The Sun. — 1862-10-31 (London, England)

LETTER ',ROM GENERAL NEAL DO TV.  Brigadier-General Neal Dow, in a letter to the secretary of the Alliance, Mr. T. H. Barker, writes as follows :—" Head-quarters, Fort at. Philip, Sept. 28,:—1 shall receiveeon information of the proceedingsr e s t. The o et youree asoccasion ngreat no prospect of being eateleeeel failven convention nb with ea greatd e c ci you.eest se ,s it yot uitsl to my me not ytoetr post,bteh .s and I see months and much tdmhuustcitehoe Iccoogninrfiieen.veel,m,thheantotl liberty to leave it for some drags its slow length along, and must continue to do so until our government adopts a policy At present it seems to be entirely afloat, drifting with every wind and current. The rebels are terribly terribly in earnest, and come in time; and perhaps exhaust their strength and resources in mighty effort, while our Government has yet to make up its mind full to anything. it has yet to adopt some plan, some system, policy. That will some should linger in this way, and go on with various fortune, that the Northern mind may be firmly made up on the subjectwith tiesthpuhe war For myself I of slavery. believe this dreadful war is a controversy that God has with this nation on account of its great sin— slavery ; and he will not permit us to have peace until we repent of that sin and forsake it. Our people are beginning to see the matter in that light, and public opinion has made great progress in the right direction during the last year, as the acts of our congress prove. As to the institution of —lt slavery • . is virtually overthrown already, indeed it is literally so, everywhere within our military lines. The slaves think themselves free, and will masters not work for their until they choose to do a so, and unless they e paid. Many masters now pay their slaves, some 10 dols., some 12 dole. a month ; and some stipulate to give them one-third of their entire crop for their labour in saving it. The slaves leave their masters as they please, and go away without fear; nor have they the least fear for the old despotism. I have now about 600 of them at these forts, constantly employed in Government service, and they have no fear at any time to go back to the plantation to get their things. They have no fear of their masters, nor of ethe laws of Louisiana. They rightly judge that these latter are no longer of any account. Some time ago I went into a large village, and hearing that a loyal man was confined in the gaol, I went to it, and made the keeper exhibit his list of prisoners. Among them were many slaves, who were committed for ' safe keeping,' and three whites on a charge of murder. I demanded to see the slaves, and was taken into a large airy room occupied by the alleged murderers. In the floor of this apartment was a trap-door, which the keeper raised, bidding the slaves come up, which they did. The effluvium coming up from the den below was so offensive that my officers could not endure it. After a little I looked down into the hole, and found it a wretched place, with only two small heavily-grated windows for light and air • . They were in confinement under the laws of Louisiana, but I bade them go, and they went. This was trampling those laws under foot, and the slaves all since that time that they are no longer in bondage by the law, for the slave laws are null. Many plantations are abandoned by their owners, and I am taking possession of them_ Yesterday I sent an officer to a great establishment, the crops of which, now upon the ground, are 1,000 hogsheads of sugar, besides great quantities of other produce' worth in all over 100,000 dols. All the whites are gone' leaving 100 negroes behind, and my officer is ' to superintend the estate and secure the crops ; and this week I shall take possession of two other great plantations in the same way and for the same purpose. In Louisiana, before ,the war, negroes sold for more money than in any other state, because the sugarplanters were making immense profits, and were continually extending the cultivation of the cane. At present slaves are without value here, and there is no market for them whatever. The entire business of the State is destroyed, and vast numbers of men of princely fortunes before the war are beggars now. Their trade is entirely stopped, and their last year's crops are destroyed or seized and appropriated by the rebel Government, Ithey are left without