North Carolina Newspapers

ill fit' f:;R-cs 3 - - r-v ' . -;. , : ; i o '..-. .. . -. ' :-vl-. r .y -- .. -.-'-- . . a a i JJa"iB"fff&' . a i . i THE $nrf !)-anlitta Mini NIL L I AM Wi HODDEN, IDITOB AND PBOPBUTOK. TKKMS OF THE STANDARD. The terms of the Standard are as follows: geiui-Weekly, six months, r 7 " three months, i Weekly paper, six months, 5 w three months, 8 The government through its financial agents, and the rsrious corporations and trading men. baring estimated Gve dollar Confederate bills at two-thirdi of their value, ire sre compelled to do the same. Persons sending fire dollar bills vrill be credited for two-thirds of their face and no more, and no bills doe the office can hereafter be paid in fives, save at such discount. Twos and ones and new issue preferred. - ' Advertisements inserted at two dollars per square often lines or less, for first insertion, and one dollar for each subsequent insertion. The very large circulation of the Standard renders it a valuable medium for advertising. RALEIGH: FRIDAY, JtJNE 3, 1864. "Read the excellent remarks of Gov. Graham in the Standard of to-day. They have the ring of the true metaL We trust Mr. Graham will write out his remarks in full for the press. Johnston Countt. A?we predicted, the Conser vatives of Johnston have held a meeting, nominated a ticket of true men, and disposed of Messrs. San ders, Woodall and Avert. Stronger or more suita ble mm could not have been nominated than MeBsrs. Snead, Smith and.Banks. They will be elected by a large majority. Stumping the State. The Confederate of the 2d of June one of the mercenary organs of Gov. Vanee-Hsontains a notice that the Governor will address the people from the 4th to the 22d June, commencing at Greensborough and ending at Lenoir. The Governor will thus be absent eighteen days, neglecting the business of his office and stirring up strife among the people Meantime we shall have a Deputy Governor in the person of some shade Aid an officer unknown to the Constitution. It will be seen by the following notice, handed to us in handbill form, that Gov. Vance has been using the Central Railroad to convey his partizan friends to hear him speak. The most rigid restrictions are ' imposed on citizens who travel, and many members of families who desire to visit sick and wounded soldiers in the hospitals are prevented from doing so, and posset are required of all citizens who travel, men and women ; but the partizans of Gov. Vance are invited to travel without passes, to hear him speak. The Governor seems to have come to the conclusion that he has some special personal inter est in the public property. The pets and favorites who surround him are permitted to purchase sup plies for their families from the State stores at low prices, while the people are stinted and suffering for the necessaries of life ; and he sends off his cot ton on a State steamer to purchase his Yankee and European luxuries, and uses the Railroads to trans port his friends from point to point to hear him speak. " Gov. Vance. An extra train- will be run on tbeNorth-Carolina Railroad from Greensborough, on Tuesday, the 24th of May. Ladies and gentlemen who desire to hear Gover nor Vance's address, can leave Greensborough and other points on the Road in the morning, and re turn the same day. Agents will issue return tickets for one fare. Train will leave Greensborough at 8, A. M. McLean's, 8.25, Gibsonville, 8.45, Shops, 9.15, Graham, 9.40, Haw River, 9.50, Mebane's, 10.45, And arrive at Hillsborough, 11.30. By order of T. J, SUMNER, Engineer andSup't" The Agitator. But for the strife and agita tion Gov. Vance is creating in the State by his stump harangues, and the neglect of the business of his office by which many of the people are suf fering inconvenience, we should thank him, so far as we are concerned, for his efforts before the peo ple. He loses votes by these efforts wherever he makes them. We have reliable information to this effect from Fayettevilie, gnaw Camp, Hillsborough, and other points. A friend writing us from Snow Camp, says : ' We are all right up "here. -Gov. Vance made no impression in his favor by his speech. He let off his gas to no purpose at Snow Camp. So long as you stand up for the people and their rights they will standby you." Gov. Vance will not poll more than seven votes, if that many, or if any at all, at Stout's, where the Snow Camp people vote ; while his opponent will get from seventy to eighty. Mark the prediction. Pdttino on Airs. CoL McRae, one of. the mer cenary Editors of the Confederate the organ of the "patriots and property holders" is putting on airs. In one of his notices of the Hampton slan der against us he says : " In the meantime Mr. Holden ought not to be permitted to make this a question of a political campaign. In our opinion, it is a question for a judge and jury first ; and for the people afterwards.?' That is, the Ex-Colonel wants us arrestee!.' Will he turn common informer? We now tell him and all the other mercenary supporters of Gov. Vance, that our skirts are as dear of treason as theirs can e, and that we are and have been truer to the -South than they have been or can be. Our devotion to the South is disinterested and patriotic; their devotion, what there is of it, has been bought and paid for. TVhen the money gives out the devotion will perish. Come on with your judge and jury, Col. McRae. All we ask is, that none of your political associates shall sit upon the jury, and that no friend of ours will offer a fee large enough to induce you to ap pear for us. . . The Ex Colonel in just now putting on airs. Af ter the first Thursday in August, when the people shall have voted, all the starch will be out of him. 'But we give him notice that if the war should be in progress on the first of January, 1865, and he should be a conscript as he was when Gov. Vance saved him from service by not requiring him to settle his accounts, we shall not interfere to shield him from Yankee bullets. The place for him is not in the shade, but close to the flashing of the guns. The Richmond Examiner says that Mr. Mcmmin ger, the Secretary of the Treasury, has so conduct ed his business that though the creator of millions of paper money, with full power to print and sign, and with a large number of clerks employed, he finds the treasury empty . with not a dollar to pay off ijust claims with. This accounts for the fact that so many of our soldiers cannot get their pay, which has been due them in some, cases for six and nine months.. -Verily, this Confederacy- is sadly if-, dieted with such officers .as Mr. Memminger. . But were u .no remedy. The President & not remove iii n. " . ' .' -' r I "' " " ' ' ' ' i ' i ... T ,, ' ' - ' ' . .. ; .- . - . - , 1 1 ii' Vol. XXX No. 13. Hard Ru More Hnmbusgery. We noticed in our issue of tb 27th May, a state ment made to us by a friend in Smithfield that Gov. Vance had said, in his speech in that place, that he could "prove, by two or three as respectable mem-J bcrs as tbere are in tbe legislature, inai we inu made propositions to them to introduce resolutions calling for a Convention for the purpose of seceding from the Confederacy." And also, the charge by a correspondent in the Conservative, that Gov. Vance said that Mr. Holden had declared to two of three members of the Legislature that, he advocated a Convention of the State for the purpose of carrying the State out of the Southern Confederacy." We could not imagine what could bo the foundation for this charge. We simply denied it, stating that when we saw tbe certificates we should be better able to comprehend and characterise it Andlo, the mountain has labored and the mouse has Ap peared ! A batch of certificates has been publish ed, gotten up by Gov. Vance, and based, as a mat ter of coarse, on an alleged private conversation, in one of which certificates Mr. W. W. Hampton, one of the Commoners from the County of Wilkes, says that "on one occasion, during the session of the Legislature last November, in the Commons Hall, near the fireplace to the left of the Speaker's desk," he heard " W. W. Holden say, that the Legislature should call a Convention of the State immediately, and take the State out of the Confederacy," and, says he, "mark my prediction, in less than six months you will see that I am right" Mr. Horton, of Watauga, says he " happened to be near and overheard something that was said about the Con federate government, but what particular subject was spoken of I did not understand" and he then repeats that we uttered substantially the lapguage attributed to us by Mr. Hampton. Col. Gentry, of Ashe, and Mr. Wellborn, of Wilkes, are introduced to prove that Mr. Hampton repeated this alleged expression of ours soon afterwards to CoL Gentry. This is the substance of the charge. And now, what does it amount to f la the first j place we declare most emphatically that we have j no recollection of any such conversation ; and sec ondly, that if any such conversation occurred, wti used no language the meaning or purpose of which was to call a Convention to secede from the govern . ment Mr. Horton, who is an intelligent gentle man, admits that " he overheard something that was said about the Confederate government, but what particular subject was spoken of he did not under stand," thus leaving the inference, if such conver sation took place, that much more was said than that repeated in a parrot-like manner by Mr. Hamp ton. But Mr. Hampton, who is a stupid, uninform ed person, and incapable of comprehending either a long sentence, or a contingency, or jeven a state ment in an argument, would have the public believe that'we rushed into his presence near the fireplact and made the declaration attributed to us. How ab surd! It is our habit, and indeed our business to talk as well as write. We engage in hundreds of con orersations during a month of which we retain no distinct recollection, and we cannot, therefore, bt sure, as no one can be sure, that we have not used certain words or expressions. It would be wonder ful, indeed, if we could recollect all that we say in these conversations among friends, or all that is said to us. But the gist of the charge is (hat we desired a Convention to secede from the govern ment This we solemnly deny. There is no truth in the charge. Our whole record and afl our con versations with our intimate friends have been the other way. We desired a Convention to save, not to destroy the government. We may mention, as among our intimate political and personal friends, Col. Russ, Secretary of State, Mr. Pennington, of tbe Progress, Dr. J. T. Leach, Calvin J. Rogers, Esq., Green H. Alford, Esq., Haj. W. D. Jones, Maj. W. A. Smith, of Johnston, Col. Harris and Mr. Carpenter, of Rutherford, and we can confidently appeal to them to say if we have ever proposed to them to call a Convention to secede from the government And we can go further, and remind the Hon. Sion H. Rogers and Williams Laws, Esq., of this County,' of a conversation which occurred between us in our office, about the 22d of January last, and we could appeal to them to' say, if in that conversation we breathed a word which showed a purpose on our part to secede from the government Is it at all probable that we should have concealed the views attributed to us by Mr. Hampton from all our readers, and from all our intimate friends, and .should have. chosen the lobby of the House of Com mons, near the fireplace, and him as the special ves sel into which to empty these views ? Why, fellow-j citizens, tbe charge will not bear stating. It is ridiculously false upon its face. It is not . for 'us to refresh the leaden memory of Mr. Hampton ; we could not do if we would; for we have no recollec tion of the conversation- but we say to him that the statement of a man of honor ought to be as carefully made as if delivered under oath,4and that .when he comes forward to act again as a willing .witness for Executive power, he should bear in .mind the solemn injunction of the oath itself, to " tell the truth, the whole truth, and -nothing but the truth." The- "whole truth'" is never told when a statement is garbled or perverted from its real meaning. And if there be any thing in this charge, why has it slept so long? If it be true, and if it be treasonable, why does not Gov. Vance arrest us? No, fellow-citizens, you will hear no more of it after the election. It is used for two purposes one to put us on the defensive the other we will not state. Gov. Vance knew that he had committed himself to secession in a certain event, in his Fayetteville speech, and to break the force of this admission he trumped up this alleged private conversation against us. Tn that speech he said.: . .'.'The people of North-Carolina ent into this thing reluctantly, and will not go mt of the Con federacy. J can .conceive of circumstances under which it might be necessary. IF THE FOR TUNES OF WAR TURN AGAINST US, IT MAY BE NECESSARY." See his fayetteville speech as published in tbe Confederate and Wil mington Journal ' " If the fortunes of war turn against us" the Governor wouid secede would da sert his allies, of the South would make terms with Lincoln! There-it is, publicly uttered. Jio pri vate conversation about thatno certificates .neces sary to prove the declaration. But his partizans, who are reviling and slandering us on the basis of an alleged private .conversation, will .dedans .that RALEIGH, N. C, WEDNEI the above declaration, because it proceeded, from ttje Governor, is all right, and that, if be says' in one breath he may go out of the Confederacy, in another he says he will not We confess the above -sentences in juxtaposition present the Governor ia about as consistent an attitude as be generally oc t copies. . We publish to-day a very able and instructive' communication over the signature of "A Western Farmer," exposing the historical mistakes in Gov. Vance's Wilkesborough speech. Tbe' writer ex hibits the fruits of great research and thorough knowledge of the points of which be treats. : Tbe Personal Idkertr Act, svU. the Resolattons' protecting against the suspension of Habeas Corpaa. . Two of the most important measures passed at the recent session of our Legislature are the per gonal liberty act, introduced by Mr. Boyden, of Rowan, and the resolutions introduced by Mr. War ren of Beaufort, protesting against the act suspend ing habeas corpus and demanding its repeal The latter we have already published, and the former we give as follows : . AN ACT more effectually to secure the benefits of -the writ of habeas corpus, and to prevent the transportation of citizens in civil lift beyond the limits of the State. SacTioN 1. Be it- enacted by the General Astern bly of the State of JTorth- Carolina, and it it here by -enacted by the authority of the same, That any person as to whom a writ of habeu corpus has been issued and served, who wilfully fails or refuses, under any pretence whatever, to obey the mandate thereof, or the orders of the Judge or court thereon, beore whom the same is to be Jieard, or who know ingly or intentionally prevents the service of the same by force, or by keeping out of the way, or who shall wilfully fail or refuse to permit any per son upon application by counsel, in his custody, to consult with and have the assistance of counsel, for the purpose of suing out or prosecuting said writ, or who shall send away or conceal any person who is in his custody or under his control, with intent to prevent said writ from being sued out or exe cuted, or the petitioner from being discharged, when the Judge or Court so ordei's, shall be-guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, on conviction in the Superior Court, shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars and imprisoned not less than one . year. Sec. 2 Be it further enacted, That if any person shall, under any pretence whatsoever, transport be yond the limits of this State, by force or. violence, any person in civil life, such person so offending shall bo guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, on con viction, shall be fined not less than two thousand dollars and imprisoned not less than one year. Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That if any person . in civil life shall be transported beyond the limits of this State, contrary to the provisions of the ' second section of this act, the Governor of the State shall forthwith demand him of the authorities of the Confederate States where such person may be imprisoned. Read three times and ratified in General Assem bly, the 28th day of May, 1804 R. S. DONNELL, S. H. C. GILES MEBAKE, & S. The foregoing measures -would of themselves, if nothing else had been done beyond providing the necessary means to carry on the government, have reflected lasting credit on the General Assembly. In our paper of the 17th May we said : . " We publish below, to refresh the minds of our readers on tbe subject, the act of the Confederate Congress suspending tbe privilege of ttie writ of habeas corpus. We verily believe, with Mr. Vice President Stephens, that this act was unnecessary that it is unconstitutional, and that it was passed to " control certain elections and expected assem blages in North-Carolina to put a puzzle upon certain presses and a bit in the mouth of certain speakers in that State." This being the fact it is especially incumbent on our Legislature to protest against tbe act and to demand its repeal; and it is to be regretted that Gov. Vance did not at once convene the Legislature, so that this protest and demand might have been made at the time the Georgia Legislature acted on the subject The protest of this State .would have carried with it much more moral weight if it had been made promptly ; and this would have been done but for the fact that Gov. Vance substantially endorsed the suspension of the writ in his Wilkesborough speech, and but for the further fact that he was not dis posed at that time to trust the people's representa tives. What he will say now remains to be seen." The passage of these measures was in strict ac- cordauce with the principles and doctrines of tbe Standard. We did not concern ourselves while the members were here to know who they were for or who they were against for Governor. We button holed no member, and we had no crowd of favorites and dependents to button-hole them for us ando licit their influence and support We had too much respect for the representatives of the people, and too much self-respect to adopt such a course. It is enough for us that the General Assembly, by hand some majorities, in spite of thetreachery qf Got. Vance to civil liberty and in spite of his Destructive friends, has given practical evidence of its devotion to those principles by which alone our fsee institu tions can be preserved. Whatever may happen in the future, we snail prove true to those principles and to the good old State of North-Carolina. The yeas and nays were not called in the Senate on Mr. Boyden's measure on its final passage, be cause, as we suppose, the sense of the body was reached on the following amendment offered by Mr. Hoke: . ' . Provided, That the provisions of this act shall not apply to any cases mentioned in tbe act of Con gress to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Yeas Messrs. Aycock, Carrawav, Dickson, El lis, Faison, Harris of Franklin, Hoke, Holeman, Pitchford. Fbwell. Wiggins II. Nays Messrs. Adams of Davidson, Adams of Uuilford, Arendell, Bagley, Berry,-Blount isoyden. Harris of Rutherford, Jones, Laisiter, Leitch, Mat thews, Neal, Patton, Patrick, Sanders, Sbarpe, Slaughter, bmith of Macon, Taylor of Chatham, Warren, Wooley 22. . The vote in the Commons was as follows : Yeas Messrs. Allison, Albritton, Amis, Bern hardt Uarnnger, Beall, Benbury, Best, Bond, Bryan, Burgin, Carpenter, Carson, Carter, Cowles. Craig, Duke, Dunn, Gentry, Glenn, Green, Grissom, Hamp toa, Henrv of Bertie, Hollingsworth. Howard, Horton, Ingram, Jenkins, Keener, Lyle, Mann of P;i3quotsnk? McAden, McCortnick, McKay, McNeill, McRae, Nissen, Parks, Patterson, Pearce, Perkins, Riddick, Ritter, .Robbins, .Russell of ' Brunswick, Sherwood, Shober. Wallen, - Walser, Wellborn, h Woodall, Young of Iredell, -Young of Yancey 54 JNAT3 Messrs. Uostner, Harris of Uaoarrus, Hen derson, Henry of Henderson, Person, Richardson, Rives, Ruse, Shepherd, SpruiH, Williams 11 It will be seen that Meass. Wiggins, Harris of Cabarrus, Henry of Henderson, Richardson, and Spruill, Vance Conservatives of the crooked sect, Toted against the measure. We shall have the pleasure of laying Mr. Boyden's remarks on this important measure before our readers at an early day. ' DAT, JUNE 8, 1864 Pbivatk Cohvbrsatiohs. The staple of Gov. Vance's stump harangues, and of bis two organs in this City, seems to be private conversations. B i commenced this sort of warfare it Fayetteville, ai he seems determined to keep it up. We shall nt imitate him. We could fill our columns, if we choc to do so, -with private conversations with Gov, Vane and his friends. But we would not do this, if wi were sure it would secure our election, and if we knew it couM be secured in no other way. We shall refer to these conversations only in self-defence, and in doing so we shall be as careful as pos sible not to involve gentlemen in unpleasant situa tions. . For example, Gov. Vance charges on the basis S private conversation that we desired a Convention'' 'in November last to secede from the government, and i detached Bentence attributed to us is usedto prove the charge. We reply, that if we were dis posed to assail Gov. Vance in this way, we could prove that he said in September last, ".the Confed erate cause is gone," and also that "the people ought to tear np the Railroad bridges to prevent the passage of troops." It would be exceedingly unjust to him to use these detached expressions o his, without the circumstances and the language that accompanied them. Under the circumstances, they were natural. No one blamed him for them then, as we do not now. But the storm against us is not yet at its height Our whole life is to be explored, and words uttered in the confidence of private life are to be brought out and used against us. The "detectives" are busily engaged. . Conversations are to be repeated, or imagined, or manufactured to suit the occasion. Gov. Vance is to get these conversations up through his " detectives," and his two mercenary organs in this City are to publish them. We see that the ireful little gentleman, (CoL McRao,) who edits the Con federate, threatens us with more of these private conversations. What would he think if we were to condescend to imitate his example and repeat the very chaste and elegant conversation in which he indulged towards some members of the House of Commons, in the hall of that body, some days since? The truth is, this whole, business of raking up and repeating private conversations for political ef fect, is to the last degree disgusting "and discredita ble. We dp not see how any decent gentleman can do such a thing. It is tolerated in no other State of the Confederacy but North-Carolina. The Wilmington Journal publishes a letter from a soldier in Virginia, in which he says : " We call on Gov. Vance now for his liquor that be promis ed us if we would take the starch out of Grant; for it is done, he is as limber as a rag." Gov. Vance denies in his speeches that he made this promise to the soldiers. If City reports be true we fear the "liquor" thus promised has gone in another direc tion. If the secrets of one of the State departments here could be laid bare, it might be found that at ' least a barrel of the blockade article has sparkled and disappeared without the soldiers having tasted a drop of it Who acted as tapster on the occa sion T We learn that on the last day of tbe session, in the House of Commons, while Mr. Boyden's personal liberty bill was pending, many of the Destructives winced and made efforts to avoid voting. True to their instincts as Destructives, they sought to des troy the organization of the House when they found they could not control that body against tbe princi pies of liberty. We learn that Mr. Ex-Commissioner and Mr. Ex Candidate McRae, with several Confed erate dependents, were anxious spectators of tbe scene, no doubt doing all they could to induce their partizans to disorganize the House. But on motion of Mr. Cojrles, a call of the House was had, action, was pressed with an iron hand, and the vote at last reached a quorum 54 for, and 11 against the bill. On motion of Mr. Cowles, Dr. Love, of Haywood, and Mr. Peebles, of Northampton, were censured by a vote of tbe House and fined $50 each for con tempt of that body in not attending and voting on tbe question. - This is Commencement week at the University of this State, at Chapel Hill. We learn there are ejght graduates, and from forty to fifty matriculates. In 1860, before the war, tbere were about five hun dred matriculates, and some seventy to eighty grad uates. This is the only University in the South, we believe, which has continued regularly to dis pense Its benefits during the war. We.' trust tbe institution may go through the war, and come out ' of it prepared for still greater usefulness. If some of our friends, as heretofore, will send us an ac count of Commencement we will take pleasure in laying it before our readers. To the Sheriffs mmi Tnx-Collectore of North Carolina: The following is a copy of so much of an act passed at the last session of the General Assembly as relates to the currency in which taxes may be collected: Section 1. Be it enacted. by the General Assem bly of the State of North-Carolina, and tt w here by enacted bv the authority of the same. That all taxes due to the State or counties and lor school purposes, or taxes for the poor, alt payments for entries of public lands, and ail fines and forfeitures ior we use oi me state or counties, may oe puu in Treasure notes of the Confederate States under five dollars, or in the new issue authorized by the act of the Confederate Congress, mined tne ltn oi reo ruary, 1864 and all such dues may be paid during tbe present year in the old issues of Confederate Treasury notes of the denomination of five dollars up to fifty dollars, both inclusive, less thirty three and one third per cent., the tax imposed by the act of Coneress. Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That the act rati fied July 3d, 1863,, entitled van act in relation to the payment of taxes" and for other purposes, and so much of section second of the Ordinance No. 85 of the State Convention, ratified 26th February, 1862. as directs the receiving of Confederate Treas ury potes in payment of taxes and all other dues, , are hereby repealed. . Owing to considerations explained in my late re port w the General Assembly, our Treasury notes of less denomination than a dollar are not ex changed for Confederate notes, but these change notes will be exchanged for North Carolina Treasu ry notes of larger denomination, or for coupon from oar State bonds. On presentation by you or any other Person at this departojent of .any amount our notes above a dollar, or our due ampens,. Y change notes for tbe name amount Kill be ex changed for them. This exchange "may be effected through the agency of the bontuere Kxpnas Co. - JONATHAN WORTH! v PaA. TrtaK June 2d, 1864 Whole Number 1516. Da. J. T. Liach. The Richmond Examiner tf - fects to sneer it the Hon. James Thomas Leach, of -Johnston, the representative from the 8d District of this State in Congress, on account of bis efforts to ; secure in honorable peace. Dr. Leach ia a phyai-; wan and plain farmer, and is no politician. He is highly esteemed where, he is best knowji for his found common sense, correct judgment, and jpflex- . ible adherence to his convictions of right He is one of the people, and has thus far shown himsell ' their faithful representative. Power can, neither : intimidate nor seduce him. He has shown an apt- : neas end fitness for bis place to a remarkable de- ' gree, during the few weeks he has been in his seat ; He has met the shrewdest and ablest politicians from other States, and has made reputa'tion by the pointed and admirable manner in which he has borne himself in his discussions with them. Above all, he is a peace man as true as the needle to the pole. The" Examiner will neither increase its influence in this State nor subserve the cause ol truth and good government by its attacks on tbe representative from the 8d District Capt Pierce gives notice in the papers that straw urgently needed at the Raleigh hospitals to make' bedding for the wounded soldiers. Farmers who have the article tospare will no doubt cheerfully send it in. Let every thing be done that can be to mitigate the sufferings of these gallant men. We see it stated that at the late session of the . Presbyterian General Assembly at Charlotte, N. jO tne scnism wmcn has so long existed in that de- nomination was healed, and the two schools, old and new, united. 1 Western North Carolina. If the half that we hear of suffering and distress in the Western coun ties bo true, tbe condition of many of the people is pitiable indeed. There is much suffering for want of food, and we learn by letter that there, have ac tually been some cases of starvation in some of those counties bordering on tbe Tennessee line. In fact the whole country, beyond the Blue Ridze. has been almost literally stripped, and the best and most intelligent citizens are apprehensive of results. With tithe tax. impressments and the plundering of marauding bands they have but little left, and now the boys from seventeen are being taken away, and the prospect for the coming harvest is not en couraging. There are but few slaves in those mountain counties, and the able-bodied men are nearly all in the war, leaving only the old men, women and children to labor on tbe farms. We learn that Gov. Brown, of Georgia, induced the authorities to exempt ten of the poor mountain counties of that State from conscription. Why could not a similar favor be extended to those coun ties in this State lying beyond the Blue Ridge, es pecially as to the boys from 17 to 18 years of age ? progress. The Latest News. Monday, May 80th: Gen. Grant having crossed the Pamunky in full force, has begun entrenching along the Tolopotamoy Creek, his line extending irregularly from Hanovertown on the Pamunky to Oilman s mills on the road leading from Mechan- icsville to Old Church. The Tolopotamoy Creek is in the shape of an elbow, the curve being within 9 miles of Richmond. It is between the Chickahomo- ny and Pamunky. A raiding party made a descent upon Hungary Station upon the Frederickburg railroad at one o'clock P. M. At three o'clock pur troops were in line of battle near Atley's Station upon the Virginia Central Railroad. An early collision- was looked for. It is said that Grant does not mean to fight any more, but will rely mainly upon entrenching. An army correspondent of the World is reported to have been captured to-day with papers on his person showing a loss of one sixth in gedgewick's corps, since the campaign begun. Gen. Hampton was placed in temporary com mand of the Cavalry of our army this morning. - The enemy are reported to be embarking their troops at Bermuda Hundred, under protection of their gunboats. Butler 'will probably reinforce Grant and with their united columns make a move upon Richmond. Nothing later has been beard from Gen. Sigel, who was repulsed in Western Vir ginia by Breckinridge, in attempting to forma junc tion, with Grant We supposed the coast is now clear and he will turn tip in few days. Our troops are represented to be in fine spirits, and a Richmond correspondent of the Recorder says that Lee has been Btrongly reinforced. European intelligence of the 4th fast says that the Georgia is now lying in the Marty to be sold. Her officers were entertained it i dinner of the Liverpool Southern Club. An effort would be made to retain her crew toman tbe Alexandria. No result has been arrived at by the London conference. A general European war is apprehended. A Span ish' Admiral had-seized the Chincba Islands which belong to Peru. We have advices from Georgia of Saturday last, dated New Hope the 29tb. Jackson's dismounted cavalry engaged the enemy on our left Gen. Bates was then ordered to feel their posrtion. He deployed his command as skirmishers and drove in those of the enemy, taking possession of their works. He then ordered a charge to be made, but ascertaining that the enemy were in force counter manded tbe order, which did not reach Lewis' brig- ' ade of the 2d, 4th and 6th Kentuckians, who gal lantly rushed forward, leaped tbe breastworks and found themselves confronted by Logan's 16th army corps. One hundred of them were killed, wounded and missing. The Senate passed a bill to-day (tbe 80th) allow ing commissioners under the act of habeas corpus? $250 per month and then resolved itself into secret session. The House' resolution in reference to Secretary Memminger was referred to the judiciary committee. A resolution was adopted extending the session of Congress to the 7th of June. The President had vetoed the bill establishing a General Staff. - ., Tuesday. May 31st : A fight occurred yesterday about 3 o'clock, at Bethesda Church on the Me chanicsville road 9 miles from Richmond. Tbere was a considerable engagement between a portion of Early's and Rodes' divisions and the 5th corps of Yankee infantry. We attacked the enemy for the purpose of discovering lis position and found nun massed and strongly entrenched on our right The fight lasted about tw hours, and we drove them back about a mile and a naif to their entrench ments, from wbicb.it was impossible to dislodge them. Uur Jos3 was about 800 wounded and 50 killed, among the former Col. Willis of the 12th Georgia, and Mai. Smith, 45th N. C. T. Among tbe latter CoL Terrell, 13th Va., who was mortally wounded and. left in front of the enemy's breast works. We captured about 180 prisoners. The enemy 8 lossm killed and wounded is supposed to be heavier than ours. i Heavy cannonading was heard this. Tuesday.' morning in the direction of Mechanics ville. There waa skirmishing also in Mahone'a front but no gen eral engagement . later intelligence says that Daniel's and Baltics brigades flanked tbe enemy's skirmishers Jesvidir evening and capt u ted 120 prisoners of the oth corps. Some heavy firing occurred ujn our left usu ui is morning, out tne cuase Kt,a not yet ex plained. " . ' " " The enemy were ftupposet&tobjs still moving to wards our right in order to cover and use the York River railroad. . Along Butler's line in Chesterfield County to-day comparative quiet prevailed. A little picket firing sod the usual cannonading on the part of the ene my's gunboats in James River was all that occurred worthy of note. On tbe south bank of the Appomattox; near Gat lin'a Farm in Prince George county,.' there was i aharp skirmish between a portion of Gen. Dealing's command and i lot of Butler's U. S. negro troops, commanded by men with white skins. The advantage, if any, remained with our troops, but 1 gentleman present thinks the loss Inflicted was about equal The enemy were strongly entrenched at Gatlin's, and their right flank protected by the Yankee gunboats, two of which moved up yester day, anfl participated in the little fight which oc curred. - . Our total casualties were four killed and nine wounded. V The heavy firing of Monday afternoon was caused by the opening of our batteries to ascertain the en emy's position, as stated yesterday. The gunboats participated, as usual, but our casualties were only trifling. There was no official confirmation of the evecua tkra of Chesterfield by Gen. Butler, but no doubt some portion of his forces have been sent off under Gen. SmitW to reinforce Grant , The weather was clear and warm. The London correspondent of the New York "timet of the 80th of April, saya thai a memorial fiom every part of the kingdom, under the auspiees , ot the Clergy of the established church, will be shortly presented, to Parliament, urging the Gov ernment to use its influence to stop the American war. . There has been no fighting in Georgia since Sat urday. Both armies ire resting from the fatigue of the last 80 days. Small squads of prisoners contin ue to come in. About five hundred have been cap tured so far. The dust is almost insufferable. The Senate concurred in the House resolution ex tending the session to the 7th of June, and was fcbiefly occupied in discussing a bill confining the ' power of impressment exclusive of the tithe collec ors. The judiciary committee on motion of Mr. Hi'l were discharged from the further consideration of tb? habeas corpus question. The- committee were of tie opinion that it was inexpedient to legislate further on the subject at this time. The report of the special committee in the Hous-o declared the seat of Mr. Cobb of Alabama vacant on account oi disloyalty. The report was however recommitted with instructions to take additional testimony during the recess. Tbe Senate bill doub ling the pay and mileage of members of Congress was passed. Wednesday. June 1st: The much looked ft-r battle between Gens. Lee and Grant has not yet begun, but the lines are in such close proximity that it may be commenced at any moment A large force of Yankee cavalry made a raid on Ashland to-day. Persons fr6m that vicinity report ' that they saw a column of smoke ascending in the direction of the town. Severe fighting has taken place to-day on onr right A later despatch dated at Storr'sFarm near Rich. mond says there was no general engagement to-dar. but some fighting reported on Wilcox's front, re sulting in the repulse of the enemy. Breckenridge has also been engaged to some extent, capturing one hundred prisoners from the 2d Yankee Corps, who are on. their way to Richmond; also heavy; firing at.one time in Kershaw's front, but belieyed to be nothing more than heavy skirmishing also heavy firing this evening in the direction of Bottom's bridge. Yesterday evening our Cavalry foueht the Yan kee infantry near Coal Harbor and were pressed oacK untu reinforced by our infantry. During this fight Mai. Flournoy. of the 6th Virginia, was killed. Tbere was also a cavalry fightnear Beulah Qhurch on Monday evening, but it amounted to very little. Tn i a . . . . r-risonera captured report urant out oi rations quite possible. General engagement may occur to morrow. Tbe length of the lines of our army precludes anything like accurate reports -from the whole front The despatches of Monday last represented Gen. Grant's lines as extending from Hanovertown on tbe Pamunky to Oilman's Mills on tbe Mechanics- ville road. It was then supposed that he would so extend his left flank as to cover and use the York ttiver railroad. Bottom's Undge is below tbe Railroad and Coal Harbor is in a few miles, at both of which places fighting has been going on. It is tnougnt tnat ne will now settle himself down, make tbe White House his base of supplies and begin tbe tedious process of entrenching and mining, unless he is attacked by Gen. Leeanda pitched battle forced on him. But as the Sentinel says -'it is time for us all to cease speculations as to Grant's movements and attend to the facts. He has been offering fight when we thought he was retreating, and retreating when we thought he was offering fight : he has been advancing when he was whipped, and heading up stream when be had every reason to hurry down. He has gone by the rule of military con trariness, and has always disappointed us when ever we supposed that he was acting sensibly or consistently with himself We suppose that he has come to the nnal fight at last ; though, warned by experience, we express the opinion with becoming doubt" - The New York Tribune of the 28th has been re ceived at Richmond. All the Yankee wounded ex cept forty have been removed from Fredericksburg preparatory to the evacuation of the city, . Joshua tiiddings dropped dead in Montreal on the 23d ultimo. Mosby's men destroyed all tbe block booses and bridges from Union Mills to the Rapidan. Nothing of interest from either army. . Gold quoted at 186. The Tribune gives particulars of an affray at a Hotel in Washington between Vorhees and Senator Chandler, in which tbe latter was roughly handled. The collision grew out of remarks at the table made by Chandler against tbe copperheads. A special dispatch to the Mobile Adveptieer, dated Senatobia, lstinst, gives Northern dates to the 28th. It contains many comments on the late Federal re verses and prognosticates Grant's success with tbe new movements. The Metropolitan Retard says these summary re verses are damaging to Federal pride, and believes the South can never be conquered. It is in unde niable fet that by these recent successes they have al ready achieved their independence. The Ohio Crisis estimates that there will be quite a less m cereals in onnseooenee of the reduction of labor, eqoal'at least to 1200 million bushels. The New York Tribune says -that i large number ef unassigned officers and 2000 men recently draft-' ed in Connecticut signified their willingness. to serve out the balance of their time or get off on medical certificates. .f Congress. Richmond, June 1st, 1 p. m. The Senate passed rs bill regulating impressments, with amendments nob affecting the main objects of the measure via.:- trans, ferring tlie power of impressments, with limitation! from military authorities to tbe collectors, Also passed the Senate bills authorising the appointment of additional Quartermasters and Commissaries. The House was occupied in the further considera tion of the bill amending tbe tax act Y arietta biDa and resolutions were introduced. Progress. . . FSOK OSS- I.0K6STKBT. - LvKCBBvaa, May 18. -To Judge A B. Longstreet : My wound is severe, but not daBgerous. It is, -through the neck and shoulder. I am rmprovLBg. -A LONGSTRjKSTjT ). ' The very Latest. ''" A dispatch from Gen. Lee has been received, dated June 1st, in whiob haMy3 that -Anderson'' and Hoke -attacked tb enemy nt foreneen and" drove them to their entrenchments. Ip the after- noon the enemy aMrxkeffetbVdJvisn,bo)erq,r;. Sulsed by Copk Ssirkland. areeimrir)ge met lahooe droye-wem from the front and captured 160 priacjigis. A portion of Gen. Butler's troops have landed at "White House and are advancing op tbe Yorktive rWlroad from Turitall'a Station. 'Gen.'HoIe'a division had captured -lottery, s stand of colors and some prMsrf. - tye NoHbenr : papers say that - Lee bas been'- ooteeaerwed and! that 'tin whole Yankee, sTmy haj tip"" I .. munky snd'ia advancing" on Richmond: r':.-1' Gold efoaed at 188 on the. 80th nit.-. CoL Law rence Reitt of South-Caroline was severely "wound ed on Tuesday last. .