In spite of the resistance
offered in many places to the Conscription Act, it is likely that for
some time to come the North will always be able to bring into the field
armies numerically far superior to those of her adversary; nor do I
believe that she will have exclusively to depend on raw or enforced
levies. Many of the three-year men and others, whose term of volunteer
service has just expired, after a brief rest and experience of home
monotony, will begin to long for excitement again, though accompanied by
peril and hardship. To such the extravagant bounty will be a great
temptation, and the Government may not be far wrong in calculating on
the re-enlistment of a large percentage of the "veterans." Besides, it
should always be remembered that if it comes to wearing one another out
in the drain of life, the preponderance of twenty millions against four
must tell fearfully, even though the willingness to serve on the one
side should equal the reluctance on the other. Neither do I think that
national bankruptcy is so imminent over the Northern States, as some
would have it. Mr. Chase is, of course, a perilously reckless financier;
but, on more than one occasion, audacity has served him well, when
prudent sagacity could have been of little aid: the "Five-and-Twenty"
Loan was certainly eminently successful, and the tough, broad back of
Yankee-land will bear more burdens yet before it breaks or bends.
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