New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-28
The Great Parallel

pie had TO decide the question Whlch to"
faces the British and French people. in
the spring Of 1864 the whole North had
looked forward 70 Grants campaign for
Richmond with hope and confidence. Get
tysburg and Vicksburg had been won, the
campaign in Tennessee had turned. there
were obvious evidences Of the beginning
Of the decline of the resources OF the
South. The Confederate press no longer
talked Of peace dictated at Washington
rather il declared the war had become
deadlock and on the defensive it claimed
the South was invin,ble.
But few months later the terrible costs
and the bitter disappointments of the cam
paien from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor
had brought its consequences. Losses more
terrible and more sustained than the Civil
War had hitherto inflicted had not brought
victory. Grants brilliant reputation had
been dinmed by what seemed then fail
ure. and before Petersburg the army of
Lee stood as firmly as the Germans now
stand at the Somme.
In that hour, as in the present, there
we're not lacking those who agitated for
peace men and women moved by the hor-
ror of the slaughter, men and women UNI
nerved by the terrible summer and the
relative failure. To them peace at any
price and under any condition seemed bet
ter than further killing. "Erring sisters,
20 in peace!" became quite as familiar as
H. c;,,;Iar Ue1oroneO IF today
The question was referred to the peo-
ple of the North. There was a direct
vote in the national election Of 1864. And
the voice of the people of the North was
unmistakable. All hope of any end but
decision vanished when the votes had
been counted and the determination of the
millions of the plain people" who were
bearing the burdens, the sorrows and the
tragedies of the conflict was made mani
:est
And this vote was determined by one
thing. Looking clearly and calmly, with
prophetic vision, the people of the North
in that day perceived that it would be i'm
possible TO attain enduring peace on this
continent if the Union were shattered.
They saw their future and the future Of
their children face to face, and they willed
that the war should go on. They per-
ceved that all the terrible sacrifices of
the previous years would go for nothing
If there were not a final decision.
There were not lacking in 1864 European
statesmen and sovereigns eager to inter
yene. There were not lacking humani-
tarians at home and abroad who argued
for peace and appealed to their govern
ments to proffer their good services. What
is happening here now happened in Brit
ain and in France in 1864. Had Abraham
Lincoln been defeated, peace would have
come as the result of foreign influence,
but the American people perceived this
and Abraham Lincoln was reelected.
We Americans must remember our own
history to-day. With the same clarity,
the same vision which the great crisis in
our history revealed half century ago,
he people Of France and of Britain, the
mothers and the fathers of those who are
dying in Flanders and Picardy, are en-
visaging the future. Their spirit, their will,
'heir determination arc what ours were
equal suffering has developed equal con-
s,ancy, courage, inspiration.
Let Us not forget what we escaped be-
cause our fathers and our mothers had
the courage and the vision to suffer and
destiny and free from all the perils Of
frontiers and quarrels, because the war
was fought 10 its finish and the question
Of secession was sbolished for all time.
Let US not forget that for democratic
Europe our example is precious example
and an inspiring parallel.
Let MS not forget, also, that peace now
In Europe would be precisely the thing
peace IN 1864 would have been in America.
Now, as then, the war is approaching its
decision, but now, as then, the great ques-
ton is not decided. Nor should any man
or woman ever forget the great question.
IL was posed the hour in which Germany
INVADED Belgium. II was raised yester-
DAY when German masters in Belgium
adopted he methods Of the ancient
Pharsohs and drove people before them
into slavery. II was raised by the Lusi-
tania, il is being raised in the plains Of
Rumania. where new reports of German
barbarities reveal the fact that the Ger
man idea lives and marches still.
We have no interest in the question Of
frontiers; We have no stake or concern in
the matter Of the possession Of CONSTANT
noplc or the partition of Asia Minor. We
arc as little concerned with some Of the
incidental issues Of the Great War as was
Europe with some phases of the Civil War
But wc are interested in the preservation
Of humanity, Of civilization and Of law
from the assault which the Germans have