Year: 1862

Fanatical Excesses, North and South.


Considerable alarm is expressed in some
quarters lest the destruction Of cotton and
tobacco which has been ordered by the rebel
authorities wherever we have obtained advan-
tages over them, should become general, and
thus deprive the world of their supplies of these
necessary staples for couple of years to come.
No fears should be entertained on this head.
The orders thus given will be but very par
TALLY acted upon. They will be treated with
about as much respect as the silly letter pub
lished some little while ago by Cobb, Toombs
and two or three other crazy rebels, advising
the Southern people to burn their towns and
take possession of them. InAamed by bad
whiskey, and maddened by disappointment the
men who have dragged the South into this
slough of despond are capable of urging upon
its people the most frantic excuses; but,
although the latter have allowed themselves to
be dragooned into the war, they are not
demsnted to this suicidal point II should
be reooilected that the .sm0ant Of cot
ten and tobacco burned on the coast
bears but . small fractional proportion
to the aggregate stock on hand OF both. What
ever could be removed into the interior has
been, in every instance, Immediately sent there
on the approach Of the federal forces, and the
general collapse of the rebellion will find it
untouched. To assume that the planters and
other holders of these staples will act on the
incendiary recommendations of men who are
vested with an authority of such short probable
duration, who have no property themselves to
lose, and who are prepared to run away and de-
sert them at the first convenient opportunity,
is contrary to all experience of human nature.
We have seen how the efforts to burn the towns
about to fall into our possession have been re-
sisted in almost every instance by the inhabi-
tants. The same conservative spirit will be
exhibited by the planters, once they are as
sured of protection from the drunkards and
tyrants who now hold the fate Of their property
in their hands.


But whilst we charge these excesses to the
account of the misguided men who have already
80 much to answer for, let us not shut our eyes
to the fanaticism Of those on our side who. at q
time which calls for so much forbearance, are
doing all they can to exasperate to the highest
pitch the bitter feelings that the war has pro-
voked. The conduct of Senator Wade's COM
mittee, in publishing their report on the
barbarities said to have been committed on
our wounded and dead by the rebels after the
battle Of Manassas, is inexcusable. 1t can serve
no purpose but to inflame still further the ran
cor that exists between the two sections,
whilst in other respects It is equally contrary to
good policy. Admitting thstths statements IN
..tae report are trus, what object do the COM
mittse propose to themselves by giving them to
the wosldy Are they SO blinded by their hos
! tility against the South as not 10 see that what
reflects ON the civilization and humanity Of its
people may also be taken to reflect en- our
scivess People abroad will not stop to draw
the distinction, and will set down to the account
of democracy the excesses Of few fanatics
drunk with the fury Of an insane hatred. Have
we no minds among us similarly diseased and
who, for the sake Of an abstract idea, would
see thousands upon thousands of lives sacri-
ficed-nay, humanity itself perish-rather than
fOrego for moment the qualification of their
infuriate passions! Let us remember that this
unnatural war is not going to last forever, and
that we shall, North and South, again fraternize
as one people. Out Of its bitterness and its
resentments let US try only to preserve the
memory Of the gallantry and soldierlike quail
ties that mutually distinguished US. At all
events, whatever we may think of each other,
let us not furnish those against whom, by and
bye, we may be conformity called upon to take
up arms, with rcproaches so foul against our
good name ~ q people


ABOLITION ATTACKS on Our GENERAIs-The