The Camden confederate. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1861-1865, 1864-04-06

ONMAShbDs
We find in the editorial column of the
New York Daily Neps of the 9th ultimo
az article, entitled "Popularity of the
War;" which sets forth, in forciblc and
graphic terms, the fast waning war spirit
of the Northern people. 1t is as follows /:
There has been no bugbear more
alarming to the timid and unorganized
friends of peace than the pretended
"popuzarig Of the aoar." The negro
worshippers aud their allies of the "War
Democracy" know this so we'll that they
fiavc spared no efforts or appliances to
spread and heighten the del~sion. Moth
ing could illustrate more fully the mad
ness, which is now waning so fast, than
the facility with which they have been
able, hitherto, to impose it on the pub,
lie credulity.
We presume that no one who knows
anything of the;American character, or
has read the history of the American
people, can honestly believe the latter to
be either towards or mercenaries. With
the sad exception Of portion of the pop
uation Of New England, in the struggle
of 1872, there is no record of their hay
ing ever shrunk from any of the duties
or sacrifices imposed on them by patriot
ism in time of war. On the contrary,
they have been so ready always to an
swcr to the call Of country, that they
have more than once mistaken for it the
.talsc appeals of demagogreism and pas
sion. They have always been 50 willing,
and often SO anxious, to fight, that Eu-
ropean diplomacy has long characterized
them, provcrbially, as disturbers Of the
peace of nations. 1t was this hasty and
pugnacious impulse, so peculiar to them
that it could be counted on with absolute
certainty, which the unprincipled contri,
vers Of our present suffering abused and
tempted for their own uuholy ends at the
beginning of tue war. TO the cnthu>i
asm with which the first calls of Mr.
Lincoln were responded TO thousands oi
desolate scholds-tcns of thousands Of
brave hearts now cold-bear mute and
fearful witness. Then, indeed, the war
was popular. Right or wrong, it ap.
pealed to the popular heart, and was an
swered with its best blood.
Let US look, now, at the contrast. To
do so, We must not 60 to the columns Of
! the peusioned press of the-dynacty- at
| Washipz Ir-,r-t-.--.t-o
of New England or New York, or else
where, who have grown fat on the car
mage of better men nor to the traders,
or jobbcrs, or contractors, or place-mcn,
or parasites-the myriad Of iackals who
feed on the bloody offal of the strife.
We have only to contemplate the simple
and naked facts, that with a population
three times that of the States at war
with US, and fighting population pro-
portionatcly y much larger-with bountics
proffercd, such as never tempted cupid
ty, iG any war befOrc-we are compelled
to seduce foreigners from their homes to
fight our battles for pay, and are driven
to the still more degrading necessity Of
committing the honor Of our flag, and
the vindication of our manhood to the
hands Of negroes, bond and free. Not
the relentless grasp of a most mcrcllcSs
and unconstitutional conscription, nor
the seduction of bountics large enough
to make poor mans fortune, can now
drag or cntice American citizens, except
in numbers absolutely insignificant, to
fight the battles Of this war.
1t is sinsolcnt, as well as idle and alb
surd, to talk of the popularity" of any
war that can command no warmer support
than this, from braveandimpulsive peo-
pie. If the hearts of the people were in
the war, they themselves would be in
the field to fight to the death. Ii they
sincerely believed it to be war in which
they ought to offer themselves as sac
rice, they would crowd to the very
horns of the altar, without threat or bribe.
That they shrink from the contcst-that
they will devote all the little earnings
of their lives to purchase exemption
that they cannot be tempted or forced
into the ranks, while there is any escape
all these things tell the story. The
people do not feel any longer that the
war is their war. They may support it
for little while because the Govern
ment is waging it and the flag is waved
over it. Some of them may be willing
it should continue because it pays them
selves or their friends large profits, or
keeps up their influence, or advances
their party, or fattcrs their vanity, or
gratifes their raucor. But the great cur
rent of public feeling and opinion runs in
its favor no longer 1t has now no hold
on public enthusiasm. Its popularity
is dead
If the Administration really believes
that all this is false-if it is persuaded
that the popularity of the war continues,
let it abandon the conscriptiou and the
bounty system and make the experiment
of volunteer enlistments for a single
ageeE. That brief space of time would
suffice for the entire solution of the prob
lem. If such on experiment, however,
be deemed too hazardous, let Mr.. Lincoln
and his councillors make still simpler
| a AZ L., L., ,,,yI