Year: 1863




ships, available for the desired objects;
now we have forty ships to their one. No
man will say that, SO far as the mere ma
terial of war is concerned, we are not
ten times better prepared to cope
with the rebellion now than we were to
cope with it as it existed in the early part
Of President Lincoln's administration.


Finally, as to cvaila6le resources. What
has been the comparative drain made up
on these? Two years ago the South was
filed with goods bought without limit
from the North, and never paid for. Now,
by the armed occupation of every South
ern port but three, and rigorous block
ade, the land of the rebellion has been
deprived Of nearly every necessary Of
life. It's imports, which were then 80
large, have been reduced to almost moth
ing. And so have its exports, on which
it calculated to build its credit. While
every department of Northern industry
has lived and thriven, no department Of
Southern industry has escaped partial or
complete destruction. Most of the mate
rial resources, without which it is impos-
sible, in this age of the world, to main
tain war, have been administrative will
not say to half, but even to twentieth,
of what they were originally. The debt
of the rebel government has been run up
to over six hundred millions, and ingenu-
ity is tortured almost in vain for new
means of credit. If gold here brings
seventy cents above the par of National
paper, it brings there three or four times
as much above the par of Confederate pa
per. So far as regards the pecuniary "sin-
ews of war;" therefore, they are three or
four times nearer exhaustion than our
selves-even allowing that our present





price of gold is legitimate, and not, as it
actually is, the result, In great measure,
of speculation. In respect to soldiers, the
available resources left are quite as much
in our favor. The rebels have already
brought into the field nearly all their
able bodied men. Their supplementary
conscription recently imposed, is the last
one possible; and it cannot, at most, sup
ply more than two hundred thousand ad-
ditional soldiers. Coming to this, their
limit is reached. On the other hand, the
Conscription bill which has just passed
Congress, can, if necessary, put two mil
lions of fresh men under arms and even
then subject the loyal population of the
country to less depletion, comparatively,
than the rebel population now experiences
1t is plain that, as far as it relates to the
available resources of the belligerents, the
two years have told with vastly worse eff
feet. relatively, upon the rebels than upon
the loyal people.


Now, in the general view, we believe we
have taken every element into account, save
one only. Apart from that. the conclus-
ion seems inevitable that the half Presi-
Dental term has half, and in fact vastly
more than half, settled the task in hand.
The omitted point we do not believe can
at all affect the final result. We refer to
Northern detection. The rebels, when
they commenced business, relied much on
a divided North. Soon after Mr.. Lincoln
entered Office, the north became, apparent
ly at least, firmly united; and the rebel
expectations in this direction failed. Lat
terly, faction has raised its head in the
North, and, in some measure, divided the
people. Now we should say that the reb-
ell cause was decidedly better off than two
years ago, and the national cause worse
off, if we believe that the body of the peo-
| pie were really divided as to the entail
points of this conflict But we have no
such belief. We maintain, that though
many of that class which Jefferson used
to denominate the raving pepper-pot pol
iticians," have become recreant. the mass
Of the people are still true. We have no
serious doubt that, despite Of all faction,
the recent great measures Of the Govern
ment for reinforcing the armies and re-
plenishing the national armies, will be
sustained by the people, and be operative
to any extent required. Therefore we