The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1862-01-18
RitbnInll0 Ulspatty.
,AruRpAY MORNINGS. JAN. Is. isss.

SATURDAY MORNING.. IAN. 10, lAs3
-------@s~s------~~s->~-a-S
Tas EsEAY And THE Mrssss.,Fri RivgR.--
The pressure OF Norlhw est4rn sentiment upon
the Federal Government u all powerful; and
10 endsavors 70 msss she DEMANDS Of that i'm
portAnt region are commensurate with the
mighty interests at hazard. The protection
Of the Federal capital isself becomes Of minor
importance compared with the opening OF the
natural channel of commerce TO that psnt up
empire. Now that the South Is lost. the gram
yrowing Northwest has become to tho manu-.
facturins and ship owniK Esss, the scuree OF
food, employment, and profit It's 20 iurn'sh
the heavy bulk Of expectations NO pre-
SAINT the market for merchandise aao manu-
facaures. It's to supply frefgass Tor the ship
riur and il teens with the population WHICH
!. 70 rive travel to their railroads, 'bnsi,sess
10 their cities, and life aud enterprise TO every.
,hinx. More than all this 10 the men in al.
thosi,y, the Northwest holds the preponder
n,,ur vote in tha Yankee Uaion. and can make
and aunake rresi lieut.. Secretaries aud Gen-
erals Mcclellan himself was its own man,
before whose rising star, Scott and Mcdowell
wal~d into ohseari,y,
The Northwest is no longeS the great giant
che is Wanted, ii the Mississippi is taken
away from her. She is then thrown upon the
l.skss and the ST. Lawrence, half the former
and all Tie latter Blush. for her water access
TO the seas. Besides this channel Of exit. she
mus, depend upon great lines OF Yankee rail
roads ard, If tEe railroad itself be the farm
er's curse, what mast be the Yankee railroad,
with more freight offering than it can trans
portl Tie taxation that must result to the
pecuniary interests of the Northwest from
closing the Mississippi, would affect it like the
spear driven into the breast OF the ancient
Cavalier and broken oif--he might bear him.
seif still brayely through tie battle, but when
the excitement was over aud exhaustion game
on, death would then claim It's victim. No
agriculture can ,hrive IN the midst Of vast
continent pent up on al; Sides aud the North
west must cease to be great and prosperous
when she loses the channel OF the M;ssis
sippi.
Impressed With these views, the Federal
Government are making herca.ean Efforts to
get possession Of the valley of the Mississippi
The key to this war is not the Potomac,
nor the Virginia peninsula, Nor tn sea islands
skirting the coasts Of Carolina and Georgia
Whatever losses may be suffered by one party
or tue other in these quarters will possess
only local Importance, and effect nothing III
deciding the great question OF the war. The
heart OF the North "a in the West. Thence
come IFS armies, there it has all at stake, and
there lies all its weakness. More profoundly
impressed with the force of these considera
tious than we can be, its preparations are
commensurate with Tie magnitude of the in
terests at stake. It's army of hundred and
twenty thousand men, under Buell., south of
Louisville; It's grand fotila of sheIl-proof
vessels RATS, and flats collecting ut Cairo,
with land forces in proportion for descent Of
the Mississippi; are but part Of the grand
programme. They are making an equally
vigorous demonstration from the South. The
rendezvous of ships and troops at Ship Island
are part of the grand combination and if
news does not speedily reach us by tele-
graph Of its taking some other destination, the
inference will be strong that Burnside's ex-
petition il. intended also for operations
against New Orleans. Whether it be from
the direction of Ship Island and the Pearl
river, in conjunction with Butter; or from
some point west of the Balize, in CO opera-
ton with Buffers movement from the east,
m3t be solved in the sequel.
II would be stupid asecta.ion TO despise
these formidable demonstrations Of the enemy
against the Mississippi River; and yet it
would be weak to indulge anything more than
"a prudent apprehension on the subject. Our
preparations to meet the enemy may not be as
complete as desrable but we have seen
enough dthis war to demonstrate anew that
the battle is not to the strong, and that fortune
waits upon the brave. 1t Is no part of our
purpose to discuss our own side of the i'm
posing programme of the Mississippi Suffice
70 say that the campaign preparing on either
side, in this vital quarter, are to exert a
. moro decisive influence upon the fortunes of
this war than any that have yet marked its
progress