, 1862-02-11
LATER FROM THE SOUTH.
Affairs In New Orleans.

&1NS n@At1S3 FGEA1EA5 hEph Hu1ld LILY AiE ull
in the armorg. Of this the company officers
are colored men, and the regimenta1 officers
White men. a strong effort has been made to
organize the militia, but owing to their unwil-
lngnees to come out it has been abandoned. |
In fact, there are no arms to give them, the
supply having been entirely exhausted.
Cannon are being manufactured at the
Phoenix Iron Works, hut the process is slow I
and the quality Is inferior. The testing is i'm
perfectly done, and serious consequences will
take place when they come to be used in actu-
al service. T. ". G, Cooke is manufacturing
muskcts and pistols at lis nachine-shops, but
the quantity turned ont weekly is small, and /
the quality inferior. The prices Of arms arc |
very high, and the stocks held by dealers are
entirely exhausted.
The greatest scarcity Of metals Of al kiads
prevails, and the quality Of iron used for can
non brings almost fabulous prices. They arc |
dependent for iron on Tennessee, and the sup |
ply is not nearly equal to the demand. A |
small quantity Of lead had been brough from |
Mexico through Texas, and old pipe is being
inglJ scarce aud high. In some shells used by
the batteries at Columbus, and which were
manufactured at New Orleans, the fuses we're |
made Of lead
The firing caused the melting Of the fuses
before leaving the gun, and a number were
orders came to make the fuses Of copper.
Powder brings from two to three dollars per
pound, and Of miserable quality at that.
The greatest secresy Is observed in all the
military operations Of the Government, and
strangers arc excluded, at the point Of the
bayonct, from the shipyarGs and Notifications.
The newspapers are not allowed to publish
any thing IN reference to them
The neTspapes are short Of paper, and they
make their appearance on half sheets Of brown
paper, and many are suspended.
The only money IN use is Confederate notes
and corporation and individual shiuplastcrs.
These latter arc issued by everybody, and are
Of the roughest appearance. The most popu-
lar OF these arc omnibus, bar room and bar
bers' tickets, US they are redeemable. The
have entirely disappeared, and command
premium Of forty per cent The increase Of
the deposits Of Confederate notes in the banks
is from five to eight thousand dollars weekly.
They arc made legal tender, and are called
par: There IS no new business paper being
as fast as it natures. Property, under these
fictitious values, has risen in value fifty per
cent, while rents have Elllen from thirty TO
forty per cent
plies for the army, which arc seized and appro-
priated by the strong arm Of force.
The lcvcc is entirely deserted of shipping,
except few vessels that were seized and some
steamers Which are in litigation. Many Of
tue stores and warehouses are closed, and some
| midday. Notwithstanding the orders g given
to store the crops Of cotton and sugar Oh the
plantations, there are now III New Orleans II, j
| 600 bales Of cotton, Is, 600 hogsheads OF to-
| bacco, and Immense quantities OF sugar and
| nolasses, which are constantly being in
| creased.
| Notwithstanding the most active eSertions,
| the slaves arc beginning to comprehend the
cause Of the war, and the part that their OWL
ers have assigned to them in their new form OF
| Government. There hare been numerous slave
| e0ngplracies and Instructions in various parts
| Of the South, and many Of the conspirAtors
have been hung. Tic police regulations arg
| rigid and vigilant but, Notwithstanding them,
the greatest apprehensioas prevail among the
rejecting and intelligent with regard to the
terrors Of slave risings.
4 considerable number of slaves have cscap.
cd 10 the fleet and to Ship Island.
Tic operations Of the C0ntiscatiOn Act are
attended with tho greatest difficulty and dis
satisfaction. A thousand questions are r:aiaet
for the Courts, on points Of the Law, which j;
vague and loose in its terms Much propert,
has been ecizca and protests entered agains
tie seizure.
The Governments and its agents show NJ
mercy to those even who claim to be entitled
to consideration by reason OF their public ser
| vices. In many cases the Law has operated II
| the rnin Of strong Southern men and seecs
| sionists. The law sroyides that money which
was collected after the 2lst OF May, should b.
returned under oath to the Government, ans
be forfeited. The contiscation act was mad
retrospective in its operations
Many Of the banks, merchants and broker
made collections after TINT date, as collcctfr!
agents, and paid the money over to thei
Northern correspondents. They arc now call
; cd on to account, under oath, for these moneys
vast GUMS in the aggregate, and to hand it oYe
: to the Government.
The greatest sccresy prevails with regarl
/ the operations Of the Confederate Tr<asnr,
no report ever being made or even asked ful
The only limit to the issue Of its promises t
| pay is the capacity to print and sign then
! ! Notwithstanding this unlimited scope ofissut
the Government owcs 1atge sums to contract
: ors and Others engaged in operations with i
| Ionl complaints are constantly being made
this, Several millions being owed in New O
1chns.
data obtained from the best sources, is COZ
rinced tlG1t the daily expenses Of the war
t the Confederate States, owing to the inl1atlo
5 Of priets and the corruptions Of the Cover
b 1nent, is ut the rate Of over s., 600, 900 4 aa
j. or fully equal to ours, while their entire arm
' is not half Of ours, and 8 navy they only hat
d on paper and on the stocks.
u A large portion of the working class b;
{ been forced to enlist in the Confederate arm
l. not only to avoid starvation, which wou
j. have ensucl to themselves and families by +
1 naming ut home, but by system Of actu
q 1nlpressment. This is carried on as 4 rcgul
&. business with all the schemes Of druSggt
d liquors, way1aying and false prctencc. On
within the tolls OF the trapper and the boun
K paid, escape is Impossible.
d The British Consul l1s released over o.
IS hundred English subjects, whose tales Of he
,c ror would shock English ears, If they We
" not stuffed with cotton. Many others clail
cd his protection, who confessed that they Ii
ii signed the articles under the influence OF dru
p gcd liquor; but in such cases he vas unat
le to interfere.
t. Mechanical operations arc almost entirt
lie suspended, partly from rant of materials a
el partly from the dread Of the future. Mech;
les with families are in despair at the hi
prices Of the necessaries Of life, and no wo
~ for them Ship carpenters and nachini
n u have some work on tic Government gunboa
~ Letters from men Of sll ranks in the arr
l,55 evfncc desire and 4 determination to retu
IN to their homes. Not one in ten Of the two
~ months men, Will reenlist under any circu
~ compel them by force,as is frequently thrc
a. ened, the bloodieEt consequences will ems
~ ~ The greatest amount Of sickness and dem
n a1ization prevails among the forces in
,nr ~ ginia, and drunkenness aud vice has spread
~ an appalling extent. y.
Tor Many firts have occurred in New Orle:,
in some cases destroying large blocks
houses. These were known to be the III
lch of inccndiaries, and are charged against
wo Union people, who quietly hold their tong
on anu 61te tlcif time.
,hs Tie blowing up Of the Government pow
MS mills, near tic city q lew weeks ago, llas b
ro- asccrtaincd to have been the work Of incet
arr | aries.
e. Several vessels have run the blockade
hat escaped to sea With ca1zsocs Of cotton,
none lave entered the Mississippi. There
| several others fitting out, encouraged by
.x success Of thcirpredecessors, under the lice
- Of the Governor, with the condition that I
III eAlll bring return carEoes Of munitions
u.s. war to some Of the 1asbors accessible Il
9es New Orleans.
y; De- Mississippi Sound is row completely bio
:o :oE AIDED, although this was not c1cctualy i
in9 until recently. L large trade was carried
o" by schooncrs and small steamers with Mol
which is now at an end
nag Tie steamer Vanderbilt left New Orle
~ ~ with a load OF cotton On the 18th Of Dec
~ = ber, which she disposed Of in Cuba at an cl
~ " NOUS profit, and returned and ran into Sal
IT Pass with 10 tons Of powder, which the c
rus rus eminent is much in want Of
oet~ The health Of the city is very good.
M There arc about 500 Federal prisoners til
om- who are confined in the parish prison, and
po suffering great privations; they arc nearly
u ked, oycrrun with yermin, and are ms
os clent3y fed. They are rot allowed to see
: IL one, nor permitted to read newspapers.
DC They bear up under their hard fate
larJ touching hcToisnl, and display fortitude
use ought to win the respect Of their unfee
lEl keepers. They refuse any concession at
% price Of their devotion to the Union, III
I'VE whose flag they fought, and from whose 8
aon on they have been dragged to prison air
un- rs loathsomc as 4 charnGlhouse..
An attempt was made by some humane
zens, short time ago to raise some sup]