PROGRESS OF THE WAR IN AMERICA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 102, 11 March 1864, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR IN AMERICA.

Tiie_ truest and the most imporlanl passage in i.'rcsident Lincoln's address to that, in I which he states that the war power is the main reliance of the Federal Government, and tlmt to thai power alone can they look wilh any eou/idence for the means of re-establishing tile aulhoritv of 11„. federal Government in thu Southern States. This is ipiitetrue. The j're.-ident and liis advisers have themselves wilfully destroyed ail chance of a peaceful restoration of (he L'niuu by proclaiming the iinmeiliale cmancijialion of the negroes. 'The planters and the people of Hie South believe that tin's means Hie total ruin of every one who holds land in the Southera States, anil they will no doubt fight to the "last to defend themselves from the threatened ruin. The war power, therefore, is the onlv power thai the Government in the Federal States'has anv reason to ivly_unoii ; and as the Confederates havea'largcurutv in Virginia, so strong in numbers and position Unit the principal tinny of I'm- Federals has retreated Irom liefore it without venturing 10 give it battle : as all iho aiuiupis both of the Federal annv and uavv to lake Charleston have entirely failed ;' and as die Confederate army in (ho West is still very slroug. there is iiu reason to believe thai the war 'power of I lie Federals is so far in tiie ascendant as to give anv prospccl of a speedy peace. So Ion;; as a numerous, well-disciplined, well-eoiunianded. and gallant Confederate army covers the approach,'.- to Kiehmoiid and threatens the approaches to Washington, anv hope of success from the ascendancy of the Federal war power lnr.si be looked upon 'as entirely delusive.

The- Federal Government is so fully convinced o this that it is preparing to contrait new limn-, or u issue paper 11I01U-V oil a gigantic scale, ill order if raise I In- moans of continuing I hi- \t :ir J'or {wo \, :l l' longer. Tlu' drill winch the Fedora! Govenimcm : propose to incur will amount to upwards o S dollar.-, or in round number j .U!r>O,OOO.U,iO sti-rliiiu'. The interest on this sum i : about ssi.-i-JiiiiT in t!„. rate of iniciv.-t pak by the Federal Government. This is considerable I more than llic permanent income which the Fedrro Government has been in the habit of raising Iron taxation in time of peace ; and when we aild To tlii: the cost of governing some 7X00.000 or 5.000.00t ol' people hy military force, it is verv doubtl'u whether a revenue of less than .CTiO.OO'I.OOO ti ■WH.000.000 sterling will be sullioient lo meel tlu ciinvul expenditure of the Government when pcae, is reslured. "Whether tlmt will be ell'ceted in twi years or in five, and whether i! will lead to the reestablishment or the final breaking up of the I'uion is still very doubtful. AH that can be considered certain is that the attempt to subdue the .South In the war power will leave the Federal Government subject to a debt which will cost, them as much in yearly intere.-t as all the debts iiicr.iTed bv JCnglanil in it period of 100 years. ' * The proposal of rrc.-idenl Lincoln io reorganise governments in the Southern States on the priiiciuh of enabling one-tenth of lh* electors lo give law t<: the rest will not be of any great assistance (o tin war power, on which lie proposes to relv as his main dependence. This would be a mere sham government, in which a feeble minority would exercise all tiie rights of (lie majority. It'would be somewhat such u government as that which existed in Ireland in the time of the penal laws, when a few Orange- | men ruled several millions of Roman Catholics. As ! fur as freedom is concerned it would lie a mere "relenee. ami would probably be attended with even greater evils and a more odious tvr.-nmv than thai of the war power itself. At present tlu-iv is not much reason lo believe that the federal Government will ever be in a po.-ilion to govern the Southern States in any way• but if it should be so, it will iiml that a new set of troubles are uoming upon it which are more diliieult to contend with even than those of civil war itself. Willi regard fo military movements, ihe following are the most important items of intelligence l>rou»lit by the Arabia. In Virginia, as is believed, General Meade has been superseded in the command of the armv of the Potomac by General I'lcasantou. a da-hiim commander of (iivalry, after Generals .Sedgwick and Warren, two olliccis of division of considerable merit, had refused (he command as too hazardous. This '.'.rw appointment, if it really has taken place will be likely to be followed by a new attempt to drive General Lee and the Confederate armv from their position at Mine Finn, which General Meade considered too strong to be attacked. Nothing can be more foolish and ungrateful than the conduct of ('resident Lincoln's Government in makin" these incessant changes on such frivolous grounds. It is impossible that cither the oilicers. or the soldiers of ihe I'olc-uiac can ice! any confidence in commanders who are thus changed every three or lour monlhs, and who have no chance of gaining any successes of a permanent, character. Xcxt to General M'Clellau. General Meade appears to have been the ablest, man I hilt has had the command of the federal armv in Virginia, and yet he lias'apparently been dismissed i"i;r no other oH'encc than that of'refusing to give battle to the Confederate army in an impregnable position. No long as the Government thus holds out pivmiiim-; on iV:h)ic : i-. uud iulli-.u yif.iivh:ui.iit-.' on

prudence, even when united to great services and undoubted eor_rage, there can be no wonder that all the attempts of the Federal war power to make its wav to Kichmond turn out to be such miserable fail, ures. There lire not more than two or three otlleers in an army of 10U.OO0 men who possess the power of directing the movements of so large a body of men, and yet f lie Federal Government acts as if any one who'could command a division could also command an army. The accounts from the west continue to be more favourable to the Federal Government than those from the east. General Longstreet has been compelled to raise the siege of Kaoxville, and was falling back into Virginia. After (he defeat of Bragg's an'iiv this was almost inevitable, and throughout the war the Confederates have been very unsuccessful in their attacks on fortified positions. liongstrcet is a very tioo-d olliccr, and in a country so full of strong positions as that in which he is acting he will have no dillieully hi taking a defensive position iu which hewi'lhe us secure from attack us JBurnsidc was 11 Knoxville. Had Longstreet been the commander of the whole Confederate army at and after the battle of Chickunuujga, which he did so much to win, the result of the campaign in Tennessee would probably have been very dill'ereiif. During the winter months the question of supplies will possess continually increasing importance, and the Confederates in Western Tennessee are collecting forces along the principal roads by which I General Grant will have to feed his arm v.— LiarjiuiJ