Many persons have supposed that the Government was to have some control of the produce itself; others, that the time of sale appointed by the subscription was to be absolute and unconditional. The caption at the head of the lists, when examined, will correct both these errors. The subscription is confined to the proceeds of sales, and contains an order on the commission merchant or factor of the planter to pay over to the Treasurer the amount subscribed in exchange for Confederate bonds. The transaction is simply an agreement by the planter to lend the Government so much money, and in order to complete the transaction a time and place are appointed when the parties may meet to carry it out. The important point is that it shall certainly be completed at some time, and that is secured by the engagement of the plantWhether that time be December or June is simply a question of convenience, and works no injury to either party. The Government is sure of the eventual payment, and derives from that certainty so much credit; and it loses nothing because it gives its bond only when the money is paid. er. It is obvious, therefore, that the subscriptions are as valuable to the Government during the blockade as after it. The blockade simply suspends the completion of the engagement. It becomes the interest of both parties to wait for a good price, and the Government will readily consent to a postponement of the sale. You perceive, therefore, that it is desirable to continue your exertions to increase the subscriptions, and you are authorized to say that the Government will consent to a reasonable extension of the time appointed for sale. 3. The next inquiry is as to promise of material aid from the Government to the planters. In answering this inquiry I am to speak in advance of any act of Congress. What that body may see fit to do is not for me to determine. I can merely express the views of the Department; these must govern your actions until reversed by a higher authority. It would be a sufficient answer to the inquiry to say that the action of the Government is settled by the Constitution. No power is granted to any Department to lend money for the relief of any interest. Even the power of Congress, in relation to money, is confined to borrowing, and no clause can be found which would sanction so stupendous a scheme as purchasing the entire crop with a view to aid its owners. But it may be said that the Constitution of the provisional Government may be altered by Congress, and it is the duty of this Department to prepare the way for such alteration, if in its judgment the financial necessities of the country demand the change. I am not disposed, then, to close the inquiry with the abrupt manner thus made by the Constitution, and will proceed to consider the subject upon its intrinsic merits. Two plans of relief have been proposed: The one is that the Government should purchase the entire crop of the country; the other, that an advance should be made of part of its value. In either case the payment is to be made by the issuance of Treasury notes; and, therefore, if we put aside for the present the many and serious objections to the possession, transportation, and management of the crop by the Government, it becomes simply a question of amount. To purchase the whole crop would require its whole value, less the amount of subscription cotton at two hundred million dollars and the subscription at fifty million dollars. The purchase would then require one hundred and fifty million dollars of Treasury notes, and, if to this sum be added the amount of value for other agricultural products, which would cer tainly claim the same benefit, the sum required would probably reach one hundred and seventyfive million dollars. The amount called for by the other plan of making an advance would depend upon the proportion of that advance. Few of the advocates of this plan have put it lower than five cents per pound on cotton, and at the same rate on other produce. It may, therefore, be very fairly set down at about one hundred million dollars. If we consider, first, the least objectionable of these plans, it is certainly that which requires the smaller sum; and if this be found impracticable, the larger must of necessity be rejected. Our inquiry, then, may be narrowed down to a proposal that the Government should issue one hundred millions of Treasury notes, to be distributed among the planting community upon the pledge of the forthcoming crop. The first remarkable feature in this scheme is, that it proposes that a new Government, yet struggling for existence, should reject all the lessons of experience, and undertake that which no Government, however long established, has yet succeeded in effecting. The "organization of labor" has called forth many ingenious attempts, both speculative and practical, among well-established Governments, but always with disastrous failure. With us, however, the experiment is proposed to a new Government, which is engaged in a gigantic war, and which must rely on credit to furnish means to carry on that war. Our enemies are in possession of all the munitions and workshops that have been collected during forty-five years of peace; their fleets have been built at our joint expense. With all these on hand they yet are obliged to expend nearly ten millions of dollars per week to carry on the war. Can we expect to contend with them at less than half that expenditure? Suppose that it may require two hundred millions of dollars, then the proposal is, that at a time when we are called upon to raise this large sum for the support of the Government, we shall raise a further sum of one hundred millions for the benefit of the planting interests. For it must be observed, first, that the Government receives no benefit whatever from this advance. The money is paid to each individual planter; and, in exchange, the Government receives only his bond or note; or, if the cotton be purchased, the Government receives only | sion could safely reach the probable time of sale certain bales of cotton. That is to say, the Government pays out money which is needful to its very existence, and receives in exchange planters' notes or produce, which it does not need, and cannot in any way make use of. It must be observed, in the next place, that Treasury notes have now become the currency of the country. They are, therefore, the measures of value. In this view, it is the duty of Government to limit their issue, as far as practicable, to that amount which is the limit of its currency. Every person acquainted with this branch of political science is aware that, if the currency passes this point, it not only becomes depreciated, but it disturbs the just relations of society, precisely as though an arbitrary power should change the weights and measures of a country. If the currency of a country should be suddenly extended from one hundred to two hundred millions of dollars, that which was measured by one dollar is now measured by two, and every article must be paid for at double its former price. The Government, from the necessities of war, is the largest of all purchasers, and thus, by a kind of suicidal act, compels itself to pay two dollars for what one would formerly have purchased, and at this rate of advance two hundred millions of dollars can effect no more than one hundred millions of dollars would have effected before; or, in other words, one hundred millions of dollars are actually sunk in the operation. of the crops, inasmuch as the suspension of specie payments throughout the entire Confederacy relieves each bank from calls for coin. The banks are accustomed to manage loans of this character, and will conduct the operation with such skill as will make them mutually advantageous. The amount of advance asked from the banks would be greatly less than if advances were offered by the Governinent, and all the abuses incidental to Government agencies would be avoided. It seems to me, therefore, that it is neither necessary nor expedient that the Government should embark upon this dangerous experiment. It is far better that each class of the community should endeavor to secure its own existence by its own exertions, and if an effort be at once made by so intelligent a class as the planters, it will result in relief. Delay in these efforts, occasioned by vague expectations of relief from Government, which cannot be realized, may defeat that which is yet practicable. C. G. MEMMINger, Secretary of the Treasury. COMMENTS OF THE RICHMOND "WHIG." The Richmond Whig of the 24th of October, in discussing the above circular of Mr. Memminger, gives the following picture of the financial condition of the South: If we understand correctly the proposition Such a condition of the currency the Govern- for buying the cotton and tobacco crops with ment has anxiously endeavored to guard against. Treasury notes, Mr. Memminger wholly misapThe war tax was laid for the purpose of creating prehends it. He looks upon it as a scheme for a demand for Treasury notes, and a security for the "organization of labor "-as a sort of socialtheir redemption. Their redundancy has been ist project, by which Government undertakes carefully guarded against by allowing them to to provide for the wants of a thriftless and be funded in eight per cent. bonds. If neces- worthless community, for and in consideration sity shall compel the Government to issue, for of-nothing. This is a total misconception of the defence of the country, and to keep out two the project, and of the deep and devoted spirit hundred millions, it is plain that every accession of patriotism which prompts it on the part of must impair and may defeat all the precautions. the people. Its object is to bring the vast reIf the Government should undertake, for the sources of the country, now lying dormant and sake of private interests, so large an increase of inert, into vigorous action, to repel the public issue, it may hazard its entire credit and stabil- enemy, and make good our independence. No ity. The experiment is too dangerous, and re- land more abounds in all the substantial matelief for the planters must be sought in some other rials for comfort and independence, and, when direction. And may not that remedy be found? the markets of the world are open, in the eleIn the first place, let the planters immediate-ments of wealth; but, under existing circumly take measures for winter crops, to relieve the demand for grain and provisions. Let them proceed to divert part of their labor from cotton, and make their own clothing and supplies. Then let them apply to the great resource pre-proposed by this scheme. sented by the money capital in banks and pri- But Mr. Memminger tells us that this scheme, vate hands. Let this capital come forward and instead of aiding the Government, will embar assist the agricultural interest. Heretofore the rass it; that the Government will have to raise banks have employed a large part of their capi- two hundred millions to prosecute the war; tal in the purchase of Northern exchange; let that to raise an additional hundred millions for them apply this portion to factors' acceptances the relief of the planting interest will be an adof planters' drafts, secured by pledge of the pro-ditional burden, to that amount, on the reduce in the planters' hands. An extension of sources of the Government. If this were so, the time usually allowed on these drafts would his conclusion would be right, and the scheme overcome most of the difficulties. This exten- I would at once be rejected. But his error pro stances, they are of little avail. The tokens or representatives of value are wanting us. To supply this deficiency, and save ourselves from perishing in the midst of abundance, is the end Mr. Memminger suggests as serious objections "the possession, transportation, and management of the crops by the Government." We do not understand that the scheme proposes to throw these labors on the Government. Let the crops be sent to warehouses and insured by the planter for twelve months, the certificate of the inspector and the policy of insurance to be forwarded to the Treasury Department. A few additional clerks to register these would be the only increase of patronage involved in the proceeding. Even if five hundred agents were required, the scheme would be less obnoxious than that which has sent forth five or six thousand collectors and assessors in quest of a petty tax, which may serve little other end than to reimburse the officers and harass the people. ceeds from the fallacy of regarding the people are making immense preparations to burn our of the Confederate States and the Government cities and ravage our river shores, by means of thereof as separate, independent, and antago-iron-cased vessels; and yet, so far as we are adnistic entities. The idea is founded on "the vised, our authorities are making no preparaprojection" (to use a map-maker's phrase) of tions to meet them. It will be a poor boast for the old Yankee system at Washington, and Mr. Memminger that he has expended but fifty should not be tolerated for a moment in the millions, if, for the want of a few additional milnew Republic of the South. For every moment lions, our cities are destroyed and our land of its existence the Confederate Government is desolated. indebted to the people, whose creature it is, and who have breathed into it the breath of life. But is the issue of a hundred millions of Treasury notes by the Government equivalent to the payment of so much specie by the Government? They may serve the people as money, but they cost the Government nothing but the paper on which they are printed. They do not bear interest; and if the article for which they are given be intrinsically valuable, the solvency and ultimate redemption are insured, at the same time that the community is relieved by a timely and judicious use of its credit. But, says Mr. Memminger, this one hundred millions of Treasury notes will come in competition with the two hundred millions necessary for the war, and depreciate the value of the whole, and enhance the price of whatever Government wishes to buy. To prevent this result, Mr. M. withholds the hundred millions, but suggests that planters get the same amount of paper money from the banks: as though this paper money would not inflate prices quite as much as the same amount of any other sort of paper money. To prevent the country from being flooded with this worthless paper money, which in the end will swamp the banks and scatter ruin through the land, is one great reason with us for desiring a paper currency which will possess an intrinsic value. "The suspension of specie payments throughout the entire Confederacy (says Mr. M.) relieves each bank from calls on coin "-i. e., those institutions that already have out four for one, may throw out as much as they choose; there is no check upon them whatever. This unfolds a COLONEL STAHEL'S RECONNOISSANCE. terrible future for the country. It is this incapacity we complain of which, along with other evidences of inefficiency, excites so much distrust and alarm in the country. We believe that the cotton and tobacco crops, in the hands of a wise, energetic, and enterprising Government, would, in spite of the blockade and war, be sources of boundless credit and irresistible strength. Those articles are in demand all over the civilized world. Suppose our Government, six months ago, had had in warehouse and insured two hundred million dollars' worth of tobacco and cotton, bought at eight and ten cents, they could, by proper energy, have had credit to that amount in London, and our coast might at this moment be thoroughly guarded by steel-plated steamers. The same result, by the same means, might still be effected perhaps in time to anticipate the inroads which the enemy meditate against us. We know they Virginia, though interested in this scheme, is to a less amount than the States to the south of us. The Cotton States, which produce but a single crop, are reduced to a very painful condition. They cannot sell their cotton; they are not even permitted to deliver it in readiness for sale. The consequence is, that they will, for the means of subsistence, be at the mercy of the usurers. If this were all, they, as well as we, would make a shift to weather the storm; but the safety of the Republic is at stake. The Secretary's policy is playing into the hands of the enemy, and aggravating the evils of the blockade, which, under a wiser dispensation, instead of evils, would be blessings. Doc. 97. NEW YORK "TRIBUNE" ACCOUNT. UNION troops have to-day advanced beyond Anandale upon the Little River Turnpike for the first time since the retreat from Bull Run. The roads to Fairfax Court House are no longer sealed, and their occupation by our forces at any moment is wholly at the discretion of General McClellan. Last night the report came in to Acting Brig.-Gen. Stahel's head-quarters that Colonel Wurtchel, of the New York Eighth, had proceeded without difficulty to Anandale, a point some distance beyond any previous advance, and found no indications of the enemy for miles beyond. In order to ascertain with more certainty the present position of the rebels, and to test the truth of recent reports announcing their withdrawal from Fairfax Court House, General Stahel determined upon a reconnoissance to be made this morning. He to Union soldiers at various times, his statements were received with the incredulous carelessness which every well-educated skirmishing officer considers it his first duty to manifest, and the reconnoissance proceeded with the same caution as before. accordingly started at about eight o'clock from | showed with great pride, attesting his services Mason's Hill, hitherto our outpost in this direction, with seven companies of infantry. His staff was somewhat nuinerous, being augmented for the occasion by officers from other stations who were anxious to share the excitement, as well as the honors, in case of any rencounter, of the occasion. Colonel (Prince) Salm of Gen. On approaching the spot where the rebel Blenker's staff had caught a hint of the expedi- scouts had shown themselves, the tops of rough tion last night, and came riding hastily in at wigwam huts were discovered, peeping susthree o'clock this morning, lest an early depart-piciously in rows above the crest of a hill. The ure should deprive him of participation. Ritt- presumption was, that they were deserted, but meister Heintz, late of the Austrian service, and the same action was necessary as if their occuother foreign officers, many of them the posses-pation was a matter of necessity. I was struck sors of decorations of various orders of military distinction, also joined. Their experience and skill were serviceably employed throughout the day. by the skill with which the German officers moved their skirmishers forward at this point, taking advantage of such inequality of the ground, and so disposing their men as not only to prevent surprises, but also to provide for their safe concentration in case of any sudden attack. But no such necessity arose. The huts had all been abandoned, although the position was exceedingly strong, and afforded great advantages for defence. Two aged inhabitants tottered forth in great terror while we examined this ground, and made deprecating gestures; but, being reassured, grew garrulous, and gave us a marvel The absence of cavalry and artillery showed that the reconnoissance was not of a formidable character, and that no offensive demonstrations were intended. It was merely an expedition of inquiry and investigation. At Anandale the plan of operations was rapidly formed. Skirmishers were sent out to the right and left in due order; the necessary guards were stationed at the cross roads and upon elevations commanding distant views, and the body of the bat-lous insight into the enemy's designs, by the talion was held compactly about one-eighth of a mile behind the foremost scouts. The swiftness and precision with which these details were arranged were sufficient to demonstrate that our German officers are perfect masters of at least this branch of warlike duty. Within the village of Anandale there was little to cause detention. The inhabitants were few, and had no information of value to offer, although bitter complaints of infamous treatment by the rebels were poured in from numerous families whose members had ventured to maintain their fidelity to the Union. These families had plainly suffered all sorts of depredations, and had, in some cases, been subjected to personal violence; while others, who had yielded their ready sympathies to the last occupiers, had apparently been shielded from molestation. One mile beyond Anandale, upon the brow of a considerable elevation, the first halt was ordered. The road having been untravelled for many weeks by our troops, and having been uninterruptedly in the hands of the rebels, it was necessary to take the most cautious observations. With the aid of glasses, a party of four horsemen was discovered about two miles in advance, riding slowly toward us, while our officers, grouped together in an open field, watched their movements. They appeared to catch sight of us, for they suddenly turned about, and rode back with great speed. gro who had just walked in from the Court House, volunteered the information that they composed a scouting squad, which had been hovering about the road all the morning, and assured us there were no troops stationed anywhere this side of the Court House. Although the possessor of a private document, which he A ne statement that they had posted themselves just behind the top of the hill to draw us forward, and give us a second Bull Run affair; but when, two days ago, they heard of an impending attack, they retired without any ceremony, beyond that of abstracting one turkey and an assortment of chickens from the aviary of the aged couple. A little further on, we were met by a collection of chameleon-conscienced citizens, who, emerging from Coyle's Tavern, revealed the fact, that Union sentiments had long been secretly deposited in their hearts, and that they were, of all things, anxious to know whether we came in force, or, as they supposed, in a feeble body, for a casual purpose. The answers which these gentlemen received were not sufficiently lucid to be valuable, the statements as to our immediate force varying from ten to fifty thousand, according to the imaginative_activity of the respondents. The Union gentlemen of Coyle's Tavern were confused, and withdrew in sorrow, if not in anger. From this point, Gen. Stahel pushed on about two miles further, and finally stopped at the house of Mrs. Goodwin, where vestiges of another deserted camp remained, a mile and a half this side of the Court House, beyond which he did not feel justified in advancing. The view ahead was, however, sufficiently clear to demonstrate that no force of any kind was stationed this side of Fairfax. As nearly as we could learn from the reports of inhabitants, two brigades still lingered there, but were preparing to depart, and were not expected to remain many hours. The General then turned back, after partaking of the bounty of a persimmon tree, in consequence of which, the fruit being unripe, he and his staff rode for the space of one hour with wry faces, and enunciated orders with a puckered accent. The object of the reconnoissance was to inquire into the truth of the reports that the line of the country this side of the Court House had been abandoned. We are now assured that no obstacle exists to our approach in that direction, whenever we choose to move forward. Doo. 98. FIGHT AT BIG HURRICANE CREEK, MO. Col. Morgan, whose regiment, the Eighteenth Missouri, is stationed at Laclede, in Linn County, Mo., having heard of the depredations of a gang of rebels near the joining lines of Carroll, Chariton, and Livingston Counties, started out on last Friday night about nine o'clock, with a force of two hundred and twenty men, composed of cavalry, infantry and artillery, with two six-pound cannon, in pursuit of them. He proceeded rapidly about twenty miles, in a southwest direction, which brought him to Big Hurricane Creek, in Carroll County, where they learned they were in the neighborhood of the enemy. shoulder, and side; George W. Graham, ankle dislocated; B. S. Owens, gun-shot wound; Wm. Sexton, same; George Kneckler, slightly wounded; George Isenhower, fracture in the jaw; badly hurt; Edward Cheatham, slight gun-shot wound. The surgeons were Dr. N. S. Hamlin and Dr. Wm. Sorrens. L. A. Cunningham acted as assistant surgeon. The wounded were hauled back to Laclede by Mr. Cunningham, the assistant surgeon, and placed in a house. Mrs. Hill, a kind-hearted lady of Laclede, was very atten The loss of the enemy tive to the sufferers. was fourteen killed and eight taken prisoners. A number of horses and camp equipage was also captured. The old man who decoyed Col. Morgan into the ambush, as soon as he saw the rebels running, attempted to make his own escape, but was shot dead by one of the cavalry, named James Raritan. Strange to relate, Mr. Raritan was accidentally shot and killed the following day at Laclede, as he was attempting to mount his horse. Col. Morgan and his regiment are doing splendid service in that part of the country, and will soon give a lasting quietus to the guerilla band's now infesting the northern part of the State. Doc. 99. BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF, VA., COL. DEVENS REPORT. At this point they came upon an old man, whose name our informant does not recollect, who told them that a rebel force of five or six hundred men had crossed the creek, and were HEAD-QUARTERS FIFTEENTH REGIMENT MASS. Vol., some distance along the road. Col. Morgan POOLESVILLE, MD., Oct. 23, 1861. crossed the creek immediately, and while pass-twelve o'clock Sunday night, October 20, I GENERAL: I respectfully report that about ing along the road, up a deep and muddy ravine; crossed the Potomac, by your order, from IIarsuddenly found himself ambuscaded-the old man having deceived him as to the whereabouts of the enemy. His command received a very distressing fire from the rebels, who were posted behind the trees and brush. As soon as the fire began to be returned, the rebels scattered, and were pursued in small squads, with great success. The two pieces of artillery, under Lieut. Dawson, did excellent service in cleaning them out of the thickets. The pursuit continued until late on Saturday afternoon, when Col. Morgan called his men together, and with the wounded and prisoners marched back to Laclede. Two of his men were mortally wounded, and are probably dead at this writing. Their names are Aleck Scraggs, of the cavalry, and Benjamin Kirgan, of the infantry. The other wounded are as follows: James D. Hunt, wounded in the knee; doing well; Wm. B. Rouse, gun-shot in the hip; doing well; B. F. Jones, shot in the hip; Wm. H. Hamlin, shot through the right knee, the ball passing through the body of the horse and wounding his left leg; Henry Isenhower, flesh wound in leg; George Hamblin, gun-shot in hip; doing well; J. S. Z. Burnsides, flesh wound in the knee; Philip Faust, wounded in back, rison's Island to the Virginia shore, with five companies, numbering about three hundred men, of my regiment, with the intention of taking a rebel camp reported by scouts to be situated at the distance of about a mile from the river, of destroying the same, of observing the country around, and of returning to the river able to remain for reinforcements, or if I found or of waiting and reporting if I thought myself a position capable of being defended against a largely superior force. Having only three boats, which, together, conveyed about thirty men, it was nearly four o'clock when all the force was transferred to the opposite shore. We passed down the river about sixty rods, by a path discovered by the scouts, and then up the bluff known as Ball's Bluff, where we found an open field surrounded by woods. At this point we halted until daybreak, being joined here by a company of one hundred men from the Twentieth Massachusetts, accompanied by Colonel Lee, who were to protect our return. At daybreak we pushed forward our reconnoissance toward Leesburgh to the distance of about a mile from the river, to a spot supposed See Documents 35 and 47, ante. |