Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-06-25

The North and the south-Ths IrrepressI-
ble Conflict.

ter, " bieh win continue to exist, whatever
may be the result Of the present difficulties.
Whether the Union be patched up by war,
or by compromise, or whether the present
division be permanently established, there
will be no change wrought in the people.
In all the essentials Of its character the
North will continue as it is, and the South
as tits; and whatever may be the nature of
tie prevailing Institutions, this character
villas it always hss-determine the prac
tical relations in which each part will stand
to the other.
The North entertains and acts upon one
idea of government; the South upon an.
other. Which of the two is right or wrong
in the abstract-if right or wrong can
properly be predicated Of eiLher-is simply
matter Of opinion.
The Nrrth holds that the Constitution is q
national bond, creating a paramount Gov
eminent, and establishing an Union viii b s
irdivisible, except by the consent of the
whole people.
The South holds that the Union is a league
between sovereign States, from which any
member may withdraw at will.
Each side is strong in the belief of the cor
rectness of its views defends them, is ready
to sacrifice, fight and die for them; and one
side is doubtless as sincere in its convictions
rs the other.
In the North the National is the paramount
Government; allegiance ia due to it first, aud
loyalty to it as an obligation.
In the South each State Government is
paramount within its own territory; allie.
glance is first due to it, and loyalty to the
National is q matter of e1pediehcy.
This difference dates back to the beginning
of the National Government, and before. 1t
is just as incorrect to call the Southern doc.
trine new, as it is the Northern. The Con-
federate idea no more originated in Mr..
Calhoun than the National one originated in
Mr.. Webster. Each of those eminent men
was, in his day, the representative of the
political character of his section-nothing
more.
1t is a mistake to suppose that the holders
of the Confederate notion are exceptional,
or few. They exist everywhere throughout
the South, and comprise the people. In the
Northern sense, there are no Union men in
the South, except they are of Northern blood
and breeding. The strongest Union man of
the South, is weaker than the weakest one
in the North.
Mr.. Bell was selected as the par excellence
representative of Union sentiment in the
South he is now Secessionist. Does any
body suppose that he looks upon himself as
guilty of Inconsistency They are mistaken.
Nr. Bell finds it not difficult to reconcile his
past with his present. He was tor his State
first, and the Union next but if his State
Seeded he must 60 with it; that was his
style of loyalty to the Union-the best of
which be was capable.
Mr. Criteend1u Is or the same description;
State rights first, . nion next--VH is perfectly
convenient. And Mr.. Crittenden is probably
a fair representative of the political character
Of the people Of his State. Is that neutrality
which the ablest and most national men in
Kentucky have presented as the asltimatUm
Of that commonwealth, in the present con-
fict, in the remotest degree allied to the
sentiment of loyalty? Not particle.
There are those who love to consider the
Southern Stste-rights idea as transitory and
evanescent-likely, like other errors, to die
away and disappear. Where is the evidence
of 1t? 1t existed before the Constitution. 1t
insensibly entered into the spirit of that in
strument. Ever since the present generation
of men have come upon the stage, it has been
developing from an unrecognized conscious
ness into a distinct sentiment - seeking
words in which to express itself, and oppor-
tunities to exert itself-growing from feel
ing TO an opinion, and from an opinion to a
rule of conduct, until it has become the
dominant principle of the Southern political
character. No longer confined to specu
1atives and abstractionists, it is a motive
power of the masses, and under the influence
of the present agitations, is weekly aAG
6aily-ss all may see who watch the pro
gress of opinions-growing stronger, deeper
and more universal.
There is upon this Continental an irrepressi
bic conflict; not between freedom and
slavery as some have supposed, who have
seen the antagonism without being able tC
detect its origin: nor between two forms o
labor; but between two ideas of Govern
ment. The Northern idea is doubtless thI
natural product of the Northern social con
dition; as the Southern idea is of the South
ern. Each has been evolved from the stat
of society from which it originated, and hs
grown distinct and. robust in its warfar
with the opposite one. The State right
idea is, therefore, jdst as legidmately begot
ten as the Federal, and has an equal title +
existence; nor is there any reason to sup
pose that the one is destined, by virtue Q
its abstract truthfulness, or its constitution
slity, to endure longer than the other.
The present civil war is simply one form {
the irrepressible conflict 1t is not an efs,
rf the conflict, but the thing ITSELF Ideas ar
aggressive. They are always at war wit
their sntagonistic ideas; sometimes
the forum, sometimes in the field. Th
scene shifts, but the conflict continue
That warfare which has been going O
in Congresses and Conventions, in IL
streets, and at the polls, since 1871, in wor,
and enactments, and by platforms aud 8
the appliances Of party strategy, is now,
change of phenomena but not of characte
continued by armies and batteries, and mi
tsry maneuvers, and engagements.
This conflict must be gotten rid Of befO