The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-07-28
THE sTRdNGER's NOTE BOoK.


moro ono sees OF il the moro ono admiroS IT..
Its dull and dark sides are numerous. yet step
by stop one gots used to them. and begins to
look at them ~ ut something quito natural
But when itdisplays any OF it7 grand and bright
sides it stuns the world.
The civil war WIS ono of the instances Ia
which the errat features of American character
were first strikngly shown. Never was var
more snnguinary. Seldom have moral and ma
tcrial interests OF such magnitude been at stake
in an armed conflict. Yet. u few ycurs haNo
scarcely elapsed. whom everything u.s. forgotten.
and North and South are parts OF the same fam
lily again.
And now look at Europe. The Spaniard and
the Basque are ready TO cut each others throat
any day. Tho Mussulman and the Christian on
the Balkan Peninsula 70 to di-ombowclling
each other whenever they get the slightest
chance to do so. Tho Poles would poison every
Russian If they could. and the russians would
hang every Polo il they were not ashamed. The
English and the Irish are only waiting for 1T
opportunity to break each others ribs and
skulls. 1hc Ncapoitan hates the Picdmontosc
lust rs much as the Bavarian hates the Prus-
sian.
In all these cnecs tho cause OF tho hatred is
old and worn out. and without any substantial.
practical meaning nowadays. Yet in some of
these Instances H. has lHstrd for two or thrce
centuries. and dos not show any sign Of abate-
mrnt. Here. ON tie contrary the cutse of the
struggle WAS Of immense vital. as well as intel
lrctuai magnitude. Yet the moment the actual
conflict was over. everything was settled No
rorrminations are to be- heard; no pcrsccu-
tons Ia bc seen. The former combatdnts are
friends again. and faithful members vi the same
rot hrrhood.
Take the laA elections again. Tho n.sht was
U.,r u Ia III
contest IA close as could well be- imagined.
Fraud was undoubtedly pcrpctratcd. Yet at the
appointed day and hour forty millions OF people
have quietly submitted to what was represented
to be- the verdict of the ballot box Under the
same circumstances thousands Of lives and mil
lions Of money would have been sacrificed in
any other country. and either anarchy or dcs-
potism would have come to crown the whole
busincss.
Tho present strikes and riots are another in
stance Of these admirable features Of the Amer
lean national character. A hundred thousand
closely allied men become at Il given moment
masters Of all the communications Of the conti-
nent and have property To the value of two thou
sand millions at their mercy. What would they
not have done in Europe under similar circum-
stancesf With the facilities these men had to
arm themselves. one-lth Of their number
Noulu nave be'n enough IN any European
country to march on the capital. upset the Cow
eminent and establish general chaos. The
mon who started the great French revolution.
who bcheaded kings and noblcs redistrbutcd
property all over the country. and became the
terror of the whole world. counted their ranks
by the hundred not by tho thousand. Here the
rising Of hundred thousand men results in "A
dozen or two killed. few buildings burned.
and slight impcdimcnt to business for a day
or two. Why the beer riot of Frankfort a few
years ago. or an Ango-1rish riot was never
settled cheaper. And when the thing is over.
there Is no concentrating. no shooting hang
ing. or hanshng people. In n few days there
will probably not be even any ill-fceing between
the two opposite camps. II this is not wonder
full | don't know what is.
Facts Of this kind make one naturally anxious
to find their explanation. volume could be
written. If all the causes Of this peculiar condi-
ton of things were To be enumerated. one or
two II them. however. are on the surface, and
don't require much space for exposition.
The first the of power. The
fact that there is no main point for the attack
necessarily dsahlcs the assailant Every State
being sef-supporting and scf-proterting
what substantial difference would II have
made had the rioters marched on Washing
ton and captured Hayes. Evarts. Schurz. and
to,de Ia bOhdiqHeY suppose citizens Justus
Schwab and David Conroy had tho pluck
10 take possession Of the Capitol and proclaim
themselves dictators Who would have taken
notice Of them? They would have TO wage war
on every one Of the States and conquer every
one OF them. In Europe. on the contrary. the
moment the central power Is seized. everything
is seized with it. This is the chief reason why
revolutions are liable to take place at any mo-
mcnt in any Of the European countries. aud can
never take place in the North American Union.
The consciousness of this popularity Of tho
social ediicc of this country has made people
naturally lcnicnt hero A Dunton or n Robe
SPHERE. Mazzini or Karl Marx may be. or
seem to be. very dangerous in Europe. but
they would have been harmless here. for in
no case could they have scizcd the power
and imposed their theories or their caprice upon
the country. Consequently If Il may appear
desirable in Europe 10 get rid of them by means
Of execution, Punishment. or any similar expe-
dent, it would be- cowardicc to do 50 here.
1t is cowardice. too. and stupidity in the
bargain. to cry out. Ms many people do just now
for the in 'roase of the Federal army. and the
STRENGTHENING of the Federal power. The men
WHO DO So want simply 90 shit their duty on
somebody cl-''s shoulders. They ought To- un-
drrstand that the weakness of the central power,
ana inc sur N-in tl every one Ol ill' states, form
the best guarantee of liberty. They forget the
Old saying that what is sauce to the goose is
sauce To- the gandrr. 4 regular army of hum
drej thousand mon might have prevented the
strikes, or made "A more sanguinary execution
of the rioters. But the same army night have
made Grant an Emperor and Belknap "a Mar
shal.
Another happy popularity Of this country is
that the minds of It's people are not theoretical
Tho protractrd and fierce struggle for exist
en- e carried on in Europe for centuries pnst
has rendered people there meditatiyc and ia
nutical Men think altogether too much IN Eu-
rope. Hero man acts first and thinks after
ward. His acton -, therefore. determined by
purely practical business considerations of the
moment. II he constru Is any theory at all. he
constructs il a ppsieriori. and in analy2ng the
results of his action. he is just IA ready To ac-
knowledge that he acted like a fool. as he is
ready Ia take credit 90 himself IL will not
fight for an idea. lie fights for a concrete tam
gihle expression of ii. lie fights nrrccly. hut
not innatcally, and Is ready at any moment to
accept reasonable compromise, The rioters