The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-24 00:00:00

TERRITORY AND POPULATION.

The great difficulty against which the United
States has to contend is the enormous extent of its
sparsely peopled or unoccupied territory. There
are two main causes of demoralization at work in
the Union, which act and react on each other, and
require the exercise of no small amount of national
virtue to withstand. Along the Atlantic sea-
board are the populous States in a high position of
culture and civilization. But this Belt is more or
less acted on by barbarism, both from the East and
from the West. Judging by the tone of the people
of New England, of Pennsylvania, and such States,
acts of violence, disregard for human life, and
gross corruption, would not be the crimes supposed
to prevail. Yet the criminal records and the
columns of every newspaper afford abundant evi-
dence that they do. Tracing the history of such
States as Massachusetts, founded by a body of
religious fanatics, down to the present day, when
the customs, manners,. habits, and thoughts of the
people are cast in the mould derived from their
forefathers, the preva:ence of these crimes in the
midst of such a community might well puzzle the
careless observer. lf, however, the position of these
States be considered, it will become apparent that
without a strenuous exercise of morality and reli-
gious propagandism, these communities would be
smothered by the inroad of gross ignorance from
Europe on the one side, and by the still more dan-
gerous savagery of the will settlers of the West on
the other. If grouping mankind into dense masses
leads to immorality, scattering them widely over a
waste leads to barbarism, because the civilizing in-
fluence of religion, of literature, of people's action
on each other, is, to a great extent, lost. The law
ceases to protect, and each man becomes a law unto
himself, and the guardian of his own life and pro-
perty. Such a state will doubtless generate some
virtues. It will make the individual ready, deter-
mined, and courageous in action ; strong, self-re-
li tilt, and enduring ; handy, and generous. But,
on the other hand, it creates a contempt, in one
word —for civilization—which involves more than at
first sight is apparent. A man who " shoots on
sight" his enemy, learns to despise the slow pro-
cesses of the law. Ile who judges off-hand a ques-
tion of equity, and acts on his decision, would feel
little inclination to await the ruling of a judge, or
the verdict of a jury. Where reason and argument
fail, and even right be but a feather in the balance—
might, becomes the god of his idolatry—the might
of a true eye, a steady hand, and quick action.
IVhoever possesses the qualities that best fit him for
the circumstances in which he is placed, will most

sway those around. If strength be all powerful,
the aim of all will be to be strong. Brute force
then usurps the prerogative of intellect and virtue ;
and in proportion as it gains the ascendancy will
be the ratio of contempt in which the latter are
held. The first tendency is to cheapen the value
of human life. Alen who take the law in their
own hands, and inflict where they are plaintiffs
on the defendants its extreue penalty learn to re-
gard a man's life as a small matter. Just as the
South sank in the scale of civilization, this fright-
ful habit gained head, and there can be little
doubt, that with the more general intercourse which