The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1862-06-29
Affairs I'm Richmond.

4
We publish in another column this morning
very interesting narrative of the escape OF
Mr.. John White, British subject, from the
confederacy of JEFF. Davis. Mr.. White is most
intelligent gentleman. His statements of af-
fairs at Richmond are important and Interest
ing, and we deem them reliable.
Mr.. White has been employed for the past
two years as clerk in q store at Macon, GeOr-
| gia. He left Macon on the 18th of last March,
with the intention Of quitting the Confederate
States. On Wednesday last he arrived in this
city, having been all this while efecting his CO.
cape. Seven weeks of this time he spent at
Richmond vanly endeavoring to obtain pass
either from the British Consul or the rebel
Secretary of War. Finally he succeeded in
procuring pass to Petersburg, whence he pro-
ceeded on foot to- Suffolk and surrendered him
self to the Union pickets. General Mansfield,
having heard his story, forwarded him to New
York. Mr.. White brought with him, concealed
about his person, sixteen thousand dollars
worth Of English bills of exchange, consigned
to merchant in this city.
| OF the strength Of the rebel army at Rich
/
is permitted to approach the army camps, and
no idea could be formed Of the number of the
forces in the field. Having visited the Richmond
hospitals, however, Mr.. White is enabled to give
arough estimate of the rebel sick and wounded.
| The churches, warehouses, public halls and
| large stores are all used as hospitals, and not
less than thirty thousand rebel soldiers are in
/ tha {o1o nf pschr Tha taat
scarcity and distress prevail there. Every
available man has been forced into the army.
The CONSUMPTION act is vigorously carried out
and starvation proves an excellent recruiting
| officer. There are still Union men in Rich
mond, however, and Mr.. White found no
difficulty in meeting them among the soldiers
and citizens. Of course they were guarded in
their language; but some of them declared that
''they were tired of the war and wanted it
over" and others that "they would gladly hail
the old flag again" From personal converse
tons Mr.. White is of the opinion that no less
than one-third Of the Richmond people are at
heart true to the Union and pray for Met lellan's
success. This is, indeed, cheering nows.
| Of the rebel treatment Of foreigners Mr..
White has word to say, which we recommend
| to the attention Of the English press. He found
his pass from the British Consul at Macon of
no more value than piece Of blank paper.
He applied to the British Consul at Richmond;
| but the Consul informed him that consuls were
| now powerless. When he informed the rebel
Secretary of War that he was British subject,
| Mr.. White was told that "they did not care
for England; that they intended to manage
their affairs in their own way. without any re-
gard to the feelings of her Britannia Majesty
| and much more to the same effect. No foreign
er is allowed to receive employment of any
| kind without taking the oath Of allegiance to
the confederacy, and the moment this oath is
Davis; his Consul cannot protect him, and he is
Immediately drafted under the CONSUMPTION act.
Hundreds Of British subjects have been caught
| in this trap. They must either enlist or starve;
| for they are not allowed to leave the confede-
racy under any pretext, and cannot work there
| without taking the OATH A number of respscta-
BILE Englishmen, with several ladies, are now at
the Spottswood House in Richmond. They
| cannot leave the rebel lines-cannot write to
| or receive letters from their friends here, and
| cannot tell what will become of them when
their present means are exhausted. Lord Pal
merston. Earl Russell, Gregory, M. p, and the
London Times have great deal of sympathy
with the rebel ladies. Have they none left for
these poor English ladies, confined by the rebel
authorities at Richmond?
| Mr.. White sums up his description Of life in
Rebellion by the emphatic assertion that he
would not stay there another week for thou
sand dollars, even if his safe return hither was
| guaranteed. From our Union pickets he re-
ceived the first cup of coffee he had seen for
months On his journey from Petersburg to
Suffolk he saw a battalion of rebel troops burn
forty bales of cotton belonging to poor
woman; and he relates a thousand other in
stances, only too we'll authenticated, of rebel
cruelty and oppression. The journals Of Mr..
Whites own country may find in his narrative
food for much reflection. To us it is only
another proof of facts which we have repeated
ly stated, and we join with the Union men of
Richmond in hoping and believing that before
many days the old flag of the Union will wave
over the rebel capital announcing the end Of
the rebellion and the restoration of Virginia to
the old Union, undivided, inseparable and etsr-
| nal.
| The PROPOSED New ISSUE OF TREASURY
NorEs.-A desperate effort is being made by a
few members Of Congress, backed by several
journals and politicians in this vicinity,
to prevent the passage Of the law autho-
rizing new issue Of Treasury notes. A con-
slant cry is kept up that the country will