The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-03-31

WVcfW u!tU U SNCtWe.-CHARILS GUNNER.
The Danger OF the REORGANIZATION
Means Civil War.
After the Inauguration of President Lincoln,
in 1861, and while the newspapers and tho politi-
clans were still preaching and predicting peace,
the HERALD printed an article which proved
prophetic. In calm and dispassionate language
we showed that the march of events was in
the direction of war, and proclaimed that soon
the tread of armed men would be heard in
our streets. How soon that prediction was
verified is now matter Of history And as
history often repeats itself we may predict
civil war to-day as confidently as we predicted
it in 1861, unless, indeed, the struggle is
averted by the withdrawal of it's exciting
cause. Mr. Calhoun we'll understood, in 1882,
that high tariff for the South meant war
against the North, and if the South had not
been too weak for battle then the civil strife
would not have been deferred till 1861.
Slavery meant war from the moment
it was felt to be an antagonistic system
Of labor to that which prevailed in another
part of the country; consequently Mr.. Stewards
''irrepressible conflict meant, if it meant any
thing, that sectional antagonism in matters of
labor or business was the first step toward
civil war. 1t was not because slavery was
immoral that we fought over it, but because
while it continued either slave labor or free
labor must become improbable. All this
shows one important truth that is startling
in its reality namely, that imitation means
war.
Imitation means war-civil war pressed upon
the Atlantic States by the West and South
west. We have heard great deal lately from
these sections about asserting their power in
the legislation of the country Ii the West
has votes enough to rule Congress and the
country we are satisfied to be ruled by the
West. But the wildcat statesmen OF that in
cipient empire must remember that it is one
thing to rule, but quite another thing to
ruin. Initiation is ruin, dishonor, dis
grace The West shall not rule us
in this thing, making US beggars at
home and disreputable abroad We
demand that the West shall not legislate
to the discredit Of the nation, issuing paper
and calling it money, and issuing more paper
and calling it more money under the fippant
pretence that the country needs circulation.
Would pouring water into the heart send
blood through the veins? Shall the West be
allowed to consummate this crime against the
outcries Of all the old States which made the
West what it is? Shall every American who
dares to show his face in England or France
or Germany, or in Spain or Italy, ever be dis
honored because q few Western demagogues
have made it discreditable to be an American?
Shall the commerce of our great seaports be
stricken down and destroyed by a method
that no country can practise with impunity4
Other nations regard bullion as money-god
or silver-which has its intrinsic value,
whether it be stamped in the name
of the king or made into watches
and rings and bJouterie; whereas we
take the product Of paper mills and make it
into money by the aid of the printing presses
in the Treasury Department. And we con-
stantly remind ourselves Of our dishonor by
printing the portraits of some OF our best
fnanciers of the past on the wretched slips Of
paper which are the badges Of our discredit
This thing cannot go on forever, making our
disgrace and ruin deeper as it goes, and it is
best to understand the issue before it is too
late to avert it, Imitation means war just as
slavery meant war all the time from 1910 till
1860 New England, the Middle States, Vir-
ginia and the Carolinas do not mean that after
laying the foundations of the Republic the
West and Southwest shall ruin and discredit
them and the Republic together The
HERALD's prediction OF the tread of armed
men in 1861 was not more certain than a repe-
tition of that prediction now unless the newly
Hedged States, which think themselves wiser
than the "original thirteen learn wisdom
from the danger Of the hour