The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-06-14
Oh A r L E.S T O N.
THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE IA, 1866.
THE EUROPEAN CONFERENCE.

THURSDAY MORNING., JUNE II, 1000
THE EUROPEAN CGNFERENCE.=
The destinies of over two hundred millions OF
the most civilized people on the globe are nan g.
ing in the scale at this time,-shortly TO % oe
cided by their serene highnesses at the approaoh
ing Conference in Paris. The eyes OF the Worlo
are tnrned to the French capital. Shall the many
vaxed and complicated questions that Tor years
have been harassing the Courts and people Oh
Europe. be brought to peaceful solution by these
wise and experienced diplomatists, or must the
illogical sword again be resorted to as the arbite
between contending nations, the most enlightene d
in Christendom? The sword, it is said, is the
tti,,a ratio,-the dernier resort, always at hand,
and yet it decides nothing. It is the expression
Of brute impulse,-whereas men can only be ruled
or convinced by force Of reason. Shall mankind
ever be relieved OF this crest incubus :? viii the
golden period ever make it's advent,
,W1e thewar drum throb longer, and the battle flags
In the Parliament Of man. the federation Of the world
The:e the common sense Of most shall hold fretful
And tho kindly earth shall sumber Tapped in universal
law. 4ss--
The gigantic proportions Of the general Euro
pean war, about to be inaugurated, are so fearful
as almost to stagger our reason. If the difficult.
ties that have convened the Congress shall fall TO
be ,,eaceably adjusted there will be q struggle,
euch as the world has not seen in over fifty years;
and if the modern war appliances and facilities
for destroying human life are brought into con-
sideration, it must be acknowledged that the ap-
preaching collision will far surpass any war in the
history of man. That such dire calamity may
be ayerted must be the deyout prayer OF every
well wisher Of his race, If the crowned heads Of
Europe cannot find better uses for their SUBJECTS
than make them food for villainous saltpetre, We
hope they will send them across the briny main,
to till these western wilds. There is work enough
here. and bread enough for all.
But to return to the Conference. We will now
look at some Of the most important questions to
be brought before it: 1.venetia. O. schleswig
Holstein. 8. The proposed reorganization OF the
German Confederation; and 4. The Danublan
principalities. The adjustment Of each Of these
questions is calculated to affect the "bslance OF
power,' and therefore the peace OF Europe.
Venetia was guaranteed to Austria by the treaty
of 1885,. the Emperor's title is as good lon the
tsright divine" prinoiple as that of the Queen OF
England to the possession Of the Kingdom Of Ire
land, and certainly better than the title OF France
to Nice and Savoy; that is, il years OF recog-
nized possession can!strengthen title. The first
serious attempt made to cxpel the Austrians was
in 1848, when the venetians caught the prevailing
revolutionary epidemic. This effort was 1rowneo
upon by every crowned head in Europe. 1t was
viewed as mere insurrection against lawful ana
established authority, and incontinently quasnea.
The French-Austro.Italia war in 1852, however,
changed the aspect Of affairs. Lombardy was
wrested from it's hitherto lawful possessor, ana
incorporated with Sardinia, more recently styleo
the Kingdom of Italy. The Italians have oeen
long impatient of the German yoke, and the Wnole
Peninsula may be considered q unit as REGARDS
their preference in the matter
This. howeversaa.s we have already remarked
has not heretotdsbesn the method pursued by
European so7sreigns in settling such questions.
II we are not much mistaken, the Poles nave, at
sundry times within the last few years, signlted
desire to recover their autonomy, but we are not
aware of their wishes having been responded to,
save at the point of the Russian bayonet, or from
the oannon's mouth. It is but just to the Gear,
however, to say that he has never been very pro-
fuse in his professions Of Democratic principles.
The French have set the great precedent OF popu-
lar sovereignty. There has been, since 1880, no
King Of France, but King OF the French. Ihe
Government is not only constitutional, but to oil
intents and purposes elective. The present En-
peror pretends to no other title for his crown than
popular suffrage. He is the the great patron OF
oppressed nationaities. And yet do we not believe
that even he is prepared to carry the doctrine to
it's logical conclusion. Suppose the two German
Provinces Of Franee,-Alsatia and Lorraine-were
to vote themselves back to Germany; what would
NAPOLEON say, and what would the French people {?
There would be but one voice against national
disintegration.
Nevertheless, are strasburg, Colmar, Muhlhau-
sen and Metz, German cities, quite as much as
Mentz, Cologne and Spires. The origin, trad-
tions habits, customs and language of the inh abb
tants Of these two provinces are all German, and
it is only bystrct legal enactment that the French
language has been gaining ground of late years
in the Cities The country people still speak their
German patois, just as their grandfathers did.
Almost precisely the same condition Of thing ex-
lists here. as was the case in the Elbe Duchies;
with this difference only, that we are not pre-
pared to say, that these Gallo-G German Rhineland-
ers have manifested any desire Of late to become
tlis-french-ised We have only put the case to il
lustrate the inconsistency of the Emperor's pro-