The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1861-01-24

pect ON hOth sides OF the Hubte0n.
Our hopes of the preservation or reconstruc-
ton of the Union are fast fading away. A
Southern letter on the subject, which wc pub
ish this morning. in connection with the gene
raj drift Of passing events, brings us face to
face with the increasing probabilities Of final
separation and the establishment Of homo
geneous, Independent Southern confederacy,
| upon tho basis OF elave labor, aud Northern
confederacy resting upon free labor.
| In the brief in,erva to the inauguration of
the republican party in power at Washington,
it is vain to expect from them any concessions
to the South OF the character demanded as the
conditions of peace with that section. Upon
the plea Of the President elect, that it is too
late for compromises to save the Union, or
upon the plea of his appointed Premier, Mr..
| Seward, that it is too soon, the overshadowing
Northern party which they represent stands
still If here and there within the officers
| quarters Of the camp voice has been raised
for concessions and peace it has been speedily
silenced
| From the oracles Of the party at Springfield,
from the representatives Of the party in Con-
gress, from the general temper of the organs,
and the rank and Gle Of the party everywhere,
| it is manifest that they shave no compromises
| to make" in behalf Of Southern slavery until
they shall have settled the question, I. whether
we have or have not such thing as govern
ment of the United States" Under this pro-
gramme Mr.. Lincoln will enter upon the Ex-
ecutve duties Of the federal administration,
and his first Official efforts will be to enforce
| the federal laws in the several States which
have formally declared their connection with
/ the general government at Washington dis
| solved What will follow? The submission Of
the seeded States to the federal authority or
a general alliance of all the Southern States
| for resistance to federal coercion? Undoubtedly
the alliance indicated, and under the bonds Of
a Southern confederacy.
The preliminary compact Of confederation
among the seeded States, seven, ten, or
more, as the case may be, will most proba-
bly, be adopted in advance Of Mr.. Lincoln's
Inauguration, so that the attempt on the part
| of the President to enforce the federal revenue
laws at Charleston will involve at once the
tremendous alternative of the reduction, not
of the little State of South Carolina, but of the
| formidable alliance of all the slave States. We
say all the slave States, because even those
| which have not yet seeded, and those which
may still remain in the Union on the 18th March,
are all pledged to the common cause Of South
ern resistance against federal coercion. We
are dealing with facts. We know that the con-
| sttutional duties and oath Of the President re-
quire him to /" take care that the laws be faith
| fully executed His duties and the rights
and the powers Of the federal government in
| all the States are clear But the facts in this
matter, too, stand out in bold relief, and from
| these facts it is apparent that the attempt to
enforce the federal laws in South Carolina, for
example, will unite the Southern States against
the federal government in the attitude Of war.
Here, then, we are brought into rapport with
our New Orleans correspondent, and his pro-
gramme of the peaceable separation Of the Union
into two confederaces. Shall we agree to
this, North and South or plunge into the
ruinous folly of wasting civil war
| That is the question. We say that, as
the republican party shave no compre-
mises to make" and that as coercion will
be war, let there be peaceable separation Of
the South and the North, and let each section
be organized under the homogeneous institu-
tons peculiar TO itself. Treaty stipulations be-
tween the two confedcracies will establish the
bonds Of peace and Of commercial reciprocities
between them. Our Northern anti-slavery re-
| ligionists will thus have their conscences re-
lieved Of the "sin of slavery" and Southern
society will thus be secured against abolition
incendiaries. Nay, more each section, in
being relieved of this harvesting slavery agi-
tation, will be free to devote all its powers to
the fullest Development of its material and
moral prosperity.
Mr.. Seward, at ST. Paul, last autumn, giving
the wing TO his Imagination, forcshadowed,
under the free soil and free labor policy of the
republican party, the absorption of the Cana
das and other British provinces to the north Of
us: and, under Northern confederacy, there
would be no difficulty to impede the fulflment
Of this prophecy. General Quitman. Of Mis-.
lists Of his day, foreshadowed the absorption
in Southern confederacy Of Cuba, Mexico
and Central America, compromising such
vast field Of agricultural, mineral and manu-
featuring resources, and such elements Of COM
mercial and military strength, as would be I'M
paralleled in the history of any nation of an
cent or modern times
Why, then, If we have reached that point of
dissolution from which the Union cannot be re-
covered without war, or without restraints which
will cramp us, North and South, within our
present limits, why not agree to peaceablc
separation into two confederaciesf Why, not,
we say, when permanent basis Of peace and
perfect freedom Of expansion and develope-
ment are thus offered TO the North and tho
South. DO what we may, North America is
too large for one government; but establish
| Two, from the political elements and material