The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1862-11-27
An ENGLISH 0PlNl0n Of "wnAr C0NsTI
TuTES the SOUTH"

tioa Of boundary lines between the Confederate
states and Ne United States arc properly under.
This question. now that the Confsdsr.,s srm,s.
are on the coil Of Maryland. 10 uppermost in the
puolic mind II 10 strange that, despite the careful
otudy OF American history and statissics 70 which
ne VA has given RISE the question should st 70.
guirc reply. and that In endsavorins to reply 70
It, cshsrwise wellinformed presses should fall into
such stupendous errors q have within the last few
days appeared In print
In ne American vocabulary the words North I"
and South" have always had q definite geo.
graphical and political meaning. They were known
areedy TO the ooonists - designating the settle.
msua lying respectively North and South Of Ma
son and Dixons Line" 90 called from the colonial
engineers who drew the boundary line between
the provinces Of Pennaylvania and Maryland, and
famous IN colonial history. Already In the forna
ZION OF the Constitution the distinct interests of
North and South" were canvassed A. the
States northwArd Of tho line, finding slave labor
Improbable sold their slaves southwsrd, and thus
oy slow desrees-not BY any act Of sudden eman.
cpetion, - many suppose-extiuGuished slavery
within tneir limits these distinct interests began
70. Gyss. Tro more r'Pdy win The s1.snson Of
70 asatst the well known artificial one between
Aoeth and "seaAh n--&Aat h, bseweea % nns-
sleveAolding and the slaveholdlne States BY mere
ssadsnt Mason and Di1ons Line stopped short
about twenty miles Of the Ohio. and thus q
narrow strip Of land, called, from fancied rescm.
bance the Pan. Handle," still remains In posses
sion Of tho State Of Virginia though lying north
Of the line Of the Ohio and Mason and Dixon
This little outlying appendage Of Wiz rginis Is the
nucleus and contains the pretended capital OF thai
anomalous organisation which under the name of
"KAnawhA" or virginia" claims to be .ne of the
Border States and to speak In the Federal councils
with the voice Of the great State from which 1t
cedcd With this tfihing exception, Of impor.
tance either to the South North the ins OF ma
son and Dtxon," and the course of the Ohio, indi-
cate accurately, and have for the last half century
hAAy hn1A RNt t~An 10 H.
the two great antagonistic Powers. To the west.
ward the only organized Territory" as inchoate
States are termed. in which slavery exists by law,
u that Of New mexico. This, and that portion Of
holding Indians. ars probably the only domains be-
yond established State boundaries over which the
Confederate Government would ever claim iuris-
diction.
hne what portions of the late United States were
comprised under the familiar sppellaticn "The
South, and glance st the map will enable us to
enumerate fifteen States and one Territory. Rn.
to it by social stnties and similarity OF institn.
uons, lies the District Of Columbia. the special
domain Of Congress- and the only portion Of
the late United States over which Congress exer-
else. direct local turisdiction The District of Co.
lumbia was formed of cessions Of land by tho Leg.
islatures Of Virginia and Maryland to the Federal
Government for the purpose OF enabling It to erect
. capital and discharge its functions upon neutral
soii-.has 10 to say, soil on which local jursdic-
uon should conflict with its own The original ex.
tent of the District ten miles square, being found
unnecessarily largo for the purposes contemplated
the portion ceded by Virginia was returned to that
State, and the present area of the District is linn
ited to that portion only OF which Maryland was
the original proprietor. Slavery still continues q
lawful institution il the District until the complete
execution Of the recent Emancipation act
While the United States we're thus practically
divided into two great seetions--geographicall
politically aud socially diytinct-esch of these sec
tions presented though in infinitely less degree
a similar division Like Q magnet cut in two Of
which each fragment instantly assumes the quail.
ties of the whole, and has its North Pole and its
South Pole, so tbs North and South had each their
extremes in their peculiar Characterization. The
revolution which snapped the last remaining link,
the governmental co partnsrship between the two
sections, began naturally enough, In the southern
extremity of the South just the opposition to the
revolution commenced with greatest vehemenoe In
the northern extremity of the North. Hence has
arisen the confusion Of European ideas as regards
the "Border States" A brief review Of the pro-
gress Of the revolution may tend to the formation
Of more correct opinions
The States which formed the Confederate Consti-
tuition at Montgomery, and established the Provi.
siopsi Government by which the war was conducted
for the first twelve months, ware, in alphabetical
order, Alabama Elorids, Georgia, Louisiena Mis-
sissippi, South Carolina and Texas. They were
shortly afterwards joined by Arkansas and, after
Mr Lincolns proclamation of war against the sece-
dsrs by Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee
Of these four States only one, Virginia, is In any
sense Of the word, Border" State. she being tt >
only one having frontage on the -slaveholding
Ststes The most casual glance on the m6p will
convince any one that even she is Border State
In only very limited sense Of the word, more than
three fourths Of her boundaries being drawn between
Iayehold,nR neighbOrS Her traditions and Instincts
have always placed her at tho head Of the South !;
and thus, when secession was accomplished, she be-
the metropolitan State OF the new Confsderacy,
and she has furnished for the requirements of the
war larger contingent Of men and money than any
OF her sisters. To speak of Virginia as debatable
crouud between North and South is simply absurd
No portion OF Virginia, considerable enough either
In population Influence to sffsct at any time the
policy Of the State, has displayed d,soyslty 10
the cause of the South and the miserable Of
Northwestern Virginia which the Federal Govern
meut without any show Of law or reason, pretends
TO recognise ~ 3 separate community, Is scarcely
worth mention In the discussion OF boundaries be-
tween North and South. 1t IL important to remark
that in each Of these four States which joined the
Confederscy after its formation the act of aeees
sion was performed by the competent authority,
ratified by almost unanimous vote OF the people
At the ballot box, and contaminated with all the
solernty Of law. In all these States and in every
portion Of them, repeated elections to the Oonfede-
rate CONGRESS have subsequently been held. They
are therefore, de fac.o well dc juve, az COM
pIetsly Confederate States as Alabama or South
Carolina
The only real Border" Ststes-thst is to say,
disputabls States whose allegiance can give rise
to any reasonable doubt-are Missouri Kentucky,
Maryland, and Delaware. The insignifcance Of
the latter has I'd 1t TO be altogether overlooked
In the present contest and it is immatera, for any
practical purpose, whether it ia counted with the
North or the Eouth. Maryland AID Missouri were
the hrss States invaded by the Federal troops. In
the former . majority OF its Legislature were Gr-
rested when about to pass an act Of secession, and
d.. aimed In cust ,dy until theE term OF office had
ex nired; In the latpr, the Convention Of the peo
pie were di,perssd by Federal bayonets, and tho
Neither of these two States had thus an oppor uni
ty Of proelaiming their adhesion to the Confederate
Government in the same clear and unmis.aksple
manner - virginia. North OsrQiina, Tennessee, or
but constituted ~ snshoI ,S.1r
power, conhded the State to the protection Of
the Confsderacy, Of which she is thus considered
. member. Kentucky was long divided with1p neI'
self. and In the hope OF preserving an inpoSnole
neutrality and thus serve a. mediator between tho
oomba,ants. lost. for q time, the opportunity OF
making known her election between tho two.--
Events Of late have 90 clearly shown tho dispoa'
tion of tho vast majority Of these three States,
which alone can bs deemed by the most punctilicus
sticklsr for legal forms to be disputable border
land that the Confederate Government has nothing
to fear from leaving them completely and unre-
servedly TO their own volision. This - the only
legal and the only Just mode In which their fate can
be decided and the Southern Confederation desires
no other Other States than those We have men
toned the South does not cevet a. allies, and would
not receive - conQuests.
few statistics will enable the reader to form q
correct estimate of the actual and prospective
strength, q we'll a. Of the territorial area Of the
South, and will dispose Of the erroneous staten. mt
made BY ono of our most influential eontempora-
ries that the South has at present larger PoRuls'
ton to nit from than tho North. In 1850, &C.
cordns to the eighth and last decennial oensq4 Of
she United States, the total white population VA
27,loO.oo3 These were divided between the two
sections known - North and South, excluding
- nj. "A 1yoAim in0