New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-08-06
TEE ALTERNATIVES


war are victory aud defeat is Acknowledged by
all. But all do not firmly enough look at The
/ faces of these, 10 gather encouragement from tae
one, warning from the other Let no cowardiy
/ disiuclinatiOn to confront an unpleasant sucjeo
prevent us from recognizing in oil Its hideou'
features the alternative. Defeat. Nor let us say
that defeat cannot come to lie in the struggle OF
this day. 1t may come, and the certainty that'
if so, IL viii happen only through our own negl'-
gence, sloth dishonesty, or cowardice' cannot
change the fact which we must face-defeat is
not an impossibility. 1t il, therefore, well to
ask what does defeat imply.
1t implies submission to the rule of JEFF.
Davis, representing the South aud more COM
pend.Ously TcpulsNe statement cannot well be
made. A Congress exclusively of Shareholders, to
legslate for a people once free: liberty of speech
and of the pres, to be unknown even by author
lied tradition; the ballot to be treated as a dull
farce, unworthy of repetition; insult and daily
outrage to be piled mountain high upon us; the
uncomfortable shame Of being in the power OF men
WHOM We despse; the contempt Of foreign Gov
ernments; the loss of our own self.respeet-these
are some of the incidents of the condition to
which we should come.
The dream that some still entertain, of COM
promise, adjustment, quiet separation, OF two
ConederacieS bound by a kindly reciprocity, and
of mutual strength grounded on the laws of
trade, is illusOry and viii be wofilly short even
if INDUCED to the end. To accomplish the de-
feat here specified it ia not necessary for the en-.
tire Nortbern army to be exterminated; this
would be simple impossbity, and is out Of
the question. But the overthrow may be as
complete even though comparatively little blood
be shed. We win suppose some battles lost; a
cry of compromise and adjustment is raised; a
truce is effected; negotiations are set on foot;
the South is the cOnqueror, and dictates terms;
she is as generous as she is cunning, aud asks
only for a recognition, and an authorized place
by our side. The terms are accepted, the peace
concluded, the two CoDfederacies set out to-
gether; there is no talk Of submission, of subju-
CATION and the words are forgotten. Of these
two powers, however, one is the stronger, hav-
ing conquered the other.
Now, it is not possible for two confederacies
to exist side by side on the territory known as
the United States Of America. The influences of
climate, soil, aud the laws which govern our
commercial relations, forbid it. More than all
else, the institution of negro Slavery fcrbids it,
The stronger power will, therefore, by gradual
but steadily progressing encroacbments, spread
over, encircle, paralyze, and absorb the weaker
The condition above set down is that the South
would be the stronger we the weaker aud
we should be thus encircled, paralyzed, absorbed.
So, though there might at first be TO talk of
submission or subjugation, the same result would
arrive by a road from which there is no by
path.
Being thus under submission to the South, the
inevitable and bideous consequences would follow.
Slavery would spread itself everywhere. With
the advance of this curse all veshge Of freedom
would be suppressed. Then the irritation and
bitterness accommodating in the hearts Of the
mighty hosts of the conquered North would
blaze forth into flashes of insurrectionary war,
and the weary, embarrassing strife of to- day
would again cloud the land, ObscuriDg the gaze
of our children with vail more oppressive
than that which is upon us. If this next war
for liberty should be postponed it would only
be because the demon of Slavery had done its
work, and ruined the farest country on earth
irreparably.
These are the alternatives which the present |
struggle offers-'ictory and defeat. The one in. !
cures 20 the whole country tranquility and
prosperity yet unknown. The other renders as
certain the everlasting ruin of glorious fabric
the erection of a colossal monument to the im.
beetle folly aud wickedness Of a nation calling
itself enlightened This latter dreary alternative
must be looked in the face; it VIII not do to ap-
ply to the case the slp.hOd philosophy which
would "make it right to morrow" The only
hope of the South, did they but know it, is in
their defeat. For the North defeat, even though
only the qualified disaster which GENES through
compromise and diplomacy, Is remedIess destruc'
ton, preceded by years of the bittere't shame
And this we must acknowledge without SHRINK
ing, AVOID with the foresight Of the wise, strive
against with the valOr Of the brave. Absolute
victory OF final defeat must soon be ours. The
responsibility is upon u.s. Let the decision show
us worthy of our name.
THE TRUE SPIRIT.