The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-02-21

The scout Of The arrest and plumber Of
a railway train on TIE Bsltimors and
Ohio railroad, BIZ bsad Of armed reb-
els. which we publish this morning, reads
more like The doings Of Italian banditi
than Of soldiers pretending TO fight for
the separation Of the American States
Bat the truth Is that in the pending con
fiiet the rebels have ignored tho laws Of
civilized warfare, and given free rein 10
those bsrbsr9us instinos bred up in
them By The slave Institutions Of The
south
Here is train Of ears. osrryipg no
body of troops, no munitions Of var.
nothing watch By tbs Laws 0f var could
BE- claimed IS coatrahsnd or epea - cap
fure. bet merely csgiliars. passengers
going wess ca their eva private Business,
suddsaiF arresas5 BY e trek. s1d the
passengers roh5s1 Il aa-1t tairfY thaus-
and dollars il uozsY. watches, jswel-y,
&s. The so0nziitHtional" gentlemen
who see 60 many legal objections to al
our operations In this war, and so much
excuse for The operations Of the enemy.
may perceive the legitimate course Of
war in this; but as far as our own
judgment extends, we sre unable to find
in il anything but downright robbery.
War. IL is true, is ruthless aud terrible.
It carries desolation and destruction in
its track, but Il has its limits and re-
strsints. II Is not whatever the fighting
men on each side may choose TO do that
is allowable. We admit that where de-
VISITATION has for It's object to cripple an
enemy or prevent the operations of an
army, il is perfectly admissible. It was
nothing of the kind, however, il this
csse. The railroad was not destroyed,
the cars were uninjured, the damage done
could not possibly affect our resources or
operations 1t was, therefore, wanton,
unnecessary, unjusiihable robbery, and if
il be warfare at ell, il is Of the kind
which Genghis Khan waged in Asia.
II is idle, however, to expect anything
better from The enemy in this war. The
whits race in the planting States has
been bruializsd and barhsFizsd By the
influence Of slavery. We observe thisin
the whole past history of American serv-
itado. The burning alive Of negroes, for
offences for which any white man would
not even be punished with death The
torture Of captured fugitiyes; the sale VI
human beings at auction under ciTcum-
stances revolving to decency; the total
sbrogation Of marriage and family ties
smong The slaves; the deprivation of the
children Of planters of al the rights Of
manhood and womsnhood, because their
mothers were slaves the inhuman atroc-
tiles committed against every white sus-
pected Of being 81 aboliti0nist-al in
dictate 4 condition Of society 81 variance
with the. enlightenment and progress of
the sge we live in.
No such murderOus assault rs that
committed upon Mr Summer, in his seat
in tie Senate chamber. could ever have
beeu perpetrated in the free States Of
this Union, nor in any civilized country
Of Europe. Ssnstor Sumner was right
when he contended that slavery created
an atmosphere Of barbarism. The
whole progress of this dreadful war
proves il The boastsd chivalry of the
South is iitly illustrated By this plumber
of civilians in railway train of their
money, watches and irinkets.
II these bsuditli had come few miles
further north, they might have seen al
Aniietam and South NJ luniain something
70 remind them of the respect due to q
gallant foe; and II not satisfied with
that, they might have refreshed their
memories at Gettysburg. But fighting
lie not the trade Of such men. Wherever
guerrilla band, infamous for its
rspacity and Futbleesness, In the
course Of this var has been driven 81
last intO c0rflict With forces equal in
numbers. il has proved to be com.
posed Of very poor stuff indeed. The
real soldiers on both sides learn to re-
spect each other and always try to act
honorably. But many of the rebel
leaders cannot restrain their own bar
baFous impulses. They irresistibly run
into savage brutality and unlicensed
Outrage; and even among their own
people they sometimes so TAR violate all
propriety that rs in the case Of Msgruder.
they have 50 be bauished 20 some remote
region far from the main scenes Of the
war, OF, as in the case Of Van Dorn, they
are slain By some enc whose domestic
peace they have invaded
An institution which 90 degrades 3
whole people IS slavery has done the
South is Inconsistent with the spirit Of
the sge We live in, and inimical to civil
liEation, refinement and humanity. When
il disappears, as it is nov pretty certain
70 do with the close of the war, the bru-
tsl instincts generated BY it will, il is to
be hoped, disappear along With it-Piil.
G1zefte.