Indiana State Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 46, Indianapolis, Marion County, 7 April 1862 — Page 2

WEEKLY SENTINEL.

HOS DA Tf . APKII. 7 The iBion it tau at fee preterrcd. Jacton. Democratic Union State Ticket FOR SECEETAET OF ST ATX, JAMES 8. ATHON. Of Marion County. TOm. AUDITOR OF STATE, JOSEPH RI3TINE, Of Fountain County. FOE TBEASUEEE OW STATE, MATTHEW L BRETT, Of Daviess County. FOE ATTORN KT OEHEEAL, OSCAR B. HORD. Of Decatur County. FOE StTKEIXTEMDKMT OF TOBLIO 1 SSTEUCTIOS , MILTON B. HOPKINS, Ol Clinton CuuntT. Ueuersl .Hcclellan. The Philadelphia Pre ot Tuesday says: "Gen. McClkllax was in Washington last night. and at e late hoar was closeted with the Presid- nt. Re porta hare it that the latter was rather abrupt in his trettrnent of the application, for the deposition of Gen McClkllae. The Expected Rattle. A telegraph from Cairo twites that General Gr a XT is nearly prepared for the grand battle that is eipectrd. By the same channel of information we learn that General Biell is on the line of the Nashville and Decatur Railroad, making very slow progress. Large bodies move slow. The War to Do It. A co temporary says: "Undoubtedly the best way to serve the cause of Democracy is to create good Democratic newspapers." This is a suggestion worthy of consideration and adoption by every Democrat If Democrats desire the triumph of their cause they can best secure success by putting into the hands of the people Democratic documents and Democratic newspa pers to keep them thoroughly advised upon the issues of the day and the policy which should guide them. The Kerned jr. A cotemporary says: "The Democratic party have been laboring tor years to prevent and avert the evils with which the country is 10 so fearfully struggling. Their overthrow v as the signal for disruption. A rajuin of the Democratic party to power throughout the Northern Slates would be the greate-t step towaras peace and prosperity. The parly that labored so faithfully to prevent the evil is best calculated to conduct the country tnrough the evil. A brilliant line of Democratic successes, commencing with Connecticut and going on to the close of the fall elections, would be of more value than a dozen victories on the battle field. They would be of more value because they would do wh it battles can not do assuage sectional animosity and pave the way to a happy reuniou." Abolitionism Aiding the Rebellion. A very intelligent military officer, who has been in the service in Western Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, and who has taken pains to advise himself as to the sentiment of the people in those sections of the country, expressed to us his convictions that abolition legislation in the present session of Congress had done and was doing more efficient work in fostering disunion ism in the South, to widen the breach between the two sections, than all the efforts of the secession leaders and the rebel armies. The unceasing agitation of the negro question in Congress for party purposes, culminating as it has in the passage of the bill for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia by the Senate and Mr. Lincoln's resolut on favoring general emancipation, is weakening not only but is destroying the confidence of the Union men of the South in the declarations and pledges of Cougress that the war was to be prosecuted alone for the restoration of the Union, without interference with or intention to impair the constitutional rights and institutions of the States. No practical good can be accomplished in the present state of public sentimeut by the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. It will not give freedom to a slave, except the infirm and worthless, ami they will be come charge upon the government for their support if emancipated. And this is but the initiatory measure among the series which will be adopted by the present dominant party for the freeing of negroes and thus strengthening rebellion. The people of the Northern States do not wast a horde of free negroes thrown upon them, neither are they willing to be taxed to "ransom" the worthless portion of that population. The true policy of the Government is to let the negro alone, to cease the agitation of the slavery question, and prosecute the war for the restoration of the Union and the suppression of the rebellion, without refer ence to its effect upon the servile race. In a word the best way to destroy secessionism is to put down Abolitionism. If the people of the South can be a stire! that non-intervention with slavery by Congress in either State or Territory is the settled policy ot the Government, secession ini will disappear like the dew before the morning SMB. Hut if Abolition legislation prevails in Cougrers, we may overrun the South by our armies, but we shall only cast down a hostile peo pie ready to turn upon us whenever the opportunity offers, and the attempt to keep them in subjection will probably result in national bankruptcy. Abolitionism developed secession; Abolitionism is now aiding rebellion, and we can not hope for peace and Union until this originating cause of our national troubles is deprived of its power to do further mischief. The Case of Secretary Smith. We find the following intimations affecting the integrity of the Cabinet officer from Indiana in our exchange. The New York Sun of Friday says: The World intimates that there is something wrong in the Department of tue Interior, pre sided over by the above official, and this intimation is partially coiitimed by lh& Commercial It ie probably true. To those conversant with the antecedents of the Secretary, merchants in the iron trade particularly, aud other branches generally, the appointment of Secretary Smith waa a mystery, and they expected anything he took in hand would speedily become one. A prominent Senator returned from Washington in October last, boldly avowing that there aa but one truly honest man in ihe Administration, and that was President Lincoln. This was before Stanton's appointment. The Chicago Time remarks upon the same subject. "GraTe and probably valid charges are nrged against the Secretary of the Interior," say the New York World "for improper speculations and other malfeasance in office " So another apostle of the "great cause of human freedom" has polluted his fingers. Carry out the dead. There will be a long row of coffins pretty soon. Rumors ot the above character have been afloat for some weeks. For the ii r of Iudi ana, as well as his own, we hope Mr. Smith will be able to vindicate himself from these grave charges of official malfeasance. Since the foregoing was written, we find the following in reference to the allegations against Mr. Sm im in the ashington Star of last Thürs day: TB NlWSrAFEE ChaEOES AO A ISST IHE 8 EC est set or TBE IxTEEioB. The New York World having reiterated its vague charges against the integrity of Secretary Smith's management of the affairs of tne latctice Department, that gen

tletnan has promptly demanded of the conductors of that journal the name of bis covert assailant, and specifications of the latter 's allegations He indignantly scouts the accusation a being a monstrous fabrication, gotten up to compass some sinister purpose, and evidently intends pursuing the matter in order to make an example of those who may be behind his irresponsible assailant, if, as is probable, some such person be named in answer to his demand of the proprietors of the World newspaper. Trlf Ha with Serious natter." The Journal of Thuredsy charges us with "a wilfnl and malicious lie, manufactured to injure the reputation and business ot this (the Journal) office," for stating that it had, on the first of April "issued an extra purporting to contain the latest news from the seat of war." That was the impression of the public, as it was ours. The Journal news boys sold the extra and cried it through the streets as the "Journal extra. " It was purchased by a large number of our citizens as a "Journal extra." The Journal, in its issue of Wednesday morning, admits that the extra "was got up es nearly in imitation of our (its) 'extra' as the type would let it, was evidently intended to be taken for it, and in most cases trat taken for it. Of course our (its) office was saddled with the fact." It also says that gome ot the news boys "thought it a genuine news sheet." This is the Journal' own repre sentalion of the matter. The public believed that the "extra" was issued from the Journal office, we believed that it was and the Journal

adm.ts that it was intended to betaken for it aud in most cases tea taken for it." Yet, after mading the admission that the "extra" wasa "swindle" that in most cases tea taken for the genuine article, it nas tne enrontery to cnaracienze wun , a great affectation of injured innocence, what we said in the matter, and which we were justi fied in saying by its own admissions, as being a "malicious, unjustifiable and biseiess lie," that never had a parallel. It says, in addition, that the "extra" is as much its property as its presses, and that we have just as much right to injure a press, as to damage the standing of an "Extra," and in this connection threatens to apply a legal remedy to redress its wr ngs, which it has since done. If we have no right to dam age the standing of the Journal "Extra," if it is just as much its pr.ipertv as its presses, it cer tainly has no right to "damage,' the standing of the Sentinel, which is just as much our property as our presses. A few weeks ago it charged the Sentinel with forgery. Had it a right to thus' injure the business and reputation of this office?" Even in its issue of yesterday, the very one in which it complains of us for publishing the charge that it had issued a spurious "Extra," there appears a communication charging us with disloyalty to the Government with treasou the highest crime known to the law. Has it a right thus to "injure the business and reputation of this office?" Are not the proprietors of that print liable to heavy damages therefor? The Journal has ever exhibited towards the Sentinel a mean and malicious spirit an ei viou's feeling long entertained, which has now culminated in a suit for damaging it in some way, but for the life of us we cannot imagine how. The public will be duly advised of the amount of "damages" the "Journal Company" recovers in its attempt to establish a character by legal remedies. We shall certainly take advantage of the opportunity that is thus forced upon us to ventilate that establishment fiom stem to stern. We an not help asking our Republican friends if they are not ashamed of their organ. Like a cowardly urchin who gets a little worsted in a rencontre with one of his playmates, as a punishment it threatens to tell its "ma." It gets a little pat upon its nose which perhaps starts the blood. but instead of manfully showing tight, even it it has not the slrenirth to conouer. like a cur it i drops its tail between its legs and yelps out t threats of legal remedies He can not imagine any thing quite as diminutive, as little, as the position of the Journal. If it is not namby pamby, puerile, it is impossible to co.mprehend an idea of feebleness. We advise the Journal Company, if there are any men iu the association, tor the sake of the great Republican party, it they have not enough respect lor themselves, to try to exhibit a little manliness, to be somebody or something, to be men or mice, or, if they can't do better, long-tailed rats. What We Move To Fear. The editrial correspondent of the New York Expre, writing f; mi Washington, says: " 'We have more to fear from the radicals than the rebels,' was the remark to me yesterday, from oneot the ablest Republican members ot Congress. There are many of the same school of politics, of the same opinion, in both houses of Congress, but the apprehension is that they are not iu the majority. ' Weudell Phillips, in his abolition harang te on Friday evening, thought the President had opened the door an inch by his recent message and r solutions to Congress, and Phillips now wanted it opened so wide, he said, that 'a coach and six horses could drive in, with William Lloyd Garrison as the driver.' It needs no living propnet or ghost from the grave to tell us where such a journey would end, and the fact that men of such rovolutionary opinions now find their way on the floor of the Senate Chamber against the rules of the Senate, and that their 'bills of performance' are posted within the very walls of the Capitol, only shows that the nation is passing from one extreme to the other. Have the Goths passed out of the Capitol for the South, only that the Vandals should enter it from the NorihT It is not yet too late for the true friends of the Government to rise in their power and crush out both the war of rebellion and the demon of fanaticism." We have no doubt of the truth of the remark that " He have more to fear from the radical than the rebtlt." The army are now able to and will attend to the rebels of the South; let every pat riot who is not in the army see that the fanatical rebels of the North who are endeavoring to undermine the Constitution and destroy the Union are foiled in t.iese traitorous schemes. Con servative Republicans, do you not see that Wen dell Phillips is becoming the leader, the God j of the radicals of your party? See the adoration i..... i .,r.n u; a u.'.. .i. : a i. the leading papers of the party over the country applaud and sustain him? Do you not see a significance in thee things? Are van trdhn ; to 1 . . .... , , ... Oe nde paenqer in lAe Abolition coach "with e jr Wm. Llotd Gabe.-sox a the dricer?" These are questious to your conscience, and which you must soon answer at the billot hoi Will rn you answer them as becomes men and patriots, or will you. taking counsel from your prejudices, still cling to an organization, the greater portiou 'of whose leaders are already abolitioiiixed, and, j if they had their way, would destroy the Constitution and the Union, iu order to carry out their j fanatical schemes? The Rnonnoui Cost off the War The Cincinnati Commercial, Republican au thoritv, says: People are started aid incredulous when told that the war is costing the Government three millions of dollars per day. They naturally in quire why this should be the most costly war ever heard of. They wonder why there should be a prospect that a single war, not likely to be a long one. will leave us as deeply in debt as England has been plunged by many wars. There are ser eral reasons for the prodigious expense which Causes the people so much solicitude, and justifies their impatience at military delays. The one most prominently before the public though not the one really of the greatest di men sions is the stealing the frauds of contractors aud speculations of unfaithful officers. Another reaann is the extravagant salaries paid officers and soldiers extravagant in comparisou with the pay of the troops of any other nation It will be remembered that our little standing army of fifty toousand men, performing for the most part garrison duty, wee accustomed to cost us nearly as many millious of dollars per year as there were thousands in its ranks. Another reason which the Commercial fails to mention is the insatiable avarice, the tape worm greed of the Republican leaders. That's the true solution of die enormous cost of the war.

The Policy off the Government. Secessionism is not the only danger that menaces the Government. It is probable that armed rebellion will soon be overcome. Then conies the more difficult task of reconstructing the Uuion. This duty will require the most sagacious statesmanship. It is no easy matter to determine in what way the Southern people can be induced to resume '.he exercise of self-government under the Constitution of the United Suite The Abolitionists are unwilling that there shall be a full recognition of the rights of the slaveholding States. We can not expect the people of those States will return to a full and hearty allegiance unless the people of the Northern States can satisfy them that they will respect and defend their rights under the Constitution as faithfully as they will their own. It is here that abolitionism stands in direct antagonism to the reconstruction of the Union. There is but little hope for peace aud amity until aboli tionism conjointly with secessionism is subdued. In this conuection we call especial attention to the following article from the Louisville Journal. which contains suggestions and reflections eminently worthy of consideration at the present time by all who desire the perpetuity of tae Constitution and the Uuion unimpaired: It is continually becoming more and more manifest that the Irieuda of the Uuion in the United States have on hand two great and important conflicts, and that success in both is absolute

ly necessary to the accomplishment of the mighty are Q ,he presermion of t,ie purpose which they have at heart. ij...K ..r Constitution one to preserve it against the wicked aud atrocious Southern rebeiliou, aud the other to preserve it from the milignant aud deadly assaults ot Northern fanatic; in MmJ QUt Qt- Co.,re!(S The conflict with the Southern rebels, thanks to the courage and strength ot our victorious armies, is making glorious progress, and promises soon to be brought to a triumphant close, but even this result will not secure the happiness and prosperity of the nation, if, in the other conflict, that with the fanatics of the North, the champions of the Constitution shall fail tobe victorious. In tnat case we shall at best have a mere nominal Union, a hoiiow mockery of a Union, the body of a Union without tt,- soul, a Union that alter a little time must in the very nature of things evaporate in the surrounding atmosphere. Iiis impossibie to say what kind ot Union the irresistible power of arms might establish, and for a briet' period maintain, but any supposition that the thirty-four States which constitute or h ive eonsti'-ited this Republic can be bound perm tnentlv together as a Republic upon the principles and on the conditions insisted on by such politicians as the Senators in Congress from Massachusetts, is an absurdity tti.it ouly fools and fanatics could possibly cherish. If every Southern rebel were disarmed to-morrow, tin- reconst ruction ot the Union would be a most delicate and difficult undertaking. Differences of views evci among conservative men would be enough to render it so. And probably, at this very moment, even greater danger menaces the restoration policy from the action of the radicals than Iroin the armed legions of rebellion. Radicalism, innovation, subversion, abolition, is perhaps the worst of our mortal perils. It is, as the Baltimore Americun says, the drv rot which, unless prevented, will cripple or sink the grest ship of State which has beeu triumphant when met ouly by open assaults. In this re'ation, the rulers at Washington must certainly see that although they may do without the Abolitionists, they cannot do without that great Union parly of the land which is unalterably opposed to ail ultr ii-m. A tew months since, and the questions in volved seemed lor the lime lobe mere abstractions or little better, because no ad v nice of any mo ment had been made upon territory such as now demands for its right government a decided and conservative policy. But now the Government is made by the force of imperative circumstances to stand face to face with the difficulties of the hour; and it and the nation must unmistakably condemn all extreme radicalism, all mi(akeu philanthropy, wherever wild theories conflict with the provisions of that instrument, every day anew demonstrated to be the very ark of our safety, if we are to be saved at all. Already the irms of the nation may fail to protect the nation a 1 en (he Constitution, the instrument which, should keep all in sub'ection. may be broken with impunity. -ct tne reverence 01 tue people tor in it -reat charter of rights and liberties be once lost, and neither armies nor proclamations will avail as a substitute in the preservation of the Union and of their rights. Very Severe on John C. Fremont. In a seech in the House of Representatives Mr. Wadsworth, a Union member from the 9th or Maysville district, said: To-day we h ive the restoration of John C. Fremont to his milittry command, over a portion ot Kentucky, too a State which despises him, with the death of Lyon hero of the war and the capture of Mvilligan 011 his skirts. With these charges against him untried, he is appointed to the command of the "Mountain Department," mid McClellan restricted to the cmmwnd of the Potomac, and Buell aud Rosecransand Garfield aud Grant, and all the proven soldiers of the war overslaughed, as it were. All this thing shows .at, this day, that class of men to whom I have aliudcd, and that political idea to which I have alluded, are and is all-powerful in the administration of the Government, and I. for one, can net give mv confidence to it under these circumstan ces. 1 do not wish to vote it, without question and without limitation or inquiry, taxes to carry on this war tor tue Union in all its length and breadth, and the necessary means to support it. I am for the Union from the lakes to the Gulf, and from ocean to ocem. Thc .Ttonitor und the errimac. The conduct of the Monitor in her first engagement with the Merrimac, demonstrated her ability at least to hold her own with the rebel monster but the prevailing opinion that she is invulnerable is not well founded, and ueither is the confidence that she can take or sink the Merrimac justifiab e Theie are two points of vulnerability about her which once successfully assailed places her at the mercy of her an la go nist. The ft.-rt her pilot-house, and the second, her port-holes in the turret. Uer pilot houe is square in form, and built of iron logs eiht inches square, piled iqiou each other and dovetailed at the ends vvrv similar to the body of a log cabin ot hewn limber. A shot from the Merrimac broke one of these logs completely in two pieces, showing that it is possible to batter down the structure: but it is not even necessary to do this to injure her steering gear, for the concussion of the above mentioned shot injured that important apparatus to such an extent as to prevent her from following the Merrimac when that vessel returned to Norfolk. Tne interior of the turret is full of complicate 1 machinery iu addition to the platform, carriages gearing and guns whenever they are about to be fired, and a shell thrown iu at a port hole will play a complete smash up with her offensive arrangements. There are two port holes each two leeisouaie small obiects ' , . . n .u .i? certainly, but well worth the persevering attentiu of an enemy who knows the damage which will result from a shot thrown into them i i . j e . j : . i. l i I nese are ner vwo oeiecu., .nu n. is orooamy imp ossible to construct a floating engine of war wilh ,,. but lhey nre fatH lM the enemy 1 assail them successfully. Another point upon i w"ch ther is much dyuot uncertainty is her speed a very impoitant one, too, from the fact that, unless she can catch the Merrimac, all her othtr good qualities are of no avail. It has been said si e was faster than the Merrimac, and agaiu assened she was much slower. Seualor Hale re marked in the Senate that yeeterdty that she was a failure as far as speed is concerned, and thst opinion was concurred in by other Senators. It has not been reliably ascertained that a sin gle shot from the Monitor penetrated the Merrimac's iron shield, but it is satisfactorily known that her principal injuries were sustained when she run into the latter. Her bow run completely over the stern of the Monitor, and the sharp iron rim of the latter penetrated the iulerior protection of that part below water mark. Tin. set her pumps to work, aud beyond a shot in port hole, which dismounted a gun, it is not probable the Muuitor's guns injured her in any manner The late repairs consisted in strengthening her bow internally, to enable her the better to resist another collision, and encasing 'he bottom of her bow with iron, theratne a her !es and top. In her late contest she carried ten 64-pounders, but now her armament includes two or more 100 pounders, of i:glish mike H A battle of cannon between these vessels will hardly result in much injury to either, but a pro longed engagement of that kind is not looked for, ns the nature ot the late work upon the Merrimac creates tbe impression that she intends ajrai:. to run into the Monitor, and endeavor to sink her by crushing her sides or running her down. The former she cannot do, as the Monitor is as stron dv built as she is. and capable ot resisting as violent a collision, but the latter is possib e under certain circumstances. The Monitor draws so heavily, nud her displacement is so

disproportionately great, it only requires an additional weight of one hundrel tons to sink her, and should the Me ritn u run that much of her weight upon her. dwn she most go. But the Confederate vessel must have very deep water iu

which to execute such a maneuver, for should she try it in water too shallow, she may send the Monitor to the bottom, and stick fast on top of her, unnble to disengage herself. The depth must be sufficient to sink the Monitor clear of her bottorn, otherwise her own weight will bold her on top of the former, perfectly helpless, like a ship on the rocks. The Merrimac is now hourly expected to come out and renew the engagement with the Monitor. Great confidence is fell iu the stauch little Union craft, and it may not be mi. placed, but should the result of the contest be unsatisfactory to our cause, the above sketch of the two vessels mayshow that too much was expected of her. Island i i 11. A correspondent writing from the neighborhood of Island Ten says: That the rebel stronghold will eventually be carried, scarcely admits of a doubt, but it is equally certain that it is strong enough to hold us in check with our present force. The gunboats are :iot able to cope with the batteries, aud the tnor tars have not yet done much execution. As at Fort Douelson the heavy battery guns disabled the gunboats, so here the same resnlt is equally certain. The mortars ought to do the work, but their first day's labor amounted to little or noth ing, and we imagine th.it the great difficulty is going to be the uncertainty of aim which uttend their use when a very small poiut. such as a bat tery, is to be reached Irom a distance ot three miles. There is no such thing as aiming at them. They are directed by jfueas, and shot alter shot is thrown, as one would throw stones at a mark, until they fall within the desited spot This is called the range, aud the difficulty of keeping so nice a position with a boat, in a curreul of five miles an hour, may be imagined. A variation of an inch in the direction of the boat's head would throw the si ell roils aside from the mark, and when it is considered that the concussion ol the discharge is such as to disable boats lying alongside, as was the case with the tug Terror the other day, the liability of such variation will be understood. We are therefore dependent upon aid from some other source. If Gen. Pope's force shall be got into a position to flank them, and attack their rear, while the fleet bombards the front, no doubt need he entertained of the issue. The means adopted to brinr about that re-uk are nearly accomplished. Your readers are aware of what those measures are, and indeed there is lit tie need of secresy, for all the inhabitants of the vicinity are cognisant of them, and that fact is syuoiiy mous ith immediate communication with the enemy. We have been bombarding with one or two mortars at intervals of half an hour for a couple of weeks, and have received no reply during the greater part of that time, a fact which goes to show that we are doing verv little dam age, notwithstanding the exaggerated reports we have had of the number killed and wounded on the other side. The stories of seeing them carrying off their dead and wouuded are all imagination, for such movements cannot be seen with the bet glass at the distance at which the Beet lies. The rebels have a number of large guns which are very effective against our gunboats. Our ex perience at Fort Douelson was that the 128iKiunders went through the iron plating everv time they struck, while the 64-pounders did more damage than the boats could long endure. The natural inference is that a close fight ij the present instance would have the same result, with the further disadvantage that, once disabled, the boats would float down w:th the powerful cur rent, at the rate of five miles an hour, into the enemy's lines, instead of drifting away from them as at Fort Douelson. The fleet is thus in statu quo. There will be no engagement until a flank movement is made by the land forces, and then we ma; expect a bloody fight. Idleness of the SlavesThe plan of working the cotton plantations in the South, which was devised by Secretary Chase, is the most stupendous for evil ever put forth by any man with auy pretension to statesmanship. The slaves of the South are, in many respects, like children: they have never been educated to think for themselves, to provide lor themselves, or to act for themselves. They wait tor direction , aud do nothing unless they are first direced by their masters. Like children, they will often, from heedlessness, or carelessness, neglect their tasks, and are kept to their dutv ouly Irom fear of puuishmeat. How can they provide for themselves1' This is an important question, and one which hum uity calls upon us to furnish a solution. Surely it will not be expected that such conduct as related of Mrs. French, will tend to extricate these unfortunate beings from their pre-ent deplorable condition. To announce to them that they are tree, that they need iut labor uiuess they choose to do so, that thev are brothers and sister.-, and embrace them as such, and wind qa such an exhibition by asking them if they want anything, and proffer all they requiie, without money, price or condition; is no more nor less than saying to them that they need not labor any more; that hereafter they are the children of the Republic, to be supported by the Government in idleness. Such must be the inevitable result of this system proposed by Mi. Chase, and now being carried out by Mr. French and his associates. We may expect, indue course of time, if this plan is persisted in, to see every free negro in the North take his departure for the South, where he and his family can live upon the public treasury in listless idleness. 'Hy long will tax-payers bear the onerous burden- laid upon them to furnish the means for such visionary philanthropists to experiment upon the slaves of the South, as Mr. Ctiase has seut down to Fort Roval? How long will the hardy freemen of the North consent to be taxed to support in idleness the slaves of the South? This plan must be nipped in the bud; it must be strangled now in the outset, or it will bring upon us evils which can not be measured. We do not think we are called upon to waste our substance to aid any jf the States to rid themselves of slavery. It is an institution of their choosing if it has any benefits they have enjoyed them, and now if it presents burthens to be borne, let them bear them wit'iout complaining. If any State needs assistance, let them make it known, and the charitable leelings of the North will be aroused, and the purse strings will be opened, but we hope the Government will not undertake to inaugurate a system which will saddle upon the free citizens of the North the support of four millions of stives to idleness and vice. We hope the country will spe .k out upon this subject in tones w hich will leave the present Admiuistra tion no room or opportunity to say hereafter they misunderstood the feelings and wishes of the North on this subject. Detroit Free Pre. Special correspondence of the Chicago Times. From Yitiinirton. Slavery the instrum'itt and Abolitionists the cause of Ihe War The National Debt One Thousand Million of Dollar Hour much oj thi turn has been stolen by Republican Politician and Contractor!. Washington, March 31. Absurd Abolitionists and ranting Republicans take great pleasure in saying and re saying that "Slavery is the cause of the war; if you would luve peace, you must first remove the cause." Day alter day, Lovejoy, liingham, Ashley, Julian, Sumner, Trumbull, Wilkinson, and DryGoods Chaudler, proclaim the above premise and conclusion. But slav ery is not the cause of this war. Allow mean illustiatioti: Suppose that Lug John Wenlworth should take a long shot-gun and therewith shoot and kill Deacon Bross. Long John might be arrested and brought before his Honor Bob Wilson, who would undoubtedly find that that Long John war the cause of the death of the decedent, Deacou li: aud that the gun was the instrument. So, bereifter, when the grand impartial tribu nal of Histoiy shall bold solemn inquest upon the death of good feeling and concord among the Stales of the American Uniou, and investigate the cause of the war, it will find aud pronounce thai slavery was not the cause, but that it was the instrument in the hands of the Abolitionists, and that they were the cause. Justice would be cheated aud the gallows robbed of its revisionary rights, if tiie courts of the country should condemn the instruments with which murders are committed, and . cquit the persons who used them; but to do so would be eRjuxlly as equitable as it L to condemn alavery and let the Abolitionists cjcape. The former is the instrunieut wielded by the latter for the destruction of our country. The match in the hands of the incendiary is not the cause of the conflagration, but the means of bnngingit about; but to condemn the match ana I. At.. I t. ... ..... I. A ma let tbe iiouse outlier to iter, w ou i-j ire jup w sensible as it would be to condemn slavery and exempt the Abolitionists from censure Had there uever been a rampant Abolitionist, there never would have been a blatant secessionist. The lstter is ihelogical sequence of the former, and both are antagonistic to the existence of the Union Had Lincoln and Seward uever announced that the Government could not exist

part free and part slave, or had the Republican party never indorsed the irrepressible conflict doctrine, Jetl Davis end Toombs would never have attempted to demonstrate the proposition, thouch the four men agree perfectly in theory. It s time lor conservative men of all parties to begin to impress upon the minds ot the people correct ideas of the cause of the war. The de mocracy, actuated by the purest patriotism, by common couseut agreed to forbear discussing the cause ot the war until after the din ot arms had given way to the hum of contented industry. Had the opponents of democracy also remained silent, it would have been well enough for all. But they have never ceased the endeavor to enforce their ideas upon the attention of the country, and to make it appear that slavery was the cause of 'he war. Not only the peple at home, but the army itself, is flooded with their pernicious teachings. Thousands of abolition and emancipation tracts are distributed daily among the soldiers of the Potomac, and upon Sundays the Chaplains many of them deliver stump speeches upon the cause of the war ('. e., slavery, so they say,) the eradication of the cause, the nigger and him crucified; and all this is simply a part of a regularly organised system for poisoning the public mind and preparing it to endorse a proclamation ol universal emancipation, which the radicals are trying to persuade Abe Lincoln to make, and which he may under the plea of military necessity make within the uext sixty days. The tax bill is still before the House of Representatives, and delegations from different parts of the Union siill iulest the committee room of

Ways and Means to protest n gainst this or that tax upon articles in which they are deeply interested. The tax bill, when completed and a taw upon the statute books of the country, will prove an entire failure as a means of raising a revenue for the support of the Government. It will be a success, however, in making innumerable places to be filled by Republican officeseekers, who, like Oliver Twist, are still crying for more soup. But admitting that we raise br taxation a revenue of $1511,000.000. at $:).000.000 per day, which is our daily expenditure now, it will run the Government fifty days, if applied di rectly to carrying on the Government. But we are told that this tax is simply to pay interest with and keep our credit good. But at the close of the extra session of Congress iu July we h id an authorized national debt of. Add present session $103,049,710 14 800,000,()0 00 $1,103.049,710 14 And we have one billion one hundred aud three million fortv nine thousand seven hundred and ten dollars and fourteen cents of indebtedness already fastened upon the country. B much for one year of Republican rule. So much for the retrenchment, reform and purity of the Republican party. Out of that debt for which the masses nre to be taxed. Cameron, Fremont and Secretary Welles have stolen, as proved by Republican committees of investigation, for them-eUc-, brother-in-law and intimate friends, several millions of dollars. And "honest old Abe" sends Cameron into exile as Munster to Rusia to punish him; given Fremont a new command to chastise him; and showing his antivalhy to Welles, and condemning him for giving his brother-in-law, George D. Morgan, ninety-five thousand dollars of the people's money for buying boats a few days in New York city, retains him as Secretary of the Navy, sad sits with him in Cabinet meetings from week to week. O Ttmpora; O More. Foreign missions, Mijor Generalships and Cabinet officers are indicted as punishment upon proven swindlers and robbers of the public treasure. It is unaccountable, unless the Government is inteiidiut; to organize a KTehd corn d'armee to be called the "Plunderers' Dirfafoe," and, under the lead ol Cameron, Welles. Fremont and their favorite contractors, to send them South in the niht tine to steal Richmond, aud Island No 10, and all the other rebel strongholds Such an expedition would be formidable, ami would be invincible, even though Floyd and Jake Thompson should oppose them in stealing away. From the Detroit Free Pre.n The Allefred Conspiracy in .Ylicltifran. In the debate which we published, which took place in Congress, in the existence of a conspiracy against the Government in Michigan, it will be seen that Mr. Chandler stated that "to bis certain knowledge the Knights of the Golden Circle did succeed iu getting a large number of the worst traitors iu the United States into the Federal army, and they are there now." A large uumber of the worst traitors in the United Stales; not one, or two, or twenty, but a large number, and Mr. Chandler knows who they are, and yet he allows them to remain where they can blight the counsels of the brave. Why has he not denounced them Ioiil' since? Why has he not exposed them to the infamy they so richly deserve? He Ins the certain knowledge ot their treason, he know that they are plotting the ruin of the country. It is within his power to bring them to punishment, and yet it is by mere accident that the fact is brought to light that he has this knowledge, and still allows those foes of the country to plot their treason, without taking one step to protect the country againt the danger. If he allows a traitor to remain, knowing him to be such, without denouncing him, he is an accomplice, an accessory after the fact. We think this speech of Senator Chandler requires the Senate to raise a committee at once to thoroughly examine this whole subject. If theie is a conspiracy agaiust the Government in Michigan, let us know it. Let it be ferreted out and exposed, and let the leaders be brought to the most condign punishment. If there is such a society, theMact should be known. Who exerted the influence? Upon whom was it exerted? Who are the men thus foisted upon the Government? All this Mr Chandler "knows," and has known for a long time, according to his own statement, and yet this is the first lime he has intimated that he had any knowledge upon the subject. We insist it is time this m titer was investigated. These charges are constantly made against Democrats, who can do nothing but demand of their accusers the evidence, or investigation and trial. Thev dare not give either, because they know it is a fraud and a lie, concocted by themselves for political purposes. The courts, the prosecuting officers, the Federal and State government, and both bouses of Connies, are in the hands of the Republicans. Why don't they prosecute? Why don't they ar rest and examine somebody? They d. re uot do it. Again we challenge them to prove their charges. Mr. Chandler is a Senator; he is a prominent member of the "committee on the conduct of the war," quite appropriately termed the "smelling committee." Why has he not attended to these traitors before? There is but one possible solution for this inexcusable conduct. Charity might pie id that he was drunk when he made that speech, aud was, theretore. talking at random. If uot that, theu, he must have deliberately lied. He and his friends must take one or the other horn of this delimma, for no one who knows Mr. Chandler will tor a moment believe that if he knew what he says he ha known for so lung a time he would have kept silent until now. Again, we challenge them to the investigation. The foregoing comments upon the charge from high sources that treasonable secret associations exist in Michigan will apply with equal force to Indiana. The Republican central organ in this State has over and over asserted that similar as sociations existed in this State, and this information it professed to give of its own knowledge It even goes so far as to state that the names of the conspirators are known. The object of the Journal and the Republican leaders making these charges is to create the impression that Democrats have gotten up treasonable secret leagues. The dem ind h is been made time and time again for the evidence of the existence of these associations and the names of those who belong to them. If the Journal man has such evidence and fails to communicate it, so that the guilty parties may be published, he is thereby aiding and abetting treason. He is uo better than a receiver of stolen goods in fact just as much worse as the crime of treason is higher and more infamous than that of larceny. But there is no such evi-detv-e. The charges that such associations exist in Indiuna or elsewhere in the Western States are manufactured out of whole cloth, to advance partisan and political purposes. The motive, too, in making them is malicious devilish, and no punishment can be too severe for the men who have hearts wicked and corrupt enough thus to slander their ueighbors and libel whole comj m unities for it is a gross libel upon any commu- ; jt to charge it with tolerating organized con I spiracy agaiust the government. The political profligates who invent those vile slauders will find out that they will return to plague them. PGeneral McClellan's recent address to his army contains about eighty per cent, of woHs of Anglo Sxon origin, and of the 427 words iu the address .122 are monosyllables.

The Rebel Army ol the Southweat. The Louisville Journal of Friday contains the following information iu reference to the condition snd situation of the rebel army near Cor lath: The whole nation is now awaiting, in almost breathless expectation, the inevitable conflict soon to take place at or near Corinth, in Mississippi. The thought of it is in all minds and hearts, and speculations in regard to it are upon all lips. Ordinary events and even the secondrate victories of our arms seem to have little or no power to excite men's attention. For our own part, we anticipate a victory at Corinth, a victory great enough to crush allsem bJaaee of life out ol the rebel. iou, but it would not be honest to deny that we have apprehensious as to the result. Most assuredly there are grounds for very grave apprehensions, and ours

j would be infinitely greater than they are but for ! our deep confidence in the skill of our Generals ! and the glorious spirit of the armies they lead, ; and our trust, almost a religious trust, in the jus tice of our country's cause and the justice of heaven. If our armies win this victory, they must win it against great and fearful odds. All the advantages are agaiust them. Beyond question their enemies much outnumber them. General Gustav us W. Smith is said to have gone there j with sixty thousand men. the sinew of the rebel . army of the Potomac, and the last intelligence I is that Gen. Price, strongly reinforced, has oeen j ordered there with thirty five or forty thousand men, the bulk of the rebel fighting material of I Arkansas, Mi.v-uuri, and Texas. The rebel ho-ts at Corinth, and in striking distance of it, are believed by the best informed to number now, or to be certain to number within two or three days, a hundred and seventy nve or twj hundred thousand men, the flower and .trength ot the rebel Confederacy. Moreover this prodigious host is under the com maud of General Beaureeard. reputed on all i hands to be the greatest of all the chieftains ot the South, and he has the immediate aid and sup I port ot at least nine other Generals, the most disj tinguished that he, in looking Hbroad throughout ' the whole Conlederacy, could summoii around ! him. And besides he lnts hud au opportunity tor many weeks to fortify his position, naturally one I of the strongest in the whole country, by throw j ing uti breastworks, constructing casemates, dig ging trenches aud adopting every other means of defense, which, in the exercise of his a'most unrivalled science and tact as a military engineer, he could devise. Add to all this that he has just as many and just at big pieces of Artillery as he desired, planting them by hundreds iu positions for raking with terrible effect every approach. To encounter this mighty army possessing all these imiuease advautages, we have an army much interior in numbers, without fortifications, and wit!; no artillery to compare at all in magnitude with ;ha heavy siege Kirns of the enemy. Therefore we have spoken of the odds on the enemy's side as great and fearful, ami therefore we have said that we are not without anxiety and apprehension, deep and even paitilul anxiety and bppreheusion. as to the result. Still our hopes aie greater than our fears. Our confidence is in the invincibility of the armies of the Union, nerved in heart aud strengthened in arm by ttie thought that by one grand blow they can cleave down the bloody monster of rebellion aud give peace mid joy and prosperity to the greatest nation of all the earth. Wasliingion Item. We copy the following items from Washington correspondence of the press: ASTI ABOLITION SENTIMENT fX THE WEST. A prominent gentleman, and a Republican office holder, who has just returned from Cmcin nati and other Western points, reports a general development of an intense anti-Abolition senti ment iu all quarters of the West since the Wendell Phillips riot in Cincinnati. He says violent denunciations of Phillips and all of his kind are heard among all classes, and that threats are made against many Abolition members of Congress that, it they show themselves before the people of the West, they will fare worse than Wendell Phillips did. This feeling, he reports, is based on the popular repugnance to "negro equality," towards which the Abolitionists are supposed to be tending, no white man being so poor in his own esteem as not to feel himself "better than a nigger." THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IX THE PISTE I CT Or COLI' HEIA. Some of the radicsl portion of Congress begin to manifest a little uneasiness at tie inordinate haste with which the project of abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia has been pressed. It is evident that it w'll not produce the emsncipapation of a single negro, except such worthless ones as tne owners would be glad to get rid of; but the simple agitation of the subject basal ready had a very deleterious influence upon tbe free negro population, and instigated an insup portable insolence among them which forces itself upon the attention ol many who were at first car tied away with the idea ot abolishing slavery in the Federal capital. It is rapid'y becoming apparent that the prosecution of this scheme will not only make the city of Washington a rendezvous of the most worthless class of population, but will be regarded by the whole country as an evidence ol consciousness on the part of the Republicans that the power they now possess will soon be swept away from their grasp never more to be resumed. The speech ot Senator Wright on Tuesday afternoon produced a marked effect upon the Senate and the audience present. The earnest and eloquent manner in which he enunciated the duty of Congress to legislate solely with a view to put down the rebellion, without stopping for a moment to discuss matters of inferior importance, made a deep impression. His statement that the excitement had culminated and would subside, and his prophecy that by next year conservatism will rule the country, made tbe radicals wince. Island Ten. A correspondent writing under date of the 2d inst. from Island Ten says: Our chronic dullness was relieved yesterday by a hope that something is about to happen. The hope is based on preparations, visible and sup posed, and upon actual occurrences. We believe that we are on the eve of a fight, but we have be lieved the same thing so many times, without any definite result, that we have come to lose faith in the future. A bold exploit was achieved by our troops on Tuesday niht. A party of soldiers from Col. Buford's co mm md, about fifty in number, went oown -the river in yawl boats, and entered the upper battery in the rebel fortifications, spiking the guns and escaping without uny loss. There were four 64-pounders and two Im pounders, the latter being the guns that have thrown all the shot that have reached us. The battery was guarded by a smail detachment of lebel soldiers, who fired on the bo ats and fied without any further tesistance. The guns were spiked with round tiles, and were probably rendered useless, as the operation of removing the spiking is a very difficult one and can not be performed at all without the proper tools. Thd fact that this battery, against which the whole s rength of our fleet was directed, was so little injured as to be in readiness for action, ar gues that we have done them as little damage as they have done us. We have had reports of our achievements in dismounting and silencing this battery, and, as it has been erfectly silent for a week or two, have had some reason to believe them. It appears, however, that we did them very little harm, and that our random bombardment of the last two weeks has been of so little consequence that they made no reply at all. Firing was quite brisk yesterday. The mortars opened witn frequency, and the retels made the most energetic reply that they have deigned to give during the siege. Their balls fell thick and fast around the gunboats, hut nobody was hurt. It would be a great relief if somebody would condescend to become a sacrifice on the altar of their country. This going to ear for weeks at a time, and bur.iing powder night and day, without anybody being hit. is very dull business. Sic-kness is increasing greatly and is destined to become a serious matter with our army. The prevailing oomolaint is diarrhea, brought on by salt diet, malaria and drinking river water. Everybody is coming down with it. The men sutler Kreativ and are fast filling the hospitals. The officers are equally exposed, and of the corps of newspaper correspondents here collected, not one I escaped the contagion in more or less severe form. The weakening effect of the malady can not be imagined. It is virulent in its attacks ami makes quiek ork of tbe vie tic. A few days continuance makes it chronic, and then typhoid fever sets in. und if life is aa ved it is only by months of -urttring aud weakness. It is eestiued to prove the scourge of the Northern army. There are B thousand men from Gen. Grant's army in the Cairo and Mound City hospitals from this malady alone. Gen. Poe is iu motion, and we are in hopes to hear something decisive Irom him in a short time. Active preparations are being made in the fleet. which argues important matters in hand, and if we can only receive the co-operatiou of the land forces, a battle will immediately occur. WiJtout that, things must remaiu in statu euo.

Front the V. T. Sob (Repnbbeaa). The Port Moral e-roea. The opportunity of testing the relative merits of free negro and slave labor now furnished on a large scale at Port Royal and Beaufort was too tempting to be neglected by the advocates ef the

former sstem, ami. as our readers have I advised, a number ol male and femule ries from New York and Boston proceeded a once to the scene ot operations, and are now engaged in developing their favorite theories. Sufficient time, perhaps, has not yet elapsed to pro no u nee as to the success or failure of the project, but we have data to warrant Ute conclusion that the expedition is already imperiled inconsequence of the excess of zeal over practical knowledge iu the parties engaged in the cause. It must be confessed that the difficulties were weighty and numerous. The plantations a ere despoiled of produce and stock by the Commissary Department, in order to avert the greater evil of plundering bv the negroes, and the n diate consequence has beeu to render the contrabands dependent on the Quartermaster for their rations. This nas been a losing opertion to the Government, and the inherent difficulties resulting from it have been aggravated by the ignorance and incapacity of the perse as having the matter in charge. The allowance to field hands, when working, on the plantations South is one peck of corn (uuground) and three pounds of meat either pork, beef or bacon per week. The meat was not given to those not working. The negroes were then fat and healthy, and suffered comparatively little from disease. When Capt. Li i lev took charge of the contra bands at Beaufort he allowed them the following articles and in the quantity specified: Fifty pounds of beef or pork, five pounds of coffee, twenty pounds of rice, eight quarts of beans, threequarts of mouu-ses, and Indian meal ad libitum to the one hundred rations. Six children were entitled to one ration. Rice and beans were ieseed alternately. Under that system the negroes lived better than ever before had enough to eit. weie healthy aud willing to work Cant Li i ley had 556 negroes under his charge, and during the two months he controlled them but five died, tour of whom were children, and the fifth an old man who had passed his eighty first year. This was the result of his svstem. On tbe 20th of January, Captain Fuller took charge of the contrabands, and began to issue lull soldiers' rations to each and everv one, count ing children, and the consequence is tue bills of mortality have increased to an alarming extent, and the negroes are lapidly becoming worthless and unable or indisposed to work. A soldier 's ration is ene pound and a quarter of beef or pork, eighteen ounces of bread, rice, beans, sugar, molasses, soup, caudles, pepper, vinegar, salt, Jtc, in proportion, valued iu the aggregate at forty cents per day, or for five hundrel aud fifty-six men, women and children, $222 40 per day for rations alone Capt. Lillet 's rations may be valued at forty-five cents per day, or perhaps leas. Now, in the first place, there is not a soldier in the army that can or does eat his rations daily. No man can eat twelve hard biscuits a day. besides his pound and a half of pork or beef, his potatoes, 4c, furnished him. Nor can the negroes do it with safety. Nevertheless, he is glutton enough to eat all his pork and beef daily, and the consequence is a large increase of mortality and the appearance of small pox among them to an alarming extent. There are now twenty-five cases in the small-pox hosp tal under the care of Dr. Waldock, who has made this case a specialty, and who has taken measures to vaccinate the entire negro population - Fevers also exist among the n:groes to a much greater extent than usual. In fact the negro is killing himself as rapidly as possible. It is a continual thanksgi ring feast with him, and he will fail to endure it just as a ahitewould ho eat his Christmas or Thanksgiving feast every day. There is a limit to human endurance, and the contrabands are find ing it out very rapidly. Laying aside the more important humanitarian aspect of the question, the frightful expenditure incurred in feeding the negroes in this sumptuous and unusual manner, should be taken into consideration. The United States. Government is feediug at least twenty five thousand negroes daily at a cost of $10,tXK) per day, and at the expense of the negroes' health and comfort as well. Now, with tbe regimen furnished by Captain Lilley, which is much better than the negro has ever before enjoyed , and which costs about e ght or nine cents a day to each, the same number of men might be fed for $2.250 per day, saving the Government e ich and every day the comfortable sum of $7,750 an item of considerable magnitude. Tbe Missionaries are having good success in making themselves comfortable, according to the account of a correspondent, who says that they are mostly in Beaufort, quartered together in a large house, and engaged in the pursuit of abandoned furniture, with -v hich they are filling up their mansion in regal afiiuetice. Th; y are quite successful in this line of business, and their career promises to be glorious. Rev. Mr. French is a famous forager iu the furniture liue, and his j reputation is firmly established He msy be seen at all hours ot the day, mounted on one of the Quartermaster's horses, gaily capering about tbe village, while Mrs. French and some of the leading ladies are enjoying themselves hugely in riding about in a barouche, drawn by two of the Quartermaster's horsea. The missionary circles are still disturbed by the old troubles. After long and able discussions, the relative superiority ot the ladies from Boston aud New York has not been decided. There is a great deal of hard talk between the respective cliques, and some lit Ae feeling has been manifested by both sides. As the contest progresses the combatants grow warmer and warmer in expressing their opinions of the other, snd the dissension promises to rend the band in twain, break up the party and so disgust both sides that all will go home. You see the Boston people having brought their double refined Boston ideas with them, cannot possibly see how some of the New York ladies who have been respectable milliners and dressmakers in Canal street as they assert can te fitted for the grave and important duties of teaching the contraband to read aud write; and believing, as they do, that only in the modern Atheas can one acquire those peculiar qualities of mind and habit necessary to the successlul prosecuiion of a teacher's duties among tbe contrabands, they cannot credit the report that the New York ladies can be so insane or presumptuous as to dare attempt anything in that line. Hence the row. One thing may be said in favor of the missionaries from Gotham. They come without receiving a cent of pay from any society, while tire iio.-ton ladies receive a stated salary, liberal sod certain. And I am sure the ladies from New York, although they are a little on the sentimental order, are fully as well prepared for the work as those from the Orient. Still, Boston rules tbe roost. The prospects for a cotton crop during tbe approaching season are not good, in consequei.ee of the delay in preparing ground, for want of stock and tools. Mr. Pierce, the government agent, had sent to New York for t ol. but it was doubtful if the exertious of those new at the business would raise more than enough cotton, tbe fiist year, to pay the expense ol its cultivation. Trouble In the llepartmfi it mi the Ii teriar. We are pained to learn, on authority we can hardly discredit, that grave and probably valid charges are urged agaiut the Secretary ot the ' Interior for improper speculations and other malfeasance in office; ami that there is a strong likelihood that a general change iu the chief officers j of the Interior Department will be necessary, i including tbe beads of tbe Patent and Pension ; offices N. Y World. The recent revelation of stock speculations by i the familiars of tbe Secretary of the Interior, I while the news of tbe decision of the Govern I ment in the Mason and Slidell case was withheld from the public, was damaging. Mr. Smith deI nies the charges made, and demands the World' authority. Cin Commercial. Of course none of the virtuous and patriotic ' gentlemen connected with Mr. Ltsoout 'a cabinet would be guilty of speculating upon or taking ! advantage of the necessities of the country. ' Cameeox and Welles, only allowed their relati ve and friends to i.npose upon them aud Smite to at virtue UhaJ any other Republicans. During the conflagration of Canton, caused bv the bombardment of the British, the extensive medical warehouse of our countrymen. Dr. J . C. Aver of Lowell, (the depot of his Cherry Pectoral and Cathartic Pills, for Chins) was ttalldestroyed. He now makes a demand upon tier Government for indemnity for the loes of hit property. nd hence will grow another rut to rnrt with our elder brother Johnny. Suck to it Doctor, and if our Government rm intains our rights wherever your Pills are sold, we shall only be unprotected ou tracts that are verv barren. Reformer, Trenton, N.J. f0-Tbo Montreal Witneoa says, "tbe proved power of iron clad gunbonto has, wa think, sat tied the question ot wai between Britain and the United State forever in the negative. Neither nation can hereafter venture to encounter the terrible destruction which would certainly from a war with tne