Nebraska advertiser., 1864-01-28
The London Times on the two
Messages.

State paDers in order to ascertain, If pos
sible what views each President takes o.
the prospects Of his own cause, what es
innate he form Of past progress, anc
what hopes he entertains Of future sue
cess. We confess, after the most careful
consideration, we can derive little insigh
int the subject. The truth is that these
addresses do not contain so much what tn
writer's think as what they wish to b
supposed to think. If either The Nortl
or South despaired of the safety Of The
Republic, the last place where we Should
expect to find any trace of it weuld be il
the inaugural addresses OF their Presi
dents. Still, such Indications as we car
gather seem to show hat neither party
has a right 20 look forward to the coming
year with overwee ning confidence. The
balance of advantage in the last cam
p2ign has undoubtedly been in favor OF
I the North. President Lincoln claims
somewhat prematurely hat the MiSsis-
sippi is completely opened, while the very
last advices we have reviewed show that
this is very far from true. Tennessee, he
assures US, is substantially clear of insur-
gents-a statement which the latest ac-
counts cannot be said TO bear out. We
are told for the hundredth time that the
crisis is past, and the attention of the
President would seem to be directed
rather to the fate of the black then of
the white population of the Southern
States. He announces his firm adher-
ence to the policy of emancipation, and
cOngTatulates himself, as we think he re-
sonably may, that his views on that SUBJ
ject have made progress during the last
e There can be no doubt of the fact.
It has pleased the Democratic party 10
The North, by an amount of moral Cow-
ardIce to which history furnishes no par
allel, to commit political suicide. To
narrow the difference between themselves
and their antagonists as to the mere
question of the proper aGn of carry
ing on the war was to take up a position
by which everything was to be lost. and
nothing to be gained; and, of course,
whatever the Democratic party lost has
been transferred to those violent men
who, in addition to the inestimable adj
vantage Of thoroughly knowing their
own mind, aud having perfectly clear and
definite views, possessed for the moment
power place and patronage, and are able
10 reward those conversions to which the
weakness of their opponents gave only
too reasonable occasion. Mr.. Lincoln
coufesses, however, to two wants, both OF
them very serious in war the want OF
men and the want of money. He speaks
in guarded terms, not of the scarcity o.
soldiers, but of the want of labor IN the
field of industry. The havoc Of war has
raised up a formidable competitor with
the State; and the man who enters the
army viii probably be no better paid for
his life by battle or malaria than
the peaceful cultivator Of the land, who
lives without danger and without excite
ment. There is also a complaint that
the enlistment for the army completes
prejudiclally with the entering Of seamen
for the navy.
The address Of the Southern President
is entitled to the praise Of eanaor. He
does not, perhaps. admit so fully as he
the real effect of the bloody check
at Gettysburg ; but, with this exception,
do not think that General Halleck
himself could object to the view which is
of the events Of the late campaign
The heavy blow which was sustained by
the capture of the Mississippi fortresses,
and the recent defeat in Tennessee, are.
with manly frankness--a frank
ness which tends more to raise our opin-
of the prospects of the Confeder acy
Than the most highly colored statements.
There is nc complaint Of difficulty Of OBJ
men for the army, though the
occasioned by war are spoken of
with a bitter regret very different from
the iron stolcism which the Northern
leaders prescribe TO themselves on such
But the statement of Southern
finance is a melancholy affair. The
Southern people are inundated by depre-
clated paper currency, their trade IS de-
slroyed, their industry terribly impeded,
and yet their President can make no bet
Ter suggestion than the imposition of
heavy direct taxation ia order to reduce
the currency within proper bounds, in adj
ui'ion to what may be required TO make
provision for the war. Nobody can
TOuOl 'hese principles are sound, but are
'hey practicable And if not, how are
'ne SOo,hern armies 10 be supported in
the heid' n to be provided with food.
clothes arms, ammunition, artillery and
transport The question is not what has
been done IN the last campaign, but with
what resources the two antagonists will
confront each other In the campaign
which will be opened in the early spring.
The President expresses confidence ID the /
superior endurance of men fighting for /
home, liberty and independence, which
no doubt as to the result, Endur.
ance will do much. In days when war
was a mere hand-io-hand encounter be-
tween comparatively small forces, it
night. perhaps, do everything ; but en-
lurance cannot create capital, it cannot
manufacture credit, it cannot provide ex-
and complicated machines, or
e Of transport which seem to
be breaking down under the pressure put
lpon them. Sull. in one sense there IS
0siice in Mr.. Davis confidence. We
never expected, when this war began,
hat the South would be able to conduct it,
s it has done, IN the footing Of a great