The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1864-09-17
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
Dangers and Difficulties which Threaten
Frankly Stated.

tAAOl N@1~ ~~.~l
We ,ecesh are hsbitually amused at the shifts
and lodges to which our enemy resort, 20 keel
up appearances and 70 cover disaster or disaP-
p%0intment. But do We never initiate the schooiy
VINO whistles to keep HE courage up, as he
passes through the graveyard Do We never
illustrate the wisdom Of that desert bird, which
hides its head in the sand, and thinks Itself hid
The {" On 10 Richmond" OF the enemy has be-
come a by word for children, and We long ago
learned TO laugh at the 80, oO and 20 days IN
which The rebellion was 10 be - crushed out"
We have felt pity for the people who could feel
glad ct an advance on Richmond, which appears
to have cos. some 2 600 men for every mile they
gained, and contempt for the Government which
would forge our State papers in a clumsy way,
for the purpose of making themselves tempOra-
rily successful, and finally infamous, before the
eyes of foreign powers. Seeing these things, let
US avoid them, ever with the question before US
How do we look before the world? Not for
getting another equally important question, one
which IL vital 10 our success, as 1t involves our
seif-eonfdenee-How do we look to ourselves ?
What We wish To urge Is simply the moral Of the
old proyePb, Z" Let not him that putteth on HE
armOr, boast himself as him that putteth it of"
Often have our people been deceived by false and
delusiye hopes, gotten up with the best intention
IN the world, by those who think they help our
cause by proclaiming victory AMID the thickest
Of peril. Or wncn We are really and seriously
harmed, they by brave words attempt TO - heal,
slightly, the hurt of the daughter of Zion"
God help them TO have more Judgment, for they
surely do not realize the sickening sense Of utter
despair, the utter crushing of bright dream flow
ers, which is the inevitable result Of those beliey-
ed-in prophecies of sure success, when followed
by inevitable disaster.
The magnificent army Of Sherman has without
loss and without battle, forced back one of our
best armies, under a faVorite General and If he
had intended \ raid, the destruction of the vast
agricultural interest of the granary of our State,
is q loss which We are ill-prepared to retrieve.
The evil is, first, the withdrawal from market of
the essential food second, the increase Of popu-
lation caused by refugees, which makes an in
creased demand on the producing capacity of the
State third, the increased prices which tend to
depreciate the currency, which cannot bear
another one-third reputation. Then If il be
more than a raid, and Sherman holds his front
by Notifications, and his rear by guards, it is an
actual loss Of empire. Therefore, with harm
actually done, and with Atlanta and the great
railroad interests involved in the fate of a. battle
that Sherman may or may not risk, Is 1t wise to
tell our people that the invasion of our State is
but a a. stupid blunder" of the enemy?
just eight hours before the battle Of Black
Greek, O General high in command told a lady
in our hearing, that the crossing of the Missis-
sippi by Gen. Grant placed him at our mercy,
and that the only thing to fear was, that he
would take the alarm and escape TO his gun
boats before we could make the attack. Twenty
four hours later our broken columns were hurry
ing along che same road in retreat, and the lady
who had believed the General could not save even
her wearing apparel. That General Was not
named PeInberton. Instance after instance of
this kind have we had during the war, ard vet
grave papers with able editors talk of the GER
Sainty that Sherman can never take his army
back to Chattanooga, and congratulate the couD-
try that he has marched into u trap. We once
had some experience of an old rat that always
sprung the steel trap from the under side, and
always took off the bait and never got caught.
The Yankees have a peculiar faculty of march
ing into traps and staying there. Our only COM
nentary upon such writing is. that such traps as
half q State, and the best half at that, are SD
as to perhaps awaken smiles in the
and In Europe, when We boast of them.
In like manner do We talk about Grant, and
ourselves over a SET OF facts which are far
from amusing. We are perfectly satisfied that
the commander of the armies of the United States
with but n small portion of the loss he has now
sustained and that too, with all allowance for
the peculiar Confederate arithmetic which kills
Yankees rapidly-On paper, Lieut.-Gen. Grant
greatly mistaken in his idea that, having
turned the flank of Gen. Lee in crossing the
there would simply be n ~foot-race for
But two things have since been de-
nonstrated, and both are serious. First, that
the army of the Union IS so large and powerful
the usual military axiom, Thanking, Is
more dangerous TO the tanker than the ianked,"
not apply. The strategy of Grant, which
consists in simply Withdrawing one wing at a
time Behind the impregnable masses of the centre
and other wing, would be fraught with peril
we're that centre and remaining wing contracted
enough to be enveloped, or weak enough to be
broken, but is perfectly safe as it is. Therefore
le is at liberty to play tricks in plain sight and
peril, simply because he II too big TO
,ateh !! Consequently, in 4 succession of tricks,
wen by one of the only moderate ability of
Grant, there is danger that one not seen or loiled
It exactly the right time may catch us. Such q
result would not be destruction to our army. for
Lee also is too big to hold, but it might do US
harm.
The second danger is of the siege of Richmond.
Some of our contemporaries, and the most of cor
respondents, laugh at this; and yet Grant has
{ in his power to besiege the capital. or force an
stack on himself, or force an evacuation of Rich
nond. Not that he has his choice of these three
,hings, but can force that choice upon Us. In
moving upon the south OF Richmond, and
threatening James River near the city, Gen. Leo
las choice of two evils. If he keeps ahead of
and holds the Petersburg line inviolate,
hat Tanker necessarily gets between him and
Richmond, and walks into the city at his leisure.
4 Lee keeps between Richmond and Grant the
after, of course, gets between him and the South
IN States communication, and cuts off the only
ource of supply now left, as the Valley of Vir-
,inia is in the hands of the enemy. If Lee
wants to save Petersburg and Richmond both. he
will have TO attack Grant in one of his eraw-fsh
and will have to attack the position
nd Entertainments which the grand spade-and-
army never exists an hour without.
In our Judgment the plan of the campaign is
I last developed. Western Virginia, the Valley
Its resources, is, by the movement on Staun-
on and Lexington, to be rendered unavailable
d. provisions. Grant is to throw his army into
across the railroads from Richmond
0uth, and so cut off our army supplies. Thus
ne starvation of a siege will be as efectually &C.