The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1865-03-25

1ty, and will know what TO do when halt
our people set to work butchering the other
half But we, ordinary spectators, see eve
~ thing much as the Americans saw our
Russian aud Indian difficulties. There
may have been wars on grander scale in
the days of Attila, or Ghengis Khan, or
Timour; but the achievements Of those al
most fabulous personages no more touch
US than when we hear Of mountain Of To-
Gusts blown into the sea, and then washed
up on its shore. When the matter is quite
out Of our knowledge, million seems no
more than hundred. But we are quite ut
home In this business before US. The lam
guage Of the mon, the familiar examinations
aud prefixes Of their names, with an 0cca-
st0nal touch Of mother wit thrown ip by
the principal actors, give Q sort Of doneetic
interest to the performance.
America Is bearing the palm in at least
the magnitude Of the sar, though ne still
haze TO UGit for that snavveLO,ls rec0Mcilia-
ton that u to dst0nish The world. Great ~
proved herself In war, she fluids it not 90
easy to repair the shattered vase.-
On the contrary, the vast mischief spreads,
and, do, what we will, We are doomed to
see complications rising North and South,
on every sea, on the Pacific "a we'll as the
Atlantic coast. A great war Is apt to be.
come uncontrcllable, because illimitable,
for forethought. It rises 10 the scale of 4
natural oonvulsion, the workings Of which
may not be STAYED or foreseeu. and which
can only b told, when all 10 over, in many
y long and sad history. How can we be
sure that some Of these fragments, heapsd
up or hurled aloft will not come crushing
down on US! Already. commerce and
manufacture throb At every beat OF that
still mighty heart: and the hopes aud fears
of thousands among us rise and fall a.
some new rage excitss the American
breast; or ~ it yields under some touch Of
grace, some qualm Of conscience, or some
voice of reason and common sense.
The present stage Of this great struggle
II noticeable for its marked novelty upon
the tenor of the last four years. The ex-
treme exhaustion of both sides as to men
possible to carry on the war as it has been
carried ON. There will not be forthe future
those stupendous ornaments, that waste
of material, and those far more dreadful
sacrifices Of human life. There will not be
such costly and murderous struggles for
the possession Of certain points, whether
inland or maritime. Both sides seem to
takes In attaching an exaggerated impor.
lance to positions required for no purpose.
We have, then, before us the alternatives
Of peace or war carried ON more In the
open country, either guerrilla fashion or
by movements such rs that by which Sher-
man has, in fact, changed the fortunes and
the face OF the war. Such u change will
involve others, and, not tho least, It will be
liable to bring forward military adven.
ington or Richmond for their resources or
their plans, perhaps not even their author
ity. Such result is fFaught with perilOus
consequences to every constituted or re.
cognized power. either on the soil or at all
within reach Of this great earth-shaking.
We have no thought Of frightening the
Americans into peace the danger Is
~ much ours as theirs; but, If the war pro-
cseds, it will one day come to such q pass
that neither We nor they will be able to
say who are the real rulers Of that vast
continent, and who are the men whose
power, whose vengeance, or whose wisdom
We have 10 watch. st4
That the war must enter on new phase
il evident from the proved imp0ssibility Of
carrying it on with the existing institu.
tons, or rather constitution. The requis-
lite levies, whether of met or OF money,
cannot b. made under system OF much
divided and even discordant authority
When the President is obliged to employ
detectives to see thai the States do their du.
ty, the day cannot be far distant when the
central power will do that duty rs 1t II
done in Europe-by the imperial agency
and no other. Such was ever the result o.
long wars in times gone by; and the sever.
ri States in this instance have proved that
they are no more to be trusted than the
feudal chiefs, the tributaries and allies
whose shortcomings, vNcillatiOn, or weak
ness have 80 often ruined the cause which
depended on their loyalty and zeal. Fol
the prosecution of great war there must
be not only n common cause and common
srdOr, but the sacrifice Of everything thai
interferes with perfect unity Of action. Ont
of the earliest consequences of our Owr
great war with France was the Irish I'm
ion, and the first result of the Indian mu
tiny was the transfer of the Indian crown
to the British government. A divided au
thority makes large demands on time. ant
on that mutual Difference which contrib
utes SO much to the pleasures of peace, bu
becomes impossible when commands mus
be executed Immediately and thoroughly
which is the only pace war can take to sue
coed. The Americans fondiy hope that tn
suspension of their constitutional guaran
| tees for liberty is an incident that will sool
be a matter OF history. But years pass by
great transactions take place, and nev
generation is rising to mems estate, unde
reign Of arbitrary power, and in tn,
sphere of one all-absorbing contest. .Wil
the State or the federation be the more i'm
portant in their thoughts? Or, ii the,
should have quarrel with the larger bone
will It he to fall back on the lesser? Tn
Americans have already sacrificed libert,
for rnian, and they may shortly find ths
they will have to sacrifice Union for EN-
plre. They will have 10 sacrifice that FIRE
!; voluntary Union which their father