The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1865-03-14
CONDITION or THE SOUTH
Gev Eaae AgEi


CONDITION or THE SOUTH
Gov yaaee ApFfi
Ssms = ibstst anals all' asa
The langasse ,isary and 3seanee,
as8 rs,eatolelisss ii.a' ibe military
affairs q t.e Coat tkmcy are in
pro,psfoa. esu48oa. II crossing
Georgia. Sherman oaly exchanged an
ialand eiy = .ns Importance Pr 3
coat Coy II 20 roTiaaee ai Al --
III, uboFFosfd ms p sef3s' 'he State
or souih Carui.aa uas juti sae ihins
10 insane 81. destruction ~ Turing
him Oh, under tic appearance oi VIC
tory 70 q poib, where the great Beau
regard vsaId gobble lam W rith
seAroely an eEgri. The capture Of
Fort Fisher was blessing 20 disguise.
The loss a Charleston and Whining
.ou va needed 70 bring the South 20
bs lost reliance on ita own resources.
SLcrnaa's great "raids, over which
The Sotlh bu been 20 elaied, have
accomplished nothing towards bang
ing tie var u close. In short. alter
. oArefsl review u Tie military si'uh-
lion, these papers ba's concluded that
.he prospects Of the Coaledefaey are
unusually bright.
But how do these writers reconcile
this view Of the matter with certain
official documents almost daily placed
before the Southern people for m
stance, With Gov. Vanees recent APP
peal TO the people OF North Carolina :
That curious proclamation declares
that the necessities Of the country A.
represented by tie Confederate au-
,horities are such. that "all" depends
upon The voluntary action Of the peo-
ple Of North Carolina and Virginia.
Gov. Vance says that the railroad
communication have been destroyed
by the recent movements Of the enc
my, so that for some months at least
the army Of Gen. Lee must rely for
subsistence upon North Carolina and
Virginia alone. Being informed by usn-
the Commissary Department that the
nlmethods OF collecting supplies will be
insufficient for the purpose, the Gov
ernor deyises plsn by which each
citizen may pledge himself to furnish
the tations OF one or more soldiers for
six months, one bali 10 be delivered
Immediately and the remainder at the
"a e .L..~ -,onths 10 set the ex-
ample, Gov. Vance tenders one hall
Of his years supply to the Commlssary
Department, putting his own family
upon short ralions. When govern
ment is so far gone that it is forced TO
rely for the support Of its last great
army upon the voluntary contributions
Of citizens who have not enough Tor
their own families, we certainly have
a right To look for its speedy demise.
But the case is worse than this. The
State upon which the Confederate
government il compelled TO rely is TO
great extent disailected 10 it, cause ;
and il the reports Of Sherman progress
are to be relied upon, those citizens
who are disposed to contribute to the
support Of Lees army must make haste
or their supplies will fall into wrong
hands, and those veterans will soon 20
supperless to bed.
There are many indications that I'm
der the system Of short rations and bad
news, the rebel armies are fast
d~indling away. During the first
tbres years Of the war the spirit OF the
army was kept up in spite Of the IN
expected Continuance Of the war by
rapid movements, frequent successes,
and northern invasions. But nov in
The fourth year Of the war, with 20
prosPee, Of an approaching close, the
only army left to the Coniederacy is
shut up in lie camp wiih oil the dc.
pressions incident TO a siege, with linn
tied supplies liable 10 iail a, any time,
10 hear Of The loss Of Important cities
aud repeated disasters in the field 10
al parts Of tie Coul,deraey. 10
army can be KEEP, together undersach
circumstances, and people will be pre-
Jared 10 hear that hundred desert
ere come into Grants l.ues every
igh,. Correspondents from all parts
% the country speak q The same state
2 things As existing 10 their depart
nsnis. II would require a very eK-
,ensive system Of recruiting 10 keep
10 the numbers OF armies thus drain
"A. Bot wth the Coniederacy, the
men who arc running away are tie
81 they lave,