly confiscated, as the
property of the enemy, if it fall into the hands of the
United States. The effort is about to be made to open
the ports, and te,place the crop in the hands of the
North ; and at the same time the sugar planters
will be tempted by the enormous enhancement of
the price of their produce in consequence of the high
protective duty. In order to effect this important
object a strong force will be placed under the corn-
mand of Capt. Davis, of the United States Navy,
who is a highly accomplished and scientific officer,
to proceed to sea, and effect the reduction of such
places as it may be considered possible to" take and
retain by force of arms, and a division of troops
and marines will be put on board to attack and
garrison the strong places. Much will depend on
the discretion of the-officers in command as to the
places to be taken, and it is not unlikely that Fer-
nandina, Pensacola, and the mouths of the Missis-
sippi will be visited with hostile intent. Nor can
Texas hope eventually to escape untouched, and the
permission given by Mexico to send troops through
her territory will add considerably to the dangers
and difficulties of the Confederates in that quarter.
Fort Macon, which protects the entrance to Beau-
fort, and a series of internal communications, is pro-
bably too strong to be reduced by long range shell
fire, as it is a regular fort with casemates, and, as
it is armed with heavy guns, the fire of shipping
can scarcely reduce it. The spirits of the navy run
high, and the recent gallant little affair at Pensa-
cola, where the boats ran in and destroyed a Con-
federate armed schooner and spiked the guns of a
battery, has given them confidence and a desire to
do more. The flag officer of the northern division
of the Atlantic blockading squadron is Capt. Golds-
borough. The flag officer of the southern division
is Capt. Du Pont, and Capt. Davis, already men-
tioned, is captain of the fleet. The land forces,
numbering some 4,500 or 5,000 men, will be under
the command of Gen. Sherman, an artillery officer
of repute and ability, and the Marines will be com-
manded by Major Reynolds, of that branch of the
service. Six large steam-frigates, eight corvettes
and sloops, and a large number of gunboats will
form part of the blockading squadrons and the
squadrons of offensive operations, and no pains or
expense has been spared to make the force complete
in all its points. In the course of 15 or 20 days we
may expect to hear that its work has been com-
menced, but I think for the present the large cities,
such as ChaxlPston, Savannah, Mobile, and New
Orleans, are tolerably safe.

The result of the investigation and experience of
the Navy Department respecting the personnel of
the service will lead to the compulsory retirement of
several of the senior officers, among whom will be
Commodore Stringham, who commanded the Hat-
teras expedition. It is considered that he did not
carry out his instructions, and that, owing to his
neglect, the Confederates have received £300,000
worth of arms, clothing, ordnance, and stores, in the
vessel which recently ran the blockade at Savannah.
This steamer about which full particulars are given in
the American papers, is British property, and it
argues a degree of confidence in that fact almost
amounting to sublimity on the part of the owners
that they have applied to the British Minister, I
believe, to obtain an order to permit her to proceed
to sea again. Indeed, they think it hard that they
should be liable to the loss of their vessel after she
has succeeded so cleverly in running the blockade.
Our British merchants, however, must yield to cir-
cumstances, and if they will disregard the Queen's
proclamation and the policy of the country to which
they belong, they will have to take the consequences,
among which may be the practical exemplification
of the rule that enormous profits are generally at-
tended by enormous risks. There are plenty of ques-
tions which cannot be avoided rising up between the
two countries in consequence of their intimate com-
mercial relations, and the intermixture of their sub-
ject-8- By the last mail the opinion of Judge Betts
°Enurthoepeliainaw_a
..tha case went to England, and no doubt
em will have learnt with astonish-
ment that trh9llder
no ruler in the world with such
extraordinary powernited
Batatand prerogatives as the Presi-
dent of the "1.1
but one may venture to
assert that if the honest
.is lawyer who now
holds these tremendous f un
°de
asked to give an exposition os fin his hand had been
the Presidential* a
thority he would have fallenvernarsh
,inuhlibseesftlioir:
mate of them this time twelvemonth.
It
sent
principles
b inl ax the
European jurisconsults to digest and
principles set forth in that elaboros and
ment, which has met undivided support ou this Xl-
of the Atlantic. Meantime, apart from the opera_
tions in Missouri and Kentucky, of which we know
nothing at present, there is nothing doing of an ac-
tive belligerent character. Gen. M'Clellan's enor- ,
mous army has slowly extended its lines, and pushed
into the ground and positions which the enemy
pretended that they occupied, and all the intelli-
gence and information which can be had of the
Confederates is that they have fallen back to their
old positions. As yet their leaders have succeeded
perfectly in concealing their objects and even their
positions from their opponents. Nothing could have
been more complete in its way than their small
triumph in making the Federalists believe they
were meditating an advance and were in force
behind Munson's-hill, and along the advancedhi line
Which they occupied from Lewinsville to Al; an-
"`' b%
44 they dotard to draw out the ;titter to