resort of all the correspondents at that
point. There they laid aside their professional jealousies, and passed
their idle hours in efforts for mutual amusement. On some occasions
the floor of the room would be covered, in the morning, with a
confused mass of boots, hats, coats, and other articles of masculine
wear, out of which the earliest riser would array himself in
whatever suited his fancy, without the slightest regard to the owner.
"Forty-five" was the neutral ground where the correspondents planned
campaigns for all the armies of the Union, arranged the downfall of
the Rebellion, expressed their views of military measures and military
men, exulted over successes, mourned over defeats, and toasted in full
glasses the flag that our soldiers upheld.

Since the close of the war, many of the correspondents have taken
positions in the offices of the journals they represented in the
field. Some have established papers of their own in the South, and a
few have retired to other civil pursuits. Some are making professional
tours of the Southern States and recording the status of the people
lately in rebellion. _The Herald_ has sent several of its _attaches_
to the European capitals, and promises to chronicle in detail the next
great war in the Old World.

CHAPTER XLVI.

THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SOUTH.

Scarcity of the Population,--Fertility of the Country.--Northern Men
already in the South.--Kansas Emigrants Crossing Missouri.--Change of
the Situation.--Present Disadvantages of Emigration.--Feeling of
the People.--Property-Holders in Richmond.--The Sentiment in North
Carolina.--South Carolina Chivalry.--The Effect of War.--Prospect of
the Success of Free Labor.--Trade in the South.

The suppression of the Rebellion, and the restoration of peace
throughout the entire South, have opened a large field for emigration.
The white population of the Southern States, never as dense as that of
the North, has been greatly diminished in consequence of the war. In
many localities more than half the able-bodied male inhabitants have
been swept away, and everywhere the loss of men is severely felt.
The breaking up of the former system of labor in the cotton and sugar
States will hinder the progress of agriculture for a considerable
time, but there can be little doubt of its beneficial effect in the
end. The desolation that was spread in the track of our armies will
be apparent for many years. The South will ultimatel