National Republican., 1876-12-27
Possibilities of Another Civil war.

Possibilities of Another Civil War.
1t is queer thipg-a little Of bufissque-to
have dismissed The Centennial display and be
almost instantly discussing u civil war. Here
listen when cannot talk, and have channels Of
wisdom turned through me from all sorts Of
leaders. 1 have hesitated to come to any con-
clusion about It all until now, when feel satis-
ned that war talk is bluff, and that government,
very much as always, Is going on peacefully ex-
cept for more bluster.
The legality Of anybody's case IN the essus beHi
I do not take up. Some casus beHi, or show of Q
fight, always exists provided there be force and
disposition enough to do 1t. But we have now no
such ighty interest at stake as 4,ooo,o slaves
valued at 500 average the head Eight hundred
millions of dollars invested and recognized as
That was the rebellion; a vaiorous and imperial
attempt to save so much property.
It was nation.the slave emPire-by all which
boundaries, distinct frontier, an exchequer and
credit. Slavery was such thing in the South
teal nation would have given it up without q
hght. They fought. They lost. They had no
Internal conflict about It, nor had we, who fought
the dead, the living and even the cripples were
happy. Our only internal conflicts were at Balti-
riots. The present fight, If contemplated. is for
about "a, ooa Offices, worth as much on the average
to the holder as slave was at $40. II is for no
other property than those brief or feudal teuures.
As to rights-if mere rights are worth suicide for
them-the right is both divided and disputed.
passion could make the residue or excess Of right
on either side cause Of a great war now. riot
is always possible; coup detat Is never possible
among free school people except BY the Gov
eminent itself
Louis Napoleon, a bankrupht, with an un.
equaled alliance to a mighty frame-itself
usurped-wss able to seize an ignorant France
which had only one city to rule and think through.
Even there his usurpstion was to meet with ever
occurring moral opposition until It fell by both
the German and Commune-the invader and the
infdel. No other revolutions are record in
where the military politicians, ever tussling for
the Offices, overthrow each other. No such am
bilious generals live here; no such ignorantly
doeile masses, bred to partisan warfare, live
here; no such acclsmations greet such petty
usurpers. Authority and moral resistance are
We have never had either legitimate king, a
pretender or Napoleon.
The present possibility Of war Is merely analo-
for a war, generally repressed by fear. The poll
ticians represent the criminals; they want some
thing they can get Il even at the expense Of
repeat 1t, If it could break out would be the sx
termination Of the class that expected to prot BY
m.n 1ne nSn a set Of
whoever rolls the drum, not having q commission
to roll it. The business Of citizens is to submit
to force, except against the foreigner. In wash
tngton the only people OF auy race or color who
talk war are people out Of pocket and e1pec-
tation If their side loses s-mere politicians,
generally hireling stump-speakers, mortgaged
contractors, and folks who expect to get
little control In the next Administration. A
few others are embittered against indlvid-
uals who may share patronage or honor on
one side or the other; the longer they have been
embitted the more desperate Is their talk. A fel-
low sat down by me at table the other night who
swore that war would come without hls candi-
dates rights, and all at once asked: "Where can
borrow free pass to New Yorkf' Indeed, the
impunity with which men arrogate is in re-
verse proportion to their influence. We seem TO
have fallen into habits Of loose vituperation and
fmputstion, and cities like Washington incte In
weak men confidence and in strong men snbmis-
sion. The average jobber is always q revelation
ist, because he crawls under q doorstep when the
platoons march by. The distress existing In this
country has no voice for the next war. The Prssi-
dency, although contested, was never so great
magistracy, nor to covet half so much as tofear.-
Laertes in the Graphic.