Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-08-06
THH BALANCE OF POWER.

4A10
The "balance of power" Tor, as the
French call it, the equilibrium is the
bugbear of Europe. To maintain this
phantom, senseless and cruel a
have been waged, vast standing armies
and navies have been maintained In
times Of profound peace, aud the free
development Of nations has been re-
tarded, and In some cases crushed out.
And yet, although all this a OF
crime and folly has been in continual
process of preparation for three hum
dred years, the real object Of it remains
unaccomplished; the equilibrium has
not been preserved, nor have ambitious
powers been checked in the indulgence
of their p~roclivities. 1t was the v
whelming power Of Spain In the six
teenth century which called into being
the doctrine of the balance of power.
The very existence Of France and
England was threatened, and hence II
was natural that they should seek
alliances with such other nations as
were able to aid them against the
common enemy. 1t is curious, now,
to look back to that time and note what
nations there were in Europe; and by
comparing the condition of the CONT
nent then with Its present state, we
shall perceive what wonderful changes
have taken place, and how little the
balance of power has influenced them.
Spain was the predomlnating power.
and Charles the Fifth vas sovereign
not only of that country, but Of Ger
many, Flanders, a large portion OF
Italy, North aud South America, and
the West and East Indies. 10 oppose
him the only powers Of any conse-
quence were England and France; for
Prussia was not then In existence. and
Poland was too far of. As for Russia,
just recovering from the horrors Of
Tartar domination, she was not con-
sidered anything more thah a nation
Of savages, Of no account in the affairs
of Europe. But the Turks were the
terror of Hungary and Germany, and
almost as powerful in the East as
Spain was In the West. In those days
Austria was a duchy, Hungary was an
independent kingdom and Italy was
parcelled out into q variety of small
States. Contrast all this with the
reality Of 1870. Both Spain and Tur-
key. the terror Of 1870, have sunk into
third rate powers. Prussia, which had
no existence then, Is now one Of the
greatest of the military empires Of the
world. So is Russia /; while Poland.
which formerly looked down with dis
dain on her barbarous neighbor, and
had su6jugated a large portion of her
territory. Is now the AFFECT victim Of
the latter. The Empire Of Germany
having fallen to pieces through the ex-
haustion occasioned by the Thirty
Years War, has given place to that Of
Austria and Of Prussia, while Italy.
the prize for which the rival o
archs of France, Spain and Germany
had during so many ages %contended,
Is now free "from the Alps to the
Adriatic,"a united and powerful ma
zion. Now the theory OF the balance
of power did not prevent the partition
Of Poland nor did 1t hinder Austria
from tyranizing over Italy; neither
did It refuse its sanction to the Holy
Alliance" nor condemn 1t for saturat-
Ing Italy, Hungary and Spain with the
blood Of patriots. In spite Of the
equilibrium" England possessed her
self of a vast empire on this continent
and In India, and Russia has been stea'
Oily aggrandizing herself in Europe
and Asia. Il was as much As all Eu-
rope could do to check the progress OF
France under the First Napoleon, and
it is possible that some such difficulty
NAV occur to the Second. The balance
of power has been fruitful Of treaties,
the greater number Of which have been
tor up. and more of them will yet
have to be. It has involved the great
Powers In false promises to maintain
the neutrality Of the little ones, and
these obligations, never faithfully
lived up to, will again in all prob
ability be broken during the present
war. Belgium and Switzerland are
two OF these guaranteed States; but
they lie temptingly In the way of the
two great belligerents, both Of whom
are parties to the guaranteeing trea-
ties. How long will they respect
these pieces Of parchment? How long
was the independence Of Cracow res
pected, when 1t interfered with the
schemes Of Austria and Russia? AL
EUROPE ndS Occh III
since 1t had a history, and no Prag'
matte Sanction, or wars Of Spanish OIL
Austrian succession. or Councils o
Vienna, or Paris, or London have been
able to secure anything like perma'
hence to the map of that continent
Countries which once were "geograp'
tcal expressions" are now living real
tiles. and those which once ruled the
earth have become things OF the past
All which proves the futility OF these
..balance of power" combinations to
direct the course of events. lfa more
signal instance of the worthlessness o.
s'the balance of power" doctrine be
needed, 1t can bs found in the rise Of
our Republic, which. within less than
a century after its birth. has become
one of the leading Powers ofthe world
OsE of the latest notions is the birth
card, resembling a wedding card, but
bearing the name Of the new comer'
and the date of his advent, with the
initials of his parents.