Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, December 23, 1872, Page 4

kS *“ 9HE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE: MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1872 TERMS OF THE TRIBUNE. ETME OF SUBSCRIPTION (PATABLE IN ADVANCE). Daily, by mail Tri-Weekly.. Parts of a year at the samorate. To prevent delay and mistakes, bs suro and give Post Ofiice address in fall, including State and Counts. Remittances may bo made either by drat, oxpress, Post Ofico order, or in registered letters, at ourrisk. TERMS TO CITY SUDSCRIDERS. Daily, delivered, Sunday excopted, 25 conts per wesk. Daily, delivered, Sunday fncluded, 30 conts per wook. Address THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, ‘Corner Madison and Dearbora-sts., Chicago, il TRmEUSE Branch Offics, No. 403 Wabash-av,, in the Bookstora of Messrs. Cobb, Andrews & Co., whero ‘adrertisements snd subscriptions will b received, and will have the samo attention 2s if left at the Main Ofice. CONTENTS OF TO-DAY’S TRIBUNE. FIRST PAGE—Washington News—Miscellancons Telo- grams. SECOND PAGE—Saturday Night's Telegrams—Farm a3d Garden—Tho. Aplars. THAIRD PAGE—Boston Letter: Sorrowful Holldass; Queer Political Combinations—The Now Dominion: A Comprehensivo Roview of Canadian Affairs—Gen- cral News Items—Businoss Disectory—Advertiso- ‘ments. FOURTH PAGE—Editorials: The Currency Question; Tho Problem of Municipal Goveinment; The ?enen Award; The Cold Snap—Current Nows tems, ¥FTH PAGE—Stanton & Company's Business Card. BIXTH PAGE-Monetary and Commercial — Raflroad ‘Time Table. BEVENTH PAGE~Tho Palpit: Sermons by Rev.B. E. 5. Elyand Rev. John Wood—The Law Courts—Hsde ‘Park Matters—Personal—Stroator the Headquarters of tho Vermilion Cosl Fields. EIGHTH PAGE—Poriodical Literstaro—Esanston Mat- tors—Miscellancons Telegrams. TO-DAY’S AMUSEMENTS. 20VICKER'S THEATRE—Madison street, between Etate snd Dearborn. Engagement of Miss (Charlotte Cushman. **Guy Mannering.” HOOLEY’S OPERA HOUSE~Randolph street, be- LaSalle. New Comedy Company. ¢ Tho Lancaehire Lass.” 'S THEATRE—Wzbash avenuo, corner of Coa- Engagement of Lawrenco Barrott. ATEE! ¢ Julins Ciezar.” ACADEMY OF MUSIC— Halsted stroct, south of . Engagement of the Carroll Family. New Sea- eztionzl dram, eatitled ** Our Mother.™ MYERS' OPERA HOUSE—Monroe strect, betweea Sizte and Dearborn, Arlington, Cotton & Kemble's iinstrol and Burlesque Troapo. GLOBE THEATRE-Desplaines street, betweon Madl- eon aud Washington. Tho Leon Brothers, *‘The Union N'S AMPEITHEATRE—Clintonst-oet, batween glon nod Rendolph. Engagement of Z03. EUSINESS NOTICES. IPLES REMOVED AND SKIN MADE SMOOTE ing Jeniper Rar Soap. . Manufactured by Caswell » New York. R DYSPEPSIA, INDIGESTION, DEPRESSION of 5 and Gonersl Debility. the Ferro Phosphorated iuir of Calisaga Berk (Calisays Bark and Iron), is toe St tonic. Made by Caswell, Hazard & Co , New York, e Druggists. W UNNECESSARY THE ANGUISH MANY ». undergo from rhenmiatism, gout, menralgia, ool and corache. We say umnecossary. beca % upplication of Moxiczn Mnstang Liniment to the ficcoll part, or a fow dzops of it ia the ears or tooth, af 1574 frtamtancods, aa Yor cuts, wennds, bruises, swel Wwhat is better, permanent ro- llings, and all injo e3 which réquira treatment_externally, ¢ is overywhere regarded as the most potont and healing agent in existence. For all external in- ‘ot ailments of Lorses and cattle, it is infallible D STATES WATCH CO.—THIS COM erve, continues to hold the leading position among ‘manuiacturers, At the fairs held in different of tho countrs, whero there has been o n in this Jine, 1ho Marion (Giles, Wales& Co.) United os Watehes have been regarded as gre: ‘ery particalar, o any on exhibition, aad havo boon 'tk st promiams over all combetitors {a evory whero thev havo boen cxhibited socuring tho gol z:l‘ ‘at the fair of the American titute, New York, o B e —— The Chitags Geibune. Tondey Morning, December 23, 1873. The Public Library will bo opened to the pub- Jic Now Year's Day, for the first time. s be et The Trench Assembly hes adjourned for the holidays, aod Franco may rest; but Gambetts's an predicts that when it resssembles a ge- s Parlismentery crisis may be expected. 1t i aid that a number of the stockholders of lio Union Pacific Reilroad hveasked the Presi- \tent to suo tho members of the Credit Mobilier for §18,000,000, which they have taken from that railroad and divided among themselves. e ——— The flocds in the Seine are rapidly falling. Tue Thames is now breeking its banks, and Avindzor and the neighboring couniry are guf- fering from an inundation which has not been oaualled since 1852. Tr————— <Fhe coal miners now on strike at Springfield complain that their employers, besides refusing thiem the higher wages which should follow the increased prico of coal in the winter season, Zorca them to buy supplies of powder and oil at their own stores at & figure far beyond cost. Thoy farther charge that & lozded car, for which ihey ave paid as for ten tone, i sold a8 twelve- On the other side, the mine-owners say that the sminers sre frea to buy their supplies where they gleage. 3 ohn R. G. Hassard, who assumes the editor- £Lip of tho Ner York Tribune ad inferim, though without much experience 23 manager of & News- paper, is one of the most forcible and pungent Sriters on the Americon press. He was for- smerly employed on the literary work of Apple- tou's Cyelopmdia, and subsequently served & Lrief nmewspaper apprenticeship on the Chicago Fepullican, when that psper was under Mr. Dana’s charge. From this city ho returned to New York, where Le took a position as editorial seriter on the Tribune. Mr. Orton mightdoa srorso thing than to retain him. ‘He might also 2o & worse thing than to get Mr. Blaine to talke ihe chief editorship. Ar. Blaine possesses & quickmess and clasticity of mind, together with political forecast and experience, which would 1 v componsate for hislack of training in 1In our correspondence from the New Domin- jon, this morning, a review is given of the con- gition of the chief Canadian railways. Of these, #he largest are the Grand Trunk god the Great TWeslern lines. Neither of these seem 20 bo embarrassed with riches. The Grand Trunk Railvay, with 1,309 miles of track, employing 5000 men, and with ninety millions of cash investments, has ot paid a dividend for years. Its expensescon- sume 7724 por cent of its gross earnings. The Great Western Rozd makes £10,403 gross esrn- ings a mile, the largest of any single frack in the world, but runs its ex- penses up to 60 per cent of the receipts, swhich are found to increase in & faster ratio than the earnings. One year of the ten which the Dominion Parlisment granted for the build- ing of the Cauadian Pacific Road has passed srithout & stroke of work done, but & company has been formed. Its stock is to be placed with most rigorous precautions against its being con- trolled by any other than Canadian cspitalists. The New York Zimes percoives s great moral packslide in the seceptance of $7,000,000 by the President of the Erie Bailvay from Jay Gould. * Perhops some old-fashionod people,” it suys, ¢imay ssk, what lawsfor the punishmentof | tho other dsy, which fills nearly two pages of ropposifinn to Cemeron's bill, holding that the enter into an undertaking not to prosecute him? If bedid not sfealit, what right have they to take this £9,000,000 from him ?” The President of the Erie Railway might reply that ‘e is neither the Prosecuting Attorney of New Yorknor foreman of the Grand Jury, nor yet editor of a newspaper, any one of whom might properly move for the indictment of Gould, under the criminallaw of the State. On the other hand, he is specially charged with the duty of protecting the interests of the Erio stockholders, andt recovering their property 28 far a8 possible, What he has done in no wise puts]Gould beyond the reach of tho criminal 1aw, while it does certainly put some millions of Qollars into the Erie Treasury. The Chicago produce markets were generally dnll on Saturday, except wheat. Mess pork was inactive, and nominaily unchanged at $11.6214@ 11.75 cash, and $11.85@11.90 seller March. Lard was in fair demand, and s shade easier at $6.95 @7.00 per 100 1bs cash, and §7.8734 seller March. Meats were rather quiet and easier, at 83¢e for shoulders, 53@534c for short ribs, 5¥c for short clear, and TX@75o for green bams. Highwines were more active and unchanged at 895@90c per gallon. Dressed hogs were in fair demand, and 5¢ per 100 s higher, at $4.35@ 4.40. Flour was dull and easier. Wheat was less active and lc higher, closing at $1.163§ cash, and §1.1634 seller January. Corn was dull and steady, closing at 30}c cash, and 305¢c sel- ler Jenuary. Osts were in better demand and firm, closing at 24){c cash, and 2i3c seller January. Rye was In good demend snd le higher, closing st 66c. Barley was dull at the lowest prices of Friday, at 65¢ for No. 2, and 52 @53¢ for No, 8. Tho live hog market was dull and heavy. Only o few sales were effected, and prices closed weak at $3.55@8.85. The cattle and sheep markets were inactive. 3 Aside from the publicinterestthat is felt in the investigation of the Credit Mobilierscandal, thero is another and more cogent reason why the Com- mittee should open the doors upon its re-as- sembling, after the holidsy vacation. The ex- perience of the people with respect to close in- vestigating committecs has nob been of akind to promote confidence in their verdicts. The people want to know the evidenco upon which theso verdicts are based. It is not enough to furpish this evidence in printed reports which never reach the people, and which are not even published until long after the interest in the controversy has passed away alopg with the opportunity for doing justice. If tho present Committes were to admit the ‘public to the testimony which they receive, they would take away from themselves a strong temp- tation to put a prejudiced construction upon it. Enowing that the public has equal opportunities for estimating the value of evidence as it is cur~ rently given, the Committes would be moro care- ful to make their estimate correct and impartial. There is no other matter now before Congress in which so great an interest is felf, and this in- terest has altogether ceased to have s partisan bisg. — The Honorable Simon Cameron mads a speech the Globe, advocating the payment of the French Spoliation claims, which date back to the Administration of Thomss Jefferson. All the original claimants aro dead, and their imme- dinte descendants also. The third generation, 80 far a5 they can bo discovered by advertising, are now moving to secure what they call justice. The claims are for spoliations committed upon our commerce by the French Republic prior to the year 1801 The present movement to secure payment is fathered by ono James H. Cansten, of ashington OCity, who advertises in the newspapers for all tho do scendants of the originally despoiled to come forward and make themselves kuown and heard. The original claims were for $20,000,000, but Mr. Cansten proposes to compromise for 5,000,000, Senator Sherman mado & speech in claims, whether valid or not as against France, had never been paid to our Government, either in cash or by way of offset, and; therefore, that there conld be no equiteble demand upon the TUnited States for said spoliations. The Rock Island Union demands that the pro- posed Tlinois and Mississippi Canal (fo wit, the projected water-route from Hennepin, IlL, via Sheffield, to the Missiesippi River, at or mear Rock Teland,) shall be incladea in the general scheme of improvements to be underizken by the Government. We second the motion. If the Government is going into this business, we ghall ook out for our share by all means. No arguments can be made for any of the proposed ~works that cannot be made for this one, which looks to the relief of the entire Mississippi Val- ley morth of Rock Islend, and for considerable gonth of that place. The cost of the proposed work is set down by the Union, on the basis of estimates made by Colonel Macomb, U. 8. A., st 912,480,910, which in- cludes the cost of a navigable feeder from Dixon to West Sheffield. The objection to all such works is, that since the taxes impoeed upon the whole peoplo are employed to pay for them, every locality is entitled to and will demand its ghare of “improvement,” and the whole will swell to ari expense which not even the Govern- ment, with its great resources, can pay. This is our anmswer to a censorious article in the Davenport Gazette, which insiats that what we want in this matter is scrutiny, and a judicious expenditure of money for canals. There can be no such thing 2s scrutiny and judicious expen- diture under a system whore cvery manis as good as every other man, where overy taxpayer is entitled to oqual considerstion with every other, and is armed with the power of the bal- lot to enforcs it. The new Insurance law which bas just passed the Massachueetts Legislature, suthorizing tho formation of insurance companies, contains one very important provision which is not to be found in the insurance lawa of any other Biate, Bection 18 of the law provides that before Oct. 1, 1873, the authorities of every tovn and city in the State, having over 4,000 inhabi~ tants, shall divide them into fire districts, and that nocompany transacting business in the State shall, after the above date, have at risk on prop- erty, other than detached dwelling-houses, farm buildings and their contents, in any such town or district, an amount exceeding its net assets available for the payment of losses in Massachusetts, the premium mnotes of mutual compsnies fo bo computed smong tho assete. The section further provides that when *from any cause the netf assets, a8 aforesaid, of any such company or association ghall be reduced to & sum less than the amount tion, such company or association shall forth- with either cancel or return to the holder the unearned portion of the premium upon policies wpon property in such territory to an amount oqual to the differgnce between the net assets snd the amount taken or held at risk, as afore- eaid, or effect reinsurance mpon such property for o like sum; and no such cancel- lation - shall take place except after notice to the holder of the policy.” "This - excellent provision of the Massachusettd bill so disperses risks 23 not only to protect the insured, but also to meke the business itself more remunerative. The soundest insurance companies in this country are those which have distributed their risks most widely. Vhile it will change the whole system of Boston insur- ance, and undoubtedly put them in the feld equipped with numerous agencies, it contains & valugble suggestion for change in the sys- tems of companies outside of Boston, which change might bo facilitated by legislation, and it has been done in Massachusetts. ———— THE CURRENCY QUESTION. The proposition to authorize the issue of logal-tender motes to any amount that may be called for in exchange for Government bonds, which bonds in turn may be exchanged for greenbacks, deducting the interest in the mean- time, is not open to the objections that spply to o general expansion of the currency. Its adop~ tion would test the much-disputed question whether the present volume of currency is or is not equal to the wants of the country. That question can never be determined to the satis- faction of the public ungl the opportunity is afforded to the community of baving more cur< rency if they want it and can pay forit. If the present issuo bo enongh to meet tho necessi- ties of commerce, no more will be called for; if more is needed, then, upon the surrender of outstanding bonds, the Tressury will issue in exchange therefor a corresponding amount of currency. When the currency be- comes too abundant, it will bo retired for the | ‘bonds. The present stringency in the money ‘market is caused, we think, by a dearth of Joan- able capital (that is, of the surplus products of Iabor), rather than by & lack of currency with which the products of labor are exchanged; but such is not the common belief. Anybody who has Government bonds can get money for them nov, taking the risk of a rise in the price before he wants them beck again. It is belioved by those who favor the proposed measure, that this risk of a rise in price prevents the holders of bonds from selling them, and investing their money temporarily in commercial loans, which afford double the rate of interest that the bonds draw. ' Bonds igsued in exchange for currency would be something after tho kind of securitics known in England as oxchequer bills. When the Go- ernment needs money temporarily, over and above its revenue, it issues exchoquer bills to the Bank of England. Theso bills pass from hand to hand as money, aro issued for sums ranging from £5 to £50, bearinterest at the rate of 134 to 234 pence per dsy on each £100, or from 23 to 33¢ per cent per snnum. The amount of these outstanding sometimes exceeds £20,000,~ 000. They are redeemable on demand. All persons having momey unomployed geck theso exchequer bills, which, being convertible into money on demand, are & most convenient form of investment. The greenback ‘proposition goes beyond this. Tt authorizes the Governmont, upon the surrender of any bonds, to issue greenbacks in lion of them ; theso graen- backs bear no interest, and consequently the person receiving them loses the intorest on his ‘bonds, or, Tather, pays that much interest for the muse of the currency. On the other hend, it offers to any person having cur- rency an interest-bearing bond in ex- change therefor. How much interest these bonds should bear is an after considera- tion, It should probably be in the neighborhood of 5 per cent. Whatever interest thoy bear will be the measure of the interest paid for the use of the currency, npon the highest security, snd itisnot likely that there will bo any inflation upon those terms, or any demand for currency boyond the actual wants of trade, 50 long as it involves & loss of 5 per cent gold interest. The Govornment now has outstanding $360,- 000,000 of overduopaper. It is irredeemable, and bears no interest. The Government should either redeem it, or offer its croditors tho oppor- tanity to put it into an interest-bearing shape. Under this system, there need be no limt to the amount of greenbacks thst may be isgued; if the conntry wants a thousand mill- jons of curency on thoso terms, and will surrendor interest-bearng bonds in exchange for it, tho country ought to havo the opportunity. If, however, the public do not want $360,000,000, they ought tohave tho privilege of surrendering so much of it a8 they do not need, and receiving an intorest- bearing bond worth par in -gold. The immediate effect of establishing this con~ vertibility of currency and bonds will be to give the currency the ssme velue 28 the bonds, The 5 per cent bonds are now warth 98 cents on the dollar, Will this measure reduce their valuo, and to what extent? The making of the green- ‘backs convertible at the pleasure of the holder into bonds will certainly have the general effect of impairing the credit of the Government, bo- cause it will be the fulfilment, in part, of its promiee to redeem its demand notes. Hence it is not probeble that the existing bonds would decline in value by the adoption of the proposed ‘measure. They ought rather to advance. THE GENEVA AWARD, The disposition of the award made by the Geneva Tribunal promises to bring up as many knofty questions as did the original arbitration itself. ‘There will not only be a long discussion upon the manner of constituting the Court to decide mpon the claims, buts vigorous contest may also bo expectod as to the classes of claims which can bo introduced, and, before these are settled, the law courts may have to step in and decide. The marine insurance companies are alrendy coming to the front, and, by virtuo of their more compact orgsnization and consoli- dated influence, are preparing to overwhelm the individuel claimants, who can only act of thmeelyes or through their atttorneys, and not by an influential joint effort. This will un~ doubtedly be the chief point at issue, and, in zet~ ling it, several important questions must come up. Tt will have to bo decided whether the own- er of avessel after receiving his insurance is en- titled to receive anything from the award, and if 80, then whether he is entitled fo geb the fall amount of tho loss or the value of his vessel award. ‘The insurance compenies already are preparing to meet this issue, and will have 8 powerful lobby on hand. The whole matter of the digtribution is nowin the hands of the House Judiciary Committee, and it is understood that General Butler, who is & member of that Com- ‘mittee, hus prepared a voluminous bill, which not only provides for a judicial tribunal to pass upon the claims, but defines the exact classes of claims which can be admitted, and oxcludes all insuranco companies which charged war rigks. As this would virtually exclude all the marine in- surance compenies, & lively if not bitter fight mey be expected after the recess, as the com- panies hove mede a powerful organization with reference to this very emergency, and are 1 a better condition to enginéer their claims then individual claimants. The discrimination made by the Butler bill seems to be founded on reason, however. It is litile olge than extortion for sn insurance company, after having charged and collected enormous premiums covering this very risk, to step in and take also the value of the vessel snd cargo; while, on genersl gronnds, the long and tedious Geneva arbitration hes' been of little acconnt if the Government has been put to all its expense gimply to pay insurance companies for & riek for which they have already been paid once by the ves- sel-owners. If the latter are to have tho award’ then let the Government present, asan offset, its own expense account for the pursuit and cap- ture of the Alabama. THE PROBLEM OF MUNICIPAL GOVERN=~ MENT. The personal reforms which have been effected in tho City Government of New York have brought about the consideration of such statu- tory reforms as will insure the permanence of tho official integrity that has been obtained by little less than a popular revolt. This is a more perplexing and more difficult problem. A num- ber of plans for new city charters have been sub- mitted, but all of them have been met with » flood of objections. Mr. Havemeyer, the Mayor- elect, suggests that the number of Commission- era in the control of the departments shall be diminished, and that, where it is possible, there shall be but one Commissioner, or Chief, for each dcpartment. It is evident, too,,from & conversation which Mr. Havemeyor recently held with s newspaper reporter, that ho believes the appointing and removing power should be vested in the Mayor. Nr.Dorman B. Eaton, who is a Iawyer of sbility, and who has devoted much attention to the[subject of ‘municipsl government, insists that the Assem- bly District system honld be sbolished, and that the eystem of electing members of the Tegislature on a general county ticket should be rovived. The small Representative Districts, he clums, sre little nests for little politi- cians, who become; dangerous inZIthe nggre- gste when they can control the local Government of New York City. Other plans contemplate a restoration to the people of New York City of the management of their own municipal affaira. They claim that [the inter- fercnce of the Stato Government, which was first called in to check sbuses in tho New York City Government, has now become the source of all municipal evil, and that, in the new charter, tho Legislaturo must abandon all its privileges for assisting in the management of New York City. Still other plans, modifying or simplify- ing those that bavo been mentioned, aro the topics of discusston; but nono of them offers a complate or eatisfactory solution of the prob- lem. The difficulties of & practical and permanent reform of the City Government are found among the peoplo themselves, and aro summed up by the Nation s ollows: 1. A class of sdventurers; who are now known a8 pro- fesaional voliticians, but who would have been outlaws in the fourteenth century; 2. A emall community of respectsble people, who have neither the time nor the qualifications to contend with these frosbooters; 8. A large ignorant population furnishing the votes which are neces- sary to the professional politicians; and 4. The ‘means that are provided for rewarding these fol- lowers and retsining their allegiance. Hence the Nation concludes that permanent reform can only be secured by diminishing the number of elections, doing away with a portion of the po- litical prizes, and insuring the tax-paying portion of the community, if not the control of the City Government, at least o pawerful minority in the Common Council, -How the Iatter and most im- portant featura of the proposed roform can be attained under the law of universal suffrage, the Nation does not undertake to say. It will be seen, from these mere suggestions of the various plans which have been submitted, how intricate the problem of securing good Municipal Government has become in & city which has once been subjected to the riot of of- ficial corruption. We incline o tho belief that 1o legislation and no city charter can agsure it sbeolutely, end that it is only through the exertion of that power which the respectable and tax-paying community can always assert in o combined effort that official corruption can be defeated, The first requisite is, that the re- spectable and tax-paying community should act together without regard to party politics. It was in this way thet the official thieves of New York were dethroned, and that their places were supplied with men of acknowledged integrity at the late municipal elaction. It wasbyaconcentra~ tion of this kind that Mr. Havemeyer was elected Mayor, and ho has recognized it by announcing that he will not listen to diotations from any party or associstion in regard to the sppoint- ments ho. has to make. The decided action of the several prominent citizens of Boston, who declined to accept a political nomination for Mayor, was a part of this general programme; and the election of Mr. Pierce was nundoubtedly due to tho accopt~ ance, by the Republicans, of the non-partisan disposition of the offices : which he made 28 & condition of his candidatare. The last two mu- nicipal elections of Chicago have been conduct- ed on this plen, and have met with abundant success. Mayor Mason and Mayor Medill were both elected by the respectsble community, who organized against party caucuses and conven- tions, If the Common Council has fallen ghort of this standsrd, it is because the Aldermen were mostly chosen by the old system of the word primaries, and because the citizens movement was not applied in the case of the various wards. While it is certain thata city charter can never assure permanently good gov- ernment for cities, it can afford important aux- ilinries. Perhaps the election of Aldermen on the general ticket, and not by the various wards, would enable the citizens’ movement to include minus the insurance paid him. On the other ‘hand, it will also have to be decided whether the insarance companies, by charging war risks, did thieves were made for? If Gould stole this gooney, What right have the Erie Dkec;gxfl to taken or held at risk in any town, or any such fire insurance diatrict es provided in this sec- not sufficicntly indemnify themselves and in re- ality dobay themselves from any share in the them ¥ith the general city officers, and take them from the dictation of the csucus. The doctrine of centralizstion in municipal govern- ment is by no means go dangerons as in the Na- tional Government, snd thet system which ‘winds from the North Pole. ‘makes heads of depertments responsible to the Chief Exccutive, who is, in turn, responsible to the people, undoubtedly has distingmished advantages. With the power of appointment and removal of subordinate city officials, the re~ sponsibility is fixed upon the Mayor ina way that ho cunnot evade. Bat, back of all these and other auxiliary positions, comes the respon- sibility of tho respectable, tax-paying com- ‘munity itselt, which can always assert its power in municipal government by sepsrating itself from party feeling, and by concentrating ita forces upon the single purpose of electing honest and capable men to govern the city. THE COLD SNAP. If any person in Chicago yesterdsy morn- ing was caught napping by the sudden cold snap, and found himself with a frozen nose, or bursted water-pipes, or & jug of solid syrup for his buckwheats, it was pot tho fanlt of the Signal Service reportz. The faith- ful messengers on the icy ramparts of the far northwest have been giving daily warning of the insidious and rapid marchof the frosty "The battalions of winter were preceded by a farions snow-storm, which swept irom the great lakes to the Ohio River, coyered all the Eastern and Middle States with its white mantle, and spent its force on the Aflantic Geaboard, carrying down many a tall three-master In its wrath, and strewing the shores with the debris of vessels, and cargoes, and white upturned faces of dead seamen. At Pembina, on the far northern fron- tier, on Wednesdny last, the thermom- eter marked 29 degrees below zero, and =t Breckinridge, 200 miles southeastward from that point, it was 28 degrees below zero, while the gradient of the thermometer from the Bouthern States to the extremoe northwest showed & descent of over 80 degrees, or nearly one degree for every fifteen miles. Bince that time, the wave of cold from the Arctic regions has rolled steedily on, becoming more dry and intensely cold as it passed over Dakota and ‘Minnesots, yielding somewhat, however, to the climatic influences of the lakes as it reached us, andundoubtedly growingcolder again asit passed and, were it mot for the danger of bringing on & coolness bebween the President .and the Czar, we should certainly argue in favor of returning the Aleuts snd their icebergs to him, and trust to Lis generosity to give us something warmer. In any event, there can horeafter bo Bo warmth of feeling either be- tween us and tho Aleute, or betweenus and tho Czor. The least Alaskacando is to keop her cold weather at home. IMPORTANT CHANGES AT HARVAED. beyond their influence into Now York and the New England States, The weather reports in our last issue are exclusively from the West. Manitoba, in the extreme northwest, reported 42 below zero; St. Paul and Minneapolis, 80 below; and Milwau- kee, in the direct line of these polar winds, 20 below; Dea Moines, Towa, 22 below; and Madi- son, Wis., 25 below. Illinois is somewhat out of the direct line of the intensely cold wave, for Ottawa reports 15 below, LaSalle 12 below, and the lowest point reached during the dsyin Chica= gowas15below. What point was reached during the night in Chicago may never be known. The scientific observer who might have had courage enough to stay out of bed would undoubtedly have either frozen to death or died in despair at the discovery that his thermometer Was incapa- ble of registering the degree of temperature. Whatever may have been the degreo of tem- perature it was sufficiently cold for practical purposes, and itsvigor could not have been mit- igated by any mercurial knowledge. After mer~ cury gota toa certain point, it resembles a do~ praved human being. Itgets so low that it isn't ot much account how low it descends after that. When & man is pierced through and tbrough with the cold, even to the marrow, it is of very little consequence to himwhether the thermom~ eter is 20 below or 40 below. He can’t get much colder, and the addition of a few moro degrees is a matter of supreme indifference to him, It is a mere abstract scientific fact, in which he takes no more interest than ordinery human beings do_in the discovery of a new nsteroid, having more of those useless shining points already than they can make use of. There is nothing particularly consolatory in the announcement of the fearfal cold in the Arctio regions to s man with a frozen ear or a frost- bitten nose. He has already attained the maxi- mum of frosty delight, and for all practical pur- poses ho s as cald as an iceberg, and is suffering 88 keenly and intensely as any gressy Esqui- maux in the Arctic Zone. The efficacy and value of the Bignal Service have been signally tested in this sudden cold enap, althongh its announcements have not pre- pared us to accept the cold with any greater dogree of Christisn philosophy, simply because we knewit was coming. But therearo other pointa than the scientific to be regarded in studying the lessons of tho cold. Thereis a patriotic element in it which the philosopher may contemplate over his grate to-dsy. The present wave of cold, like those awful waves of Iast winter, comes in g direct line from Alaska, and they are, generally, signalled first at Fort Benton, on the Upper Missouri. Since Mr. Sew- ard effected the purchase of that delightful country from Russia, wo have been at & loss to Imow what it was good for, and have more than onco suspected that the Czar made a very good bargain when he got rid of it, and pocketed seven and a half millions of gold. As a real es- tate operation, it was creditable to tho Czar, and ‘when he called homo his two-headed esgle,which hsd in vajn ftried ‘to derive some com- fort soreaming samong its icy crags to the Aleuts, he must have Ilsughed in his sleevo &t the choerful prospect an eaglo with but one head would have trying to pitch its voice to & patriotio key among seals &nd white bears, icebergs and boresl asuroras. At the time of the purchase there was an in- definite report thet its seal fur business was both immense and Iucrative ; but a8 it was sub- sequently developed that & ring of speculators ‘Thas the monopoly of clubbing and flaying seals for several yoars .to come, tho business has censed toba interesting to the people of tho TUnited States, except in the matter of prices, which are 50 per cent higher this winter than theywere last. Boing an integral part of the Union, and invested with colonial dignity, and never having contributed anything to that Union in return for the privilege of living under the Btars and Stripes, enjoying the protection of half~ frozen American soldiers, and tho attentions of frigid Revenue Assessors and Collectors, and other officials who are essential to preserve the dignity and responsibility of this new Common- weslth (or common poverty), Alaske has deter- ‘mined to do something for the Union and rec- ompense the General Government for extending ita republican blessings to the icabergs, seals, bents, and Aleuts. She—if anything so frosty can be feminine—has therefors sent us a wave of cold, frozen up our water-pipes, sent our thermometers down lower than an anction- eer's ever went, and hes seb every men, woman, aad child into the shivers. We appreciate the patriotic motive of Alagks. We ara glad to learn that Alaska i good for something at last. Still we are not prepared to say that we admire the style with which they do things in Alasks, "o radical changes are announced as sbout to be made in the discipline of Harvard College. i Dpieces ofrordnande. The gun received its exter- nal shay se, which wats devised by the Admiral, in & latho, and the trunnions were attached to it by a jacket and breeching. The prescmt guns of the navy are cast with truanions forming s part of the mass. They ro- ta'n the Dablgren shape, bat arecast iollow, 208G aro cooled from the irterior, after the method of Geperal Rodmanof tho army. In fact, cast-iron gurs;aslarge as those now used in the navy conld m ot sucvessfally be cast in any other way, and no founder under other condi- tions would be wil ling to undertako to make them.” General B odman is also now dead, and nover received anything from the Government When alive, althoug h it has been obliged to psy The first discontinues the custom of morning prayer and chapel service; the second abolishes compulsory attendance st recitations. There 'j5 o doubt that the inauguration of thesech nges will shock the conservative ideas of & 1arr g class “of persons made up of professional ¢’qyeators, men who have learned to confuss, the Pro- fessor’s position with that wof 5 gchool- teacher,, and antiquated alumni who recollect how they were whir Jped in their studies by the college rules of 1 _heir day. There are many others, however, Wi 5 will Tecognize in the proposed changes & decidr :d step in advance toward the true university st: andard, which rises above the fandamental noti ons of applyis1g the birch and the parrot-like acquiring of the AB Cs. Those who fallback upon tradition foran argument against thess ramared innovatio: asmay be answered by citing the circumstance tt mt the oldest and most famous urdversities of ? Zurope have not, and never had, the custom: ¢ which Harvard now proposes to dror,, In these . very two pointy, more, than any others, perhaps, is to be fo gnd the distinetion that is made be.tweenthen piversitios and gymnasiums of Gerrpany. A pu rely fechni- cal education can be yursuedin the Iatter as far 28 in the former. "The gymnasiu' ms are pro- vided for those whyse youth or die inclination to learn is brought, under direct 4 faciplins, and whose morala ure cared for by P! escribed relig- ious exercises. Tho universitier s on the ottser hand, are repositories of learniny ;, where ma turer minda are permitted to seek fur ther and brosder Imowledge in the way most natural and qon- genial to them, ‘While it is entirely probablef that s proposition. to discontinue public mornins prayers, at whichs all students are required t0 ‘e present, will call: out sBome earnest protests ¥rom those who con~ ceive that the college shcnld be as much s moral guardian as & public instructor, the intellectusl:- classes will discern raany good results in the change. They willfreadily recognize the facti} that no enforced attondince at chapel service can be productive of relligions progress. There- could pe many genuir.e cases cited in which this system of corrpulsor:yreligious exercises hasren= dered prayerand church-going actually repudsive, andtosucha degrv.e that thesufferers from ithave persistently rebased to return to the practices in after life When they could follow their own inclinations, Few college men will deny that these services were inconvenient at times, and often assumed adrendful and almost sacrile gious monotony. There is no reason why young men ‘Wwho have reached the advancement necess:sry to matricnlation in a upiversity shonld not be per- mitted to exercise their religious devotions in such manner and &t such times 28 they please. The moral standard of a college may be enfarced ‘without a formal observance of chapel wor.ship, which may interfere seriously with habiis of study and personal preferences. The discontin- uance of compulsory class attendance Snds an approval in the same line of argument. So long 28 the oxaminations aro rigid (and they sre apt to be more rigid if conducted outside the familiar rqutine of class duties), there is no need of the restraints that are put upon the pupils in elementary instrction. Strict division into clasges fraquently causes serious loss of time. The student who develops an sptitude for mathematics does not always meed to follow the alower processes of a_majority of his class who do not possess this nataral advantsge ; and the {ime which is consumed in siiting out tha hour set aside for geometry might be more profitably employed, fin his case, by studying Greek, which does mnot come to him so readily. The habits and inclinations of a hundred students are too vari- ous o be moulded into one routine without em- barrassments and hindrances in theway of equal progress. The class system, and the rules of attendance at college services, provent thatin- dividual division of study and recreation which is requisite to the best use of a student’s time; and the greator self-relinnce that is included in greater freedom will increase the qualifications of successful applicants for dogrees, though it may diminish the number of Bachelors of Art. Thia would certainly be & change for the better. Mr. Albert Brisbane, the inventor of the Pneu- matio Tube, has gone to work at the construc- tion of one of his tubes from the Capitol tothe Government Printing Honse, for which Congress appropriated $15,000 st the last session. The process of operating these tubes is exceedingly simplo. Instead of a car with four wheels, & sphere is ueed. Tho sphere is moved by ex- ‘hausting the sir at one end of the tabe, £0 &8 to cresto s cmrrent through it, and this wir-current pressing against the sphere, which is two or three inches smaller than tho tube, propels it with great velocity. Rapid- ity and power are gained by the saving of fric- tion. Mr. Brisbane claims that books, docu- ments, snd manuseripts will go whirling slong through these tubes at the rate of 800 miles an hour, Itis also his firm belief that the day is not far distant when the pneumatic tubes will ‘be applied to the transmission of freight from one side of the Continent to the other. It is not eafe to gainsay the prediction, after the ex- perience of the English scientist who wrote a book demonstrating that no vessel propelled by steam comld ever cross the Atlantic,—a ook that was bronght over to this country by the first steamer that practically disproved the scientific demonstration. Mr. Birsbane pro- poses to G the freighting of the country at one- tenth the present cost, and at the rate of 100 miles en hour ; to bring the grains, and meats, and iron, and coal to the seaboard solow as to make them cheaper than they are in England, and to sccomplish =8 great revolution over steam a8 steam did over the ox-cart. It is cer- tain that many capitalists are waiting for the demonstration of Mr. Brisbane's new application of power with great interest. It is onlythe old-fogy railroads that are delaying him now in their slow process of fornishing him the mate- rials he needs. —_— In connection with the bill now before Con- gress for the relief of Mrs, Dahlgren, widow of the late Admiral Dahlgren, to be applied in the shape of compensation for the use of the Ad- ‘miral’s patent method of making cannon, a cor- respondent of the New York TWorld calls atten- tion to the fact that what was claimed distinc- tively as the * Dahlgren gun” is not now in use in the navy. The Dahlgren process was as fol- lows : “The gaun was cast & & solid cylinder for the purpose of getting rid of ¢places of weak-~ ness’ caused by the unequal cooling of masses of molten cast-iron of such irregulsr shapes 83 “many thousands of: dollars of royalty for the usa of ideas which General Rodman once offered it for the mere cost of the experiment. Edward A. Pollazd, the editor and suthor, whose death. was announced by tolegraph a day or two since, was born jn Virginis, in 1827, and first came Into public notice from his prominent connection with the csuse of seccssion, dusing the war of ‘therebellion. Befora the war, he had ‘published 2 volume of letters under the titlo of “Black Diamonds, Gatherod in the Darkey Homes of the South,” which was mainly devoted to a defence of slavery. During President Bu- chanan’s Administration, he held an official posi- tion in Washington, and dovoted himself to gecret assistance of tho Southern canse. After the war commenced, he conducted for several years the Richmond Ezaminer. In 1862, he poblished s “ History of the First Yearof the War,” snd added, from time to time, new volumes as the war progressed. Nesr the closa of the war ho was taken prisoner by the Federal troops, and confined in prison for eight months, after which he wrote a history of his confinement. At the close of the war, he com- piled a complete history of the conflict, from the Southern standpoint, nnder the title of “ The Lost Cause.” Afterwards ho published “Lee and His Lieutenants,” “Tho Lost Cause Re- gained,” and a “ Life of Jefferson Davis.” In 1867, ho started at Richmond a now woekly paper called Southern Opinion, which was suspended in 1869. Since that time ho has devoted himself, with great ability, to obtain a recognition of tho National authority in the Sonth, and was an ac- tive supporter of tho Liberal ticket in the recent campaign. A novel Briritual seance was given in New Yorlk City, recently, at which Miss Tackerbury,a Qleveland Spirituslist, figared es the medium. Bhe was placed in a cabinet, her mouth tightly gealed mp with rolls of sticking-plastér, and hex body sacurely fastened to & chair with ropes. The room was then darkened. A murmaring sound followed. Strange lights appeared in dif- ferent parts of ¢he room, and the cabinet moved about in & mysterions manmer. One of the audience then inguired who was present, and a voice in the cabinet replied that a spirit had come; whereupon there was s long conversa- - tion between the audience and tho spirit. At the expiration of an hour, tho csbinet was opened, and Miss Tackerbury was found nntied, with the Topes ‘in her lap, bu with the stick- ing plaster still on her mouth. Tho cabinet was then closed for another hour, during which new Lghts and spirits came on the ecene, and thero was much telking and singing. At the expira- tion of the second hour, the cabinet wes opened, snd Mics Tackerbury was this time found tied 1p ngein, and with her mouth still tightly sealed. The rope-trick is = dodge kmown to jugglers long ‘before Spiritualism was invented by the Fox sis- ters, and, as to the sticking-plaster, every ona st all acquainted with the peculiarities of the pex lmows that all the sticking-plaster in the world cannot prevent & woman from talking, i she wishes to do so. NOTES AND OPINION. Congressman Snapp looks at things from a practical nfoin& of view, and declares that **the Successful party must run this Government.” The ¢ startling anomaly® of the opposite princi~ lo was hatched by a traitor to his party, and Efln’afl at Cincinnati; but the Civil Service the Republican party *like Neme- Don't meddle with other people’s wash, Mr. Snapp, for, like the laundry-women, you are liabla to mistakes. We believe the mark on that historic article was Nessus; Nemesis worn & chemise.—Springfleld Republican (Mass.). en the Fifteenth Amendment was made, 1t wes thonght that ite mode of enforcement was 10 make void any Stato acts defying the suffrago for raca, or color, or previous gervitude. The actof Congresswent considerably beyond this, by providing that candidates deprived of elec tiph by such denial, may bring suit for their offices, Judge Durrell has gone considrably ‘bevond this, by holding that, when afidavits sra presented negroes wero prevented voting, he Tusy take possossion of the State Government and all the election machinery and returns, and install the candidates of tho other party. Ac- cording to the_strict letter of the law, tho time for him to_interfere would be when the Can-~ +vasgers had declared who was elected, and a can-~ didate had brought suit upon the claim that he had been defeated by denying to negroes their right te voie, becauso of their color; and the manner - would be—not by reorganizing the Board of Canvassers, which is a State affair, but by determining therights of the two candidates according to the votes cast, and the affidavits of voters excluded for color.—Cincinnali Gazetle. 1t is ovident, from movements now in opers~ tion among Alr. J, Young Scammon and cartain F.epublicans in this State, that, notwithstanding the venguishment and retiremont across the big drink of Minister Washburne as a United States Senatorial candidate, President Grant has delib- erately arrived at the conclusion that “ It will never do to sive it up so, Mr. Brown.” Hence it has been determined that the Chicago Infer- Ocean will not be_properly recognized as “ the Republican paper” in the election of Governor Ogyes‘hymt o Senste, but that some ono (Alr. J. Young Scammon, for instance,) whose Tels- tions are more” pleasant with Grant must be chosen, if possible. Conscquently Mr. Scammon is mystoriously travelling over tha State, “private” and ‘*‘important ™ letters are seeking thoir dostination to verious friends of the Administration through its mail-bags, and murmuorings of discontent are heard in yarions directions. The whole programme of Ogelsby for Senator, Beveridge s Governor, and Callom for Spesker, isnot atall satisfactory to Mr. Grant and his admirors, cspecially as the cervices of that eminent statcsman, J. Young Scammon, and his big paper, are not ‘Tecognized in the ar- rangemont.—Springfield (IU.) Regisler. Mr. Bontwell has, in roply to a resolution of the* House, furnished at last an explanation of the reissue of the $5,000,000 greenbacks in October, tnditis s very curious explanation, Tt appears that the person who thus took upon himself to increaso the volumoe of the currency was not ever the Secrsur} of the Treasury, but the Assistant Secretary, Judge Richardson, and the object of the reissue was *the relief of the business of the conntrs, then suffer~ ing from the large domand for cur- rency employed in moving the crops from the South and West ;" that is, in short, that a gentleman named Richardson, whom most people baye hardly ever heard of, settled in hia own mind that the American’ mation nceded more currency to move its products from ita farms to its ports, and he thereupon, on his owa motion, added whatever he thought, propes to ita * circulating modium. Mr. Boutwell now tells tha House that this was dono under the theary, ' 1aid down in two judgments of the Supyema Court, that the _acts nuthorizing: the issue§of greenbacks “ contemplatod s nent circulation of $400,000,000 unti} samption of specie-payments;” and ' actually treats of no account the gubsequent mcts af April, 1866, and _February, 1868, —tke first of which authorized Secretary McCulloch io “re- tire " greenbacks, notoriously with the view of contracting the currency; and second of which, in withdrawing tho suthority conferred by tha first, explaing in terms that the “retiring or cancelling” authorized by tho first was for the “reduction of the cun rency.” So that Mr, Boutwell's defence is sub~ gtantially that judgment of the Suprema Court on the intent of anact passed in 1842, ae- prives acts passed in 1866 and 1363 of all force, though they are neither contradictory ner un- constitntional, and lesves him and all bis sab- ordinates at iiberty to exerciss & power neven yet conferred on & single Z1an in any freo couns try.—The Natian, bug sticks to, sis’_ghirt.” Bursting of a Water Main. LoweLL, Maes., Dec. 22.—The main iwes} . four inch water pipe on East Merrimae sh-:z: ‘burst this morning, filling to overflosing the cellars in the brick block occupied by H. 3L & J. Rice, provision deslers, and L. Emgson, cors, That portion of the city kmowwyas videro ” s, to-night, cut O £xom A FUPRYy of Watery // < f y