Smyrna times., 1863-02-19
MISCELLANEOUS.
Desperate Condition of the South.

! The full heS OF Southern newspapers
which have been received afford abundant
evidence thatthe rebel authorities are alarm
ed by the magnitude Of the preparations
that have been made by our Government for
a simultaneous attack upon all their princi-
pal lines of defence, and consider that the
real crisis of the war is at hand. To meet
tho impending tempest they are making ex-
traordinary excrtions, and the appeals that
have been put forth by the Governors Of
theil several States afford convincing proof
that if our arms are now successful the Of
fcnSIVe resources ot'the South will be we'll
nigh or entirely exhausted
The Governor Of Alabama, in an appeal
which is almost mournful, laments that the
conscription in that State has been a failure :;
that large numbers of persons subject to it
are shrinking from the tolls and perils of
the war that a considerable number both
Of officers and privates, who belong to the
army and are fit for duty, are lingering at
home on various pretextS and he implorcs
the people of the State to aid the Govern
ment by driving the classes mentioned to
their duty under the penalty Of the wither-
ing punishment Of public scorn. He de-
clares the " evils to be great and ruinous,"
and necessary to be at once abated. In ad-
dition to this he calls, in fervid terms, upon
the men and youths Of the State, who are
exempt from service by reason Of their age
or other causes and who are capable of
bearing arms, to speedily organize as
! reserved force subject to the call OF the Ex-
! ecutive. To lend force to his abiurations.
he says 1.-THE State is now threatened from
several quarters our unscrupulous foe has
collected all his resources for one stupen-
dous effort to subiugate and enslavc us :"
and he paints the condition of the South in
his description Of the character Of the excr-
tions put forth by our authorities, bv declar-
my that I" the foe can never repeat the effort
he makes it the crisis of his cause if foiIed
in this last desperate struggle, exhausted
and dispirited he must yield the contest"
lie then goes on in vein of boasting, that
is strongly in contrast with the rest of his
melancholy appeal, to congratulate the peo-
pc OF Alabama upon " the opportunity to
hasten the era OF peace and independence
by an exhibition Of the fortitude and cour-
age necessary to defeat the enemy in this
lat, great, aad cOnrakire effort
| Even more lugubrious than the appeal of
the Governor of Alabama is that of the
Governor Of North Carolina, who laments
similar Ekulking from duty among the
troops of that State, 'in the hour Of our
greatest peril" as he charactcrizes it. En-
deavoring to find some other excuse for
them than a cowardly spirit, or a lack of
patriotism, or want Of confidence in the sue
cess OF the cause, Gov. Vance suggests.that
this evasion of duty has been the result Of a
natural and almost irresistible desire to see
their homes and friends but he is not on
: that account restrained from announcing in
sufficiently severe terms that if they fail to
return to duty by the 18th of February
" they will be apprehcnded, tried for deser-
ton, and upon conviction be made to suffer
death" He then appeals to them to avoid
this alternative, to stand by their country
yet q little Longer, not to suffer their own State
to be desOlated By a brutal, half savage foe,
and not to sully its bright and glorious
reputation by desertion and cowardice."
Nor are these the only signs that the Con-
federacy has fallen upon evils times" Gen.
Lee, commanding the military department
comprising Northern Georgia and South
western South Carolina, has issued general
order in which he says that he has been in
formed &" there arc a number of deserter.
tories, and conscripts resisting the law in
those sections, and that he "has dispatched
e force to suppress any insurrectionary
: movements, to capture deserters, and gen.
S orally to restore tranquility to that part o.
t country" And he adds, "this desire te
t do peaceably if car, forcibly if must.
$ lie then warns all malcontents to report
S and be organized into military commands
!, and PROMISES. free pardon TO all comply
/ ing with his Warming who have not render
. ed themselves obnoxious to the charge O
. having perpetratei violent inftactions O
; the-laws Of the State or COnfederaey, bu
/ decl lres that if they persist in "open trea
s son" ne viii "pursue them into their noun
y tam Businesses and iIse all the power and
I'll means at his control to arrest and brinf
K them to condign punishment g Ills men )
n he says, "will be ordered to fire upon them
f and at all hazards to capture the last man
l. until this reasonable movement is complete
IS ly suppressed This is a revelation fo
!, which we were scarcely prepared, and prove
Is the existence of spirit of insubordinatioI
u and Instruction in the States of Georgf
y and South Carolina that has hitherto beer
IT sedulously concealed.
e Evidently the rebels have enough Of
b their hands, when, in addition to fightin,
e our armies, tits found necessary to emplo,
J. their troops in suppressing dangerous am
It1 threatening combinations at home. An,
IS the lesson that is plainly to be derived b,
e us from the admissions ssounwillingly extor
t. ted from them is that we should continu
n 1.-The prosecution of the war with such MI,
= tagging zeal and energy as viii convert th
it Unreasonable manifestations which ar
: complainedf of into rallying points for tn
+ lrestoration of the Union and the supremac
of the laws-N Ne,caya Adoatser