Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-04-11
THsE REPRESENTATIVES. or THE
AMERICAN WAX.


From the London Times. March r.
All the intelligence and all the opinions from
Am-ricR bring ouf into strong relief t,s exis
teuce Of very great power aud very gTea- spirit
on both sides of the conflict, After the Federal
reverses OF last year We heard Of nothing but the
Unslaken resolution aud unTesried energy Of the
North, which only wanted littie more training
aud discipline 20 dc all il desired The recent
Confederate reverses have the very same effect il
sending us renewed assurance of the Southern
determination TO continue resistance through all
lis possible passes, down TO the guerrilla warfare
Of Span and Mexico, even though. az in the
latter case, there should eHsue an intarmitable
I anarchy
At this distance it is useless to discuss The ez-
peCted operations, which before this viii have
/ been commenced with more or less effect 1t is
/ probably decided by this time whether General
Mcclellan could turn the left Of the Confederate
| forces, and, by reinforcing General Banks and
/ Stone, get 70 the rear of the enemy snd obtain
| possession o. Richmond. A third victory in
| Tennessee viii have secured the western half OF
/ that State to the Federal side, of a defeat will
have rendered ruitless all the blood shed at Forts
! Henry and DOneson. The superiority Of the
/ North in numbers, in wealth, and in the means
/ Of lOc0mOtoG, makes it probable that they have
/ followed up their victory, and established them.
| selves as thoroughly oa the west OF the chief
/ seeding States as they have, by means Of their
/ fleets on the east and south. But. on he most
! favorable suggestions for the Federal Cs,sa, We
| have only arrived at tine ques lions, whether We
do indeed Sc the beginning of the end, and
what that end Is likely to be. We see no antiCi-
patton or prophetic vision Of that end IN any OF
( the communications from either side Of tbs war.
The Eederals talk only Of present victor and
seem to lo0k no further into the future. The
| Confederate advocates talk of devastation and
depopulatOn, Of burning cities, destroying food,
tearing up rails, and reducing the country to a
state of nature, OF guerrilla warfare and mutual
determination. This is not looking to auy end,
but rather dwelling upon the bOrrid process OF
war, as if the spirit that had been reused found
satisfaction more in the means than in the end.
| These fearful anticipatiOns are probably only
too true. The tone on both sides is that OF Bit
| ter and insulting defiance. North and South
rail at one another much as the HOmeric COM
batants did before the fatal interchange Of spears
But there is this unhappy diffsIence-the poet
manages to dispose of One cOmbatant, and 30
gives instant and entire effect TO the raenaces on
az least one side Of the duel. In this case, the
abuse, tho threats, TIE defenses, the determiua-
tion, threaten to be endless, and from both sides
We gather the lamentsblo truth that, as far as
eye can scan the American horizon, there is
nothing but war.
But hen both sides see no conclusion of war
{
other, and trsusSion from order % disorder,
Tom method to madness, it remains for the by
ISLANDERS to speculate on the natural develop
ments Of the struggle To show that we are not
exsggerating its chaotic tendencies, we need
Ouly refer 10 the very able letter Of a core
sJ0ndent, who undertakes to interpret the south
ern prospects and sympathiss. The amicabIe
separation which some g00I people talk Of he
asserts to be neither possible nor desired. The
North would not be content with less than all
the border States, leaving to the ConiedeIstes
only the seven orgius. secsder5. Bot were
this their object, they would still have 70 garrison
Virginia with army out of all proportion 70
their resources, and even so, they would feel the
Union at an end They would find It impossi-
ble to get on without the trade Of the South |
and slavery would thus be more recognized than |
ever, more odioUs, and more fertile in quarrsls |
Separation, then, he holds to be neither poss- |
bic nor wished for, so long at least as the North
mas any tight left IN it. But, whatever may be !
said Of the difficulty of cOugueriug the Southern !
States, there can De no doubt of the North to !
ID keep up the war in one fashion or another i
What tben, is the alternative to which we are J
to look, when conquest Is impossible, when sepa-
ration Is Impossible. wReu union in the form We I
have seen Z, Is impossible, when success Ou /
either side is Impossible when war Itself as 1t Is
now earned on, is impossible 5hsn eUergtbiBg Is !
impossible, except something that does not come !
under gsy OF these heads, and that is beyond al |
present reckoning OE reasonable expectation
What Is this but TO SvoW that the Federation |
itself is impossibiel The principle has been /
uied and found wanting The Southern States /
viii not submit TO the worst of all bOndages-s /
tyTsut majority. The Northern States can /
neither conquer, nor CUuCilIEje, nor win BY any !
method So the appeal is TO war, and the war \
it IS admitted on both sides, must work itself out
10 its legitimate results. The question is 40
longer whether the North will conquer the South !
but what the war will lead 20, and what state of /
things viii supervene upon the present. The /
most far seeing discover nothing IN the prospect
but guerrilla warfare, anarchy and devastation. /
This is simply 90 admit that, the statesman hay
ing failed, the cause is now in the hands of the 4
soldier. But it is more; it is in the hands of the
soldier who sees the dark end of federation iu-
stead Of It's bright beginning. This is not the
age in which French monarch is breaking up,
or a republic is inauguraLed, out IN which a
French empire has been restored and re-estsb-
lished. Il is an age in which strong monarchy
is the fashionable cure for democratic disorder.
Europe has just congratulated Italy on the
acquisition which philosophers wanted for her
instead Of the iHdepe dent States which lately
existed. instead Of theOcracy which Rome pro
fesses TO give instead Of MaZini is republic I
The Western States of Europe have a. least the
credit Of Offering Mexico q constitutional mon
archY instead OF a republican Constitution,
which has had no existence except in alternate
anarchy and despOtism. This is an age of re-
action, for which democ:scy has to thank itself
the dictator, the emperor CT the king, is every
where sUpeTseding the farces of the Csnsul OF the
paper scheme of the Of the law-giver. When
we are told that everything else is impos-
sible in America and that politics are absorbed
in the chance Of war and the genius Of the com
mandsrs, then, indeed, we see the beginning to
the end But that end is net the one desired by
either North or South, nor even by US who look
on 1t cannot be for our interest that military
adyenturer should possess the fairest regions Of
North America, even though that were better .
than anarchy. But it Is the haven towards ]
which the great American commOnw ealth seems
now drifting. It is possible. That is enough,
when everything else seems to be impossible. ID