lic service demoralized. Floyd and his fellow-conspirators had
done their work thoroughly. It did not take long for the people of the
North to rally to the defence of the government, and for an army to be
formed capable not only of defending the loyal States, but of striking a
blow at the Confederacy. With the National credit restored, an abundance
of currency provided for national needs, and the public departments
cleared of Southern sympathizers, the North entered upon a conflict which
could have but one ending should the North remain steadfast.

The weakness of the South, from a military standpoint, was in the fact
that men lost could not be replaced. The North could replenish its
depleted armies; the South could not. With men therefore of the same race
and equal in soldierly qualities arrayed against each other, one side
within measurable distance of exhaustion and the other with inexhaustible
human resources to draw upon, the war became an easy sum in arithmetic,
provided the stronger party should not cry "enough" before the weaker had
reached the exhaustion point. The battles on comparatively equal terms
were fought, therefore, in the early part of the war, the decisive
battles in 1863, and the closing struggle between the gasping Confederacy
and the Union stronger than ever, in the last fifteen months of the
conflict.

In the North, notwithstanding the immense armies put in the field, there
never was a time except in brief periods of riot and disorder, when the
usual bustle of humanity was absent from the cities and towns. Commerce
and industry went on with accustomed activity. While Southern cities
looked like garrisoned graveyards the North had never worn a busier or
more prosperous appearance. With such a large population there should
have been no reason for conscription, but when conscription was deemed
requisite, there ought to have been no exemption on the ground of wealth.
Every able-bodied drafted man ought to have been obliged to serve,
without the privilege of a substitute, and no money payment should have
secured release from service. The obligation to defend the country rests
upon all, but if there is any distinction, the rich man has more interest
in protecting the government which shields him and his possessions from
danger than the poor man. European nations make no exemption on account
of wealth or position, and the American Republic certainly should not
have given such an example.

The people o