Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-09-11
BETWEEN PROCEED.
hNfSS AND RESULTS.
zyse Eonaon Tfnses o,s 4i.e .E.,,crfcsH SifHe-
ffsu.

From the London Times August q
} Ii ne look aiteniively-ls all Europe is look
ing--at ths American war, we shall discover a.
extraordinary contrast between proceedings aa'
results. The end, unless it be such an end a
the FedeUsls still refuse TO contemplate, IS n
nearer than at 6rst, and, indeed, may be consld
cred As more remote than ever whereas nothing
could have been more rapid or complete than IN
consumption ct means. In the celerity OF Il
course this war has been marvellous enough tt
satisfy even The American appetite for exsgge
ration and sineulsrty. 1t is little more than &
year ago that the belhgerents of the North rep
resented nation of twenty millions, with mill
tsry force, regular and local. of 500, 900 men; an
untouched eKchequeF, bursting with specie, and
/ general resources which Mr.. Seward could des-
/ eribe as .'unexhausted' as recently as last May.
/ How does thst nation stand now, after less than
eighteen months OF indecisige war; It's gold
has vanished, and no. only its gold, but IFS sill
yer and such bsssr metals as entered into the
coinage of the country. Half its fighting men
1 have already been absorbed, and of that half it
is said thab full half has either been disabled
or has perished outright Il was the boast of
the Federals that they had near 100000 troops
in arms, aud forces amounting to an aggregate
Of 65O,O00 did really figure in official returns.
II we were to suppose that the President, Ia his
present call iOr TeinfoTcsments, designed Gully to
a
strength, it would follow that every man OF the
early lsYies has been lost, for Mr. Lincoln de
msnds 609, GOO fresh troops, or all but as many
as have taken the field from the beginning
Ills5 h5wevers ie- net ths correct View 5f tie
case. The assumption is that the North has still
between 100000 aud 100000 men serving in
the field, and that the new leVies would raise the
Federal hosts to something like million That
these forces are not yet raised, and exist only in
a ~ If f,n
stances Of which the reader need hardly be re-
minded bat If the eOnserption should be sue
eesstuly enforced, Che exhaustion Of the popu-
latlon viii bs such as, in so short a space of
time, has never been effected in any country be-
fore. At least nine-tenths Of all its fighting
men will have been sent into the field within the
first eighteen months of a war.
Alr. Lincoln began with 75 600 volunteers
which numbers were raised to 100000 as the
exigencies Of the undertaking began to appear
lie now asks for 100000 more, making ], 100000
10 all, whereas the entire fighting population Of
the Northern States could hsrdly bs Teckoned at
more than the 500 600 before mentioned The
militia Of the Union, which was supposed to
represent the mass Of the people capable Of
bearing arms and not entitled to exemption,
comprised, by the returns Of 1859, iast So 5S9
officers and , 036 ,520 men. But the secession
OF the Southern Ststes reduced this force by one
third, leaving 100000 only to the credit of the
North and II is from this stock, be it remem-
oered, that all toe Federal levies, whether styled
regulars or militia, must, for the most part, have
been already drawn. AIr Lincoln has not got
his million and half untouched to fall back
upon his present necessity. He has been draw
ing upon this very fund ever since the war
began, and has drained it half dry. The work |
was commenced with mihtsmen turned into /
for the occasion, and was continued |
by men who, but foI such duty, would have been
available ior duty in the militia. The militia Of
the American States, in fact, represent a stand
ing teree maSSe of the young and active poT
ton OF the population, so that what in European
countries is reserved as a last resource against |
the exremisies Of national peril has been halt |
by the Americans II the first few
months OF civil war
BGs viii the Presidents new dTaughts be hon !
oIed Wil the new levies be fCT h,oming |
That depends on the temper of the people, aud |
the actual strength of the militia regiments |
Except by speculation on probabilities, we have |
no means of estimating the balance still remain
ing to the credit Of that force on which Mr. Lin |
coin has been so largely drawing. We csn |
readily understand that when zoo, GOO volunteers /
were called for and obtained, they must have |
come principally from that class already stamped /
Is The fighting class Of the nation-thst is, from
Che militia; bat whether the numbers of the ]
militia were Rfterward completed again from
less eligible recruits, whether the battaliOns
were left in skeleton condition, we have no
mesns Of saying. In many instances we know
shat militia regiments marched of to the Federal
camp entire, and IN very many others their main
strength must certainly have been transferred
70 the volunteer service. A correspondent re- I
marked last week that, if the militia had fur
nished all the Federal troops up to the present
time, AT. Lincons new call would leave a mar |
gin of just 100000 men unexpended out of
q comprehensive national levy-a drain abs0- !
luteiy without example Yet we believe that,
this Is the truth of the case.