New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-12-21
Vrorn N o. cssions Couespondcni-
WA-umGrO. Dec IL 1853.

Il
WAsnMGTo. Dee. ~ 1853.
ex.Member of the United states Congress
nov An eminent member Of the Rebel Co.ied'raoy
" hose name am not st liberty TO publish, has ~ite
to one OF his friends here letter which has been CON
lnunicsted 10 me and o. which an allowed H. CIV
roo, $50 cnci account The write Of The letter an
informed returned 10 the South by way Of Nassau abou
ak month. ago and bss since been appointed Brgadier
General and attached 10 81 The bureaus OF the
Department At Richmond. III. views on the pre'en
po.iion Of the Copidcfacy, allowance being made io
his private syinpa,hiep cannot fa to add TO the stock
information We possess on the subject.
His letter begins by candidly acknowledging IN
strait. in which the Coniedcracy is now placed Ih'
souh was never 50 reduced men, prov Isons and tel
ritory a. ii j. nov. Narrowed down on Its western
by the advance Of the Union armies cut of
from il. communication with the ocean by the sricn"u
Of the blockade troubled in its transportatons by 'h'
yretohed state OF - railroad lnesits life is now con
rsc,ed a. II were 10 hsfa dozen State, upon which il
IL now slmo-t entirely dependent FOR support But al
these evils the writer b. purely accidental
and temporary! They will prctract the struggle re
oure heavier sacrifices and impose upon the people
greater susrnes than they have hitherto experienced
but they do not the least impair final result which
he thinks VIII end by the triumph Of the cause he S'
tsins
The dcsIth Of provisions he attributes 10 severa
causes 10 the degeneration OF currency the grsednes
Of spectators the bad state of the roads and To thu
imp,ovidence Of the War Department 10 this mus
be added the preiudices Of public opinion. which more
than ANYTHING else parslyzed all attempts ON tie part
the Government ~ accnmte large stocks for the sup
NV Of the army. People had put much confidence
IN their power preserve IN peIpetuity the two gre"
cattle and wheat producing States. Texas and Ten
nessee from which they drew most other stocks ths
they never tOOA the trouble Of calculating the straits IL
which they would be placed should these two states b'
vrestc0 from their hands. When this took place 'er'
vss OF course a great interruption IN iowardihs
p,n,ics Southwark This took the people by surprise
rLe usual channel, Of supplies were stopped. Ne"
opes now Lad to be opened. The difficulty "as 10 ea
,.mnor;,e resources which had lbeen suddenly
Withdrawn Cattle and provisions were sad TO b'
cat.ered about in various States but no one Knew bow
20 get At them OF how 10 gather them ut the points
wbsrs they were most needed. This period Of intel
,n,,ion and suspense was keenly felt In Richmond
Provisions rose 10 On enormous price, tho army was
,educed 10 scsnty rations the poor became uneasy
and threatening and the ghost OF starvation, although
attn shrouded in dim and distant future, stared the
people in the face
This stac Of things says the letter was merely the
,,oluct Of trans circumstances and not at all o.
bas been said result Of the deficient condition OF the
Southern States as a producing country. The South
e,cumscribcd to it's actual Limits may with the ins'r
uens Of labor possesses feed ten times The amount o.
,o II nov contains. and have still balance for export
,on The trouble ia us il not then 10 be found In the
h,rsnnes the soil or in the want of arms TO cultivate
, lint in sudIen alteration OF our territorial posses
.ion. and in the reliance which people had set upon
,ema reliance which made us forget those measures
Of ordinary prudence which in such Crisis as thus
onglit not to have been neglected"
The line upon which the Union army il now moving
in The oninon Of the writer too extensive not to allow
the con,ede,ates 70 make raids the State now under
Union rule and take IN Al the tIspsp0Jtsbe property