New-York daily tribune., 1861-05-02
DEFENSIVE WARFARE.

they obey them. lbat as""''"'"s P'"'o'o'"" VI
events which took up its march the day of the
cowardly and cruel assault upon Fort Sumter IS
driving men and magistrates before them, help
less in the presence of their might. II any mis-
take has been made n the criticism which has
been 70 freely bestowed on the Prt sdent and
Cabinet by the press Of the North, and especially
of this CITY, il is that due allowance has not
been made for this moral, ph! !si"logical, and Po-
ltical necessity. We ADMIRE the mpatlence in
the public mind which complains 60 loudly that
they are slow, ard demands so earnestly
more swift and vigorous action against the
enemy. But let us temper our imPatlence
with justice. The President of tho United
States cannot lead the people. He cannot
move without the knowledge that they are
close behind him, cordially supporting him.
We must not read his Inaugural, nor even
bis Proclamation, in the light Of the magnificent
conaagration of patriotism which now illumnates
and warns the hills and valleys, the sca-coast
and the prarles Of the Free States Who of US
expected that sublime uuaDimity Of the Northern
People in rall!ng around their insulted flag
Why should we require of Mr.. Lincoln more
prophetic spirit than possessed ourselves That
the imminency aud the magnitude Of the Crisis at
hand was not generally aPprehended, We think is
very clear from the neglect Of the late Congress
to invest the President with the power and
means necessary to meet it.
At the time Of the Inauguration, the public
opinion Of the country always sluggish to change
its direction or 20 increase its force. was not IN
advance Of the doctrines of the Inaugural
defensive policy the protection Of the places and
property OF the Government, and the recovery OF
such as had been wrrsted from it, and the col.
lection of the revenue, was all the issue the
North was then ready to make up with the
South. The disposition natural TO thriving and
busy people to put of evil days, which has 50
much Of the DisgOyernmebt OF the last twenty
years to answer for, sbrank from an!th NJ that
should precipate civil war. Men could not be-
lieye that the Sccesschists were really in earnest
They thought that some way to escape out OF the
predicament in which the nation found itse!f
would be- devised not more Illuminating than
many other compromises TO which they had sub
mit;ed in time past. They iondly hoped that the
rayenng yulture of Secession would be changed IN
some way into the whitc-wnged bird OF peace,
or, at least, that it would drop down dead with
ont their being ut the trouble Of shot at II.
But the cannon aimed at Sumter awoSe the Da'
ton from this dream. With the instinct Of com'
mon sense and Of business even, these people
saw that if they were to have nation aud
Government they must fight for them, and, as
one man, they sprung to arms IN an instatt
at tbe call of their Head. Treason and Sediton
at the North were trampled into Impotence. #
not into annhllatlen, b. the armed heel OF
Nation Fastening to battle for its liberty.
The position OF the President and his Cabinet |"
very different now from what it was when the
Proclamation was ssued twenty days ago. The
people fifty years older than they wcro then.
We are willing to believe until the contrary
is proved, that the men charged with the defense
and preservation Of this nation Will be found
ready to adapt Themselves aud their measures to
the new state OF affairs and Of feeling. Dci.ns-
i've measures is god phrase. but the character
aud the line of the defense to be adopted Is the
question now filling the general mind. When
the President has thirty thousand brave men
have, with forty five thousand more at bis com
mand ready for tho field, and five hundred thou
sand in reserve to be- had ior the asking, We ap-
prcbeLd they will not be satisfied with simple
waiting upon Providence. We mistake the spirit
of our own gallant regiments and Of the brave
Massachusetts men, vino cOnsecrated anew the
Nineteenth of April with blood, in a fight for
Liberty, and above ALL the spirit of tho West, if
they will be content to wait till Jeflerson Davis is
quite ready to come over the Long Bridge and
pull their noses before they strike out at hun. A
Defensive War does not necessarily imply war
exactly on the frontier Of the threatened country,
by any means. Canada was conquered by En-
gland on the Rhine and Secession may more
properly be conquered on the James, the Ashley,
the Alabama. aud at the mouth of the Mississippi,
than on the Potomac, or on the exact line de-
scrbed by Mason and Dixon. The simple de-
fense of Washington or of Pickens is not what
the reused North have hurried to arms to effect
1t is the suppression Of Rebeiiion and tie punish
ment Of Traitors that the voice Of the Nation de-
mands, ringing clear above all the din OF arms
In all popular w0rs-and none was ever 30
popular and 80 Justly so as this-the eagerness Of
tue people always outruns the action Of the Gov.
ernment. The end seems clear and the means
so ready that the practical difficulties Of applying
the one to the other are not duly considered.
For example, the tcmpOriz ng OF the President
and Of Gen. Scott in cOnsening to waive for q
time the right of military way through Baltimore
al NJ ipdt all fha nrfh