Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-10-22
War between States and Europe's War
In Iom- lie
Editorial In Ioui.,il

iHcie arc some Strikin. sim!litudes
between the War OF the knisers i'm
Europe ana the War OF Secession in
America.
Except in the iulf States there vas
IN 1851 no s;rons Secession sentiment.
The Gulf states drew the border state.
after them. An overwhelming ma
Iority of thc soldiers who later fought
IN the Confederate armies chung 10 the
Union until III" fall OF Sumter and III.
call FOR troops from Washington made
decisive line Of cicaval." between tn"
sections. Then II was and only thc,,.
wal actual ANA tho debate ended. tina,
they went with their own section.
hcr" wr have contrast. rather than
parallel. for In Germany IT,. people
had nothing u do with IL. War Was
upon them before ;hcy knew Il
The extremists uf The South clam.
orcd for our rights ia the territories
The thcorixers OF Germany clauoI.d
for IA place in The SUN" In each in
stance. II was as The cry Of II child for
the moon.
There was no territorial right"
from which the South wns excluded.
carrying amy practical value. Slavery
WAS already doomed. II Could not 90
or be taken. where II was not wanted
Or whore the physical ami climatic
conditions were hostile. Thc instItu-
ton was elietc and dying. Che trend
OF modern thought all over ,na world
Was set nuainst it, Eut had 4, been
otherwise war innugurat.l rs the
Gulf states in It's 'lcfcns" was bound
10 end with IT'S destruction. no matter
which side might win.
The Parallel.
Now for the parallel. There was
no place in the sun from which Ger
many was excluded Her ships ialen
With her wares aud products sailed
every sea- IN freedom and security.
She was meeting and heating her com
mcrc"l rivals IN MANI markets. Made
in Germany" had become takin:
trade mark WHAT had Germany to
get by going TO war? IA little as the
Southern States of America. "a plac"
In tho SUM-" like Our rights III the
territories was wholly illusory and
misleading.
That one Sou,hron could whip YiX
Yankees with corn-stalk," whcrcwith
aulliblc minds at the South were in
aatcd corresponds 80 IN" Gc:mam!c
claim OF 'supcrman."
In each case war began in "A fury of
uncalculatin@ pas"i.n. Blond h:stcr!a :
POSSESSED the Southern people. The
Immense Gis2arity between the re-
source. Of the South and the resources
OF the North was uncrnsiiercd. That
the south was bound to win was
the universal belief Cotton was king
WOu.h DC IDTcSU !Itcl enc '
In like manner Germany Sc; out 20 /
rush Belgium aud reduce Paris--Eu.-
lands hands tied in Irc!and--and then ,
having ovcrrun France ana overcome /
the i'rcnch--to turn her resistiess alIEa ,
upon Russia. II made a pretty enough :
shown; on paper
The South was not prepared for war
Germany--it had no such Fighting ,
mach!nc-but it was better prepared /
than the North, and winning tho first /
victories. was able. In spite OF tho dis (
parity OF forces and resources To pro- /
long the struggle four years
AS late as 1864 "A National ConVcn- B
ton, nominating General Mcclellan for .
president, declared the war a Failure /
Throughout the succeeding presidential /
campaign, Mr. Lincoln was often in
distress OF mind Yet at that .
very moment, both General Lee and ,
Genera! Johnston knew that the Con- !
fcdcracy had but short time 70 live.
waist among the better advised among
Southern mon IL had begun to lie whis- :
pcred that the bottom must soon drop .
ont OF the tub And, sure enough /
after an example Of prnwc3s. endurance
aud skill, never surpassed. in the early B
days Of lS65 the starved and ragged /
fabric Of the Confedcracy fell in Il heap.
helpless mass. You didn't whuop ,
u.s. said an old Confederate soldier.
holding ON to tho hand OF General !
Fred Grant. affcctionatcly. on the oc-
casion OF the dedication OF the statue
to General stephen ID. Lee i'm the Ma
tional Cemetery at Hicksburg, You
didn't whoop us, Fred--you Jest wore
us OUT"
Forecast of the End.
Something like this will happcn 10
the Kaiser alliance. II is no more in
the books for Germany to win than it
was in the books for the Confcdcracy
TO win. If Germany could win the world
woalG not be lit To live i'm. We can
now easily picture to ourselves what
would hare followed the triumph OF
the South and the establishment of Il
Southern Confcdcracy upon the North
American continent. leaving two ex-
haustcd contestants to become the prey
OF European Intrigue. setting the clock
OF freedom back Il century. and split
ting noble union into perhaps Il dozen
weak and warning fragments. to re-
peat In the New World the mistakes
and misadventurcs of the Old.
1t is just as easy To foresee that the
triumph OF Germany would remand
creation into an armed camp, the CEN
fury before us a human slaughter