Some of the advocates of the “last ditch” theory, who have sworn never to live in the United States, will, doubtless, depart to foreign lands, or follow the example of the Virginia gentleman who committed suicide on ascertaining the hopelessness of the Rebellion.  Failing to do either of these things, they must finally acquiesce in the supremacy of National authority.

The Southern railways will be repaired, their rolling stock replaced, and the routes of travel restored to the old status.  All cannot be done at once, as the destruction and damage have been very extensive, and many of the companies are utterly impoverished.  From two to five years will elapse before passengers and freight can be transported with the same facility, in all directions, as before the war.

Under a more liberal policy new lines will be opened, and the various portions of the Southern States become accessible.  During the war two railways were constructed under the auspices of the Rebel Government, that will prove of great advantage in coming years.  These are the lines from Meridian, Mississippi, to Selma, Alabama, and from Danville, Virginia, to Greensborough, North Carolina.  A glance at a railway map of the Southern States will show their importance.

On many of the smaller rivers boats are being improvised by adding wheels and motive power to ordinary scows.  In a half-dozen years, at the furthest, we will, doubtless, see the rivers of the Southern States traversed by as many steamers as before the war.  On the Mississippi and its tributaries the destruction of steamboat property was very great, but the loss is rapidly being made good.  Since 1862 many fine boats have been constructed, some of them larger and more costly than any that existed during the most prosperous days before the Rebellion.  On the Alabama and other rivers, efforts are being made to restore the steamboat fleets to their former magnitude.

Horses, mules, machinery, and farming implements must and will be supplied out of the abundance in the North.  The want of mules will be severely felt for some years.  No Yankee has yet been able to invent a machine that will create serviceable mules to order.  We must wait for their production by the ordinary means, and it will be a considerable time before the supply is equal to the demand.  Those who turn their attention to stock-raising, during the next ten or twenty years, can always be certain of finding a ready and remunerative market.

The Southern soil is as fertile as ever.  Cotton, rice, corn, sugar, wheat, and tobacco can be produced in their former abundance.  Along the Mississippi the levees must be restored, to protect the plantations from floods.  This will be a work of considerable magnitude, and, without extraordinary effort, cannot be accomplished for several years.  Everywhere fences must be rebuilt, and many buildings necessary in preparing products for market must be restored.  Time, capital, energy, and patience will be needed to develop anew the resources of the South.  Properly applied, they will be richly rewarded.