NEWS OF THE WEEK.
ON Tuesday The 77mes published a long letter from its American correspondent, intended to show that Texas could keep up the struggle against the United States. General Kirby Smith was at the head of an army of 150,000 men, of whom 85,000 were effective ; he had 30,000 cavalry, and could readily double that number; he had provisions and munitions of war sufficient for at least two years ; 250,000 slaves had been imported into the State, and all the German abolitionists had adopted pro-slavery opinions. The General "might make a desperate fight for Texas, as the nucleus of a new Confederacy." Before this letter was written General Smith had surrendered with his whole army, and the authority of the Union had been restored in the last State sup- posed to be holding out. The entire dream was baseless, as indeed even The Times saw that it would be. We wonder how much the statements of this correspondent have cost City men in actual cash. From first to last he has utterly misconceived the war, misappre- hended its objects, and misrepresented its history, until all men who trusted The Times seemed to those who knew the facts to be living in a political fog. We trust the lesson will do The Times good. We have often had occasion to deny its conclusions, but this is the first instance we can remember in which facts reported in The Times have given men no assistance in forming their opinions.
