The Texas Republican. [volume] (Marshall, Tex.) 1849-1869, 1861-06-15

IN Tue claim OF an overwhelming physl.
cal power. They count up about eighteen
millionaire South only about nine and
half millions The argument Of the
strongest battalion il therefore. consid.
cred unanswerablc. The North must
conquer and the South submit. The logic
would be good but for three or four
flaws. through which a great deal Of the
plea oozes away before the conclusion is
arrived at.
First as 10 their number, and how
their effectiveness for war purposes is to
estimated.
The Superintendent Of the United States
Census has caused to be published di
gested statement in round figures, of the
number Of white men between the ages
of Is and IS, returned as contained with
in the limits Of each of the thrty.four
States. The aggregate for the whole is
5,433 900 OF these there within the non.
saveholdng States 9, sl9, 0o0-and in the
savcboldng States only ,sls, 0Oo.-mor
than two to one.
This looks quite formidable, a great
deal more SO than il really is. when we
come to anayzc all the facts which are
to be taken into the consideration In
the first place, the productive laboring
force OF the South-which countcrbal-
ances corresponding laboring force at
the North, but is not counted as effective
population in the mparison-must be
added to the Southern side Of computa-
ton IN every war, a certain number o:
people must, under all circumstances, be
retained at home to carry on agriculture,
produce food, furnish the material to sup
port the expenses Of war, and do all the
lesser duties Of science and trade. War
las devouring mou.hs--and it takes the
continual labor Of q very large part Of
the community TO feed and furnish and
supper, an army.
At the North the withdrawal Of the
producing force. drafted or volunteered
for the wars, cuts of the sources of sup
ply, at the same time that it irightfully
increases the demand. In the South, on
the contrary, We have, in four millions of
slaves, producing power which war
does rot diminish, except in a very slight
degree, by the demand upon the white
population, for their personal services in
war The actual lahoring productive
capacity Of the blacks, is fully equal to
,bc actual laboring productive capacity
If ,,yo millions ~ thc whites Of the
North. who are rcckoncd in their adul,
,,ole c,n,c;,v In other words and con.
s;Jcr;,r fine Greater numbers of the rop.
.r1,t;,,,7 ~ ,bc North +, lac fed and sun.
nnr,cd Lv l,L,r ,hcrc are at least Two
,..,Il,.,,s - ,Lo 4 slo n0o \crtbcrr n.o.
Mo vh, mus, STAY a, home. and toll and
yy,,L :, ind f,od r,imcn, and subjects
c,r ,,vo,;,n the cnuiy,lcnt If which
=, ,l,, ..,,h IL Arnc lac thc work,
force the ,nnr millions q, slaves. They
are nn, expected Ia sp to the wars. al
though should war como 70 our doors,
they nigh, hc terrible gncrrlilas ON the
ilAnks OF the invaders They are not
counted as part II our military strength,
hut they are IN fact peaceful producers,
to ;ho eXtrnt oi millions o' nome ,noa'
ants, who must stay At home in the Noril.
The dispropprtion therefore between
the 3.sl9,000 # the North, aud the L.
GA 600 of the ~ontl', almost disappears
under the single element that we have,
outside Of this computation, apfodnc'us
non-combaiant force, which neutralizes'
as to the capacity for carrying on war
very large part of their numbers, which
are also n0n-combatauts, because they
must I've put to the work ct supporting
the war 10y their labor. II We take this
immediate dead weight oil oi their nc
count of disposable force, or add to our
own the omitted value OF omr productive
home capacity the figures will be mate.
rally changed. The physical power OF
the North, instead of being nearly two
and half to one, would be only about
two to one and hall, say 2,ooo,ooo TO
800, 900
But i, il no, possible that the whole
phvsical force of q country can ever be
brought into the field ut once OF these
estimates Of two millions, aud ~ million
and a half. large deductions are to be
made. and il is an extreme case of di.
rcet invasion. and for the immediate rail-
~ into the field for the defence Of the
6r,sides which will bring on, oue.half OF
the estimated physical force Of q ooun-
try. This can always be best done by
the invaded party. whom personal dan
ger calls out. For war OF distant ,nva'
sion, such as thus rs, the phys'ca' 'o'o,
OF resistance, at the South, is ini'y equa'
in men to the utmost capacity OF the
North, for raising aud sending armies:
Besides. we have a country INTO wh'e"
no invader can undertake to penetrate
with the intention TO stay IN 'oree 'ne