The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-13 00:00:00

There are doubts arising in my mind respecting.
the number of armed men actually in the field in the
South and the amount of arms in the possession of
the Federal forces. The constant advertisements and
appeals for " a few more men to complete" such and
such companies furnish some sort of evidence that
men are still wanting. But a painful and startling
insight into the manner in which " Volunteers "
have been sometimes obtained has been afforded to
me at New Orleans. In no country in the world
have outrages on British subjects been so frequent
and so wanton as in the States of America. They
have been frequent, perhaps, because they have
generally been attended with impunity. English-
men, however, will be still a little surprised to hear
that within a few days British subjects living in
New Orleans have been seized, knocked down, car-
ried off from their labour at the wharf and the work-
shop, and forced by violence to serve in the "Volun-
teer" ranks ! These cases are not isolated. They are
not in twos and threes, but in tens and twenties ;
they have not occurred stealthily or in by-ways;
they have taken place in the open day and in the
streets of New Orleans. These men have been
dragged along like felons, protesting in vain that
they were British subjects. Fortunately, their
friends bethought them that there was still a Bri-
tish Consul in the city, who would protect his
countrymen—English, Irish, or Scotch. Mr. Mure,
when he heard of the reports and of the evidence,
made energetic representations to the authorities,
who, after some evasion, gave orders that 019 im-
pressed "Volunteers" should be discharged, aeldethe
"Tiger Rifles" and other companies were deprived
of the services of 35 British subjects whom they
had taken from their usual avocations. The mayor
promises it shall not occur again. It is high time
that such acts should be put a stop to, and
that the mob of New Orleans should be taught
to pay some, regard to the usages of civilised
nations. There are sonic strange laws here and else-
where in reference to compulsory service on the
part of foreigners which it would be well to inquire
into, and Lord John Russell may be able to deal
with them at a favourable opportunity. As to any
liberty of opinion or real freedom here, the boldest
Southerner would not dare to say a shadow of either
exists. It may be as bad in the North for all I
know, but it must be remembered that in all my
communications I speak of things as they appear to
me to be in the place where I am at the time. The
most cruel and atrocious acts are perpetrated by the
rabble who style themselves citizens. The national
failing of curiosity and prying into other people's
affairs is now rampant, and assumes the name and
airsof patriotic vigilance. Every stranger iswatched,
every word is noted, espionage commands every
keyhole and every letter box ; love of country takes
to evesdropping, and freedom shaves men's heads,
and packs men up in boxes for the utterance of
abolition sentiments. In this city there is a terrible
substratum of crime and vice, violence, misery, and
murder, over which the wheels of the Cotton King's
chariot rumble gratingly, and on which rest in
dangerous security the feet of his throne. There
are numbers of negroes who are sent out on the
streets every day with orders not to return with
less than 75 cents—anything more they can keep.
But if they do not gain that—about 3s. 6d. a day—
they are liable to punishment; they may be put
into gaol on charges of laciness, and may be flogged
ad libitum, and are sure to be half starved. Can
anything, then, be more suggestive than this para-
graph, which appeared in last night's paper :
" Only three coroners' inquests were held yesterday
on persons found drowned in the river, names un-
known ? " The italics are mine. Over and over
again has the boast been repeated to me that on the
plantations lock and key are unknown or unused
in the planters' houses. But in the cities they
are much used, though scarcely trusted. It ap-
pears, indeed, that unless a slave has made up
his or her mind to incur the dreadful penalties of
flight there would be no inducement to commit theft,
for money or jewels would be useless; search would
be easy, detection nearly certain. That all the slaves
are not indifferent to the issues before them is cer-
tain. At the house of a planter the other day one of
them asked my friend, " Will we be made to work,
massa, when ole English come ?" An old domestic
in the house of a gentleman in this city said, " There
are few whites in this place who ought not to be
killed for their cruelty to Its. Another said, " Oh,
just wait till they attack Pickens !" These little
hints are significant enough, coupled with the notices
of runaways and the lodgments in the police gaols,
to show that all is not quiet below the surface. The
holders, however, are firm, and there have been
many paragraphs stating that slaves have contri-
buted to the various funds for State defence and that
they generally show the very best spirit.
By the proclamation of Governor Macgoffin, a
copy of which I enclose, you will see that the Gover-
nor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Com-
mander-in-Chief of all her military forces on land
and water, warns all States, separated or united,
especially the United States and the Confederate
States, that he will fight their troops if they attempt
to enter his Commonwealth. Thus, Kentucky sets
up for itself while Virginia is on the eve of destruc-
tion and an actual invasion has taken place of her
soil. It is exceedingly difficult of comprehension
that with the numerous troops, artillery, and bat-
teries which the Confederate journals asserted to bo
in readiness to repel attack, an invasion, which took
place in face of the enemy and was effected over a
broad river, with shores readily defensible, should
have been unresisted. Here it is said that there is a
mighty plan, in pursuance of which the United
States' troops are to be allowed to make their way
into Virginia that they may at some convenient
place be eaten up by their enemies ; and if we hear
that the Confederates at Harper's Ferry retain their
position one may believe some such plan really
exists, although it is rather doubtful strategy to
penult the United States' forces to gain possession
of the right bank of the Potomac. Should the posi-
tion at Harper's Ferry be really occupied with a
design of using it as a point d' appui for movements
against the North, and any large number of troops
be withdrawn from Annapolis, Washington, and
Baltimore, so as to leave those places comparatively
undefended, an irruption in force of the Confede-
rates on the right flank and in rear of General
Scott's army, might cause most serious inconve-
nience, and endanger his communications, if not
the possession of the places indicated.
Looking at the map, it is easy to comprehend
that a march southwards from Alexandria could be
combined with an offensive movement by the forces
said to be concentrated in and around Fortress
Monroe, so as to place Richmond itself in danger,
and, if any such measure is contemplated, a battle
must be fought in that vicinity, or the prestige of
i
the South will receive very great damage. It
s
impossible for any one to understand tbe
ments of the troops on both sides. These
than position
determined rather by local c b
compmancviees-
aorfethsecastttaerteesd,
abnroda, dwohasetre concentratedoverth in any con-
e enormous expanse
siderable numbers, seem to have
u ha
sdt a tnhe ee
sr
considerations connected with the general plan of
a large campaign.
In a few days the object of the recent movements
at
will be better understood, and it is probable th
your correspondent at New York will send, by the
present post-
same mail which carries this, exceedingly
y
impor-
hcebined with the
blockade
ialoo int
k,cade
information,
havei wll n
b esoeto
v whichaecrceelsyfelt,
s. I
T,
in m
ominfiue nee of the
strict interruption of all intercourse by the Missis-
sippi. Although the South boasts of its resources
and of its amazing richness and abundance of pro-
duce, the constant advice in the journals to increase
the breadth of land under corn, and to neglect the

The day before yesterday ships belonging to the
United States in this river were seized by the Con-
federation authorities, on the ground that war had
broken out, and that the time of grace accorded to
the enemy's traders had expired. Great was the
rush to the consul's office to transfer the menaced
property from ownership under the Stars and
Stripes to British hands, but Mr. Mure refused to
recognize any transaction of the kind, unless sale
bona fide had been effected before the action of the
Confederate Marshals.

At Charleston the blockade has been raised,
owing, apparently, to some want of information or
of means on the part of the United States'aGovern-
ment, and considerable' inconvenience may
on
experienced by them in consequence. On the 11th
the United States' steam frigate Niagara appeared
outside and warned off several British ships, and
the 13th she was visited by Mr. Bunch, our Consul,
who was positively assured by the officers on board
that eight or ten vessels would be down to join in
enforcing the blockade. On the 15th, however, the
Niagara departed, leaving the port open, and seve-
ral vessels have since run in and obtained fabulous
freight„ ..aggt ting to the minds of the owners of
the vessels which were warned off the propriety of
making enormous demands for compensation. The
Southerners generally believe, :not only that their
1 Confederacy will be acknowledged, but that the
blockade will be disregarded by Eng-land. Their
affection for her is proportiOnably prodigious, and
reminds one of the intensity of the gratitude which
consists in lively expectations of favours V) come.

THE COTTON SUPPLY ASSOCIATION.

The annual meeting of this association was held
yesterday in the Manchester Town-1 all. The at-
tendance was numerous and influentit 11.
Mr. J. CHEETIIAM, the President, said the pre•
sent state of circumstances affecting the supply of
cotton to this country, alarming as it was, did not
make the arguments of this associate on any stronger
than they were at its foundation four years ago,
though its principles might he more recognised
now than they were at that time, by the many who
then stood aloof. The leading principle of the
association had been, from the outset, that this
vast national interest of cotton mantis facture ought
not to remain in almost total de, pendence on
one source of supply for its ra w material,
especially when the permanence of that source
was so closely bound un with a WOcial system
liable suddenly to break down and les .ve us in the
direst emergency. He regretted very- much the in-
difference with which the question. had been
regarded among the manufacturing interest itself,
as compared with the anxious attention paid to it
in all circles in the metropolis. Everywhere in
London the question was being asketi. of them,
" What are you doing in Lancascire, a.ad what is
to be the result there of this crisis in the United
States ?" Now that the crisis seemed in iminent, it
was a matter for congratulation that this associa-
tion had already been in existence four ye. ars, storing
up information and experience that might serve to
guard us from ill-considered and disastrous experi-
ments. It was easy to report of this or -that part of
the world that it was capable of supplying abundance
of excellent cotton, but the point too often lost sight
of was the enormous advantages possessed by the
American planter. In the first place he had the
pre-eminent advantage of being an Angie-Saxon,
endowed with all the skill, enterprise, and ingenuity
of that sacs. Then he had a country the soil and cli-
mate of which were is sudarly adapted for the cul-
ture of the article, from the lowest qualities up to the
very finest. He had an adequate and intelligent
acquaintance with the real wants of the consumers;
his own country was covered with roads, railways,
and navigation, so as to give him the greatest pos-
sible economy in conveying his produce to the port,
and there also he met the capitalists who gave him
the means of speedy communication with all the
markets of the world. What, then, were the places
on the globe where we were able to contend with
a competitor so highly favoured ? On a review of
all those parts of the world whence cotton might
be expected to come, it was found that, apart from
the southern portion of the United States, there were
only two regions possessing the very first requisite,
which was labour to employ; and these two were
the West of Africa and the East Indies. Every
other country possessing soil and climate fit for the
growth of cotton of a quality equal and in many
cases superior to that which America produced, was
yet placed out of the question at present by the
want of labour. And in the West of Africa, though
there was labour, the people were savage, the coun-
try was desolated by the warfare of the hostile:
tribes, and the climate also was fatal to Europeans.
Thus we were at present restricted to that great
continent of India, which was now actually growing
more cotton than any other portion of the globe. It
was calculated that the annual produce of cotton in
India was not less than 6,000,000 bales. We also
possessed the, advantage of having that country
under our own Government. There, also, we had
abundance of free labour ; there was no question of
slavery to grapple with. And yet, there were
f,,rmidable obstacles as compared with the posi-
tion of the Americans. In the cotton districts of
India, there was no such man known as the Anglo-
Saxon. The cultivation was in the hands of the
ryot, a small farmer holding a few acres of ground,
and so poor himself as to depend on bankers for his
capital. When his crop reached maturity the pro-
duce was taken by the moneylender, who, of course,
had great control over the price, and it very little
exceeded lid. or 111-d. per lb. The cotton was im-
perfectly cleaned, and underwent various adulte-
rations for the advantage of the succession of
dealers through whose hands it passed before
reaching those of the English merchant at the place
of export. It was worthy of remembrance that
scarcely any article exported from India had ever
been brought to a satisfactory state of produc"
tion, unless under European superintendence.
But in India we were also without roads to the
seaboard, without water communications also,
and railways were only now on the point of be-
coming available. Another difficulty was the under-
stood principle of the Indian Government that no
' land should ever be sold in fee simple to Europees,
and then there was the jealousy of the civil service,
against enterprising Englishmen in the interior
r:
India, who were to this day regarded as interlopifeefl
though an altered tone was beginning to be
on the part of the Government. Underl
cir-
cumstances it was not surprising thatnd
and fetched
was the worst grown in the whole worldere accustomed
the lowest price, so that consumers w
relying on India as a
s in this associa-
main source of supply. The znothverre ianihneacsneotto
tion believed, nevertheless,that e was a prospect
o
yconsumed only
th e I nth].
the
dean
quality pl yt tao
level
with The
with that grown in Ame •
country,not on
butof increasingalsoelevating
was 2,974,000
sx
q quantity ourselves
aenartsi
the Continent. India wasth an capable6oo woof
annum on the average, the e, annual
taking away to various
230,000 being
giving rn
us a much larger
bales,r of whichatrwhee lhaastd
bales, which was the amount last year. Probably
we could reckon an 1,200,000 bales a year from
Bombay. This association had
to hand over the lately been enabled
_.development of the cultivation
of a superior quality of cotton in India to the
efforts of a • • pint-stock company, who chairman
was his friend Mr. Platt, of Oldham. (Applause.)
As soon as the season rmitted, the company
countries 2
excess 6 6 o Ionodf balesoi a
n
proposed to sendout to
Mr. G. R. Haywood, who had hitherto been
the secretary of this association ; and Sir Charles
Wood had placed at that gentleman's disposal
the services of Dr. Forbes, who would
accompany him. (Applause.) Mr. Cheetham
referred again to the danger of relying exclu-
sively on America, and pointed to the fact that
while the annual supply from the whole world in
the last 10 years had averaged only 3,984,000 bales,
the annual consumption of Great Britain, Europe,
and America had been 3,960,000. The present
price of cotton arose not so much from the actual
crisis in America as from the practical knowledge
that a million bales had been lost to us by the
failure of the harvest. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. H. ASEIWORTH moved the adoption of the
annual report of the association, which was agreed
to.