The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-02-01
The CapituiattOn OF Paris.
VIEWS OF THE PRESS.

mournful joy.
The CapitulatfOn OF Paris.
| VIEWS OF THE PRESS.
From the Philadelphia Agc.)
But short time will settle all surmises
az to the designs of Prussia In relation to
| France. The issue must now be met. Will
| liam must act the magnanimous conqueror
or the narrow minded despot. He must de-
eide upon liberal policy, or clutch like a
miser the spoils he has won. France must
be allowed to resume her old path, subject
to reasonable restrictions, or be reduced
to mutilated and crushed nation.
The settlement of this question will reach
beyond the confines of France. If Prussia
is suffered to despoil and humiliate France,
other nations may soon come within the
influence Of a like malign planet. The iron
mace which broke to pieces the military
power of France may crush other crowns
into powder. Austria and Italy, Russia
and England, stood with folded arms while
France was struggling for mere existence.
II France Is circumscribed in her limits,
the wave of military absorption may soon
wash upon other shores. Thus the surren-
der of Paris is surrounded with circum-
stances OF highly momentous character,
and the subsequent acts of William and
Bismarck will be watched with intense
interest by the rulers of all the European
| Powers.
| From the Philadelphia Press
| The surrender Of Paris virtually ends
what will be known in history as the great
est of all the wars of the first three-quarters
of the nineteenth century. In point Of du-
ration others have exceeded, but none in
the rapidly with which battle has succeed
ed battle, the strange and almost uneXam-
! pied success which followed the for
tunes of one of the combatants from
the very outset, and the immense
loss of life upon each side. The cap.
itulation of Paris makes the third sur
render Of an entire army-trst McMahons,
| then BaZaine' sand now that oil Trochu. Inc
PrusSians have captured fully seven hum
dred thousand men since August I'd, when
the contest was initiated with skirmlsh on
| the heights Of Saarbruck, where the Prince
Imperial received his baptism of fire. The
loss in killed and wounded, i'll the agSre-
| cate, will amount to half million-an
awful sacrifice OF life, for which Louis Ma
poleon is mainly anSwerable. Ana
That Paris has fallen, we look for an early
peace in France. The armistIce agreed to
by Favre Will not very likely be accepted
by Gambetta and the Bordeaux Govern
mcnt, as we'll as the terms Of peace. These
men, clineiny to their old ideas OF glory
and the military supremacy OF France, Will
refuse to be bound by the treaty of Paris !;
but their refusal will not amount to much.
The Capitalization which has made Paris
the head as well as the heart of France
will compel peace.
But even in the event of the provlnclals
perssting in this mad struggle, the German
armies will be able to overrun the whole
country, from the English channel to the
Mediterranean sea, in week. The be-
sieging forces Of Paris are now turned
loose, and will be able to defeat any force
the French can put into the field.
| From the Philadelphia Inguirer.]
Germany claims that in taking Alsace
and Lorraine she not only takes that which
is essential to her own protection in the fu-
ture, but that she takes no more than what
is her own. BY the barbaric but admitted
right Of conquest, France took these pro-
vinces from her, and by conquest equally
barbaric, but equally admitted right, she
takes them back again. 1t is the natural
sequence of all wars and of all history that
those who take up the sword must submit
to the arbitrament of the sword.
The situation is hard one for France,
but in beginning this unholy struggle,
France assumed all those risks OF defeat
which every nation must assume Wnen IL
enters upon war. Among these risks, pre-
cedent from the beginning of the world has
established, is the possible loss Of territory,
and if the conqueror demands it, she must
give up her two provinces on the Rhine.
France has lost, and Prussia has won, and,
according to the old barbarism Of war, "To
the Tctor belongs the spoils." OF this war
it may be said that it is no more and no less
barbarous than preceding ones.
from the New York Herald.]
: Tho ctCfo ~, D.,,, hoe
proved powerless. Depending upon the
armies in the provinces, they have been dis.
appointed, and the only alternative of un.
conditional surrender was left open to them
The bitter cup Of humiliation is filled to the
brim, and it must be drained to the last
dregs. The very word surrender" il
J something so loathsome to the Parisans
That the enactiny of some dreadful scene,
some fearful catastrophe, an act at which
the world would gaze in horror,
would not surprise us if, in the madness o.
their despair, they consider the terms i'm
posed upon them are more humiliating thar
what they were led to expect. In view Of
the grand, noble, heroic defence which
Paris has made, let us hope that magnanlm
!, ity will prevail on the part Of the German
leaders, and that generosity to brave but
fallen foe will dictate a kind and Christian
|. treatment for those within the walls of un
happy Paris.
J From the New York Tribune
Now that the war in France is virtually
if not formally closed, it is high time for s
concerted effort to mitigate the sufterings
of it's surviving victims. Great Britain AND
other European countries will doubtless dc
nobly; but we, too, should promptly send
several cargoes Of food to the furnishing
millions of French. In their best estate
, the DeaSantry and urban laborerS of France
have little surplus beyond the hours
needs; in their country's present down.
fall and humiliation, they have nothing
Hundreds of thousands must perish OIL
want unless saved by voluntary contribu
tons of bread and seed from abroad. We
venture to suggest prompt organization
: for systematic and vigorous effort to bring
the needs of the wounded, the sick, the
houseless, the foodless myriads, home tC
every American hearth. If the movement
be properly inaugurated here, almost every
city and village in our broad land will gen
erollslv respond to it. Bear in mind thai
moments are precious, and that many must
die of disease induced by want and eX
posture before any help can reach them, and
that European charity will have been eX
hausted by the time our first contribution:
can reach French port.
from the New York Times.]
Every one admits the enormous super
Ority Of the German troops and officer!
throughout the campaign. The war prove:
that there is at present no army, or combs
nation of armies, in the world which car
stand before the German nation, every mar
in which is q well-trained soldier. The
world has been startled by the perfection o
the organization which less than fifty year,
1 4 L." 80