The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1864-02-01

daylt fluctuations ~ gold having tended TO decrease
the usually small business transacted on Saturdays
There some activity in certain commodities but, as
general thing business duh At the Produce Ex
change the complexion Was, in the main, unchah ged
Transactions mainly the basis Of Fridays prices
and thcrc general activity In imported rerchan
disc only small Lusiress consummacd, owing TO
the difference Ia the views Of buyers aud sellers Gro
ceres were quiet Cotton dull and heavy. Petroleum
about steady Freigh,s were quiet and unchanged
Tho Spring Campaign-Thc New Gall
for Troops.
The President has issued q proclamation,
which appears in another column, calling out
half million Of men, and ordering draft for
that number on the 10th Of next month. All
enlistment5 meanwhile, to the LIST OF March,
however, are to he deducted from the aggre-
gate number required.
This large force, when placed in the field and
added to that already in service, will give the
Union an army so overwhelmingly large that,
with proper energy and disposition on the part
Of the administration, it must crush on. what
remains of the rebellion by the Fourth OF July
next 1. is manifestly the determination OF
JEFF Davis to infuse life into his followers by
making desperate effort in the spring to re-
cover Tennessee and the Mississippi All men
and boys in the rebel States, from sixteen to
ifty-fve years of ago, not now in service,
are to be forced inc the ranks Of
xt.a al IN hn
pioyed as reserves and train guards,
In order to swell the effective forcs
in tie field. 1t is estimated il the rebel news
rapeTs that in April or May their army will
reach eve hundred thousand men, who are to
be divided into four corps, under Lee, John
ston, Deaurcgard and TIongstreet, to operate
on short lines, 90 thet Trey can be easily aud
rapidly concentrated on any one point 1t
will be impossible for JEFF. Davis to raise this
force, even with the mos. sweeping conscrip-
ton and the desperate aid Of rress-gangs. But
| it is proper for our government to
base their calculations on the re-
bel estimates, and prepare accordingly.
The rebel line Of operations now extends from
Fredericksburg to Mobile, and from Chattanoo-
ga to Charleston. This line our forces under
Grant, Banks, Meade and Gilmore, If furnished
with men and material In time, and if let alone
| by the blunderers in Washington, can soon
contract and tighten. Then, with one decisive
blow, JEFF. Davis and bis miserable government
can be annihilated forever.
Now is the time to encourage ealistmeats
Let the five hundred thousand men be raised
| without another draft. Let the world sec what
we can do. Above oil, let the President and
his Cabinet attend to politics, If they will, and
| give the generals in the field carte blanche TO
fight the battles without interference from
Washington, aad we shall soon have peace
| from Maine to the Rio Grande, and be pre-.
pared, under Grant, for any emergency that
may arise with England or France, or both.
4
JAMES McHuGa AVID ARBITRARY ArREsT5.-Mr
| a. J. McKenna, Of Belfast Ireland, wrote Q let
tor full Of vrtuous indignation TO The London
Macs, ard be has sent us copy Of IT, McKenns
is iu trouble about his brother-in-law, James
| McHugh, who came to the United States, was
arbitrarily arrested, and, for oil NcKenna
knows to The contrary, is even now 10 Fort
Lafayette. McKenna INDUCES in the usual
tropes about gross injustice on this side Of the
water II is one little point to the credit Of our
government that IT ov.dea " knows more about
James McHugh's business than this member o
his family does If Mr.. McKepns win hunt VI
our Issue OF the 18th ult, be will find, In abatci
| Of intercepted letters, one from James hoHugs
to c. L. Lamar, esgas :hs purchase purchase q I
stesmsr fcf Che Confederate States Of America
IsgRless Ntzhugh, wrote more ttan one letter
and It Is not improbable that others OF bis epis-
ties may have miscarried; and some cogitaton
upon this possibility may assist the anxiety Of
McKenna 70 linda cause for bis brQther-in-law's
! arrest.