Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1865-04-07
The End.

eyes tnat the end OF the Southern Oonfed
sracy IS Hnesr, even now at the door"
Take two specimen facts: General Welt
Eel marches into Richmond on the morn
ing Of April 3D. at the head of colored
E'oOpsi Henry Ward Beecher goes 10
charleston to give the address at the res
Eorstion to Sumter's flagstaff of the same
flag that was lowered from it in shame
and humiliation four years ago the 14.h of
ahe present month Who can fail to see
here jus,iee2
The fall Ct Richmond must give the
death blow to the Southern cause in
Europe. The large class of moderate men,
q class possessing large influence in every
country, who had not committed them
selves to either side in the earlier stages Of
the war, had sometime since agreed that
the Confederacy was failure; now it is
difficult to see how the most violent parti-
san of the South can longer entertain
hope Of its success. The fighting may
not be over-probsbly is not; but every
effort the rebels put forth hereafter must
hasten on that final exhaustion already go
near. And yet who expected in 1861 that
We should be compelled to wait until 1866
for the final Triumph How few, if any,
then saw the magnitude of the work then
upon cur hands The history of that
period must ever remain one of the most
instructive lessons, pointing posterity to
the absurd length to which an excited
people msy go. But now that stern ex-
perience, with its rough hand, has correct
ed the mistakes Of that day, it is instruc-
tive to turn aside from the present sue
cssses to consider why those successes have
been so long delayed. THE problem finds
. ready solution in facts then little regard
cd.
One of these facts is found in the nature
of the combsisnts. BstweeD the inhsbi,
tsnts Of Northern and Southern climes
there is this noticeable difference. The for
mer are slow to sct, but are capable Of great
and long continued action; the latter are
quick to act but lack that power of endur-
ance 50 characteristic of the Northern races
With their promptness of action, RESULTING
from q more active and excitsble nature is
also combined great fertility in expedienis
and aresdy power of organization. Hence,
IN the WAYS of Southern against Northern
races, when there has been anything sp.
preaching to equality in the contestants,
the South have won its greatest victories
in the beginning, the North in the end of
the contest. This law is of almost uni
verssl application in the wars of France
and England. The merculial Frenchman
cannot cope with the phlegmatie English
man. The commencement Of the reign of
Louis XIV was glorious; it ended in dis
sster sndshsms Nspoleons early victories
sre unparalleled in history; after twenty
years of war England chained him 10 st.
Helena. The Southern traitors, possessing
all those traits of character begotten bEa
genial cline, we're far more easily aroused
than the loyslists of the North; they acted
with greater energy and far more prompt
ness and the result was they met with un-
expected success. Still, in the end, the
truth Of history has been vindicated, and
the superiority Of the Northern races for
long wars again demonstrated. Northern
phlegm has again showed itself more than
q match for Southern dash
Another of the facts referred to as assist
ing in the solution of this problem-a fact
the force of which hss been little understood
is found in the peculiar organization of
American polity. The distribution Of pow
ers between the State and National Gov
ernments has both its advantages and dis
advantages. The reservation of certain
powers to the States prevents oppression in
the head the concentration in the nation
of all powers necessary for defense secures
permsnence and the respect of foreign ns-
tions. But in 8 case of meditated rebellion
and treason there is sn opportunity for the
eonspirstOrs to secure the State Govern
ments in their own hands. Succeeding in
this, they find ready made to their hands
powerfully constructed machines that they
can use TO accomplish their purposes of |
treason. This is what the rebels actually |
did. By artful management they obtained
the control Of the State administrations,
and then. at the proper time, they uaed
the power thus conferred to destroy the
nations life. Other rebels have hsd first |
to organize administrative torce before |
they could act with efficiency. This has
sometimes proved to be the most difficult |
part of thei; work. But in the South eff |
Gent organizations already existed in the |
State Governments, and the only step neces-
sary TO be taken was for them to organize |
central authority. The States willin ely lent |
their voice in that work, and then the |
creature they had made, with the most
unfeeiing ingrAtitude, trsmpled upon ali |
their rights. There can be no olestion,
viewing the subject either philosophically
or historically, that a centralized power is
better calculated 10 carry on war with
vigor than one where there is distribution |
of powers; and notwithstanding the mur-
murings Of some of the rebel States at the |
usurpstions of JEFF Davis, no doubt those
usurpations have prolonged the life OF the
COnfederacy. omitting the mention of
the great geographical obstacles TO be over
come, the persistent opposition to the new
policy Of our own administration at the
North, in the nature of the people engaged
and in the advantages the rebels possessed
in the State Governments, coupled with
the vigOr of their central administration,