EUROPE AND AMERICA.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 7, 23 November 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

EUROPE AND AMERICA.

/--f- '-***• r Y TtwM.) " , " h \y •*' It » curious that We should be able *t this moment to turn to Germany, for an expJanait'on of the fanaticism Amiitca. The oldest group of ; States -in the^ world is now impelled^ to-extra-x ordinary action by tbe very same yearn-t^f-qgs and passions wbieh are convulsing ''the. country of Washington and .Franklin. The Fe*&*als,are bent upon *mainUihing political -nnionT; tlie Germans upon „ recovering political "unity. What Germany hasten for ages, tbat . the Amerioan Republic mignt be rer.pected to' befcome in the ' 'event of ■Southern success or NoVtberti failure* * We" sbould;See a Prussia on the Hudson "an'd' an Austria on the Mississippi, with -H&sseV and Hanovers perhaps in. the ; North-West, and Badens in the South.The result. would be precisely the same' loss of public strength which Germany' bat long experienced. AU the national ■ power would be consumed at home. For external action tbe resources of the Continent "would be next to useless. One, of Jts divisions would' counterbalance another, until the efficiency of ■the Whole would be neutralised, and united action would be almost as- im- ■ 'possible in .America as_it is found to "be in Germany. - There. is one feature in the oaae, however, from which the •Americans may derive a little instruction. Tbe federals are never tired of -asserting that tbe Union can only be '-dissolved at tbe -cost of eternal war. Now, if that is really the truth, it must .be owing to the inherent pugnacity of democracies ; for certainly the balance ' t)f power in the Germanic Confederation has proved eminently favorable to internal peace. The Germans have been prevented from fighting other people, but they have at any rate not fought each other, and tbeir political stagnation has been sweetened by profound repose. But they are not satisfied with it, and they are about to make one more attempt at^iniliitary unity. France lias a' population of about -35,*000,000 ; - Germany, -of about 45,000,000, and yet Germany stands in awe of what France may do. This is, because Franco is one State, and Germany thirty, ' These thirty States get on comfortably' enough _in ordinary times, but when war looms in, the distance they - find their body Corporate paralysed, Austria is a great Power, and Prussia is a great Powers Bavaria and Wurtemberg have each their armies, but Germany is nowhere. It is hardly , a political entity. Before it could act in its confederate capacity, before a real *' German force worthy of the name could take/ the field, a modern war would be over, and whole territories might have changed hands. Cannot i the German .house* be set in better order, * *s© as to hold its forces disposable, and play a good part against any challenger •whether, on the East or on the West ? f%Lst' is the question which Francis Joseph,^Emperor of Austria and Chief •Sovereign in Germany, proposes to a9k •of his brother . Princes at Frankfort. Tbe quaint old city has seen a good, many Y^trange 'gatherings, but none stranger^thantthat now- contemplated. Tbe representative- of autocracy, conservatism, and prerogative csilla a [Royal mass meeting,, a '-democratic convention of crowned heads, to -arrange a " platform " oi^a strong popular principles in the broad light -of political. -day, and with the -utmost p-ablici-ty -of procedure.* His Imperial , Majesty hopes to make <3erm*ny a "military, if not -political reality, and to see fatherland counting ! for a little more than at present in, the , • European world. For this chance he ' forgoes the traditions of his house, and ', as he has'of late had some experience •of constitutionalism as well as of** war, he is willing to make provision for the i I latter contiagency by some fresh work of the former' kind; - - It is certainly a strong temptation. We may 'guage the value -of unity by the uses, to which France can turn it. Relying upon a fusion carried by the insatiable Jacobinsto the utmost perfection of a political amalgamatiion, France asserts ber will with an absolute serenity o£ confidence. V She' qujetly- tells us that Europe can only be at peace while ' she is satisfied, and, the boast is actually justifiable.. Par tly, from -her unexampled advantages of geographical position, but mainly from too consummate unity and compactness of her political constitution, she can ..dictate to her neighbors, and either loftily pronounce that "the. Empire is Peace/ or " go to war for an idea.",' She shows her appreciation of her privilege even by her jealousies. She does ao% approve . unity jn other quarters. She has declared without disguise that' an united Italy would be prejudicial toiler, and that a strong, wellamalgamated Power either beyond the Alps or beyond the Rhine must be regarded as menacing 'her with injury and loss. She prefers Federations, conveniently constituted and comfortably balanced, the members of which can be elevated or depressed by the weight of her powerful" hand, , This is perfectly natural. On the European Continent real genuine unity Js at present tbe privilege of France", the gift would be, damaged by diffusion. But .Germany has a right to' bid for tbe blessings and what is, more to the , purpose , has the power.,, of doing so. She cannot, like , Italy, be hindered in the iwork. ,If she. is determined, she ca£fhave her way; but will- she "show any such resolution ?-■ We doubt it. It is the old story of private' jealousies conflicting with piiblic sprit; 1 Now and , then, a great crisis, of history, perhaps* the Princes of Germany may sigh for that unityTwhicn confers strength, but for the most part they, and perhaps their people ioo,,will prefer, "like the Southern States of America, to*maintaiif political independence at the " cost of political power." They will haVe no wish to take their Fatherland ,out of tbe regions "of poetry, They.know- full" well that they

.cannot, any more ithari tbe 'Americans,' "have two things at once-^State- sove*-. reignty and *a " strong central " Government. V The '^Kinir ,of,Pru9sja- looks' at this matter very much like" Governor Seymour, of New York. Francis Joeeph and" Abraham Lincoln are both desirous' of wielding a great" Power together to the terror of all opponents, but what the 'President and the . nation gain the* constituent-countries must lose. It is only in tKe capacity* for external action" that all will bewinners together, and in the' eyes of phlegmatic Germany -, the occasion for such action' would not often occur.-' Betterlive, theyjmay,thinfy as they.have lived, fairly balanced, not Uncomfortably settled, and relieved from the charges as well as the glories of conquest. Nationality is a fine" thing, but it costs a great deal of money, and often something more than 'money too. Mr Cobden was right when he said that small States Were" generally happier than largo ones. Your mighty empires are vety -apt to -be aggressive', and to promote their own " destinies "in an exceedingly expensive manner. We have got two-of these fabrics already — , a French empire in ' the West and a Russian empire in the East. Would | the peace of the world be promoted* by another, equally formidable and 'equally ambitious, established between them?) Would our quiet friends the -Germans* like to be started in a race of this kind ? ; They are now, it must be owned, a less powerful people than they might be. * The great Teutonic mass is never thrown into the scale altogether, and 1 is outweighed therefore by the superior organisations of Celts and Sclaves^ B.ut they are tolerably happy without either colonies or destinies, or, if they could believe it, even without a fleet. They have not ' much active power, but tbey could do a great deal in the way of resistance, and their popular prejudices are wonderfully consulted by thtir State divisions. They hare an element of division among them which is wanting in America. The war between the Federals and the Confederates, bitter as it is, is "at any rate not a religious war. Franc s Joseph, the chief,- man in Germany, wants a strong Government in place of a Federal executive so weak as to be good for nothing. That is exactly what the Washington politicians want. This executive has hitherto been the weak point in both ths American and Germanic" Confederacies, but we see what it costs to strengthen it in the former case. What the Northerners say about unity and stren*gl?B^is undoubtedly true, but they foyj^^that national power is not the deai^sj^Sbject of every man's heart. Mjr^£i|flfcrrson Davis knows just as well asWto^m. * Seward that divided America wijr lose weight in 'thfe councils of the' world, but that loss is~a7long way off, and is not half so impressive a consideration as the lossof immediate self-government. The truth is that millions of men diffused over an enormous Continent have never yet permanently concurred in their estimate of what ought to be- 'their, political object. Different conditions , create different views, different views i establish different interests, and different interests lead to separate communities. The old Empire of Germany crystallised ■ into independent States in obedience to the gradual operation of natural , laws. That these have never lost the old tradition of unity is perfectly true, and we sincerely wish that .they may discover some method of giving it a i more practical form: but- sectional jealousies and State claims are for- ' midable things to deal with whether iv - the Old World or in the New.