New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-10-27
a NATIONAL CAPITAL WANTED.

be7 Baltimore No. Neither Baltimore nor
MARYLAND even 80 much as talk about seeding.
Besides, the Republicans are looming up there, aud
will come down with q smar. vote 10 November.
Is there aIy place in Delaware Wilmington is
its chief town, and the people of that ancient and
sober.sded place no more favor secession than the
rural population of the little State in whose mind
the idea of secession has never yet found lodg'
ment We must, then go South, of Delaware and
Maryland Shall we say the Federal city, Mr..
Senator Clingman would answer yes. He has de-
clared he meant to have his share of the stone and
mortar of Washington, or die 10 his tracks in try
ing to get it, But how will the seceders get pos
session Not without fighting for it, certainly;
for the city is in the hands of the General
Government, and that Government Will not
yield it unless under compulsion 10 take II
by force, then, involves the raising of an army to
capture it. We'll, where is that coming FROM Is
Washington to be captured by Virginia under
the valiant Gen. Wise? The raw recruits of the
Old Dominion left it to the handful of United States
marines to vndicate the sovereignty Of that Com
monweaIth and take John Brown. We presume
they will hesitate still more at as.aling Uncle Sam
himself at the capital.
But are We to have Southern army under
Gen. Davis of Mississippi launched upon
Washington? Could one be gathered quicker
from the South than from the North Let
MS see. The border Free States of Pennsylva-
MIA and Ohio aud Indians and Illinois have, un'
der the new census, population of over eight mil
lions of souls The border Slave States Of Virginia
and Kentucky and Maryland have considerably less
than three millions of whites. Then, they have
million of blacks, who, to say the least, would be
very uneasy during the march of their masters
against Washington. But the Maryland and Ken
lucky portions, and considerable part of the Vir-
sina portion of the three millions referred to- would
be very averse to taking part IN the business OF
storming Washington in behalf of new Southern
Confederacy. Then, the big State of New-York,
with four millions, and the big Northwest, with
two millions and half and New jersey and New
England with four millions more stand at the back
of the frst.named eight millions, all ready to meet
the brave Mississippi General and his squadrons,
obstinately bent on conquering the stone and NOR
tar of the District And how would Gen. Davls's
reserves count against these? There might be
some three millions of them in all. But these
would embrace Tennessee and Louisiana and the
North Carolina people, all of whom would very
peremptory decline any share in the gories OF such
an enterprise. Then again, these three millions
would have to watch the agitated and everish con-
dtion of three millions of our colOred brethren
at home all deeply interested 10 what they have
been told Black Repubicansm means And the
insurgents must meet and overcome in advance the
army and navy of the existing Government. Is
Washington, then, going to be captured and made
the capital of the new Southern empire2 We
think it perfectly safe to say "NO' tothat question.
Where next shall we look Taking States and
towns in their order, we come to Richmond. Here
we begin to tread the solid ground. Richmond
sounds like it. But Richmond is too far north
too near the enemy, says Charleston. Besides,
Ri ;hmond is not go large as Charleston. And now
the census must be appealed to- And what says
the recent census' Why, that Rchmsnd has
$4,000 white inhabitants, and Charleston has
25, COO white inhabitants. And is this all This
is all, reader. The loud-talkiDg States of the
South must sometimes come down to black
and white, not only in people but in
figures. They will have to settle some questions
of prominence among themselves when it comes
to laying the foundations of q new Confederacy of
States, and then even they must see that their two
nOisest, if not greatest capitals contain respect
lively $4,000 and 5000 white people, all told.
And these are the centers of scattered sgricul-
tural population, whose laborers are aliens and
slaves whom political leaders threaten to precipi.
tate into war against great Free States, with cap
itals like New-York, with her million of people;
Philadelphia, with her half million; and Boston,
the center of hive of nearly four millions more.
But still the new Southern empire must have q
capital. Shall il, then, be Richmond or Charles
ton or the still smaller town of Savannah OF may
of harms way But New-Orleans is as much
out of the question as Baltimore. The people Of
Louisiana are not seceders. They have the great
American market for sugar, walled in for their
especial use at very high cost, which makes them
very conservative and very loyal presuming as We
shall not, that anything was wanting to make them
so, aside from their lofty sentiments of patriotism
The capital, then, must be either Charleston or
Richmond, so far as we can see.
And this is the way we settle the question for our
secession friends. by looking at the census returns
of these rival cities they will see how much is to
be done before the new capital of the great South
ern empire can vie with those Of either modern or
ancient renown. And we venture the suggestion,
that our ardent Southern friends, in view of the
yet incipient stages of their civilization and the
extremely rural character of their most important