The New York Herald Newspaper, February 5, 1862, Page 4

SP eee ee ee 4 NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR, OFFICE N. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU STS, NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broa: —Rromaxp Tt. WINTER GARDEN, Broadway.—Natap Queeny—MaxRigd Lirs. [ALLACK’S THEATRE, No. 844 Broadway.—Town axp CountKy. LAURA KEENE'S THEA’ can COUSIN. WEW BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Fox Worniep sv Bonirack—! aint Heaxt Seven Woy Pam LapY—CHERRY anp Fak Srak—Boots a1 Tax Swas—Youne Wivow. » Broadway.—Our Agar BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Sticnwer's Nationat Cmovs—Atternoon aud evening. BARNUM’S AMERICAN MUSEUM. Broadway.—Day and Bvoning.—Oxvixa—Hirrorotamus, Waals, AND Oran CU- ‘RIOSITIES. BRYANTS' MINSTRELS, Mechanics’ Hull, 472 Broad ‘way.~—Down 1x OLD K-y-xy, HOOLEY's Siuyveagnt, Tustitue, No, 659 MINSTRELS, Broadway.—Ernioriay 80xas, Daxces. MELODEON CONCERT HALL, No, 539 Broadway. Songs, Dances, Buntusquxs, 4c.—Houpar in [sian v. CANTERBURY MUSIC HALL, 885 Broadway.—Soxas, Dances, Bunceseves, &¢.—Mazcim, tux NiGatT OwL, GAIETIES CONCERT ROOM, 616 Broadway.—Drawixe ENTERTAINMENTS, Balers, Pantomiaus, Fancrs, &¢. AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, 444 Broadway.—Sonas, Bat- uats, Paromtues, &¢.—PORIRAIT Painter, CRYSTAL PALACE CONCE: ‘ALL, No. 45 Bowery. Buuiusevus, Songs, Dances, BELER'S FROLIC. PARISIAN CABINET OF WONDERS, 563 Broadway.— Open daily from 10 A. M. till9 P.M. NOVELTY MUSIC HALL, 616 Broadway. Bonas, Dances, &0. New York, Wednesday, February 5, 1862. tape od = fig THE SITUATION. With the exception of some skirmishing in the direction of Pohick church and the village of Oc- coquan there is nothing to report from the Army of the Potomac. A party from the Third Michigan regiment advanced as far as Occo- quan on Monday, and had a slight brush with a picket of the rebels, in which four of the latter were seen to fall. An attempt to follow. the recon- noitering party of the Michigat regiment was made as they returned, but the rebels did not come near enough to do any damage. The documents brought under the flag of trace to General McDowell's division turn out to be an intimation from Jeff. Davis to President Lincoln that if the rebel bridge burners in Missouri are hung, according to the orders of General Halleck, Colonels Corcoran, Lee and others now held as hostages for the privateersmen in our hands, will be hung in retaliation. A Cabinet meeting was held yesterday to discuss this extraordinary com- munication, but the result is not divulged. Itis evident that the rebel leaders are determined to ~make the most of the advantage they have ob- tained in the possession of our gallant officers. The condition of the negroes, or ‘“‘contrabands,”’ whg have been deserted by their masters and ‘are now enjoying the refuge of the Union army at Fortress Monroe, is occupying the serious attention of Major Gen. Wool. Over three thousand of these megroes are now receiving support, and are being employed in the several camps, and their number is increasing every day. The difficulty of taking care of them is very great, inasmuch as many og them are composed of women and children, and reports having reached General Wool that these unfortunates are in some instances a source of embarrassment to the different military com- manders under whose protection they have come, the Major General has issued an order instituting & commission, composed of Colonel J. T. Cram, In- spector General, and Major Legrand B. Cannon, Aid-de-Camp, to investigate the condition of the contrabands and provide for their wants. We publish, under the appropriate head in to- day’s Heratp, highly interesting letters from our correspondents at Somerset, Mill Springs and Monticello, Kentucky. Our Somerset correspon- dent says the movements of the Union troops at that place and Mill Spring are in unison. but thinks the idea of invading East Tennessee to aid her loyal men is not practicable at present, owing to the difficulty in procuring commissariat and quartermaster stores to subsist troops -and horses. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the Union troops are bound southward. General Schoepff's brigade has been moved five miles to the southward of Somerset, to the Cumberland river. General Thomas has his head- quarters at Somerset. On the 27th ult. a rebel flag of truce came to Mill Spring; the escort consisted of two prominent rebel officers and ten or twelve men. The chief of the party, Captain Henry Ewing, of the late General Zollicoffer’s staff, was the bearer of two letters from the rebel General Crittenden, in which he requested the re- mains of Zollicoffer. Brigadier General Manson, the Union commander, received the letters, and replied that Zollicoffer’s remains had already been » oe to his relatives in charge of a rebel urgeon who was captured at Mill Spring. While in the Union camp the rebel Captain Ewing made an interesting statement relative to the battle of Mill Spring, and the circumstances of the death of Zollicoffer. He thinks General Geo. Crit- tenden is a “‘paltroon and a coward,” and says he was one of the first to retreat from the advance of the Unionists. The other rebel officer, who accom panied the flag of truce, stated that Generals Crit: tenden and Carroll are ‘‘two whiskey bloats.”” Our Monticello correspondent gives a graphic descrip- tion of that place, and dwells at length upon the deplorable condition of the-surrounding country, and the devastation and vandalism committed by the rebel troops. Each of the letters referred to will be found highly interesting. CONGRESS. In the Senate yesterday, Mr. Sumner, chairman. of the Committee om Foreign Affairs, reported o bill authorizing the appointment of diplomatic representatives to the republics of Liberia and Hayti. The resolution relative to the command of the Department of Kansas, and calling on the Sec- retary of War for the orders and directions in re- gard te snpplies for that command, and whether it ie to be commanded by General Lane, and whether the orders have been changed vince General Lane left, and whether the order of General Hunter is according to the orders of the War- Department, ‘wastaken up. Mr. Pomeroy said the resolution was offered in accordance with a suggestion from the Secretary of War, whereupon it was adopted. NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, : 1862, The Blunders of the Rebellion and the | very apt to settle this question of the re-enlist- The bill providing for the construction of twen- ty iron-clad steamers for the coast defence was discussed, and recommitted to the Committee on Naval Affairs, A bill providing aid for a railroad and telegraph line to the Pacific was referred to the special committee on that subject ‘The debate on the resolution relative to the expul- sion of Mr. Bright was then resumed, Messrs. Browning, of Illinois; Dixon, of Connecticut; Do- little, of lowa; Willey, of Virginia; Davis, of Ken- tucky; Sumner, of "Massachusetts, and others par- ticipating in the discussion. In the House of Representatives, the debate on the Treasury Note bill was continued by Messrs. Morrill, of Vermont, and Roscoe L. Conkling, of New York, in opposition to the clause making the government paper a legal tender. Full reports of their remarks are given in the record of the Con- gressional proceedings in to-day’s paper. In the Senate of our State Legislature yesterday, the first business waa the resolutions in reference to the expulsion of United States Senator Bright. ‘A substitute for the original resolutions was finally adopted—21 to 8—in effect declaring Mr. Bright to be a traitor, but leaving our Senators in Congress uninstructed with regard to voting on his expul- sion. Bills were introduced to define the powers and duties of port captainsand harbor. masters of the port of New York; to amend, the act for the incorporation of fire insurance companies; to sega. late the sale of bay and straw in this city and Brooklyn; relative to Kings county jails, and in re- lation to closing, extending and widening certain Brooklyn streets. A favorable repos was made on the Kings county Supervisors’ bill for borrowing money to build a new Court House. The annual report of the State Normal School was presented. The Assembly was occupied during the greater part of the day in Committee of the Whole, over a number of bills. Considerable business was trans” acted by the committee, but nearly all of it either of only a local or private character. The bill rela- tive to agencies of foreign insurance companies was ordered to a third reading; also the bill to amend the General Fire Insurance Company act, MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. The steamship Edinburg, which sailed from Li- verpool on the 22d and Queenstown on the 23d of January, is due at this port with European news three days later than that brought by the Africa. This makes the fifth transatlantic steamer now on their way to American ports. The steamship Northern Light arrived at this port yesterday, bringing interesting intelligence from the South Pacific, &c. From San Salvador we learn that a plot to assassinate General Barrios, the President, had been discovered in time to pre- vent its being carried-out. We also have informa- tion of a deep laid plot for the abduction or assas- sination of General Castilla, matured on the night of January 1; but the scheme, as in former in- stances, failed in its object, from the treachery of some of its authors. The design appears to have been to induce the General to go on board the Ucayali, a steamer then lying in Chorillos harbor, and then to take him prisoner; but for some reason he refused to go, and the plan was then arranged to take him or assassinate him at his residence; but this also failed of success, as Castilla was warned in time to escape. The Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary, Mr. Christopher Robinson, from the United States, was duly received by the Peruvian authorities on the 10th ult. The whole civic and military powers of Lima were in requisition to do honor to the vete- ran, and to evince sympathy and regard for the honored republic which he represented. A serious riot occurred at Aspinwall on the 24th of January, between the police and the soldiery sent from Panama by the Governor. They got into a quarrel with the jailor, broke open the jail and set all the prisoners at liberty. Subsequently they went around the town and arrested several innocent and respectable persons opposed to the administration in politics. Several shots were fired, and one or two men werg killed and some wounded. Our correspondent in Belize, Honduras, writing on the 16th of December, says:—Trade ie dull, Lumber scarce and very dear. Provisions plenti- fol and low. A new tariff isto be made on the 1st of March. This settlement is to be designat. edasa colony during the present year. The Im- migration bill will most likely be passed, in hopes of developing the resources of the country. The legislative committee resumed fheir inves- tigations into the shoddy clothing and military equipments generally, yesterday at the St. Nicho- las Hotel, and were in session from nine o’clock in the morning until late last night. Between forty and fifty witnesses have now beenexamined. The testimony elicited yesterday is said to be of the richest character, showing absolute favoritism 01 the part of the State Military Board in giving their contracts to the highest bidders. Indeed it is known that such downright swindling has been proven that the people will be amazed when it is made public. The immaculate Thurlow Weed figures very conspicuously in the testimony. Some twenty more witnesses have been subpeenaed for to-morrow, from whom some spicy evidence is expected. As the committee will likely leave for Albany on Thursday, it is not probable that their investigation will be completed this week. A beautiful specimen of the operations of the “red tape’’ method of doing business is exhibited in a transaction on the part of some of the govern- ment officials with Mr. Solomon Sturgis ,of Chicago— .@man well known for his generosity in contributing funds in aid of the volunteers. It appears that Mr. Sturgis was the owner of a steamtug which was very much needed by the government on the Mississippi river, and notice to that effect was given him, the tug having cost originally. .. .$5,000 She was immediately j-ut in proper trim at an additional cost of... rearnerre She was then taken from the lake through the Illinois canal and river and down to St. Louis, at an expense of.................. No government agent could be found author- ized to purchase, and Mr. Sturgis went to Secretary Welles, by whom he was referred to Secretary Cameron,who turned him over to Quartermaster General Meigs, who sent him to General Halleck, not one of whom ould render any satisfaction. This roundabout movement entailed an addi- tional expense of......... whe vue Mr. Sturgis then left for home, and shortly after received news that his tug, after be- ing seized and used for a time by the Pro- vost Marshal, had been allowed to sink at the landing; but*the wharf master had fm her, and he was required to redeem er for. . 600 200 Which, of course, he did, making the total cost of the vessel....... ved j The boat is now worth. . Loss by “red tape”... . ss. ceeseeeeeeuee There are now not less than thirty-five thousand troops at Cairo, and preparations are actively going on for the great Mississippi expedition. Some delay has been occasioned by the want of men for the gunboats; but they have recently been filling up very fast with sailors from Chicago. General James H. Lane, who was recently ap- pointed a brigadier general, has not yet resigned his seat in the United States Senate, and the Legia- lature of Kansas has corfequently matie no move- ment towards the election of his successor. It is thought that unless he succeeds in getting the command of “the Cherokee expedition he will re- turn to the Senate. Governor Olden, of New Jeracy, has tendered an invitation to a number of the military organiza- tions in this city to participate in the obsequies of the late Colonel Allen and Surgeon Weller, of the Ninth New Jersey regiment, who were drowned off Cape Hatteras. Twelve passenger trains run now daily between the cities of Baltimore and Washington, and twice aweek acar provided with beds leaves Washing. ton for the accommodation of sick and wounded soldiers. Preparations are being largely made in the West to go into the manufacture of maple sugar this spring on an extensives scale, This business, in consequence of the high price of cane sugar, wil] be likely to prove very remunerative. The meeting to be held in Fancuil Hall, Boston, this evening, to take measures for the release of Colonel Corcoran, promises to be a grand affair. Sleighing was in full play yesterday and last night all over the city. The snow on Centrai Park was in magnificent condition for the sport, and, ac- cording to the gate keepers’ returns, over seven thousand vehicles on runners visited the grounds during the day and evening. Blpomingdale road was much improved for sleighing since the last fall of snow, and the number of vehicles of all kinds that passed along it was considerable. Along Brofaway the long stage sleighs, as well as pri- vate vehicles, were to be seen in goodly numbers, and the air last evening rang again till a late hour with the boisterous mirth, the merry chorus and the loud cries of the drivers of the sleighs, aa they rattled along to the merry jingle of the bells. The snow was yesterday cleared from the sur. face of the ice on the Central Park early enough to allow both ponds to be opened for skating in the morning, and as soon as the fact became known the skaters made their way to their winter plea. sure ground. The ice on the lower pond was rough, but very fair withal. On the upper pond~ it was somewhat better, but still far from good’ yet when the mass of snow that had to bere- moved is taken in consideration it was really bet- ter than could have been’ expected. There has been, this season, twenty-three days of skating on the Central Park, nineteen of which have been on bothfponds. The return of the number of Visiters yesterday, up to six o'clock, was a little short of twenty-five thousand, and as the ice in the evening was illuminated by both calcium light and the faint rays of young Diana, fully five thousand more persons were present after that hour. Viva la bagatelle! * A meeting of the Aldermanic Committee on Street Cleaning, consisting of Aldermen Froment, Hall and Walch, was held at the City Hall yester- day. The only action taken by them was to notify the Comptroller and Street Inspector to meet them on Thursday next, when another meeting will be held and some steps taken to relieve our streets of the immense amount of slush and mud with which they will be flooded when a thaw sets in, and of which we have already hada good sample during the greater part of last month. The United States Marshal had not received any communication from Washington, up to a late hour yesterday, in the case of Captain Gordon, sen- tenced to be hung on Friday next. In the Court of General Sessions yesterday, Daniel McCormick, indicted for burglary in the first degree, in entering the dwelling house of Charles Reining, 196 West Twenty-seventh street, on the 19th of December, pleaded guilty to an at- tempt at burglary in the second degree, and was sent to the State Prison for two years and four months. Wm. H. Young, alias Storms, pleaded guilty to the offence of larceny from the person, having swindled Wm. Cowley out of $390 by means of the confidence game. It appears that Cowley was on his way from Minnesota to Europe, and while stopping at Sweeny's Hotel, in Chatham street, Storms ingratiated himself into the good graces of Cowley. Learning that he was about to start for Europe, he told him that he could procure English money lower than the usual rate. They went to the Astor House on the 18th of November last, and Storms, after taking the money to get it exchanged, neglected to return to his friend. About three weeks afterwards detectives Farley and Eustis arrested this accomplished confidence man, who, it appears, has served a term in the State Prison. The Recorder remanded Storms til] Saturday, in order to give him a chance to return a portion of the money. The recent panic in the cotto1 rket, accompaniey with some softening in prices, attracted more attention on the part of spinners, some of whom entered the mar- ket yesterday and purchased some 600 a 700 bales and some parties reported the amount at 1,005 bales, closing rather quiet, within the range of Sic. a S2c. for middling uplands. A government sale of 169 bales of cotton, from Port Royal, is to be held today by Messrs. Burdett, Jones & Co., at the Atlantic Dock. It all, with the exception of nine bales of uplands, consists of Sea Islands. The terms will becash. Flour was 60. per bbl. higher, while sales were to a fair extent. Wheat was quite firm but less active, with a fair local and export demand. Corn was firm, while sales were fair, including Western mixed in store at G5c.,and at 66c. delivered, and 68c. for old round and flat yellow. Pork was firm, with some less activity in sales, which embraced new mess at $12 871; & $13, old do, at $12 25, new prime at $050, and city prime mess at $1325 a $1350. Sugars were steady, with sales of 1,300 hhds. and 29 boxes. Coflee was quiet; the stock of Rio and Santos embraced 86,400 bags, and a total of all kinds of 134,337 bags. Freights were inac- tive,and the engagements making light,at rates given in another place. The Financial Measures of the Govern- ment—Necessity for Immediate Action. We published yesterday a note from the Secretary of the Treasury to Mr. Spaulding, in which he says “immediate action” in Congress. “Immediate action” says Mr. Chase, “is of great importance. The Treasury is nearly empty. I have been obliged to draw for the last instal- ment of the November loan. So soon as it is paid I fear the banks generally will refuse to receive the United States Treasury notes. You will see the necessity of urging the bill through without delay.” It will be seen from this important com- munication that the Treasury is nearly empty, and that Mr. Chase fears the bank, will refuse to receive any more Treasury notes after the last instalment of the November loan has been paid. There is, therefore, a ne- cessity for the immediate action of Congress upon the Demand Note bill. It is not the Secre- tary of War, or the Secretary of the Navy, or the whole Cabinet combined, or the President himself, or Gen. McClellan, who is now retard- ing the naval and military operations destined to crush the rebellion, and who is thus risking the recognition of the independence of the South by the Powers of Europe, and, it may be, an attempt to break up the blockade, involving a foreign war or the dishonor of the country. The whole responsibility rests on “Congress. From its inactivity everything is kept back. It is needless to say that to provide the means and ways for the war belongs exclusively to that body. Though it is now in session two months, it has literally done nothing but consume the precious hours of the public time in discussing abstract questions about the negro and other matters of no pressing importance and of no practical bearing upon the great question of the day. The Committee of Ways and Means were appointed last July. They then knew we were embarked in a formidable war, which could not be carried on without money. It was their sacred and solemn duty to come prepared with their plans at the opening of the session in December, by which they would have saved two months time, and have contributed in no small degree to place the éause of the Union in a much more commanding position than it oc- cupies to-day. There is now no remedy for past apathy and neglect but in double energy for the present and increasing activity and vigor for the future. Let Congress, therefore, redeem its errors by taking prompt action upon the Treasury De. mand Note bill. The luminous and able | speech of Mr. Hooper in the House of Repre. sentatives, which we published yesterday, gives a clear exposition not only of this mea- sure, but of the whole system of measures of which it is a part. It is only when the bill is thus viewed in connection with the bill for the issue of United States bonds to the amount of five hundred millions ($500,000,000), bearing six per cent interest, redeemable in twenty or thirty years, interest to be paid in specie; the bill to raise taxes to the amount of $150,000,000, for the specific purpose of paying the interest and prin- cipal of these bonds, together with the ordinary expenditure of the government; and the Bank- ing bill, by which the banks of the country will be furnished by the government with an issue of a new uniform currency, for which the banks will Lave to deposit with the government an equivalent of United States stocks, better security than the State stocks, upon which the currency of the best of the State banks is based, to say nothing of the hundreds of rotten and ricketty banks whose: ssues are secured only by fancy stocks, and of- ten have no security at all—it is only when viewed in combination with these measures that the Demand Note bill is seen in its true light; for the notes are to be exchanged, at the option of the holder, for the six per cent bonds, and the bonds are to be secured, inter- est and principal, in specie payments, by the Tax bill. Under these circumstances, why should not the $150,000,000 demand notes be made a legal tender? They ought to be as good as gold. The propriety of making them a legal tender may be seen in thé fact that $150,000, 000 of taxes are to be raised. In what money gre these taxes to be paid? Not in gold, fog that cannot be had; and not in the dubious paper money of the banks, so liable to depre- ciation. The demand notes, being at par, a standard of value and a legal tender, will ex actly suit the purpose. The issue of these notes is required for the immediate purposes of the government, and it is only a temporary measure till there is time to put the Banking bill into organization, which will furnish the country with a more perma- nent currency. The demand notes, having served thelr purpose as a circulating medium for a short time, will be funded at par by the holders for United States stocks bearing six per cent interest. This provision alone would prevent the depreciation of the notes, even if they were not made a legal tender; for the moment there was a tendency towards an ex- cessive circulation of the paper a check would be instantly put upon it by the funding process, which would soon diminish the circu- lation, and thus restore: the equilibrium. By the time the demand notes are funded and nearly out of circulation the Banking bill will come into operation to supply their place with a sound paper currency, which will be guaran- teed to the people by United States stocks, and will have the effect of getting rid of the $150,000,000 of spurious paper money now afloat among the community. This new currency will be accessible to any of the present banks who desire to purchase it, or to any new banks that may be organized, the terms to be the purchase and deposit with the government of United States stocks to the amount of bills issued. This arrangement will obviate the objection to the establishment ofa bank of the United States, which’ might be used as a political engine, to the detriment of the people. The currency thus sent abroad will be better secured than Bank‘ of England notes, whose bills are based upon the stocks of the British government. Why are those stocks considered 80 good security? Because the in- terest is punctually paid in specie or its equivalent. It is well known that tke principal will never be paid. But those who invest do not want the principal. Their object is the in- terest; and if any holder should desire to ob- tain the principal he can at any mec- ment find a purchaser who will pay it tohim. Now the new currency of the United States will have better security than the notes of the Bank of England; for the stocks by which the latter are sevured are also security for the deposits of customers. The value of the secu- rity is thus lessened by being divided, whereas in the case of the new American currency the security will be undivided and pledged special- ly and exclusively for the payment of the notes. Meantime let the Demand Note bill be pushed forward rapidly; for the troops must ~be paid, and the military operations must be earried on, unless we are to abandon the war. And let the Tax bill speedily follow it, and not be delayed till April, as is now intimated. By the passing of a tax bill the demand notes will go off well from the start, and no attempt of scheming financiers and speculators can succeed in depre- ciating them. The Tax bill will be the true alchemy which will turn the paper money of the government into gold. John Randolph once said in Congress that he had discovered the philosopher's stone, and that was the simple plan of “ pay as you go.” There is sound phi- losophy in the plan, and the nearest approach to it is the immediate adoption of a tax bill on acomprehensive scale, which will reach every class in the community. ‘ Mitrrary Burt Grovnps—The universal in- stincts of humanity encourage respect. for the dead. However bitterly we may have detested the individua} during life, we forgive him when he is departed, and look with awe upon that mysterious bourne whither he is gone, and to which we are all bound. To the dead of the Union army we, the people of the United States, owe a moral debt, and it is our duty to bury them, and that decently. We are sorry to say, however, that we have been neglectful in this respect, owing, doubtless, to the difficulties attending interment. There has been a pro- miscuous huddling of human bodies together in the one rude grave, without any measures being adopted to secure the identity of the re- spective corpses; and, as a consequence, there has been grief in many homes when rela- tives came to claim the dead and were unable to find them. It is now suggested, and very properly, that national cemeteries should be provided where the troops are most numerous, and that the ground should be invested with that sacredness which is usually attached to places of interment in every part of the civil- ized world, and from which the bodies of the dead may be taken by their living relatives when desired. In future years these places of sepulture will be full of interest, and it will be at least satisfactory to our voluifeers to know that if they die they will be buried in a recog- nized spot. We therefore heartily approve of the suggestion made in Congress on the sub- ject, and we trust that the committee appointed to inquire into the matter will be sucgessful in carrying out the idea, Consequences. The Religious Herald, » Baptist paper, pub- lished at Richmond, Va., in a calm and de- liberate survey of our Southern rebellion, says that the responsible parties in its management have made at loast eight great blunders, and thus enumerates them:— 1. In Gring upon Fort Sumter. 2. In believing there would be a divided North and an apathetic federal government. . In believing that they would have the hearty sym- of Europe, . fn believing that the bonds of their confederacy woukt readily be taken in Europe. 5. In believing that the military power of the North would be directed in a crusade against slavery rather than employed for the overthrow of treason and the es- tablishment of the Union and the constitution. 2 6. In believing that Northern courage and physique were no match for Southern, or that in battle one South- erner equalled five Yankees. 7. In bolieving that the flag of the cotton oligarchy would wave above the Capitol at Washington, and the roll of slaves be called on Bunker Hill. 8. In believing that the fancied omnipotence of cotton would domiaate the commerce of the world. The intelligent reader cannot fail to recog- niso this budget of blunders as very well put by our Southern contemporary. The firing upon Fort Sumter, however, though a great blun- der on the part of the rebels, was with them a desperate necessity. They wanted Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ken- tucky and Missouri, and all these States were believed to be holding back only because of the manifest inclinations of the Virginia State Convention, then in session, to adhere to the Union. The bombardment of Sumter was thus resolved upon in order to coerce that Union State Convention of Virginia into an act of secession, and the experiment gave the seces- sion mob of Richmond the occasion they wanted for terrifying the Convention into a secret secession ordinance. This ordinance was passed in secret, and kept a secret for some time, in order to steal a march upon Norfolk, the Navy Yard and the dozen ships-of-war, and the immense stores of artil- lery, ammunition and. other warlike materials then at that place; and in order, if possible, to capture Fortress Monroe and the arsenal of small arms at Harper’s Ferry; and in order to arm from that arsenal an organized band of rébels assigned to the grand enterprise of the seizure of Washington. These schemes, though secretly attempted, were only partially suc- cessful. The conspirators entered Harpet’s Ferry to find its great arsenal in flames, Thus despoiled of their expected supply of arms, they had to postpone thejr midnight deseent upon Washington to a more convenient season. They surrounded Norfolk to find its ship- houses, officers’ quarters and our fleet in the harbor on fire. They made some reconnois sances of Fortress Monroe, which satisfied them that they had come too late. But with the signal from Sumter Virginia was’ dragged overboard into the Dismal Swamp of seceg- sion, and North Carolina and Tennessee were carried down with her; and from the schemes just recited and the events of last April the reader wilt understand how narrowly we es- caped without the loss of our nafional capital. With a little more energy and celerity on’ the ‘part of the rebels in carrying out their schemes connected with the Sumter bombardment, they might have added Maryland and Washington to their acquisitions, and then their Southern con- federacy might have been nearer realization. Their plans were feasible, although they were stupendous; but their first great blunder in every stage of this programme was that they were too slow, and hence they were always a little toe late in their movements. Their bombardment of Sumter instantly en- lightened them upon the questions of a divided North and an apathetic federal government. But these blunders on the part of the rebel conspirators were discovered too late to be re~ paired; and so, step by step, their props and supports have been taken away, until nothing ig left them but te desperate suicidal expe- dient of burning themselves out of house and home in order to drive away the encompassing fleets and armies of the Union. Davis and his confederates have realized nothing from the sympathies of Europe; Southern Confederate bonds are worth no more in the money mykets of the world outside of our rebellion than the promissory notes of an impostor; our abolition disunionists have failed in their expected aid to their Southern disunion allies in their failure to make this war an abolition crusade against slavery; Northern courage and skill in the art of war have been sufficiently tried to satisfy the rebels of their awful blunder upon this matter; the city of Washington, which was the original destination of Jeff. Dayis, has ceased to enter into his calculations as an object of this war; and “King Cotton” isin a most de- plorable situation, and his kingdom is in immi- nent danger of being parcelled out among the Medes and Persians in other parts of the world, never again to be -re-established in our Southern States as a commercial monopoly or as a political balance of power. Well may our religious contemporary of Richmond pronounce judgment upon the eight great blunders of this rebellion; for so they now stand confessed by the events and develope- ments of this war, and by the rebel leaders themselves. In their savage instructions to their women and children to lay waste their dwellings and their substance by fire, on the ap- proach of our armies, we recognise only the reck- less ferocity of a gang of pirates preparing to light the magazine of their ship in order to escape from the clutches of the law. This is the worst of the whole rebel budget of blunders, the most foolish and the most impracticable ; and next to it is the absurd idea of pushing the war into the heart of our loyal States. But there is still another great blunder which the rebel leaders adopted in the outset of this war which is entitled to especial notice. We allude to the blunder of enlisting their soldiers for the short term of one year, upon the pre- sumption that within this interval Southern ‘activity in the field, with the assistance of “King Cotton” in England, would bring about atreaty of peace and the establishment of a Southern confederacy. So it happens that the terms of enlistment of the rebel troops are be- ginning to expire, just as the war on our part, in downright earnestness of purpose, is about to begin. A correspondent of the Mobile Heg- ister, from the rebel -camp opposite Fort Pickens, writes that the time of the First Alabama regiment is from day to day expiring; that “great efforts have been made to induce the men‘to re-enlist,” but that they were “poorly successful,” except in the case of one company, which was “partially sue- cessful.” We noticed lately the same difficulty in a Virginia brigade on the Potomac; and nd- thing at this time appears more, seriously to puzzle the rebel government than these one year enlistments which are coming to an end. Another defeat or two of the rebel armies, or | another lodgment or two of our forces in some stronghold along the Southern coast; will be ment of the rebel soldiers, ina general break up of every rebel camp and ina general col- lapse of this over-inflated rebellion, from Ma” nagsas to New Orleans. To this end we expect some decided manifestations in the South from the operations of the Burnside expedition. In a word, under the conservative war policy of President Lincoln, and under the skilful direc- tions of Gen. McClellan, everything in the ar- rangements and forces of this campaign pro+ mises the suffocation of this rebellion before the merry month of May. The Latest Washington Excitement. There is a terrible to do amongst the demi- monde at the capital about Mrs. Lincoln’s grand soiree this evening. Les envieux, as Moliere calls the outsiders on such occasions, are savagely indignant, and protest against their exclusion as a violation of the constitu- tion. The long-haired, white-coated, tobacco- chewing and expectorant abolitionist members of that interesting section of the community threaten an impeachment of the President. Bug what is to be done? Mrs. Lincoln is responsi- ble to Congress for the Presidential spoons, and it is mot. safe to trust an ice cream thus manipulated in the- itch. ing fingers of these sweet smelling patriots. Of course the decent portion of Wash- ington society is delighted. The members of the different legations intend to muster in full force upon the soccasion, and are busily en- gaged brushing up their uniforms and de~ corations. All, Washington, in short, is in a ferment, and what, between the pleasurable excitement of the fortunate recipients of invi- tations and the sourness and bitterness of those who have been omitted from the list, there will be no peace in the capital for some weeks tocome. Talk of the social hostilities engen- dered by the war. They pale in violence be- fore the asperities arqused by this important event, The malconteats. are not, however, confined to the capital. Self-conceit and vanity can be hurt at a longer distance than that. Mra. Lin- coln unhappily omitted from her invitations the “big and little villains” and their Fort Ganse- voort associates of the Times. Hence the spasm apparent in the following:— Poor old Bonnett, cut off by the stern dictum of publie opinion from opens, plotting treason, is reduced to the pitiful dodge of mal oy, game of tho social arrangements of the White House. It appears that Mrs. Lincoln, bored to death by the dofeful creatures of army contractors and the like she sees around her, has issued cards for a soiree dansante at the White House on Wednesday even- ing. Bennett yesterday pitches into tho party furiously, and’ calls it, among @ string of other, hard names, ‘a social blunder much to be regretted.” Now, why a “social blunder?’ Why not a political “blunder a dipiomatic *‘blunder,’’ or any other “blunder?” The fact is, Bennett speaks by the card, or rathor by the want. of card; for tid he not send on to the capital that illus- trious plenipo’ of the Heratn office, the Chevalicr Wikoff, expresdly to see if he could not get an invitation to the soiree? But Wikoff returned ticketless. Hinc ill lach- vyma, That's tho whole secret of his ‘hoartburnings,’* ‘sore dianppointment and chagrin,” and porfectly ac- counts for his yesterday's tirade about the ‘social blun- der much to bo regretted.” There is a question here, not of one, but twe blunders. One is that of our correspondent, who flippantly applied a criticism, borrowed from some Mrs. Malaprop of his acquaintance, to Mrs. Lincoln’s manner of selecting her guests. For stupidity and presumption such as this we have a remedy, and know how to apply it The second blunder is that which assumes that weare among the unfortunates that were left out in the cold by the President’s lady on this occasion. To relieve the anxiety which we know is devouring our Fort Gansevoort con- temporary on this point, we see no harm in stating that we are indebted to Mrs. Lincoln’s amiability for an invitation for ourselves and family to the soiree in question, and only regret that the pressure of our business occupations prevents our accepting it. We see that some others of the disappointed are commenting through the press on the impro- priety of social festivities being held just now at the White House. If ever there was a time when they are politic and advisable it is at present. The writers who make such silly re- marks must be ignorant of the social war that is being carried on in Washington against the White House and its occupants. The seces- sionist families, who constitute the greater por- tion of what is called the elite of society there, are doing their best, by closing their houses and. refusing to go out, to render the capital gloomy and dismal, so that it may contrast unfavora- bly with the brilliant society and gayety of Rich- mond. Mgrs. Lincoln is a woman of spirit and is not to be put down in this way. She argues, and argues justly, that it is her duty to show these hanghty secessionist dames that there is sufficient of fashion and respectability among the ladies of loyal families in and about Washington to constitute a court that will easily cast into the shade that of their bogus President. Apropos of courts and court dames, we see that, in connection with this affair, the Times has got hold of that mysterious but omnipre- sent being the Chevalier Wikoff, useful alike as a political go-between or as the bearer of bouquets and perfumed billets. We would ad- vise our Fort Gansevoort contemporary to steer clear of the Chevalier. He has a singulat facility of thrusting his diplomatic fingers into other paople’s pies. We understand that he has been prying about a good ‘deal among the contractors and political jobbers who have in- fested Washington for the last six months, and can tell a thing or two if he chooses. Gareaw Chevalier, Messieurs. His squibs and crackers are not all as harmless as you suppose. Maystna Ovr Seacoast Fortiricatioxs.— The Old City Guard of New York, formerly commanded by the rebel Major General Mans- field Lovell, has taken the initiative as a volun- teer battalion of seacoast artillerymen. Old Guard is now under the command of Capt: E. L. Stone, numbers about two hundred and fifty rank and file, and hasa recruiting office and drill room at No. 654 Broadway. ‘The members are drilled every: evening in the management of a large thirty-two pounder, and are occasionally permitted by the government to practise in our harbor forts. Our elty milf- tiamen could not do better than to join this guard, or organize similar battalions.” Indeed, we hope to see the Old Guard's ex- ample generally imitated throughout the coun- try. Not only our large cities, but almost our tles in the event of a foroign war, and, while we entire coast, will be the points of decisive bat- build batteries and erect forts here and there to protect the coasts, we should be equally upon the alert to provide men to man and defend the fortifications. Such cities as New York, Phila- delphia, Boston and Portland ought to be able to protect themselves against any naval attack without calling for a single sofdier from the re- gular army; and if the present splendid oppor- tunities for practice and experience are rightly | improved, we shall have such corps of trained, 4