The New York herald., 1863-10-30

strangers among US are enjoying themselves to
tho top Of their bent Let them not forget the
Opera, the theatres and the Park.
The Rumors from Richmond-Ths Rebel
Situation.
There was o rumor in town yesterday
that the people in Richmond had risen against
the authorities, and, by spontaneous move
ment, had attacked the prisons containing
Union captives, setting the poor fellows free;
that they bad seized the arsenals and imme-
diate public defences, and that they were, in
fact, masters Of the seat of the rebel govern
ment
Whether these reports are true or not we
have not the means at hand at the present
moment to decide. But that events of an
equally momentous character may at any hour
be expected to occur within the rebel lines we
have competent authority for believing Those
who will be patient enough to listen to rela-
ton Of the lamentable grievances under which
the working classes in the Southern States labor,
and be candid enough to express their belief
after receiving the intelligence we have to i'm
part, must concur with us in this view.
The fact is well known-but It Is fact that
is endeavored to be concealed by those inter-
ested in the success of the cause of the South
that while the currency of that section has
enormously deprecated, and the price of every
commodity has increased In corresponding
proportion, there has been no adequate rise in
the wages Of labor or in the pay Of the SOL
ders. The horrors of starvation for the want
of ability to purchase articles Of food have been
presented in more than one frightful picture,
but in none more striking than in the case
where, -four being seventy-dve dollars per bar
rel in Richmond, poor woman appealed to
shopkeeper for relief. She was denied; and
she cried, "What am to do to live?" "Eat your
children" was the reply.
The bread riots in Mobile and in other parts
Of Alabama; the we'll known starving condition
of the poor in the interior of the States of Vir-
ginia, North and South Carolina, Mississippi,
Louisiana and Florida; the lamentable distress
known to exist among the Union refugees in all
parts of the South; and, above all-especially
for the potency Of its effects upon the social
and physical condition of the South-the pres
ent position Of that downtrodden, spurned and
dcspised class, known as poor mechanics and
workingmen, all aid in fortifying the conclusion
that the Southern confsderacy is at this mo-
ment in the throes of domestic convuls;on,
and that events are occurring within its own
boundaries more powerful for its destruction
than all that the armies of the Union can ac-
complsh.
That there exists wretchedness unspeakable
among certain people in Richmond is beyond
all doubt; and that it is, and has for long
time been, the fear Of the Davis government
that there will be domestic outbreak, is none
the less true. Reports of such matters seldom
reach the North, and never through the chan
nels of the Richmond press. No man or woman
over is allowed to leave the Southern lines, un-
der flag Of truce, unless pledge Of honor
which it is found women stick to better than
mems given that no information shall be I'm
parted which shall be calculated to prejudice
the Southern cause. It is for this reason that
the people Of the North have been kept In igno-
rance of the actual social condition Of the
Southern people. And it is noteworthy that
all those domestic relations with which women
are supposed to be particularly familiar are
scarcely ever mentioned in accounts from the
South. We mean everything that connects
itself with domestic affairs, from christening
to the price Of piece Of calico. The women
fight, as they did in Mobile, and grasp" a.
ono did in Richmond, at the throat of rebel
official; but We only hear partial and unsatis-
factory reports Of such things. We hear that
the people of Richmond are cnraged at high
prices; that thcy combine to FIX rate of
charges. appeal to the Legislature to sustain
them, are denied and spurned because they are
poor mechanics, "poor white trash" and no
wonder that they rise, break open prisons
containing thousands Of sympathizers, and
possess themselves Of the power which has
been exercised against themselves. The greater
wonder is that there has not been an outbreak
of this domestic nature before. The masses
have been ripe for 1t for long time, and the
opportunity was all that was waited for.
Another thing. How are the reports Of con-
ficts between companies and regiments in rebel
armies to be accounted for? We seldom, II
ever, hear of any such contests in the Union
armies, and they are composed Of materials far
more distinct than those of the Southern forces.
We hear Of fights between Georgia and Tennes-
see troops, and the sacrifice of many lives We
never hear Of nything Of the kind between the
Maine and Maryland or the Wisconsin and
Tennessee loyal troops. But the Southerners,
it seems, fight not only for their cause, but
against themselves; and the consequence is, or
will be, general revulsion in popular feeling
among the masses Of the South, not only in the
army, but among that derided and downtrcd-
den class, the mechanics and workingmen Of
the South. Why notf
Our REsoURCEs-CoTroS VERSUS CORN
Nobody ever claimed that cotton was anything
more than king; and kings in these days are
very paltry fellows. Gotten. in whose greatness
his votaries had ample faith, and who, 1t was
thought, could tie down the world with his fine