Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, February 7, 1875, Page 8

sa a Se ee ree Oe ee ee ee ee Senn eee ata nh ht ad ta rn neat a a teed THE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, ‘1875.---SIXTEEN PAGES. 8 is ee eee EEE ETT ; probably be a solution of the problem to this charges, or to indict’ Mr. Hesrxe for libel if | i tre Pul lic Library lottery of Kentucky, “TERMS OF THE TRIBUNE. ‘TRATES OF {CBECRIFTIOX (PAYABLE IX ADYASCE), Tarts of = year at tho azme rate. ‘To prevent delay and mistaxer, be eure and gire Post ‘Office eddress in fall, including State end County. Remditancesmay be made either by draft, expross. Post- Chico order, or In registered letters, at our riak. ‘TERMS 70 CITY SUBSCRIBETS. Daits, dolivered, Sunday excepted, 25 conts per week Dady, delivered, Sunday included. 30 cents per wesk Address ‘THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, Cornez Madison and Dearborn-sts., Chicago, UL. BUSINESS NOTICES. : ot NE MEAN Ar ALL WE SAY._TULL SPT BEST oy ing, class, Sin ty sua rstes MCCHEONEY, TaClark-st Se SOCIETY MEETINGS. CHICAGO COUNCIL OF PRINCRS OF JERUSA- BALEM-Thero wil regular convention on T'nursday re the pitty inst. Mosk on the Fitteenth aad Six- 5 By 9 order of cae JOR O'NEIL, 8.P.°.G.".3L". ED GOODALE, G:. YETT! [APTE! Es AEE cat convocitiow onday oven era! 4 5 8 clock, for eater ene Meine TUCKER, Soc. HAPTER, NO. 1, 0. £.8.—Will olfth-at. iat isi, Weakenday Ar, Chas. TO-MORROW'S: AMUSEMENTS. M'VICKER'S THEATRE—Madison street, Desrbore and State. Engacement of Mrs. D. B, Bowen. **Yady Andley's Secret ACADEMY OF or MUSIC—Hetsted street, betwoen Mad- pADELERI THEATRE Dearborn corner Mon- ‘Variety entertainment. ** The F1 Spy.” ent. GRAND _OPERA-HUUSE—Ciark | street, oppnsite Bisnass ne acelly & Leon's Minstrels. ‘‘ Uncle pOHICAGO, MUSEUM --Monros street, between Dear- ** Bip Van Winkle.” HOOLEY'S THEATRE Eandoinh, soot. betwees je. ,,°* Diana; or, Love's Revenge,” and MoCORMICK HALI—North Clark street, cornor Kin- sto, Concert by the Richings-Beraara Concert: Troups. pe ch Mia eae anase enna ran eoan any Che Chicags Tribune. Sunday Morning, February 7, 1875. An obscure publication in this city, which is endeavoring to gain some notoriety by so- liciting a controversy with Tae Tamuxe about the expulsion of the religious orders from Mexico, is on the wrong treck. If it objects to this sort of procedure it must criticise the Catholics, of whom it professes to be an organ, and not Tae Temoxe. ‘We merely chronicled some facts rela- tive _to the expulsion of religious or- ders ffom Mexico, Italy, and other coun- tries, Now, Mexico and Italy are Catholic countries ; if not, we do not Imow where to look for them. If they saw fit to expel cer- tain religious corporations which had de- velopod a dangerous greed for wealth, or hed drifted into a condition of immorality, or hed conceived projects dangerous to the well-being of the Government, or had in any other way become obnoxious to the people, we are sure ‘Ter Trroune is not to blame for it. And, if the obscure sheet wants to read its own title clear, it will sail around the world, call the various Catholic peoples to rigid account, and otherwise make itself a power in the Church. ‘It is wasting its paper pellets on Taz Tarpuse. The enterprise of the Chicago Times is ething remarkable; and, if somebody does not stay round the office and check the ex- travagance of the young men who ara con- docting the paper, Frank AGNew will pay a visit there in his official capacity as Sheriff. I:was only the other day that the editor complained, and with good reason, of having been compelled to pay $400 for several col- umus of the most inane drivel upon the Brecues-Tixton suit, telegraphed from New York, a specimen of which was published in Tze Tnuwusxe yesterday with due credit. Now look out for another howl over the love- letters which passed between Trurox and his wife, published in Tae Tersuxe in Aug- ast Inst. The Times had our full permission to copy them from the files of Taz ‘Trrovse, but the young man in charge had never heard of them before, and squandered several hundred dolices more in having them telegraphed just seven months after they had been rend by every man, woman, and child of this city in Taz Tamuwe. Such “‘enter- prise” savors of the recklessness of impend- ing bankruptcy. Some days since we showed, by a compari- son between the business of the Rhode Island savings banks and that of the Cook County savings banks, how much smaller the busi- ness is in this city than‘it ought to be by rea- son of the population and the amount of sav- ings.. The case of Rhode Island is not ex: ceptional The City of San Francisco has about 200,000 inhabitants, and a recent state- ment of the savings banks in that city shows 2 line of deposits amounting in the aggregate to: $55,891,000. Chicago, with considerably more than double the popula- tion of San Francisco, has not one-fifth the amount of savings deposits. The point which we desire to impress upon the bankers -is, that a good law for the examination of the savings institutes will be in their interest aswelles thatof the public. An increased confidence in the stability of these banks, and public faith in the protection of the de- posits by the law, will add enormously to the business of the savings institutions. The effort to seoure the passage of a proper law by the Illinois Legislature should, therefore, receive the support of all who are interested in this branch of the banking business. Our readers will remember that, on Sunday last, we called attention to the advertised re- ward for mysterious book containing the private memoirs of Grozcz IV. It now ap- pears that the reward was in renlity only a very shrewd and skillful advertisement upon the part of some person to create a market for a lot of copies of an unsalable book, printed in 1880, by Rosesr Hursu, called “Memoirs of .Groxcr the Fourth, Descrip- tive of the Most Interesting Scenes of his Private and Public Life, with Characteristic Sketches of all the Celebrated Men who were his Friends, Ministers and Connsel- ons.” Mesara. Sanmn & Soxs first exposed the character of the advertisement by print- ing 8 card identifying the book and stating that, although the work was said to have been suppressed, itis by no means rare, and can be furnished to any one desirous of having it. ‘The mysterious offerer of the reward, how- ever, has secured his purpose, for no book of the present century has received such an amonzt of gratuitous and effective sdvertis- ing. If the ghosts of departed monarchs are allowed to revisit the earth, and possess any degree of - sensibility, the ghost of “the first very uncomfortable at theamount of scandal which has been circulating through the United States during the past few weeks concerning himself and his paramour, Mrs, Frrzzresert. As the matter now stands, the reader of curi- ous mind can post himself as to the Med dife of “the first gentleman in Europe” b referente to the GzEVILLE Memoirs, the Hoisx book, “yeferred to above, and the Hon, C. Lancpare’s “Memoirs of Mrs, Frrzmen- sent,”—a book which has never been sup- pressed. Thisis hard for the unfortunate gentlemen scattered through the country who are sure they have the only copy of the mysterioas book, but the general “public will rejoice to know it can have all the opportu- nities it desires to ascertain the real character of Grorce IV. THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. The introduction in the Legislature of a proposed amendment of the Constitution for the establishment of sectarian schools in this State, to be supported at public expense, is indorsed by a far larger proportion of the Catholic clergy than of the Catholic laity. While the clergy of that denomination scem to be nearly unanimous in behalf of breaking up our public-school system, we do not be- lieve that a majority of the laity can be per- suaded or influenced to support the move- ment. Were it otherwise, if would be difficult to account for the ,many strenuous efforts of the Catliolic clergy ev- erywhere to dissuade their congregations from sending their children to the public schools. It is onlyin rare cases that Catholics keep their children from the public schools of their own motion. A unanimity so remark- able, among so large a body as the Roman Catholic clergy of this country, is certainly worthy of being inquired into. Why do they oppose our public-school system? ‘The ree- sons may be clessed under the following heads: 1, Because it is not, they claim, the prov- ince of the State to educate its youth at all, 2. Because the public schools are ‘“ god- less” schools, and because, therefore, Catho- lies cannot conscientiously send their children to them. 3. Because Cetholies are taxedfor their sup- port spite of the fact that they cannot avail themselves of the instruction end training they afford for their children. : We shall briefly examine these reasons, ‘There are others beside Catholics who hold that itis not the sphere ‘or business of the State to educate the children of its citizens. Herbert Spencer, in England, is of the opin- ion. So was the late Gerrit Smith, in this country. “We agree as little with the two last- named gentlemen on this point as we do with the Roman Catholic clergy. We insist that it is not only the right, but the duty, of the State to educate its youth. Especially is it the duty of a Republican nation to educate them, Republics like our own are founded on the supposition that man can govern him- self. But ignorance and self-government ere incompatible. Hence, if a Republic is to be maintained, those who constitute it must be educated. If all parents were in 9 con- dition to educate their own children, and had the will to educate them, there would be no necessity for the State to interfere to do it in their steed. But there are millions of parents who have not the means of providing an education for their children, and millions who are not alive- to its importance. Hence the necessity of State interference in the matter of education. Hence the necessity of public’ schools in which the children of the people may be edu- cated gratis. No nation can afford, in these modern times, to allow its citizens to grow upin ignorance. Self-preservation, if nothing else, requires that it should see that they are instructed. The educated is superior to the uneducated man. A nation of educated men is superior to a nation of boors. Man is man only through his mind, Without education he can scarcely be distinguished from the higher animals. In the struggle for existence, to which nations are as much subjected as individuals, the na- tion in which intellect is most highly devel- oped will survive. Uncultured nations must yield to them. It was the public-school sys- tem of Germany more than Von Moltke’s army that defeated the French, whose school system was ever deficient. Lrtenrrz used to say that, if they would let him have charge of public education for a century, he wouldchange the world ; and Leib- nitz was right to a very great extent, Ednce- tion has changed the world to agreat extent. The child has a right to education for the same reason that it has a right to be a human being. The parent who deprives his offspring of an education commits a larceny upon them. otter ten times over deprive them of an arm or limb. But it is all useless to say that the State shall not educate the children of the citizens. If the State does not, and the parent cannot, the street will, If the State does not teach him his political duties, and afford him the means of making himself a more useful member of society than he would be without an education, by sending him to a public school, the chances are that it will have to do it by sending him to the House of Correction or the Peniten- tiary. Therefore we advocate not only edu- cation by the State, but that education should be compulsory, not necessorily in a public school, but in some school, and in the usual branches of a good English education. ‘Tho State is the only body that can ook after the education of all her children; and it is her duty to do it by compulso- ry means. Compulsory education may seem 6 hard measure to those who do not reflect ; but; as there is no alterna- tiva but compulsory education in knowledge, or compulsory education in crime, we choose the former. Only by advocating the right of all men to ignorance is it possible to combat the State's right to enforce education. For all these reasons, weclaim the State has the right, and it is its duty, tosupport schools for the education of its youth. The seeond objection raised by the Catho- lic clergy to our public-school system is not a valid one. They call the public schools “‘godless” becanse no dogmatic religion is taught inthem. But in this country no other system of public schools is possible. - If dog- matic religion is to .bs taught in the public schools, which creed or dogma shall it be? The Roman C#tholic, or the Jewish, or the Episcopalian, or the Presby- terian, or the Methodist, or the Bap- tist, or the: Unitarian? In this conn. try the State cannot employ teachers to teach Catholicism, or Episcopalianism, or Luthersnism, or Judaism. Todo so would be to'constitute the relation of Church and State, immediately. If the State can employ teach- ers in 8 school to teach the various dogmas of these various creeds, why not ministers to preach them? If it may build sectarian schools, why not sectarian churches? And if it may engage teachers to teach Catholicicm, why may it not decide whether tho Catholicism gentleman in Europe" must have been kept taught is or is not the genuins articie? Schools public in character, but Catholic in } discipline, are an impossibility in this cour- try. They would partake of the character of State schools and Catholic schools. But a State which, under. the Constitution, can take no step towards the establishment of a creed, or of ‘two creeds, or of ten creeds, can- not have anything to do, officially or otherwise, with schools professedly religious. Itis not true that the public schools are “godless.” There is no good reason why the teacher of the alphabet, or the multipli- cation-table, of geography or algebra, should be, at the same time, the teacher of religion or dogma. There is every reason why, under our form of Government, he should not, If religion were taught in our public schools, the clergy would de- mand, of course, a part in their management. This would lead toan eternal conflict between the clergy and the public authorities, which would eventually end in the entire destruc- tion of the system, The complaint that Catholics make, that they are taxed for the support of schools which they cannot patronize, is a plausible one, but moro plausible than well-grounded. It is their misfortune if they cannot avail themselves of thé advantages of the public schools. But it does not follow that, becauso they do not send their children to them, they should not be taxed for their support. Tho State is the judge of whom it shall tax, and for what, It has the right to tax allits citi- zons for any object in which the public gen- erally are interested or by which they are benefited. Quakers are opposed to war, All the practices of at variance with their conscience. Should they, therefore, be exempted from tax- ation for war purposes? Unmarried men are taxed for the support “of our public schools. So are those who never send their children to them. Tho best citizens are taxed for the support of criminal courts and peni- tentiaries, It is right to tox a citizen for the support of any institution by which the pub- lic are benefited. If the public are bene- fited by the public-school system, that is fafficient reason why Catholics and all others may be taxed to support it, and that the pub- lic is benefited by it no one not a bigot will deny. Besides, it is relatively a very small amount of the school tax that Catholics con- tribute, an amount by no mesns in proportion to the number of their children. Catholic clergymen may as well learn now aslater that their agitation against the pub- lie-school system will bring them no good. If they do not like it let them build their own schools. But the American people want the public-school system, and will maintain it. Church and State are here entirely distinct. It is best they should so remain. GEN, SHALER’S IDEAS AGAIN. Gen. S#auer has once more given expres- sion to some of his ideas relative to the pro- posed reforms in the Fire Department, Al- derman Case, who is a member of the Board of Underwriters, having written to the Gen- eral to inquire if some modified plan could not be suggested by which the city might be saved the enormous expense growing out of his original proposition. In reply Gen. Suazer intimates that Marshal Besnee’s esti- mate of $334,000 for the purchase of lots and erection of buildings, which, by the way, would probably cost a half million or more of dollars, might be reduced by renting build- ings for the new apparatus, which could be pat in the proper repair for about $58,000, and which would reduce the immediate outlay to about one-half of the estimate. He would also strike out some of the third-class steam- ers, reduce the estimates for fuel- depots and wagons, but does not think that Mr. Cuanpien’s estimate of $132,000 for im- proving the Fire-Alarm Telegraph can be ma- terially lessened. The saving in the original estimate of $1,200,000 which Gen, Suaten thinks might be effected is $383,500. This would be something of a saving, but it does not affect the impracticability of Gen. Suaxen’s propositions, nor does his new man- ifesto relieve the situation in the least, and for two reasons: 1. The proposition of Gen. Suazer, that the city shall rent quarters for the costly fire apparatus is simply impracti- cable, and would prove the most expensive piece of economy that the tax-payers of Chi- cago could imagine, The city could not rent buildings suitable for the housing of fire ep- paratus, horses, and men without entirely re- modeling them and erecting additions, in- volving great expense. Again, the city, when it builds, doesso witha view to permanence,and erects strong, safe, and substantial structures, whereas the buildings it would rent, scattered all over the city, would be specially exposed to fire. Again, the city would be in the clutches of scores of grasping lendlords, who would exact heavy rentals, doubling them up upon expiration of leases, and saddling in- surance and all other expenses upon the city. These landlords would form a ring for opera- tion in the Council, which, as the Grand Jury recently stated, is peculiarly susceptible to pecuniary influences, and would be manipu- lated by the landlords to suit their own pur- poses. - Renting, in: fact, would be%yorse than building ; in the end, it;would be more expensive and a greater burden upon the tax- payers. 2. If it isimpossible to raise $1,200,000 extra taxes for tire machines, how is it more possible to raise $850,000? Where is the money to come from? It would undoubted- ly bea very nice thing to have a stenmer, amply equipped with men, horses, and hose, in every block in the city; but how are we going to pay for them? Where is the money to come from to pay for these numerous steamers and their costly-equipment, and for these hundreds of miles of telegraph wire, and poles, and batteries, and instruments; to pay the salaries of the immense addition to the force of men necessary to operate the fire-olarm telegraph and the additional en- gines? It would be just as absurd for on in- dividual whose estate is deeply incumbered with debts, who cannot pay his interest, and barely manages to clear off his taxes, to go to work and increase his expenses by stretch- ing his credit beyond its limits in im. provements which are not actually needed, as for the City of Chicago to plunge headlong into more debt and taxes when it has all it can do to pay its present indebtednegs and expenditures. Gen. Suarez should remem- ber that these are herd times; that people are staggering along under their individual financial burdens; that the present taxes are already almost intolerable; and that the tax- payers cennot and will not raise the money necessary to carry out his costly schemes, His proposed reduction does. not ease up the condition of the city or its citizens at all. More than this, we do not believe his re. | forms asa whole are necessary or will an- swersny ‘al purpose. The first object of a Fire Department, a8 we have‘said ra. peatedly, is to prevent fires, and this we: believe can be done at comparatively small expense, snd. much more effectu. ally than Gen, Sustez proposes, by the por. war are: czase of some chemical engines, which are cheap and require very little outlay for hous- ing and operating. If one of these could be put in every engine-house, and some of them could be scattered through the wooden sec- tions of the city, then every neighborhood would have a ready and practicable means of extinguishing fires before they obtain head- way, and doing it without seriously damag- ing the property by water. If the General wants to suggest something cheap, as well as ‘practical, let him turn his attention to these chomical engines, whose efficacy has been tested at hundreds of fires in this’ city, and whose record during the past two or throe years he can easily find, and give us his views about them, We mnke this suggestion to the General, as the public would like to hear from him in this directio: THE GAMBLERS AND THE POLICE. There is reason to believe that the provis- ion of the City Charter relative to the arrest of the gamblers and the destruction of gaming-implements is a serious embarrass- ment to the energetic raiding of the gambling hells by the police, even if we had a police force desirous of breaking them up, which unfortunately is not the case. “Sec. 23 of the Polics Department of the City Charter re- quires that ‘Two or more houscholders dwelling within the city, and not belonging to the police force, shall make oath in writing before any one of the Commissioners of Po- lico . . . that the premises complained of by the Superintendent are commonly re- ported and are believed by tho deponents to be kept as 2 common gaming-house or cock- pit,” before it is lawful to order araid and the breaking in of the doors. There are ordinances authorizing raids with- out this restriction; but, as the ‘or- dinances are subordinate to the char- ter provisions, ne pyactical raiding can be done without the aflidavits as above of ‘twoor more householders. Of course, these cannot be obtained. They might be pro- cured once or twice, but it would be excep- tional. Practically, therefore, it is not possi- ble for the police under this section to break up gambling by raiding it so lohg as the above restriction exists. It is'only fair to Superin- tendent Rem to state that he claims.he is prevented by this provision from making persistent raids npon the gamblers and de- stroying their implements, Wasxbunn did it when he wes Superintendent of Police, but he had no real estate in Chicago which the gamblers could levy upon in execution of a judgment obisined against him on account of theneglect to secure the affidavits of the house- holders ; but Rens says that he is not simi- larly situated, and does not care fo. take the risk, It becomes the duty of the Legislature, i in view of these facts, to repeal that section of the City Charter which makes this absurd re- striction. They should then pass a general law, to apply to all the cities in the State, which shall require the police to make month- ly or weekly reports to the Superintendent of Police of gaming-houses opened or existing within their precincts, end making it the duty of the Superintendent of Police to swear out a-warrant against the gamblers so reported, and proceed to arrest them, destroy their im- plements and tables, and break up their dens. The law should also render the Superintend- ent of Police subject to indictment upon the failure to sweor out the warrants and raid the gamblers, as provided above. This mat- ter is of vital importence to the City of Chi- cago, and of corresponding importance to all other cities in tho State, in proportion to their size. It would be well for the State’s Attorney, who is familiar with the impedi- ments to the conviction of the gamblers un- der the City Charter, to construct a law of this kind that would hold, and intrust it to some active member of the Cook County del- egation to secure its passage. HESING AND AGNEW. It seems that a caucus of the ‘People's Party” have determined upon a plan to patch up the differences between Mr. Hzsrxe-and Sherif AcyNew, the chiefs of the foreign Know-Nothing alliance. Mr. Perer Han is to be reinstated as Jailer, with the privilege of appointing his subordinates, This is un- derstood to be ‘‘satisfectory " to Mr. Hesrxe, and it is thought the settlement will have the effect of holding the discordant elements of the foreign Know-Nothing party together for a time longer for purposes of plunder. This id all very well, as far as Messrs. Hrstxe and “Acnew and the “People’s Party” are con- cerned; but it leaves the interosts of Cook County out of consideretion altogether. We are of the opinion that'the tax-payers of Cook County are the principal partics in interest, and are entitled to some voice in the pro- posed settlement. It may suit Mr. Hesine’s convenience to take up aman whom he has openly denounced as a blackguard, loafer, end inebriate, in order that ono of his friends may be restored to ao little, subordinate office. It may suit Mr. Acnew to kiss the hand of the man who has been libeling or lampooning him in order to have pence in the Sheriff's household. It may suit Mr. Hann to get back in a position where he can sell beer to the prisoners in violation of the law. It may suit the leaders of the “ People’s Party ” to eccept this or any other compromise that will keep their office-hold- ing, tax-eating combination together. But the citizens of Cook County have more inter- est in the honest and decent} administration of the Sheriff's office than in Mr. Hes1a, Mr. Acxrw, Mr. Hann, and the tax-eaters of the ‘People’s Party.” They will not, there- fore, accept this compromise as a final dispo- sition of the charges of maladministration which Mr, Hesrxa recently brought against AGNEW. It is only four or five days since Mr, Hrs. ING printed in- the Staats-Zeitung, in both English and’ German, in order that it might signature, in which he made a‘most serious indictment of Acyew’s personal and official conduct, He charged that Acnew had sur- rounded himself with pimps, drunkards, and rowdies, Hoe charged that, with the exception of ex-Sheriff Brapiey, Acnew had retained the bad characters already in the office, and discharged the men of greatest use- fulness. He charged that Acnew himself was “scarcely ever sober,” that he was “a fre quenter of well-known gambling hells” and houses of ill-fame on Fourth avenue, and that his appointees were robbing the county stores, and were holding disreputable orgies in the jail under the very nose: of the prison- ers they were appointed to watch, He charged that Aaxgw was the recipient of a diamond star worth $2,000 from disreputable characters, who controlled the Sheriff's selec. tion of jurors. He charged that Acxew was taking from the tax-payers for the support of the prisoners about three times what it cast him. All these charges were made publicly ‘and in the most direct manner. It there. take cognizanca of the matter; to indict tr. Aoxzw if Mr, Hestxa coild substantiate his ' »| reason if the city and county authorities can have a wider publicity, a card, over his own | ‘upon became the duty.of the Grand Sury to” he failed to prove his charges. It still re- mains the duty of the Grand Jury to take this courso, whether Mr. Hersrve and Mr. Agnew have kissed end made up or not, It is a matter of very little public concern whether these two politicians are friendly or not : but it is a matter of very great public concen whether these charges against the Sheriff are true or not. If not true, the public mind should be set at rest ; if true, some steps should be taken to protect the county from such scandalous, unlawful, and costly administration of the Sheriff's of- fice. The reinstatement of Perer Hann as Jailer, and the conciliation of Mr. Hrsixe, 7 accomplish neither one nor the outer of these things. ‘The fact is, that this proposed compromise isaninsult to the people of Cook Connty. Itis an assumption, on the one hand, that, when Mr. Hrsrxa is*s-tisfied, the people of Chicego and Cook Counry %:sve nothing to say. It is an intimation, on ‘+« other hand, ‘that Mr. Hesrsc can be perenmied to shut his eyes to scandalous things if hie friends are properly cared for. Meanwhile, the pub- lic is asked to forget all‘abont Acx=w's al- Jeged personal and offictal misconduct. be- cause heconsents fo reappoint a man whom ho discharged, because he was indicted for selling liquor to the county prisoners in viola- tion of law, and who is alsa under bonds before a United States Commissioner for selling liquor withont a license, In other words, here isa man who is now under a criminal indictment, and the public arc asked tonccepthis reinstate- ment as a final answer to the terrible charges of Mr. Hestxa against Acyew. It will not do, This matter must now be run down until Acvrwis proved guilty,or Hestxe proved a libeler. The reappointment of Hanp,— athing objectionable in itself under the,cir cumstances,—has nothing todo with the merits of the controversy. Will the Grand Jury act in the matter? THE COURT-HOUSE AND CITY-HALL, Wo have on several occasions urged upon the city and county authorities the necessity for some early egrcement between them upon some general plan for the Court-House and City-Hall. The past trouble hes been dus to the effort to make of this public work a pri- vate job, and to take the management and eontrol of the work out of tho hands of the proper anthorities and place it in those of ir responsible and speculative jobbers. All these efforts, however, have been defeated, because of the absolute want of available means on the part of the city to begin a work of this magnitude. The only means of the city appliceble for this purpose are the $600,- 000—part of the canel-lien fund—which was set apart by the State for public buildings. This money, however, is not available at pres- ent. Five-sixths of it is invested in the Gage deficit, and the rest has been otherwise used by the city to make good losses in the col- lection of taxes. It con only ba replaced by the proceeds of direct taxation. The city has, however, a large amount of unproductive. real estate, which is not wanted, and the holding of which by the city retards to some extent the general improvement. Portions of this real estate may be sold; anditis o mere choice as to some of it whether the property shall be held and sold hereafter for perhaps less than can now be had for it, and the necessary means raised by taxation, We think the universal judgment will be in favor of converting this unproductive property into cash, The county, under the law, may raise money by the sale of bonds sufficient to cover one or two years’ expenditure on the building, and it also has unproductive real estate which it would be good! policy to sell as soon as there is a market therefor. Wehave agreed with the President of the Board of Public Works that it would be ad- visable to contract only for each year’s work at a time, and that, owing to the low price of labor and materials, the present was.a most advisabletime to contract for thefounda- tions of tho building, Next year the super- structure might be begun, We see no good agree upon a plan for the whole building, and will resort:to the meats which are at their disposal, why this work may not be begun in the spring of 1875. The Chicago Times, drawing npon its lively imagination, charges that Tae Trmunz secks* to defeat the construction of the Court-House and City-Hall on the old site, in order that one or the other of these buildings may be located on Dearborn street! We havo never hhad an idee that there was any serious differ- ence of opinion as to the erection of the joint building on the old site, and certainly should oppose the purchase of eny other site, on Dearborn street or elsewhere, for either or both of the buildings. We opposed in 1872, °3, and ’4, as we will in '75, a resort to direct taxation to build the Court-House and City- Hall, so long’as the city holds so much valu- able real estate, of no use present or future, to the city, and which is unproductive, and may be sold at a fair price. If the county. and city authorities will consult only the public interests, will forego all schemes: for the personal'benefit of individuals, and will dovote their energies to the procurement of means, there can be no roason why the byild- ing may not be begun this year, and all the groundwork and foundations completed by fall. * . THE GAMBLING MANIA. A communication which appeared in a late issue of Tun Trimune, touching upon the prevalence of gambling, not only in this city but also in thé country at: large, contains many home traths which thinking people would do well to reflect upon. The spirit of gambling in Chicago, or in any other large city, is not confined to the professional gam- bler who plays at faro or other games of cards and obtains his money by ‘Iucky play or by swindling, os the case may be, The unpro- fessional elass of gamblers is vastly larger than the professional, and the unprofessional gambling is more insidious, because it is cloaked with respectability, and sometimes with religion. The one, in fact, is too often atender tothe other. This unprofessional gambling pervades every class-of the com- munity, more or less. . The «erations on the Board of Trade are full of +. spirit of gamblihg, and they have led i=svga man to ruin. A large portion of the baviness on the Board is simply betting upon the prices of grain, produce, and meats, at a given time,— ten, thirty, sixty,or ninety days hence, The operations in gold and stocks partake of. the same character. Commodities do not change hands. Nothing is bought or sold. Two parties bet upon prices, One makes and the other loses, as at a horse-race. This mania for gambling runs all through society, crop- ping out the least, perhaps, in the Church, All games and athletie sports, from base-ball #o prize-fightmg, are games of chance, inau- gurated and supported to give opportunities for genteel or fashionable gambling, It shows itself on a latger scale in lotteries; like sthe | for instasce. It is found in gift concerts and distribu ions, prize-packeges cn ra‘lrosd- t.ins, church-fairs, and raffles for religious purposes, which are supposed to be conse- crated. but are not, by the character of the cause to be benefited. In more than one case, the successive steps of the victim to the gambling mania may: be traced without diffculty—f:om ths church-raifle for the supposed cause ‘of religion to the art-distri- bution for the sake of art, then to the great lottery for the aid of knowledge, then into stock speculation, ond thence to the swin- dling gzming-teble and bunko, from which to ruin is butastep. ‘The end sought to be at- tained may differ in each case, but the moral responsibility is the same ineach. In eech and every one of these instances, one person obtains mora than his due,—something for nothing,—and the rest are robbed. “The per> son who obtains the something for nothing invests heavier in the next chance, Those who are unsuecessfal try it again in hopes of better luck next time. The gambling spirit is deadly fasci- nation, and, when once it obtains control of the individual, never relinquishes its grasp. We have no disposition to palliate the con- duct of the professionel gambler. He is a pest in society who lives without labor upon the hard-earned wages of others, sometimes obtained by fortune, more often by fraud and swindling and the connivance of confed- erates. At the same time, the business, so- cial, and religious gambling spirit which per- vades the community is but the preparatory training of the other, and deserves the se- verest condemnation, The man who runs the faro-bank has some excuse for saying that his ‘‘business” is as honorable as that of ‘the man who bets on grain and who “rans corners.” The Hangrvses and Me- Downaxps only differ in the kind of game they play from the Vanpersi.ts, Drews, Jax Govtps, and Capt. Jacks. Itis not difficult to discover the cause of this gambling mania. The secret lies in the insane haste to get rich, and the mad compe- tition of every family with its neighbor in the matter of fashionable display. Men like Vaxperzitr and Jar Gourp, who make for- tunesin 4 duy, are set up as types of business men, and are admired and worshiped by the thoughtless, envious crowd. Health, char- acter, honor, and even life, are sacrificed in this mad chase for money, and in this chase the glittering and fascinating temptation to make large sums at asingle bound is too strong to be overcome. The remedy is not so easily found. It may come of itself when the nation grows older. Losses of fortune, bankruptcies and panics, and hard times, which are the immediate results of gambling, may in time emphasize the lesson with such force that it will be heeded, and men may grow content to make money slowly and legitimately through the old modes and thoroughfares of toil, honesty, and economy. Until such timo comes, the Church and the State have a grave duty to perform: the one to abolish every form of money-malsing which encourages the gambling spirit, and the other to impose the severest penalties upon lotteries, gift-institu- tions, and all other forms of respectable gam- bling. THE CIVIL-RIGHTS BILL. It may be assumed now that there will be an agreement between both Houses of Con- gress on the Civil-Rights measure, though there is some doubt expressed as to the Sehate’s action, and that, as finally passed, it will commend itself to the President for his approval. The bill passed by the House on Friday is shorn of the main objections that were to be made to the original conception (of which the mixed-school system at the South was the most dangerous), and the measure is now thoroughly in keeping with the spirit of the last National Democratic platform, which guarantees the “equality of all men before the law, and holds that it is the duty of the Government, in its deslings with the people, to mete out equal and ex- act justice to all, of whatever nationality, race, color, or persuasion, religious or political.” Indeed, this section of the Democratic plat- form has been very appropriately incorporat- |.ed in the preamble of the bill, and we are surprised that the Democrats in the House could so far stultify themselves as to vote against it, after being committed to the lan- guage quoted above. There is nothing in the Honse bill which is not intended to put into practice the sentiment thus uttered by the Democrats two years ago. The bill is intend- ed toassuro to the colored people of the South certain civil rights to which they are entitled under their present political status, according to their individual conduct and per- sonal condition ; and probably the only ob- jection that remains to it is the estab- lishment of a precedent for legis- lating on what some call “ social relations ” that may be abused in the future, . We hope, however, that the bil] may become a law by the vote of the Senate, and that it will secure to the colored race of the South the treatment which they deserve at the hands of the whites. But it may be questioned whether it will not be a disappointment "in its operations to the colored people themselves, « In considering the likelihood of this, we axe impelled to return to the circular issued a few days since by such representative colored men as Frepericx Dovatass, Prof. Laxestox, and Mr. Pryouzacs, in which they proclaimed an ultimatum,’ They said, in effect, that they must have the Civil-Rights bill, or they would be forced to the alternative of either joining the Democratic party or adopting a policy of retaliation and revenge. We shall rejoice if the final adoption of the measure shall relieve them from such an alternative. The policy of retaliation and revenge would be sim- ply suicidal. . If pursued with the bitterness which the words indicate, it might result in the extermination of the whole negro race, At all events, its inauguration by them would plunge the colored people of the South into desolation and desperation. They could not hope to cope with the whites, who far out- number them, in a “war of races.” As the weaker race, the more ignorant, the poorer, the less accustomed to deadly weapons, they would suffer tenfold the injury they could possibly be able to inflict on their opponents. Even during the War of the Rebellion, when the great bulk of the white males of the South were at the front, the negroes were unable to organize at home any aid for the Union cause and their own until the Union armies reached them. Since the War, when- ever the negroes and whites have come in open conflict, the killed and wounded among the blacks have been forty to one among the whites. Ina declared “war of races,” and without aay intervention on the part of the North, it would be almost as easy for Southern whites to exterminate the Southern bla as it would be for the men of the North to exterminate their women and children, if they set out’ to do it. : It is supreme folly for the negroes to talk of re- vengo and rotalistion. . They might join the Dathocratis gacky, i te bride, aieth thie trdukd extent: The Democrats of the South would treat them with at least as much considera. tion and respect as the Democratic leaders of the North treat their Irish constituency. They would get some of the minor offices and subordinate plices, cand they would be treated with much “more social consideration than they can ever hope to receive so long as they ere arrayed as a race in combined politi- cal hostility against the great mass of the Southern whites. They would be mere vot- ing machines, it is true, bet the condition would have its’ compensations for them, Certainly it would be ‘a relief to the Repub- lican party of the North to have the fearful responsibility of maintaining peace in the South thus shifted from its shoulders to that of its opponents. Another good that would flow from this fasion of the black with the whito race would be that it would Ieed ina short time to adivision of the whites into two political parties, just as they are divided in the North. Esch of these white factions would electioneer for the colored vote, just as the native Democratic and Republican politiciens electioneer for the foreign vote, and the blacks would be petted, flattered, protected, and defended in their civil and po. . litical rights by both of the white parties. But the hope is that the Civil-Rights bill will release the blacks from the constraint of either joining the Democrats or adopting the policy of revenge. ‘We cannot, however, be too sanguine in this matter. We must re. member that, after the 4th of March, the Ad- ministration will be under very pronounced restraint by a Democratic Congress. Though the Federal Courts and the mechinery of the Executive will still. be in the -hands of the Republican party to enforce the provisions of the Civil-Rights law, the House of Representatives, which holds the purse, can seriously impede its op- eration with the exclusive control of appro- priations. We would not, therefore, have the blacks place too much faith in the virtue of the Civil-Rights bill as a panacea for all their ills. Indeed, it is not well that they should rely upon legislation exclusively for recognition of their social claims. Their own actions will, in spite of all legis- lation, have more influence over their relations with the whites and with each other than everything else. To the extent that these relations are ruthlessly invaded by the whites, so that the civic privileges of the colored people are abridged, we hope that the new law may be passed and rigidly en- forced. The purely social distinctions, how- ever, must depend uvon the personal conduct of the blacks themselves and the progrecs they are able to make in their departure from alate condition of servitude ond pni- versal ignorance. Indeed, the remark -of Jadge Hoan in the House, pending the dis- cussion of the bill, very fairly characterizes its probable influence, when he said that bo did not believe that much good or muck ha-m would come from it, but that it ought to be passed as a sort of Declaration of Independ- ence. It is in this spirit that the Senate should take it up in its present shape, and with its sanction make it a la A statement comes from New Orleans that at last the Democratic and Republican mex- bers of the Louisiana Legislature have agreed upon ‘a compromise, by which the Lower House will be given to the Conservatives, ac- cording to their demand of Jan. 4, seating the five claimants whom Gen. Dz TropatanD expelled upon the request of Gov. Kexzocc, Acting upon this compromise, the Legislatare will assemble, and, ignoring both Hamy ond ‘Wrz, proceed to elect a new Speaker. Tho statement wants official confirmation, but it is probably true, as it is in accord with the tenor of the general news from New Ocleans for the past week or two. If so, it indicates that the Committee of Investigation now in that city has come to the same conclusion with regard to the Returning Board as the sub-Committee, and that it is determined no longer to uphold Gov. Kenzoca and his ‘' gigantic fraxd.” This compromise, if it has been made, might have been made long ago, and saved the coun- try the miserable scandal, the double militay visitation and interference, the firing of the. Bourbon heart, and the’ general political con- fusion and turmoil which have grown out of the Louisiana complication. Before com- mehting in detail upon the change of situa- tion, we await confirmation of the report; but the probabilities seem to indicate that at last there is hope'for the final settlement of the vexed question. When Colorado vigilantes get after s man they do managa to make things unplessantly warm in his neighborhood, and, if thev fail in doing that, it may be taken for gospel that the person they want possesses more than average courage and astuteness. It happened to ono Exasan Grens, of Coon Creek, Col., that he had, in self-defense, as ig alleged, slains man. He was tried for the offense and acquitted. That night hie log cabin, in which, with his wife and five childron, another woman and child and himself were living, was surrounded by fifteen mea, who wanted him to come ont. He refused to do so, @nd they endeavored to fire the house. He shot the leader through a chink, and, a8 they all came in s body to the door to break it in, he fired again,’ Kill- ing s second man, whose gon exploded and” Killed a third, whereupon the remainder fied. In their flight he fired two shots from his rife, crippling s couple more. Nest day he surren- dered himself to justice, was tried for tho three homicides, acquitted, and then the whole country round about rose. The Judge before whom he was tried, Gress, his brother Wouay, 2:d another relative, were condemned to destn by the vigilantes, but took the precaution of flying to Denver. After» journey of 15 miles they found themselves pursued by 50 or more vigilantes, from whom they escaped after nother sharp TuD of 18 miles, and got safely into Colorado Oity, and thence on to Denver. Gress will return tobia ranche only when the dime-novelty of the thing has worn off, by which time his femily will have beon incroased, as he expects. The story reads like 9 sensational tale from the Ledger, but the Denver News vouches for ita trath. Many more such adventures will depopulat> Colorado. —_———___—— The Worcester (inss.) Gazette, in tracing the career of a-noted confidence operator named Hezeatan Brovauroy, throws ont some hints which theoretical moralists shouldnote. For io- stance: Hezextan was a startling illustration of hereditary taints. While his dear mother was “a woman of exemplary piety,” his grandfather “would steal,” and ‘bis father’s conscience would not always bind him to speak the truth, and deception ana fraud were not uncommon festures in his character.” But that no mistake should be made in weighing the influence of ® latrociniows grandfather, and a progenitor of such startling elasticity of conscience, the blog- rapher proceeds to point out the exact nature of the first temptation to which their il: fated issue succumbed, together with the time and place which agreed thereto.’ It was late in the yoar 1864 that he fell. Ho wae intrusted by his neighbors (whose ‘full conf- dence ho possessed") with a load of butter and cheese, destined to try the ethereal digestive sppsrataus of Boston idealists. Ho started om his journey, bat never returned, - Tho attth> Hod of hid load Were too gros for bins 3