The Grand Haven news. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1858-18??, 1861-10-30
THE STAKE.

1t has been said that loyal men do not
enter into the war with the same serious
enthusiasm which characterizes the rebels.
Even now it may be doubted whether
the full significance of the struggle is felt
The tendency from tho beginning was to
mako too light Of il; but events have
changed this. We begin TO learn that
terrible lesson of nations, which is only
taught by the actual presence of war;
We see now that uniforms and dress par
AIDES do not constitute military career
that there are few intuitive sodiers-that
proclamations and politics are not univer-
sal panaceas, especially against cannon
and shot-and that, in this civil strife,
the side only can be successful which is
most vigilant, vigorous, and prepared to
make the greatest sacrifices Of blood and
treasure.
No sensible man can doubt that mp to
certain period the advantages of the
campaign were with the rebels. The rea-
son was that they comprehended the des-
perate nature of events, and mere united.
Whatever of power belonged to them,
either ms communities or individuals, was,
and still is, freely devoted to the COM
mon cause. They have obeyed their cen
trail authority, have practically cast aside
partisan politics, and so have enjoyed the
indispensable benefits of uniform design,
and therefore the power Of harmonious
action.
In this they have presented an exam
pie which We must follow, or be destroy
ed, for existence is our stake in the con-
test-destructio our fate if we are con-
quercd. The ultimate success Of the
rebel government will demonstrate TO the
world, and, worse yet, to our own people,
the utter weakness of our own. The i'm
mense sums which arc invested in public
securities, State rs well as national, and
all the sums which are invested in pri-
vatc enterprises, will be completely swept
away. Millions Of capital will disappear.
The southern market, no longer secured
to us by tariffs and revenue regulations,
will be lost to our merchants, our me-
chanics manufacturers and sailors. The
whole system of trade will be cut down,
and years will elapse before new systems
can be reared. A nation dishonored
abroad, and weak and bankrupt at home,
is destroyed. Whatever her recuperation
in the future may be, she is wreck, so
far rs concerns the prosperity and happi-
ness of the present generation. They,
and many succeeding generations, will
have lost all. We have, then, not only
an equal but greater stake in the pres
ent contest than the rebels-for we have
more 10 lose. Their success means un-
limited war-desperate efforts to re-unite
the discovered sections.
We must therefore follow their example,
and unite, literally, absolutely unite.-
The whole nation must be one grand WAR
PARTY, dedicated to the simple idea OF
the integrity of the American Union, 10
be preserved by arms. The situation de-
mands this of us. We can not evade it.
We have no choice. There is now no po-
litical remedy for the ills of the country.
No man, nor set of men, save the abo-
litionists, feel that there is any such rem
edy, and the people will leave them in the
sloughs of party, and amid the wrecks Of
their party platforms, to rot there, if they
please. The people, too, will be true TO
themselves, and therefore honest to their
constituent parts. They will have no
policy save powder and steel; no plat
forms save those on which cannon are
swung. This is the necessity of tho crisis.
Let every patriot throw himself, body
and soul, into the war party, and live up
to the necessities of his country.
Chicago Times.
ES- The New York World, in speak