THE WAR IN AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 674, 29 October 1864, Page 20

THE WAR IN AMERICA.

"' ' (Prom the Daily Times, Oct. 25. 1 ) ' We think we are Justine I in predicting for the civil war in America a conclusion

brought about, not directly by military " success on one side or the other, but by the force of public opinion. That popular opinion in the Northern States is undergoing a transition, no one who has the opportunity of judging can doubt for a moment. The time of rampant enthusiasm in the Federal cause has passed away, and now the question has become to be more dispassionately discussed. The period oi excitement has given place to one of deliberation, and the change of ideas is no less striking. After two years and a half of the

greatest civil struggle the world has ever

seen, the position of the contending parties remains substantially the same. The North entered on the work of subjugation confident in its vast resources and in the justice of ita cause. The sentiments, of the Northern people were undoubtedly, at the outset of the war, thoroughly enlisted in the cause of the Union, and of what they considered Liberty. The earlier periods of the American war were marked by in ten • sity of feeling on both fcr'es Apparently there was a strongly denned principle to fight for. For the time being, the Northenera lost sight of the inconsistency of their cause ; — they 6imply saw the glorious structure of the Union threatened with destruction, and they entered con amore into the struggle for maintaining its integrity. They were . not alone in believing they could crush the attempt df the Southern States to throw off the supremacy of the North. The whole "world regarded the contention as one that would be speedily resolved by the superior ■resources of the Northern States. It was a long time before the full ptrength of the litter hatred of the South to Northern domination came to be recognised. Few could have conceived that the rich planters of the South were prepared to endure the sacrifices they have submitted to, for the mere sake of upholding their political freedom. A review of the, military ahd naval resources of the North for the time forbade the idea of successful opposition to them. No wonder the Northern . people confidently anticipated not only the speedy supprc sion of the rebellion, but a restoration of the Union on a basis framed' on Northern principles.

But time has proved the fallacy of these anticipations. The spectacle has been presented of a people numerically inferior, and placed at an enormous disadvantage in almost £very condition, successfully resisting the attempt to coerce them by ao enemy immeasurably superior to them in the possession of warlike resources. With their ports blockaded, with their chief and almost only source of national wealth closed— without navy, and dependant upon outside channels only for the supply of warlike material— the Southerners have not only held their ground, but have proved to their would-be conquerors the hoplessness of the task they have undertaken. One might ransack History in vain to find instances of greater sacrifices and of more indomitable patriotism than have been presented by the people of the Confederate States. The war with them has not been waged with hirelings ; every grade of society has furnished its quota of enthusiastic champions. From a mere struggle for the de. Jence of a rightly or wrongly conceived right, the war has, with the Southern people, become a struggle for independence — for very life. The original ground of quarrel has been merged and extended, and Slavery, aa an institution, is no longer the watchword of the South. With the , North it has tjeen different. The first period of boastful confidence once passed, war lost the hearty moral support of the people it at first possessed. From a people's war — from a truly national and patriotic struggle— it has lapsed into one in which political ambition and national vanity are the moving influences. It is nothing but tbe vanity of the North and the political ambition of Northern statesmen, that keep alive the war. It is the blind vanity which cannot— or will not— , see the futility of attempting to subjugate the South, that in spite of every disaster Winds the eyes of the Federaf Government to the actual course of events. It is political ambition which resists every attempt . at compromise or concession. But national vanity and political ambition have their* limits. Nothing is so strong a corrective of the former sentiment as self-

interest, and the time has arrived when

from mansion to cottage the pressure of the war ib felt and felt heavily. In spite of the repeated efforts of the Government and of a venal press, the public iffind is no longer susceptible to the appeals made to it. With the shoe pinching all over, the question naturally arises how is the pressure to be removed. Sentiment is^ dying out arid matter of fact reasoning is taking its place, and the result of this change ia the unpopularity of the war. Frantic attempts are being made to keep alive the i£maining embers of enthusiasm, but it is

apparent they are made in vain. Every fresh military disaster only intensifies the public dissatisfaction, and since the utter failure of Grant's campaign, it has burst forth stronger than ever. This is evident, from the comments of the Northern journal?, once so blatant and confident. The New York Daily News in an article on Grant's operations agiinst Richmond, waj'S : —

Mr Lincoln is more fnilv informed than perhaps anyone else that Grant's army, almost annihilated, str.nda to d »y, in spirit and fa fact, a mere wreck of ils former self pooped up within its pnt<-enchmeuts in a'stnte of sipge He is doubtless convinced that notwithstanding the accidental escape of fiat city riming; the late formidible raW Mto Maiyland, Washington is perhaps this moment ia mufh more imminent danger than Richmond cf siege' and sack. These conMrie-ations m<>y wpII dispose the mi>.d of our auto:ratij joker to mGa^ur-s of compromise.'

The New York Journal of Commerce says :—": — " The one long, loud, universal " burst of disapprobation from Republican "and Democrat- which has greeted Mr " Lincoln's assurance that he will not stop " the war till slavery is destroyed, proves " conclusively that he is no exponent of " the opinions of the people of the North.', The New York Tribune sarcastically seconds President Lincoln's last call for more men, in the following language; — " Patriots, your bleeding country calls ' loudly for your aid i Most of her soldiers are still unpaid the money due 4> them on the Ist instant; heavy requisitions impend over her treasury; while " the currency, perniciously expanded beu- cause her liabilities could not otherwise v be met, can only be contracted by you " lending her the means. 1 '

The New York correspondent of the London Times thus describes the state of public opinion : —

Of tbe_ indifference, not to say the contempt with which Mr Lincoln's appeals for assistance are every where received, to avoid believing that at last the people Bre 10-ing heait in the war, and that if Mr Liucoln cannot repel invasion and cir.quer the f'outh by the abundant means already placed at tii3 disposal they are coming to the conclusion that peace cannot be made too soon. There is no lo ige r aiiy enthusiasm for the war, unless it be in the counting-houses of those who are making money by it. Even thechurchehsye lost f&ith, and Dr Oheever sees nothiog but ruin iv the war, if Mr Lincoln is to l>e left to conduct it. The foreign element, both of the Irsli and the Germins, wired enters so largely into the composition of society ia New York, is notoriously oppo3ed to any further hostilities* People who a year a?o spoke freely of jhe sufy'tisatioa of the South have sp changed their ftriaions as to declare publicly, not oniy (hat the Suth cannot ba conquered, but that the North ought not to strive any longer to accomplish a purpose so fatal to its own liberty.

When one takes into consideration the enthusiasm of the Southerners and their continued military successes, the opinion is fairly justified that the Federal cause is hopeless. It is stated by a well-known American, Mr Horace Gxeely, " Colonel " Jacques and MrGilraore, the latter more ( " widely known as Edmund Kirke, author " of ' Among the Pines" went to Rich- " mond with the full knowledge of the " President, intent on devising or discover- " ing some ground of accomodation or " .adjustment between the belligerents now " devastating the Republic, and appear to " have been treated with signal courtesy, " and even generous hospitality. Mr Gil- " more gives the net product of the un- " official mission in this piquant passage: " — * Jefferson Davis said to me last Sun " day, and with all his faults', I believe him " a man of truth,' ' This war must go on " till the last of this generation falls in his " tracks, and his children seize his musket " and fight our battles, unless you acknow- " ledge our right of self-government. We " are not fighting for slavery. We are " fighting for independence ; and that, or " extermination, we wilt have.' "

The Presidential election will probably bring forward more strongly the growing distaste of the Northerners to the war, and if the Democratic party carry their candidate, Mr Dean Richmond, his ascension to the presidential chair, may be the first step towards an accommodation.! That Lincoln will be re-elected is highly improbable, for he has made it evident that no terms of compromise can be arrived at so long as he holds the reins of power.