The New York herald., 1864-11-03

hoiCang SouseOcracys
Shortly after General Sheridan sent the
routed rebel army Of General Early ''whiriing |
through Winchester" the Richmond E'sqdr~--
believed 10 enjoy the special confidence Of Jsa |
Davis-oame out strongly In favor Of general
arming OF tie able bodied slaves Of "the con-
federacy," as the last resort for Southern inde-
pendence. This proposition was promptly and
earnestly seconded by the rebel Governor OF
the northwest corner of Louisiana, and from
other quarters, until ct length the editor OF
North Caroiina paper (the Southern Confedcrale),
writing to said paper from Ricbmoud, has ia
vored the world with the following startling
report:
Tho pressure brought upon the authorities bers
ing the arm,ng blacks been too strong TO re-
sist Hence It 10 with gratitude that an abe 10 sas
FOR n: spring ca~,iem ihres Aundyed housasd sases
10 be compensated BY the Ccnederae
fsedom and oy acres Of land esc which insures them
permsDeut homes 10 the South.
Hero we have the positive statement. as
from official authority, that the arrangements
are under way In Richmond to arm for the
spring campaign thrce hundred thousand
able-boded slaves, the masters to be paid in
that sort OF rebel cash known as Confederate
scrip" and the slaves 70 be compensated with
the gift Of freedom and q present to each Of
fifty acres OF land. This is, indeed, most
extraordinary scheme to secure The inde-
pendenco OF Southern confederacy on the
corner stone OF African elavery. It Is thing
wholly unparalleled in The records OF ancient
or modern warfare. except in n case or two,
here and there, where a desperate pirate, in
order TO escape his pursuers. has blown him
self up with iis own ship.
very brief inquiry into tiis matter wilt
serve to show the almost inevitable conse.
qucnces from the adoption OF tie scheme pro-
posed. In the first place. the sccalled
Southern confederacy has been raced
Ly the armies and navies OF the Union
to one. third its origina! dimensions, or
to an area embracing about four millions
and half of population. Of this aggre-
gale we will say that two and half mil
lions arc negro slaves. Take from this number
three hundred thousand soldiers, and there will
not be a sound negro boy LEFT over ten years Of
age. nor a man under scventy-fve, capable Of
carrying o musket. 1t follows that, as "the
coafedcracy" has already been drained OF its
able-bodied whites, the women and children Of
the blacks will have to feed themselves and
the rebel armies. while the white women and
children arc clothing their armies, themselves
and their blacks at home; or armies and people,
whites and blacks. win all soon be reduced to
absolute nskedness and starvation. In other
words, the experiment Of general starvation
will Immediately follow throughout the rebel
Nous States the withdrawal of their able bodied
negro males from the corIfeld to the camp
even to the extent OF City thousand men beyond
the number now employed in the rebel military
service.
But Let us suppose that three hundred thou
sand or all the able-5odicd negro males or the
rebellous States now held by Davis are put
into his armies, with the understanding that
each man is to be free man and the owncr of
fiity acres Of land, with the success Of "the
confederacy," what nexts column OF say
twenty thousand of these black rebel soldiers
is brought into collision with an equal force OF
Union negro troops. The Uuion negroes re-
treat; the JEFF. Davis negroes pursue, calling
out, ave surrender, we surrender"
We are coming, Father Abraham,
Tnrco hundred thousand moo.
What other result could follow, with the
offer Of immediate freedom. not only to the
rebel negro soldier himself but to his wife and
children! Against this invitation, is 1t likely
that one solitary black in the rebel army would
prefer to fight his own race for the perpetual
enslavement of bis family and their descend
ants? Not one. OF course, then, the family
OF the negro employed Jas soldier by JET.
Davis must be eman cipated before he can be
trusted, ,'and as this concession would involve
the total abolition Of slavery there would be
no further use for Southern confederacy, and
il would at once tumble into fragments with
the removal OF its foundation.
Tie main difficulty in this business still re-
mains to be considered--how will this scheme
for arming their slaves be received by the
Shareholders of "the confcderacy?" This is
their rebellion, their Southern confederacy,
contrived inaugurated and controlled by them
for the protection Of their slave property, and
for the perpetuaton and expansion Of their
peculiar institution" II Is the corner stone
Of their political and social fabric; 1t Is "the
alpia and omega, the beginning and the end"
of their hopes and designs. They have mana ed
to use up all the poor whites OF their confede-
racy; they have sacrificed three or four cotton
crops; they have bled freely in many other
ways to sustain their chosen dictator, Davis;
vast numbers OF their brethren have been COM
p!etely stripped Of their slaves by "the YAM
kccs;' but there is still considerable rem
nant OF this Southern ruling class of rebel
shareholders whose "negro quarters" remain
intact and the question Ia. what will these
men do when called upon 10 try the game Of
abolition against Lincoln 10 secure Southern
independence
They will tell Master Davis that this thing d
impossible, and they will abardon him in the