The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-06-23
OH Ar lie ST ON
SATURDAY MORNING., JUNE %, 1866.
The COMBAT IMMINENT.

WAS expected, never met. In tlS W. Wole u''
disappointed, as We foresaw that even if the AMI
bassadors of the respective powers had nj III
Paris nothing would have been gained. We kne y
perfectly we'll that in order to apeaceful soluti'no
the vexed question, concessions would be required
) from Austria, which that power was not prepared
to make. Accordingly we were not surprised to
read the ultimatum of the Vienna cabinet, hat
Austria would only consent to enter into Con
ference upon the condition that none of the cos.
ferring powers should come out of it with in:
crease Of territory. This was very shrewd l>'
viso and had the desired effect. The Congress
vanished into thin air. The bubble burst before
it was blown. Territorial aggrandizement Wa
precisely the leading motive with eeveral at least
of the contending powers (say NAPOLEON, V1cr sR
EMANUEL and his Prussian Majesty Take
Venice and the annexation Of Schleswig to Prus-
sia out of Congress, and there remains no griev-
ance requiring conference of the great powers
for it's settlement.
All hope of peace is now gone, and the dogs of
war may slip their leash at any moment Europe
now is ono vast military camp. From the banks
of the volga to the shores of the Atlantic from
the Apprentices to the Baltic, armed men are hur-
y
tions for the coming strife. But, from present
Appearances Germany would seem to be destined
to be the great battle field. This is by no means
the first time that country has been called to as
sumo that role. Again and again during the
eighteen Christian centuries have her fair fields
and rich vineyards been laid Waste,-cities, towns
and villages sacked,-the temple of God desc
Grated and the peaceful cot Of the inoffensive
peasant put; to the torch. But since 1914 there
has been no regular war Of any extent in Germa.
nv. The en1eues of 1848 and 1849 did not rise to
the dignity of;a war. The periodical sohleswig,
Holstein phlebotomy was local in it's effect, and
did not seriously disturb the system. The Aus
troItalian war of 1859 was felt only at the South
ern and Southwestern extremity Of Germany.
But now the tocsin resounds through all the land
The Land,oehr is everywhere called out. Armies
and fortresses have all been put on war footing.
Arms and equipments are being manufa ctured to
an enormous extent. We read Of express and
circus horses being "pressed" in Prussian towns
This looks like being in earnest.
The conscription falls heavy upon the people at
large; and the war being, from all accounts, very
unpopular throughout Germany, VIC need not
wonder that many should endeavor to escape the
onerous service by emigrating to the United
States. The present quarrel, whatever great
events it may ultimately give rise to, certainly
owes its origin to the ambitious designs of HERR
Won BIsMARE. The people were not consulted
fact it, we'll known that MARu'a nn+ro
policy was disapproved by the representatives of
the people. And it was strongly suspected that
he plunged headlong into this war to save his
ministry from defeat.
This then being, to all intents and purposes,
the origin of the war, we need not be surprised
to learn that peace petitions still continue to
come in at Berlin from towns and corporations in
the several Prussinn provinces ;-or that there is
great dissatisfaction among the solid bourgeoisie
at having to shoulder their muskets again in their
medimval days and fight the Austrians, with
whom they have no quarrel. To say nothing of
the immense expenditures Of money, which, Of
course, all must ultimately fall upon these same
classes and nothing Of the "betng" or quar-
itering Of troops upon private citizens and
peasants of very moderate means. All these
things, so long unknown in Germany, combine to
render the present war odious to a very large
number Of the people, "
in point of organization, is second to none in the
world. 1t has, for over d century, been the pat
tern Of standing armies. It is naobIized at short
notice. The esprit de corps, strong in every army,
is proverbially 80 in this. They are proud Of
their prestige, and especially as compared with
their natural and hereditary rival, the Austrians
The Prussian treats the Austrian with supercilious
hantei1r and at the same time is Jealous of the /
Austria has ever welded, and still COLI
tinues to WELD, in German affairs. And thus, un-
natural and unnecessary as this war must seem
to be to every rejecting mind we have no doubt
that the two opposing armies will engage each
other with ferocty that would do credit to Cos
sacks ard janissaries. No event could be more
lamentable than this fratricidal strife, when
Christianity.
The minor States of Germ any, We see by the
last advices still determined to preserve their
and are encouraged by NAPOLEON to
maintain this attitude. But we do not consider it |
practical for any length Of time. The opposing
armies are now arrayed against each other in
Hostein. The next telegram may announce the
cannon's opening roar.
Austria here fights at great disadvantage,
being long distance from her base, while Prus-
sa is as it were upon her own territory. Further
more, Austria, although she is said to have an
army of 100000 men in the field, being vulnerable
at so many points, must needs divide her force
into different corps d'a1mee, acting at widely
separated points, Italy, with large and en-
thusiastic land force, pressing from the South, |