New-York daily tribune., 1861-05-16
THE WAR FOR THE UNION.
FROM WASHINGTON.
From OuI Own Correspondent


with as much forbearance as is consistent win |
sensitive cOnscentiousDess. There is much !
matter of compliment in the quickened activity OF
a Government precpitated, from season OF pro-
found quiet, suddenly into open war. With sol
diers studiOusly and with purpose sent to the
most remote and inaccessible posts arms ana
munitions given into the custody OF lnciPient
traitors armed vessels cruizing in distant seas,
with no object but to be as far from the places
of need as possible; this was the state OF our
means to vndicate the supremacy OF law
over pluuderers on land, and pirates on
the sea. With singleness Of purpose to
arming and equippiug troops to be
placed in fighting attitude at once, much Of the
subsidiary action OF war measures, was either over
looked or adjourned. Until men have the gifts
of ubiquity and omniscience, something must be
forgiven in our demands upon men who hold
high destinies in their hands. If the Admnistra-
ton could give undivided attention to war, 1t
would be different, but this is not permitted
The galleries and corridors of the approaches to
all the Secretaries are thronged with eager wait
ers for audience. "Come to Dresden, rama,
wrote Napoleon to his favOrite tragedian, when
he held q high court of crowned heads and ttu"
lar dignitaries at tie Capital of Saxony, " aud
"you shall play before pitft8l of Kings" Come
70 Washington, cersor of the editorial fcur-flght
or the first floor drinking saloon, and You shall
srumble in the presence OF Parquet crowded
with Senator's Representatives, Generals Colonies,
Majors, Captains LieutenantS, in the verna
bloom Of their first Towering, with the untitled
and obscure, in uncounted crowds Senator's and
Representatives, wish to whisper beligerent sent-
ments into the ears of the Cabinet Council-ofk-
GERS in fatigue regalia jOstle each other fer
marching orders or ratiOns for men. Staid and
severe gentlemen who have telescope vision fixed
on far-of posts of diplomatic danger desire to
secure a majority vote in the Jury who are to
settle on their success or defeat. Consular and
clerical ambition fills out in hong array the train
IN waiting upon tn hose dispensers of place. All OF
this noble army wish and must have personal
interviews. Valuable time which belongs 10 more
important calls than the mere camor for Office,
is thrown away in hearing personal arguments
for large aud less patronage.
The last sorrow of those who have nothing
10 claim is the failure to lay embargo on the
is not unreasonable, and it has been already
done; earlier it ought to have been prohibited,
but it was not so pressing as the defense Of
Washington or the opening of a highway through
Baltimore. Commercial prudence, toO had
measuraby done, what the authority at the seat
Of government deferred to dO--clOsod all inter-
course with men who made but slender dis
tinction between faithless promise 10 pay for a
cargo and an unceremoniOus possession, without
even the pretexts Of giving an equivalent.
There is also a nice discrimination, more crit
ical than wise, to what is the COntraband of
War 1t certainly is a conventional tern and
is modified by circumstances and surrounding
facts Whatever gives comfort to an enemy,
and furnishes him with the materials of strength,
belongs to that interdictOn. The export Of
sweet potatoes TO North Carolina, or tobacco TO
Virginia, could not be considered an illicit
traffic. nor, ordinarily, corn TO Tennessee, or
bacon to Kentucky. These last are the supply
States to the cotton grower of Mississippi, and
the cane planter of Louisiana. Now they do not
stand in that relation. DrOuth and early frost
bliehted the growth of tbese products, and at
this time both are the buyers and not the sellers
of subsistence. They and the Gulf States are
thrown upon the large surplus of the Northern
river section, and stretch out their hands for
bread to Iowa or Illinois
Without food they cannot fight and food
therefore comes under the ban of restriction,
and should be treated with the same rigor of
confscation as powder, metal, and muskets. SO
also the articles of the medical department. which
are Indispensable and governed by the laws of
disease and of latitude.
An army for the conquest Of Canada would
stand more in need Of New-England rum, with
possibly Guinea capsicum TO keep it from freez.
ing in the stomach if watered with the usual
faithfulness of Yankee trading thrift, than Pc
ruvian bark or any of the oxides Of mercury;
but woe to column who penetrates to the
rice coast of Georgia without their full ratiOns
of quinine and calOmel Regular bowels and rO-
bust breathing Obes are as essential to the
perchiDg Of the conquering Eagles as breech-
loading rifles or Colts revolyeIs. Even sui
pharous preparations for irritation of the cuti-
Gle have been found to be, in ancient and mod
ern war, a powerful aid to the sanitary tran
quilGty of the camp. But now let the plaintiye
mourner over the enjoyment of the fulfilled
Southern stomach on Northern corn mitigate his
affiiction. Corn is contraband, and neither Pitts
burgh stern.wheclers nor Cincinnati side.paddles
can now take the staff Of life to the tottering
rebels of Chickasaw Bluffs or the eyeed bottoms
of the lower margins of the Mississippi and the