New-York daily tribune., 1861-05-17
TWO GRAVE MISTAKES.
A Washington correspondent telegraphs to Tile
Herald ss follows.

A Washington correspondent telegraphs to The
Herald Gs fOllowsi
Athoush the qa.ness Of peace pevs. for The moment
there doubt that grand advance movements Of
troops psce before long from this point, Ny biOrma
on this effect Is positive. Lex those Q rcddeJ hdt long
10 hear Of battle, oHeNt; they will In due
much cis.hios of arms they possibly de.Se."
of course, We do not mean 10 cay that The
Herald has no readers who " long to hear Of
battles" for the race of fools is never extinct;
but we protest against the incessant assumption
that the People are dissatisfied and grumbling
because our mastering forces are not precipi;ated
on the traitors as fast as they can be armed aud
hxred to the arena Of conflict We hear from
Westinghouse often that they cannot be wholly
without foundation in the Impressions there prev
alent-that the People of the Free States are
restlessly awaiting advices of bold advances INTO
the heart Of the enemys country, attacks on his
strongholds, &c, &c., and dissatisfied be-
cause no such movements have yet been made.
These prescriptions do grave injustice to the
intelligence and good sense Of the patriotic
masses We miDgle with them and hear from
them constantly, aud know that they have no
wish, even that their beloved klnsInen and
neighbors now IN arms should be hurled against
well manned hostile intrenchments within a
month after they were called from their plows
and their workshops They understand that war
is an art-that no man can be made q soldier
in an hOur-and that il would be uDj justihably
rash to precipitate volunteers OF week into
deadly conflict with equal numbers of brave aud
desperate men who have been training for this
conflict for months, if not years. According TO
our best information, JeG. Davis could concen-
trate within ten days OH army Of One Hundred
ThousaLd men at Richmond TO resist march on
that city, and Gen. Scott has never yet been
| in condition to advance on that point with more
than half that number. Whoever assumes t1at
a majority of the voters in any school district Of
the Free States imagine they could plan cam
paigns better than Gen. Scott, or would presume
to instruct him when and where 10 assume the
offensive, do that majority great injustice.
The impatience actually manifested By the
North has had reference solely to the magnitude
of the preparations for the contest, not at all to
the time of opening tho campaign. Whit the
People desire is not that the conflict should be-
commenced pIeciptatsly, bu. that il should be
conducted with the utmost yigor, and prosecuted
tO an early and honorable conclusion. In their
view, it in not enough that the Capital should
not be lost; they are indignant that it should be
even Threatened, and count every hour an age
until even the dream of its destruction by the
traitors s dissipated. II they could feel that
men enough were called out and arms, mun.
tions, and provisions be.poken, to hold our pres
ent lines IN safety till September, and then break
the back of Treason by an irresistible advance,
,hey would be perfectly satisfied But they do
want to finish up this mad, ruinous rebellion be-
fore another Spring shall open, so that they may
return to their shops and their farms and begin the
slow work of retrieving their shattered fortunes 70
this end, they believe two great armies, number.
ipg together not less than Three Hundred Thou
sand men, should be in the Geld next Autumn,
and that total levy of Half "A Million would not
be too great TO enable Gen. Scott to put those
armies reasonably in motion. They believe that
volunteer regiments that are expected to deplOy
eight hundred men on the field Of battle ought
to be mustered at fully one thonsand-the rough
experiences Of camp-hlc tending inevitably to re-
duce them between the muster and the field, in that
ratio. In short, the People want to make sure
thing Of this resistance ~ treason; and it is to
this point not that Of an instant and il-consid-
cred initiative that their anxietles are directed.
It must be considered that the rebellion occu-
pies relatively to the loyal States a central
position, and may precip'tate its whole force
upon either the East or the West in such man.
ner as to compel that section to bear almost un-
aided the brunt Of q desperate contest. The
best informed among ia know little of what is
gong on in the South but W. know that thou
sands of Union men, especially those halling from
the North, have been compelled to choose be-
tween outragc-sometnes ending in dcuth-and
enlistment in the traitors army; and We may
fairly conclude that the coIspirators do not press
our men into their service without making pretty
clean sweep of their own. The conscriptiOn is
active there, and it could not be difficult for them
10 raise in a month Two Hundred Thousand men
for raid on Washington and the North. Sup
pose this should be dono--that our brave army
should bo surprised, outnumbered, overpowered,
for want of hundred good regiments that were
pressed upon the Government six weeks before
but refusd-csn human power adequately OK
press the tornado of wrath, indignation fury,
horror, that would sweep over the entire North,
Center and West, hurling the Administration
into everlasting e1eclatOn aud ruin 7 Say, if
m L. 10