The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-09-13
THE LONDON TINES ON THE WAR.

| possible conquest of France or were Franc
TO make the same declaration as to Eng
land, the world would laugh at the egregious foil
That had inspired the design and prompted tn
boast. The world would grant that supposip
either people to be infatuated enough and obstinat
enough, II could lntiict enormous and irreparabl
injuries on the other, but only at the cost of equa
| injuries to itself. The ball once started Forum
might beriend this side that; it might give t
| either great victories periods of advantage;
might even place one eventually over the head o
the olher, but still only at cost utterly out O
proportion to the value of the miserab result.
Now, that is the case of the two Confederacie
across the Atlantic, where the surviving half OF al
cjete Federal Union has undertaken to reduce III,
other halt to its Federal duties. We say tina
this is the case, but before we proceed step fur
ther, 1t Is necessary to observe that the case of h
| Northern Americans IS in some important respect
| more difficult than ours would be- They ara no
so united as we have always found ourselves il
| war. Their border States feel divided allegiance
They have to protect more than thousand mile
OF land frontier, including one closely beleaugere,
position surrounded by foes or i-atfected adha
| rents. Speaking the same language as their f,e
| they have no means of excluding spies from the il
| lines, or even traitors from their ranks The,
! have to make standing army and feet. The,
| have to learn the first elements of tactics: an,
even military discipline. They are without sol
dlers, or officers to command or train them
| Their revenue, at its best, before the war; was
Only just sufficient to meet the interest of the debt
| likely to be incurred by two years of the war or
Its present scale.
That revenue, however, is, to begin with maimec
by the loss OF the seceders and by the stoppage o
traffic, so that it is questionable whether it will b,
| possible to do than repair that loss by the
ne" taxes now imposed. American credit is not ST
| good as British, nor is the credit of Fedora
Union in process fdissouton likely to be equal tr
! that OF a united people. Lastly, war, which
! changes its character according to circumstances
establishes special rules of probability for different
localities. The one rule established by all Ameri
can warfare is that the advantage is on the side C
! the defence. Our offensive operations ALWAYS
| !aiied against fortified positions, against breast,
works thrown UP in night, against forests full OF
! invisible foes; against heat, hunger and thirst;
| against the ever imminent flank attack; against
the certainty that every step diminished the nun.
Der, the strength and the munitions of our own
men, and increased those of the enemy
The present war might, for its incidents be a
chapter IN our own disastrous wars on that soil.
| The Northerners have advanced up0n fortified
positlon, but days march from Washington.
Ihey hare drrjred at the point ,cih force nIreo9g
melting array. far short Of the list on paper beaten
cdh heat hunger, thirst aud u long march, amt sur-
prised both FGnEs by the sudden oaDouring of
ratl,0dys. While this has occurred in Virginia,
almost within sight of Washington, a column OF
5000 Federalists, advancing against foe thrice
their number, has met NTH the same Jdte no doubt
J0r much the same reasons, at Springfeid four or
five hundred miles to the West-as il in order to
warn the Northern States that what has happened
is no accident result Of peculiar circumstances OF,
personal failure, bm Jy iHecifoble rule.
There Is only enterprise tchich can be compared
to is, and that is the First Nny1oleon's qiqonic bt
1tdtHoted, attempt Hp0n Russia That was a case Of
a great political alliance, grand as a Federal
Union, comprising the best, the wealthest and the
most populnus part, and the best soldiers. on the
Continent of Europe, advancing into a territory,
| the sparse and poor population of which scarcely
surpassed that OF the invading host. Winter might
be the mmedisle cause, but it was also The apology
OF the tremendous r0ut that ensued. If any ore
will attempt compare the means of the Federsi.t,
those pf bo,r G,,IIb .,g
an erery respect; ,rie there doubt that the South
ern States are far more able TO defend erery point
every position, erery line IN their territory than h
Russians IN theirs They have mountainous
ranges instead of steppes they have a population
accustomed to carry arms, and only glad to use
them; they have railways, and abundance of fooa
and other necessGries Of sror. They erideny
perIOT geHerdEshiD, and in the social
best adapted for
The result is, that thus far they have shown they
can dispute every inch, and keep the invader
always under the apprehension of being either out
hanked or driven back upon his own Capital
Against all this 1t Cnly be said that the North
ern States have the preponderanca in white men,
in money, and in credit. These would indeed be
important considerations if the Southern States
were invading the Northern, and seriously pre-
pairing to drive every armed NOrtherner into the
st. Lawrence. They would be important if this
were the ordinary of two countries at war with
one another. But it is not. The N0rtherners are
engaged in the reduction OF the SOutherners. They
are acting on the offensive against foe which, on
its own land, is content to act the defensive ex-
cepting only that, should the opportunity occur it
would advance its line of defence to include the
Capital. Experience shows that under ordinary
circumstances a comparatively small population,
with little money and means of war. is sufficient
for very good defence.
We are in condition to offer advice We can
advise the Northern States of America as we csn
advise the legitimate Princes and the despotic
Courts of Europe. Let the statesmen ut Washing
ton only do what England has done before hun
dred times, and what all Europe has done, is doing
and will still do. 1t is not f'Old World" advice
1t is not of the eaven that Washington and Frank
lin telt it their mission to eXtirpae. It's the very
latest and newest lesson of human affairs; much
newer than steam, the electric telegraph and rted
cannon. Do the Northern States really belong to
the New World, or are they only bit of the Old
world, with all its pride, its bigotr7, and its
tyranny, stranded on the Western shore Of the At.
lantic?
The advice we give them is what they have
taught us before, ard we only say to them. az
many NAV say to his father, "Practice what
you teach" Let the Northern States "accept the
situation" as 'ee did eighty gears ago upon their
soil; as Austria did two wears ago at Villa
tranca and Zurich. Let them count the cost before
| they march forth to drive half million armed
men thousand miles across their own country into
| the Gulf of Mexico. Let them consider whether
they can do rrhGt Napoleon could not do the pieni-
tude Of has Pocer, with many times their number,
their stores, their credit, and, above ALL their mill
tary skill and experience, his school of Generals,
| and his supply OF veterans.
What they propose to do and be is not only to be
as good the SOutherners, or a little the BETTER
| but overwhelmingly superior. Are they? Is not
| this an overweening opinion Of themselves? Can
| thev drive the Southerners like flock of sheep,
smoke them out Of their nests like waSps ferret
| them like rabbits and bag them like game ? Let
| them just look forward little, and consider the
probable state of things next year. and the year
! after, and twenty years hence. Even We. who
sang such songs of triumph in 1914 and 1875 felt
hal W EurOpa Wnui hay n oh
| better to think what we were about in 1893. If a
| clear foresight shows, and must show, that there
must be tirO feGerGlOHS and that other footing
loiU peace eUer be made, it will be much better that
1t should come to pass after one years war than
| after ten or twenty.
1t is not as if the Union or two Unions were the
! only alternative. AS the war proceeds no man
| can tell what new Powers and combinations may
arise, and particularly how far the Western States
! will endure the taxes and financial obligations
cessary for the'war. The advice we offer is only
what the Americans have given to all the world.
| 1t is hank of their own cotton-a pipe of their
! own tobacco. Let them consider what they can
do, and what neither they all the world can
| do. At present they are only giving triumph to
many foe, for there is not circle of old absoust
statesmen and diplomats who do not read the story
OF their difficulties and reverses with bitter smile.
They will hear with at least respect, perhaps with
disappointment, that the North and South have
agreed to part friends.
DESPERATION OF THE REPUBLICANS.
1t has been said that strong Government means
nothing else than weak people. If this maxim be
true, the democratic institutions of the United
States are being subjected to severe strain.
War has called forth degree of public spirit and
of attachment to the Union highly credtabe TO Re
publican loyalty, but it has made serious inroads
on the integrity of the Republican form of Gov
ernment. Ever since the boundaries of the COnsti-
tuition were traced by its early founders the weak
ness of the Executive has been guarded as the pal
ladium of American liberty. Except vast patro-
mage, few of the prerogatives by which monarchs
make their personal influence felt vested IN
the chief magistrate. He was, indeed, to be the
most powerful of citizens but his strength Ike that
of a captive giant, to be exerted uhoer the
direction of the sovereign people
Short as was his tenure OF office, and stringent as
ware tbe securities exacted for his good behavior,
his every act was watched with a more than Vene-
tiap jealousy. European observers, struck with
the helpessness and nsignihcance of the President
in time of peace, were tempted to predict that he
would become mere cipher in time of sedition or
war and the vacillation of Mr.. Buchanan when the
secession crisis occurred went far to confirm that
impression. The last four months have revealed to
us and perhaps to the Americans themselves, the
fallacy of such anticpatons The stability of the
Federal Constitution has been severely tried, and
it has not unscathed out of the trial. but the
damage sustained has not been on the side of au-
| thority, but on that of liberty. The Northerners
would not borrow our experience, but they have
already bought their own, and less than half year
| of civil war has wrung from them concessions of
principle that would have satisfied Lord North and
George III. They have taken up arms for politi-
cal idea but who that has watched the pace at which
| organic changes have been hurried through Con
gress in a months session would undertake to say
that this idea with will long retain its indentity, or
| that the Government which makes peace will be
essentially the same as that which declared war;
1t is proof of President Lincoln's knowledge OF
American character that he foresaw and Discount
ed" so to speak, this reaction at the earliest mo
ment. The suspension Of the hd6eas coIPISr az. 49,
which has so often jeopardized the e1lsIeuoe ;St