Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-04-11
Correspondents Of ID. \. !. werld.l

OF the Enemy's strengths.
Correspondence Of the n. 7. Verdi
BALTIMORE. March %.
From conversation with gentleman directly
from the South have obtained considerable in
teresting and valuable Information in reference
TO the future prospects Of the South. give il
as a complete statement of the facts upon
which the rebels base their hopes of ultimate
success.
ARE THE REBELS EXHAUSTED
There are two questions of paramount import
ance to thinking men. and particularly to states.
men at the North. at the present. time. These
are: What are the capabilities of the South this
year for feeding their armies. and to what extent
have the cotton plantations and sugar plantations
of the South been converted into wheat fields and
corn 6elds2 And second. What is the condition
of the stock of horses in the South. and by what
means do the South expect to obtain remounts
for their large cavalry force; and how 40 they
expect to keep up the efficiency of this arm of
their servceI Aware for months past of the
importance OF the issues involved in these quesi
tions, have spared neither time nor labor in
| arriving at the truth concerning them, ard the
results of my Investigations are embodied below.
1t will require but moments reflection to
convince intelligent men that the ability of the
South to carry on the war, or, in other words,
that the duration of the war itself, depends upon
the facts which will be made apparent by the in
vestigation OF the above questions 1t is fact
by no means creditable to the intelligence of the
country, that the delusion that the South is
starving; the South is exhausted; that the back
bone of the rebellion is broken; that the South
ern soldiers are Disconnected and mutinous; that
the South has its whole available military strength
now in the field, for last, final struggle, -
should be shared, not by the ignorant and un-
hrfh ooai
TO intelligence. The for the latter is,
however, that they only believe what has been
set down for them in the newspapers which they
have been accustomed TO read and TO believe in;
and also, because such has been the constant tone
of every federal official from the President and
Secretary of State down to the bottom of the list.
For the shameful and willfu deception on the
people thus practiced By these newspapers and
these officials, there is no excuse and no pallia-
ton.
TERRITORIAL AREA OF THE SOUTH.
| In arriving at the truth in regard to the above
points, il it necessary to take into consideration
the vast territorial extent OF the South; the com
Darative small number of the Southern people
who have been Withdrawn from pursuits during
the last three years; and the temper and feeling
of the Southern people in regard to the war.
! The States of Massachusetts, Connecticut and
| New Hampshire occupy area of quite respect
together only occupy an area of 81 .754 square
miles, while the State of South Carolina alone
has an area OF "a 500 square miles. The great
State of Indiana contains an area of 80 500
square miles. But N forth Carolina, with its As
QUO square miles, is larger in territorial extent
than Indiana and Massachusetts together How
many people in the North believe that Louisiana
exceeds in territorial extent the Empire State
ITSELF with the 46 600 square miles of the latter?
| Yet such ia the fact The State of Mississippi
has AZ 600 square miles, and is therefore larger
than either New York or Pennsylvania The
State of Alabama contains $1,000 square miles,
and is. therefore larger than New York and Con-
necticut together A person VINO has travelled
over the whole length of the shaped Illinois
Central Railroad, from Chicago and Galena on
the north to Cairo at the south, has some idea of
| the vast extent of that State. Yet Georgia has
IS 600 square miles. and is. therefore. larger than
| Illinois. And Florida, which the President sent
| Mr. John Hay to conquer, contains SO 900 square
miles, and is therefore, larger than Pennsylvania
Massachusetts, and Connecticut. all together.
Finally, Virginia is still larger, containing 81 900
square miles; and even when the bogus State of
| West Virginia" is taken off, the Old Dominion
is still larger than Ohio. We say nothing of
Texas in this connection, because. although it
contains the enormous extent of 237 900 square
miles, land is. therefore, larger than the seven
great States of New York. Pennsylvania, Ohio.
Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Connecti-
cut all togetller) still it is practically useless to
the South for the present.
AREA UNDER CULTIVATION.
So much for the territorial extent Of eight of
the Southern States, which, vast as it is, is the
least important feature in the case. In these
eight Stales-lamelv, in Virginia. North and
South Carolina. Georgia. Alaboma Florida,
| Louisiana and Mississippi-there humid
red ana four millions OF acres OF land as vet I'M
touched by the farmer or planter to say nothing
of twenty millions of acres in the same condition
in Texas. In the eight States above named. not
counting "W est Virginia" there are only forty
| two millions five hundred and ninety thousand
acres under cultivation; and this includes all the
cotton plantations, sugar plantations and rice
fields OF the eEtre South. The staple produc-
tons of course monopolized the attention of the
South until 1861
| COTTON ABANDONED FOR GRAIN AND CATTLE.
During the first year of the war, the inexpedi
ency of raising any more cotton, and the neces-
sty of raising more wheat, corn, beef and pork
than had formerly been done. became evident o
the Southern people. This necessity became
more and more apparent in 1862. and caused
numerous public meetings TO be held all over the
South These meetings or conventions. for they
were usually composed of delegates lrem every
county in a State, were always the spOnta-
neous action of the people But when
ever they were held, pains were taken
by the Confederate Government TO lay before
the meetings representations of the pro-
spective needs of the army in the
matter of provisions, and to urge that the cul-
ture OF cottnn should be abandoned, and Oh e cul-
ture Of wheat and corn. and the raising of cattle
and hogs be substituted. wherever practicable
The idea enthusiastically adopted by all these
meetings and conventions, and. what is of far
greater consequence. il has been practically err
ried out by the people of the South, partially in
1862. but almost universally in 1863. The sta
tistical bureaus at Richmond are not Yet so per-
fectly organized as to enable exact statistics to
be furnished. showing to what extent the culture
of wheat. corn and potatoes has superseded the
culture of cotton. But the following is an ap-
proximate table. believed by the best informed
men ia the South to be substantially correct and
used indeed, by the Confederate War Department,
in making estimates for the supplies OF the Con-
federate army in 1864:
NUMAER or ACRES DEVOTED TO THE RAISING or
WHEAT CORN AKIN