Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1862-09-17
Position of the Union Cause.-PIain Talk for
q Northern Latitude.

The New York Times of Friday last, has mel
ancholy but very truthful editorial on the present
aspect of Yankee affairs. We bespeak for 1t an at
tentive perusal:
"The summer campaign which was to have given
us the rebel capital has come to disastrous emo.
Richmond is relieved and Washington is oesleged.
That magnificent army organized anu uriiieu WIN
SO much care BY Mcclellan year ago, REFUSED nrst
on the Peninsula has been again repulsed In It's ad
vance upon Richmond from the NORTH ana now low
seeks safety for itself behind the forts which line the
Potomac Disguise it as we may, the Union arms
have been repeatedly, dsgracefully and decisiyely
beaten. The whole campaign against Richmond has
nroved failure. The rebels have resumed the Of
ensiye and have driven our troops back to the pre-
else position they held after the battle OF Bull Run,
more than one year ago Our Generals do not seem
to be aware whether they intend to attack US there,
or push forward on some other line of operations.
One thing may be deemed certain-they will not sit
down in front of Washington and attempt to reduce
it by siege. They will either attempts flank move
ment upon it. what seems to US still more likely,
they will push powerful column directly into
Pennsylvania and strike blow at the Union cause
on loyal soil.
There is class of public men who think it high
" unwise to admit that have suffered any serious
reyerses They have copious explanations of the
apparent checks forces have sustained and abun
dant assurances that they all to be redeemed in
the immediate future. We regret that we cannot
share their credulous confidence. All their expla-
nations cannot change this fact that wherever we
have met the rebels-whether behind an earthwork,
as in front of Richmond or in the open field as n
front of Washington-they have beaten US. Some
times they have outhanked us; sometimes they have
got completely in the of our forces sometimes
they have thrown their whole force upon single
weak point of our line and so overborne us by num-
bers; sometimes they have drawn US into an am
H,,k hnvy fha
that they have beaten US. And all that these va
rious explanations amount to is that their Generals
are holder and more skilful, and their armies more
effective than ours. This is all that anybody can
ask in war. And it is worse than idle-it is child
ish and diotic to attempt to shut our eyes to the
glaring and repulsive fact that thus far in the war
the rebels have the best of the fighting The SOON
er we realize our actual condition, the sooner shall
we find remedy for it.
What is the cause of these awful disastersP Not
in any lack of men, for armies outnumbered the
rebels two to one. Not in lack of arms, of NUM-
tions of supplies-of all the means and appliances
Of successful WARRIOR no army on the face of the
earth has ever been so layishly supplied with all
these as ours. Not in the goodness of the cause
nor in the spirit of the people-nor in the vaor and
patience of soldiers for in all these respects we
may challenge the world to surpass US. We are
driven to the conclusion that the rebel Generals have
been superior to ours that the rebel government
has been better able to WELD Sklfuly and success
fully the weapons placed in its hands. Results az
ford the only test of military capacity. The army
that conquers, is always the best Large or small,
ragged or wellclad, hungry or full, armed or I'M
armed the army that drives its enemy off the field
is always the better Of the two. Our forces have
been splendidly drilled admirably clothed and arm
ed, and always supplied with abundant food; but
they have been defeated and that fact overrides all
the Others and brands them as inferior.
We all hope that all this is to be changed; but
so we have been hoping for the whole year past
The very next step always to turn the tide. We
were to have "no more Bull Runs" when McClel-
Ian took command. The enemy was to be driven
to the wall after he had evacuated Yorktown
The army o. the Potomac, it was declared, shall en-
ter Richmond after it had suffered defeat behind its
own Notifications. And there were to be no more
retreats on our side, after Pope took the lead to-
ward the rebel capital Yet in spite of all these
surances, made with confidence, and eagerly well
coined by the credulous country, armies are
bes1eged but all "safe" in the Potomac forts Who
say that the tide of disaster has yet been stayed
What is there to turn it? We have fresh men in
the fed-5ut so we had before Possibly the enc
my cannot take the forts-and possibly knowing
that fact, they will not try. But if we can judge
the future from the past they will be very likely to
attempt something which they can accomplish, and
the first we shall know Of it will be- that it has been
done.
We see no ground for predicting better results
so long as loe employ the same means We have
the same Generals, the same policy, the same gov
ernment the same President, and the same Cabinet
as we have had hitherto. We enter upon the fu-
.ure under the same auspices precisely which have
presided over our past disasters. What possible
reason, then, have we to expect change? The
entire responsibility for all these calamites rests
upon the Government-simply because all the poD-
er is in its hands. Grant that many of our COM
handing Generals are incompetent-that they waste
in personal wranglings, energy that should be given
to the cause-that they are weak, irresolute, inca
pable, and, therefore, unsuccessful-the government
is responsible for their failures, because it has the
power to displace them. A General may fail once
through his own fault if he fails second time the
fault rests with those who kept him there War is
no time for elaborate experiments, or for patching
up shattered regulations
The President needs to reinforce his Cabinet with
new vigor and new ability. Without any impeach-
ment of his own capacity, the President must have
strong Cabinet or he will have weak govern
ment. The ableSt Of our Presidents have been the
ones who have surrounded themselves with the
ablest men. The theory that Cabinet officers are
mere secretaries and therefore not responsible does
not avail each Secretary carries not only into his
own department. but into the whole policy Of the
Administration, the spirit the vgor, the energy of
his own nature; and if the Cabinet is made up of
weak men, they will inevitably give the country
weak government. We need now the strongest
government the country has ever seen. And it
needs no prophet to predict that, without more
strength, more vigorous power, a larger grasp and
more energetic mastery of the resources which the
country is pouring into the hands of the adminisra-
ton, than we have had hitherto, the Union cause
is doomed to speedy and disastrous overthrow"
GOV. VANCE