Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-11-22


exemptions and details, there were about
100000 of men, exclusive of all recruits
from Kentucky and Missouri. Allowing
one. fifth of the whole to be now within the
enemy's lines, there would still remain
100000 mehslAudif one-halfpf this nnmbet
have been lost or disabled in service, (which
ia impossibles) there would still remain
4O0,O60-a force more than sufficient to end
this war soon and success fully, to say
nothing of the Confederate reserves and the
militia in the several States. g
Sir, it is true the men are not ell present
With the army; but they. exist, and will
continue with more or less rapidly to sup
ply recruits. The President hasltod us
| les i understandl in recent speech, that
\ one.third of the number liable TO service
| in the field we're absent, yet our armies
have been able and are now able to cope
With the enemy, and even win territory
from his grasp. Does this look like, ex-
| haustiont If it be, then the same ex-
haustion af1icts the foe; for after all the
| Immense drafts or attempts at drafting,
with huge bountles offered to recruibS-
with continual relays of foreign paupeEs to
fill up his waning Enes-sti1 he finds his
numerical relations to us Nttle changed (;
still he finds himself unable to ADVANCE
| The history of nations otteu exhibit the
fact ths: there isr a point of drain to the
field beyond which no population canybe
forced to go and sustain itsef in protracted
war, There is,p besides, 8 conservative in
stinct in. every people which teaches them
when this point has been reached, and
peither blRndishment nor coercion will
easily prevail with them to go beyond it.
1t is said that not more than tour per cent.
| of the whole population, or the male adult
head of every fifth family, can be spared
to'war. When he is taken from the nun.
Der of producers and converted into sol.
dier, his family of four consumers remain
to be supported by the producers of the
four nearest tsmiles--a burden of one ad-
ditional consumer to each male adult at
home, which, added to the other exactions
of War has been ascertaiRed TO. be as
heavy as any nation can long sustain.
Now, Sir, the North, with its population
of some twenty millions at the beginning
of the war, divided into four million tami-'
lilies, might have spared nearly million to
1 the field; and il is believed that in the course
Of this unusually bloody and Protracted
struggle nearly that number of the enemy
has been destroyed or disabled; even for
eign immigration does not enable him
Igfeatly to increase his aggregate force in
the field, and all appearances, and all in
formation received, indicate that the con-
eerVative instincts of the Northern people,
admonishing them of approximate exhaus.
tion of resources, rebel against the con-
tiuusnce of the war. But sooner or later,
| it is argued, the South must be exhausted.
might reply, sufficient for the day is the
evil thereof, choose, however, not so to.
evade the point.
The, limit at which the war drain on
the population mustbe stopped, has been
referred 10. That rule applies only to free
populati6n-not to slaves. The number OF
Iaborers or producers among slaves is
three times as great as among free Peo-,
ple With the former there are three in
each family who labor in a field, with the
latter only one; and with the former, those
who do not,labnr can hardly be called
consumers, 10 the beginning, the whole
South had 1000, 900 slaves, divisible into
500, 600 families of five, and including a..
400 900 laborers. The North, on the 9TH
er hand, had about 20; ;000, 900 whites, OF
which IL ,0O0,O05 would afford only 2, 40O,-
900 la6orers, aud, the remaining S,OOu,OOO
of her population were precisely the nnm-
ber of the white populadonof the South.
shall not here stop to comment on the
greater efficiencyiof alaye labor ever free
in producing subsistence for armies; nor
upon our more fertile soil and more pro-
pitious skies. Enough has been said to
show that the disparity between the Sec
tions was originally much less than was
generally supposed, and it msy be safely
asserted that the South, as slave country
has the greater capacity to endure long
war. True, a slave country, though not
easily exhausted, .is easily invaded. The
slave produces abundantly the supplies of
war, bat cannot be employed in local de-
tence. he cannot be made minute maui
and those who would employ slave troops
in our large armies have not yet had the
hardihood to propose slave militia. Iet,
! if thsyscan be relied on, to tight for the
lcouutry on the frontier, assuredly they
could be relied on TO fight for their imtne.
diate homes. This bare suggestion, how
ever, gives an air of absurdity to the whole
scheme:
Fortunately, We are not yet reduced 70
extremity. Although our territory is more
limited, supplies of food are more abuu-
dAnt than ever; our soldiers suffer from
disease much less than formerly; acting
chiefly on the defensive and behind works.
they must suffer much smaller losses in
battle than the enemy, and being 10 their
own country aud climate, must suffer also
much less from disease; and this day,
repeat, the South is displaying more OF
Original Eigor than the North. lfexha1s4
uon aPpEoACuesi LIS uU'0uSO 20 20. W. -
to be alarming; the period of its arrival
| cannot be calculated; while in the North,
portentous signs indicate no distant cstas.
trophe. At least, we are still strong en-
ough to affort to watch and wait, without
haEarding experiments on our military,
social and political systems, that may pre-
oipitate present disaster and entail future
Sill, our army must be increased. 1t
has already beer, said that fully one thIrd
of those now liable TO military service are
absent from the Aeld.i This source OF
supply must be made to yield its prVPer
fruits. Though there have bsen many, too
Emany, desertions, and this evil will eou-
ltinue more or less 10 exist, yet il has not
been'so great in our army as in that OF