Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, May 16, 1875, Page 4

3 ¥ I 5 et gty £, T . e S B s THE CHICAGO TRIBUN. SUNDAY, ‘MAY 16; ‘1 5.—SIXTEEN PAGES. TERMS OF THE TRIBUNE RATES OF SURKRIFTION (riTA¥I¥ TN ADVANCD. Pestage Prepald at this Ofice. - PANTRO-Uns active agent in asch tewn sad Bpocia! arrangemests mads with sucs. ke Spocimen copies sent freo. T provout Ceisy end mistakas, be sare avd giva ©Offce cddress ta full, inchuding State a2d Gouaty. Bemiiancoeray beade eitherby drast, oxpross, Post- Oftee order. e 1o registered letiors, &b var risk, TRAMS TO CITY SUBACRINZRS. Daly, Solivered, Sunday excepted, 235 veats perwaek. Dedls, Celiverod, Bunday fnaludsd, 30 cente vor week. THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, Corsr Mudieon aud Dearbera-sta., Chicage, 1L Post TO-MORROV/'S AMUSEMENTS. EOOLEY'S THEATRE—Recdolsh strest, betwses Blarkand ‘Emerson's Kinstrela, AM'VICKSR'S THEATRE—Madison street, between Poasborn 204 State. Eugagement of Chatles Pope. o Eamagnn ADELPHI THEATREDearborn street, scrnee Moa- #os. Variey Hntertelnment. AOADBYY OF HUSIC~Halsted street, betwsen Mad- #20m xd Mcoree “Eigagomont of the Fox Pantamime- Troups. ** Humpty Dumpts." " SOCIETY MSETINGS. ATTENTION Chioaza Commandery. HEE SIR ENIGHTS1_Stwted Conclave of . No.39, (. T., Monday svaning, S Rnil soarivonst heae B o e s Com . A WILLIAMS, Recorcer. LAFAYETTE CHAPTER, . . 72 Monposgt - Shectsl Convochtion Boincs avemtng, By ot el kel o ek SB35 M- 2, Degron, Vie X T K. TCEREL, Bacrotisr. CHICAGO DGR, NO. 1. 0. 0. F.—Members | Sar autiod G teingl Lol Sk < MR i&:flmm%uutg‘. Bt of imper ‘Daziber will oo bt o : = ROBT. HAWE, X. 6. _OORINTRIAN ORAPTER, N ®, B. A. M.—Special iz Mosdas svaains, M- & - Spectl ok on the B 2 Do 5Ty J. O, DICKERSON, Sec. The @b@n Gribune, Sunday Morning, May 18, 18785. HURICIPAL INDEBTEDNESS, . Gov. Trpex, in a special messags to the Xew York Legislature, discusses in corsiler- able detail the subject of municipsl indebt- edness, which is repidly sssuming enwrraons proportions in this country., He laas; ob. 4ained and publishes statemente of t11s fingn. cial condition of twenty-four citiet ‘in the State of New York, which show the. follow- ing results: o 0429600 to. $75.60, and the xanaal tax to $21.55, per head of the ‘popu- lation of ths twenty.four citiers These debts and the annual taxation are on the in- crosse. The debt of these cities, is over 11 per cent of the assessed valus of their taxs- ble property. This condition of things, wh'ich mekes lir- ing in-cities 80 costly, is the e solt of an am- bition on the part of Municips [ Governments to expend all the money thrsy can raiso by borrowing or otherwise on pr ablic credit. In the meantite, taxtion is pr shed to the ut- most limit, and, bétween prv ;sent taxation and tho constantly-growing & sbt, the owners of property in large cities are. taxed down so close to their incomes: from such property tint it ceases 10 be of valge, No more fatal policy cen bs followeid ‘m eities than heavy taxation and the cretitm of large debts. It Arives away. populst’ior. and business. Taxa- tion in New York City first drove the mana- factures to New Jensey, and bas driven a Imgs. population »5f merchants to resids in the same State and.sver the line in Connecti. cut. When labor con bons well paid elss where, and can ha ve houserent and living cheaper, it will 5 bandon the heavily-taxed 14 debi-burdered cities. ; Our Nunicipal Governments have no faith in the wisdom af smecessors. They engage in costly worke, of improvement which in other couztriess would be slow of erco- tion, b paid 9or by ewmall sunual tavation, | £ad. whes comipleted. would bs of durable consiruction, “while here they must be com. pleted in the shortest possible time. To raise the mozey for theas works bonds ave issmed, cnormons ¢ atracts granted, balf the money issolen or squandered in imperfact work, ond the fiure generations have either to do it all ‘over .or whandon it sltogether, The history of tho debt of all cities in this conn. try will & sclose that this is the unifarm rale, Twentz; years ogo, the grest evil wos the enormity- of the State debta. Forty years 2go, the. Stotes plunged heavily into the debt- contrac ting business, and have ever xince been stragpling to get free, Notwithstand: ingths lighilities incurred during the War,” most of the Northern States have made grest Prog? ese in payiog off their dsbts, and many of them ara nmow free. Taxation for State PUPo8es is now, as a general thing, quite lightt. While the Stats Governments have been peying off thieir dobts and reducing tawstion, minor municipalities have gone’ keavily into debt. Twenty yesms sgo, tho State of Ilinois staggered under a dsbt of ten millions of dollars, and the taxation re- quired o n:eetit. . There ‘waa then compara- &vely o municipal debt. The magnituds of the Etate; debt seamed appalling. Now the Stote is out of dsbt, and the minor munici- Dpalities-—~the cities, towns, districts, nnd countie s—ows an aggregate exceeding 40, 000,009, Btate taxstion hes declined to m miniraum, while local taxation hes assumed immense proportions. The aggregnte an. xual. tazgtion of all kinds in this State is hardly less than $26,000,000. “isely, the people of Miinois have put s £8P 0 the incresss of municipal dsbt, and have placed & limit therson, Though Chicago nf‘uarlt.hn fire was sorsly embarrasssd and crippled for the want of monay, it s perhy mefiov-mflx&u“m:h: this constitutional imit. Had there beon no rach restriction, and the municipal govern. ment was fres to barrow monsy on bonds, it i3 likely that our manicipal borided. debt ab mbfimgwn!dnnahtheexmrmm.o:mnuy that the ¥orld conld have bean induced to loan. Asit is, without the addition of a dol. 1a7 {0 the city dsbt sinoe the sdoption of the Conatitation in 1870, Chicags bag got along, mbcwed,ifinmc,ndwfior;!ypnflsd. but Teverthelens successfally. Hor bonds are Atove par, and her credit was happily shown ©2ew day cincs, when the Compiroller made 2 tamporary loan of over &w o miltiong of dol. k; -:. 6 per cont interest. 2 not. probeble, ¥herefors, that the debta of the wmunicipalitirss of Minis will by Yorb ay ™t they #76 incressing in New Mfiv‘: 'l:‘:: Othiar Btates, ., The fatal o ’ f e ey :nhhz £03ey on bonds, gad the gxading othar peopla's.|’ money, is the evil st the founda- tion of municipal extravagance and mmunicipal indebledness. , When, the aggregste debt is restrained by legal Limitations, current ‘tara. tion is measurably- within ‘the -oontrol of the general public. - When- Municipal Govern. menta are limited. in.-their cxpenditures to: the money raised by direct taxation, the dan- ger of waste and extravagance is considerably less than when ‘the Manicipal Governments cen expend borrowed ‘money, and etrréng taxation incresses only .with the rapid in. crease of the public debt. In this State municipal debts are limited to 5 per cent of the assessed “value'of the texa- bles, and this assessiment will average about 55 per cent of the real value; so' that tho debt is limited practically to less-than 3 per cent of the real value of the taxable property of guch sssessments. The rate of taxation for current expenditares by counties i limit- ed to three-fourths of 1 per cent .on the as- sesged valuation. | 5w BV o Is there, under the eircumstances, and in the light of universal experience,” any other- Temedy for the evils of municipal extrava- gance in expenditare save the.’ inexorable’ constitutional prohibitions and Limitations, toth on expenditures and upon the creation of dsbt ? GEN. SHEEMAWS MEMOIRS, Perbaps Gon. Smenwun’s whole . military career has not demonstrated so large a degroe of coursge ag his recent publication of his personal ‘memoirs, covering, of course, the principal events of the War cf - the Rebellion. Many of the chief actors in ‘this nationsl drama still live, and the personal differences that arose in the War are like old and ugly’ ‘wounds, constantly reopening and 28 sensitive 83 ever to probing, Noman prominent in the War could write of it, its vicissitudes and | ita heroes, without eriticisms calculated to. arouse contention and snimosity. Yet Gen. SpxmuX, occupying certainly the second p/sition among the military leaders, has bold- 15 underteken the publication of his recollec- tions and opinions, and has dared.to confront the consequences. Spemruax has been popu- larly known for his frankness and blantness rather than for any other characteristic, and he was not tho man to mince matters nor to trim down events'and criticisms to, concili- ate snybody. He fully appreciated the.re- sponsibility he assumed, for he tells us that' he long resisted tempting offers from pub- lishers for a_history ‘of the Rebellion from his pen. He deciined to entor upon this task, but was finally persnaded to publish his own memoirs, though originelly collated for posthumous publication, and he now modest- 1y expresses the hope: that they may asist.| the future historian when he comes to de- scribe the whols Rebellion and account for the motives and ressons that prompted cer- tein octions. The form in which Gen. Smen- 3ux’s views of the War are presentéd . re lisves them to some extent of the formal re. sponsibility of the historion and military critle, but they will undoubtedly lead to interesting controversies, in which the principal personages on both ' ‘sides will take some part. Fortunately, Gen. SuxmauN hss - disarmed those inclined 1o contest any of his positions of their sharp. est weapons by adopting & style notable for ita candor and fairness, and for its freedom from acrimony. Considering the bluntners thetr organization was so broken up that thoy did ot and could not Gllow aur army, when it was known to bo.in & atate of disgracefu] and canseless Aight. It s | easy to erificise s battle after it is over, but all now ad- it that none others, equally raw in waz, could have; done better thn‘we did at Bull Run; and the-lssson| of that battle akould not be J0st an s poople ' Mks oY, | “With' reference to’ thé relations ‘betwoen Graxr and Srman,. it is fiteresting to note that SErmyuN was sx.important agent in ‘GRANT'S successful career, \iy_lmving‘in_dnc?fl. Gnant, by personal persunsion, . to, remain- with the army st the time “when' the -latter: was temporarily ‘ubder ' cloud. Hnd Gé Gauxy retired from tho front on lesve, as he.| intended, : he' might have' droppod: Gut: of-| Eight; as it was ho ‘yiclded to Sxemiua's ad.’ vice, remsined with the grmy,..;as 500n pro- moted to the commnd,: ‘and made his career; Bazmeay ‘also gives to Gmawr full credit for the conception and exeontion. of the campign- of Vicksburg, and says thot ““No Commanding Géxieral of an armiy ever gave mors of, Lis personal sstention to details; or wrote.so-| fonny'of his 0¥ orders, reports, snd letters, s Gen..Gravn.” ¢ o . . Gen. Srzmaax is'ss candid in claiming for himself tho conception of . tho, famous “ March to the Sea ™ as he is :generous to Gpanr in giving him-his due. SEERMAN says it was a long time before he. could con-_ vincs Gon. GEANT of the strategicimportance, of that movement, and sustains his " position”} by ample documentary evidence.” His™ de-_ scription of this episode of the War is graph- io and picturesque, &nd enlivened by inter- esting and vivacious incidents. Of the renl import of : this movement in the prosecution of the War, he writes aa follows : ) ! Tonly regarded the march from Atlanta io Savannsh 288 “shuftof base,” as the Lransfer af a strong army, which had no opponent, and bad finished it then work, from the interior. 0 5 point on the soa-coast, Srom which it could achiove other impartant results. X con- #idered this march 15 & menns o an end, and not 48 80 essontial act of -wat, * SHIL then, a5 now, the march to theses was geverally regarded aa somothing extraor— dipary, sarething suomalous, something out of the’ cusual ordéc of events; wheress, in'fact, I simply jmoved from Aflants to' Savannsh asons stop in the 1direction of Richmond,—a movement t5ist had to be’ met and dofeated, or the War Was nocossanly st an end, 'Were I to express my messuro_of ihie relative. npar- .tance of themarch o the ses, and of that from Savan- nab norttward, ¥ would place the farmer at ons, snd the latier at ten, or the maximum, . : ‘Altogether Gen. Swummyw's book ‘is- the most remarkablo contribution to the literatire of the War that has been. made or is. likely to bo made.” It-ia rarcly’ that s successful ‘warTior is gifted with the literary ability which SzzrMux has shown. His styla is éxceeding- Iy vivid, and bis memoirs will hardly share the fate he modestly. predicts—*to follow into oblivion the cords of similar papers.” -MARER, Tf Mayor Cotvax does ok succeod in his” desperate effort. to hold his offics eighteen months beyond the torm for which he was electod, withont the embarressing necessity of taking the vote of ‘the people thereon; *he may tirn his attention to the noble art of - elocution. * After the lapse-of the Mayor's. bill, which - occurred shortly after Mr, Cor- vIv's accession to office, and upto the pussage of the feebls imitation of this law by the last Legislature, Mr. -Corvav was at *lib- exty to devote himself lmost entirely to' the cultivation of the artof declamation. How ' assiduously and with what “mognificent effeot he has spplied himself “has been fro quently illustrated * during. his official career, but' never more ‘strikingly than of the men and the events he had to deal with, his account of the War is notable rather for the magnanimity shown to’ rivals and comrades than for harshness of eriticism. The conspicuous place which Gen. Smen- MUN occupies in American history fully war- rants the large amount of space which He has given o tho events af his esrly career, and. ke hss succeeded, by means of & remarkable memory and a picturesqus style, in investing this portion of his miemoirs with something more’ than & personal interest. Hig life is a striking illostration of ‘the fallacy of the pop- ular superstition that a rolling stone gathers no moss. Gen. SmEmmax's career. priar to bhis . entering - the Union - army a8 8 "Colonel of Regulars' wes. ons of constant change. He was a First Lieutonant of atillery in 1846, stationed at Fort Moultrie, in South Carolina. ‘His desire to take an active part -in the war with Mexico was de- feated by circumstance, and he never scented in his appearance 'at the ‘Iste Soldjers” Reunion. Mr. CoLvnN's jorte is extempora- neous spéaking’ It is whispered -that his more elaborate efforts, such. as ‘messages to tho Council, bave had the benefit of the sug- gestion and revision 6f'the’ accomplished Lt erary gentleman who, ‘consents. to, serve tha city in the cgpacity of Clerk. But Mr. Cozvovs heppy, 6&hend’ ntterances’ aro ‘svideatly all his own. There-isa certnin freedom from the shackles’ of literary conventionalities, a certain boldnéss in striking out into sextences without the faintest idea of whers or how. they are to end; a very recklcssness of the or: dinary. caution of your careful orator, and & remarkable indifference to the occasion which calls ‘out 'the Fémarks,—all ‘of which com- bine {0 make Mr. Corvix onie of the ‘most striking orators.of the dsy: f» ' .. .1 Mayor CoLvry, though naturally a modest’ man, confd not refrain, when addressing him- self to the soldiers of the late War, from im. the smoke of the batile-field nor became familiar with the bloody scones of war till the battle of Bull Run. Ho was sent to Cali- fornia instead of Mexico, and was o passive witness of the excitements incident to the gold fever of 1848’49.. A year later ho' ro- turned to Washington, became & member of Mr. Ewme'a family, married, and resigned his commission. " He returned to Sen Fran: cisco &3 8 banker, where he underwent the experiences of the Vigilance ' Committeo, which he opposed, and of the local panic; then he changed to New York, stil as a banker, and then -back to Ban Fran. cisco to..settle ‘up a business which had not been specially remuiertive, We mext find him ' procticing | law %8 8 member of the firm of Smzmuay, Ewmve & MoCoox, which, as ha says, *“ helped to pass away the time, but afforded little profit.* Then he became Superintendent of a milita- 1y college in Louisians, which he ubandoned 8t the outbreak of the War to escape’ Seces- aior.. He went to Bt. Lonis as President -of & horss-milroad company, wss offered’ the Chief-Clerxship of the War Department, but daclined, and shordly aftor was sppointed Colonel in the Regular Army, and from that has grown to be the General of the United States forces. Perhapa it would never have bappened had he retained his Lieutenancy, and wosted his life in the dreary experience of a Regular-Army officer on the frontier, Gen. Sexnuan's soldierly qualitiesdeveloped early in the War, as illustrated prominently by the following ineident: A Captainin a three-months’ regiment being a lawyer by profession, proposed to go home to New York after his Bull-Run axperience, without being mustered ‘out, and simply because his tima was ont. Ths whole army wns demoralized, and Szema, folly appreciating the necea sity of maintaining - discipline, prompily threatoned to shoot the lawyer-Oaptain if he i not et to eamp. The Captain, few hours after, complained to Mr. Laxoorx, who was on'a visit to- the camp, that:Col. Smxs. 3t hod threatened {0 shoot him, and- Lay. coux’s characteristic reply was: ¢ Well, it T were you, and he threatened to shoot, I wonld not trust him, for I beliave he wonld do it." Of the battle of Bull Bun Gen. Smmux'y judgment is as follows : "I i Dow genarally sdmitted that it was one of the best-planved basties of the War, but ong af the warst fought, Our men had boen told £0 oftan af Lime thas Al they hiad 0 do Was to maks & bold. sppesrance, and tbe Robels would rux ; and neazly all of. ux .far the et tima then baard the gound of exanon &nd mus. ¥ota in suger, and mw the Boody soenoe camman tp #.:‘m:;;m which wa were oo {0 be-fair, 20Tl e 5o Foepen tor sothati ey knowledge of war, Both armies wore fairly defeated, ml!,'mn-hmd fust, Do olberWould huve rha. Though the: e Overwlalmed with ‘man £i2atibn and shame, kot Bouth ¥ ii'-u:l, fob 5 iis tiived @y Four a Aghny pregsing upon them the importance and dig- nify of the office of Mayor of Chicago. : This was eminently proper., Ii the eleyen: sen- teaces, principal dnd subsidiary, of which hig brilliant effort . congisted, ten of. them began with “L” and the other one with “ My.” "The famous orator from'Tennesses who has swang all eround the circle of elocution,.from the bench (tailor’s) to the ' forum, mever equaled Mr. CoLvry in the Liboral,” promiscu- ous, and effective use of thé personal pronoun. There wers fifty.four variations upon the per: sonal, pronoun in s speech - of. forty lin they wers not always correctly located, it i true, but.he got. them -in, and that was triomph enough. Thero ere few men, es- pecially when incambered with Mayor Cor- VIN'S overpowering modesty, who possess this wonderful lnack of - manipulating personal pronouns, and making up whole sentences al- most exlusivaly of them.;" Verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbi, and- almilarly servile ac oassories, ata ‘necessary to tost writers and spéakers, but Mayor CoLvin can be. eloquent oz personal pronouns alone, and even eonfine these to the first person. This 'is something more than &, mere oratorical trick; there is positive genius in it. =it a ‘The men who were fortunats enctgh to as- sist in the 1ate Reunion will ‘treasire up the experiance of having heard -Mayor' Corviz speak 4 ona of the rarest of their Lives. Al others must soore that frightful reflection of » lost opportunity. i"Gen. Graxz, Gen. Sgrs- MAY; ‘Scrotary Berwar, “Gen.. ¢ Birpy * Sruzrm, Admiral Porrre, and tho other dis- tinguished gentlemén'who sent in their let ters of regrat, have now more cause for regret than ever. “Had the heroes of the War who assembled here last. week: remninéd away, they would never have known how distin. guished was -the honor of being- ‘received by Mayor Coiviv, He' told them. : Ho ro- minded them that he had in his ‘time received * Lord Durzzriy; Governor-General of Can- King—the King of the.Can—that is, the Sandwich Islands, and his suite.” The pride sad glary with which’ Mayor Corvey an nounced this ing intelligence can scarce- 1y have failed to" impress his ‘martial heroes in a high' dogres, ‘scarcely less; in fact, than the bold dedlsration -which Msyor Corvix madeto them that he'* was not ‘s soldier during the.War.?: He left his hearers in, doubt whather he was & ‘soldier befors the ‘War, or whether -he has been a soldier Knce the War ; bot hewgave them tha most posi- tive mssurance that-his © hand hed' dlways been open to the widows and orphans” of the soldiara,” . . i n " It is mot evary eity that has such an crator 4 Covvx for ita Mayor, and. the psopls, t60 opt to be ungratatal, ‘should:‘be ' properly re- siindad &F Litif traniars’ - It dubpotib Conrla i | during the carcusal. - ‘and unappreciative Judges shall finally decido that Afr..Corvin. may not sacrifice himself by sérving the ‘Psople ‘as Mayor for eighteen ‘months beyond the,term " for which he. was elected (which he is public-spirited enough to bo willing to' do), thore is itill a sphero of usefulness Open to. him. Ho may set up & 'new school: of elocntion, and prove to Chicagoans’ what DrosTEenes was to the Groeks and Crazzo to the Latins. .+ . . A STRANGE BTORY. ... . 'The Philadelphia Bulleten publishes:astory which g decidedly sensationel, and which professes o explain. why President Gant ‘has néver publicly disclaimed & candidacy for | the third term. The story in substance is, | that the first,intimation -of an iifention on the part of the President -to be a candidate | for a third ferm was the facstions publications Of the New York Herald, in which Camsarism was discussed as a joke: ~The Democrats, Bowever, took up,the stofy o5 in earnest; and rung tho ebanges 5o long 'and vahemetly on. Cemsarism that thousands of persons belioved that tie President had such an intention. Feeling, that:,tho card was & good one, the | Demodrats feared- that:-the President would | destroy it by some phublia ‘denial, and,’to prevent ‘such an occurrence, a. deep-laid scheme was concocted. J ‘ Knowing ' that 16 man of independende and courage can. be frightened or coerced by threats into the performance’of any act not morally or legelly roquired of him, and that, even if it wers a thing which of his own voli- tion or on polite request he could. do with ‘pleasure, ho would refuse to do it under such constraint, and kmowing the President’s char- aeter in this respect, a conspiracy_was ‘form- ed. A message was sent to the President de- manding from him a public dissvowal of any intention on his part to be o candidate for & third enm, and decloring that his failurs to. comply with- the demand would insure for him tho fate of Czase and Lmvcors. The communication was o long one, and recited that the signers had been his friends and snp- porters; referred to the rumors of his' geck- ing a third election, and to' the scandalons discussions that had followed; and claimed that he owed it to the people to publidy dis-" claim any intention to be a ‘candidate. The letter asserted that its nuthors were a band of patriots who had pledged their lives, fortunes, and honor to preserve the country: egeinst Cesarism, and that his refusal to vo- pudiato all intention to be a candidate wonld farnish just grounds for the belief that the .| imputations ogninst him were well founded. The Bullstin adds: ‘Tbe paper concluded with the explicit derend that the Preatdont hould, within & spocified time—sbonk ten daya—roblicly declars, or suthorize some rerponsl. ble person to declare in his name ond bebalf, that ha Bad nover eatertained a deaira for & third term, and that ho “would not, under aay possitle eandition of affalrs, allow his name to be used again as a candidate; and howas at the same time aseured that his mneglect or refusal to comply with the demand would apeodily call Gown upon him the fats of Cxsan add Lovcors. Then followed, 23 signatarss, the names of BRUTTA, CassUs, L1aaxtus, and other assassine of Cxasx, and of J. Witxes Boors, HAROLD, and others, murderers of Liscorx, - This letter, it is said, Wwas writtén and’ de- livered in the summer of: 1873, when the President was with his family st Long Branch.. The letter, however, failed in its Ppurpose to frighten the President into mak- ing the disclaimer; but the writer leavesit to conjecture whether.it had"the effect of preventing him from doing, under a threat; what he otherwise would have done readily ; and the article thus concludes : " But can there ba a spirited or honarabls man on earth, who oven had any respect for the President, or 1ho exalted offics he holds, Who could have wislied him to mako much & dfaclaimer tn {ho face of such.a demand and threst? Can any one wonder that this, if no'other conefderation, should have prevented his making ome? Was it Dot enongh, apart from all other objections, to ‘have constrained him to turn & deaf ear t5 all subsequant demands of s similar nature, ‘whether they proceeded from friend or fus 7 . ‘We publish this story for what it ia worth. Opinione will differ as to whether this is no§ anothor assault upon the President, under tho.cover of offering an excuso or.apology for” something which' nceds no excuse or apology. Why should the President make a publio disclaimer of an intention - to do any 4ct? If “the Président had the power of reelecting himself, then such a disclaimer would probably be proper. But when so many Presidents heve tried to have thiém- salves elected even. to a second term,.and failed lamentsbly, it éaght to be understood Pretty well by this tinio that the peoplo elect Presidents, and that Presidents do not elect themselves. - The President cannot decline in advance an office which has not baen offered THE BTORY OF THE BCHILLER. - ‘When ‘tha ocable flashed the news that the Sohiller bad gons down off the Scilly Islands, and hed carried down 300 souls with her, the usual storm of reproaches'did not break. It wes announced that the vessel had been in & fog for some danys, and this was taken as an ample excuse. Moreover, the Captain ‘wos an old, experienced seaman, and stuck to. his ship to the last. -His gallant'death disarmed criticism. It now appears, however, that the colamity; like so many others, was- the fruit of grosu and gigantio recklessness. The ong cabin passenger who escaped, Mr, Hexay Sremn, of New York, hes told the story of the wreck. He makes out s bad case ‘against officers and crew.” We have no meeas of judging the worth of ihis statement, save by its ‘internal evidence ‘of trustworthiness, which is. weighty ; but st any rate nobody s yot contradicted it, and the - four. officers who_esciped at the experiss of tha passengera committed to their care have strong ressons to contradict it, if they can safely.do 5o, The accident 'happened on May'7. Hazy weather . had” prevented taking any observa- tions for some"days.- - During that time, the lead was not once used. This estounding fact shows inexcusable careleasness. . Hera is & steamship which ‘ia ran by desd reckoning seversl days, and .the precise position .of which cannot, therefore, be sscertained, It is Imown, ~however, that the vessel is oar- tainly approaching one of the most danger- ous coasts if the world. Yet no sonndings are ‘taken. The only precaution noted by Mr. ;SremN, was -that of taking in eail and slackening speed a¢ 8 o'clock on the evening of the fatal dsy. This delayed the catastro. phe just one hour. Tha ship would other- wise have struck st 9 p. m. ; 8sit was, the pussengers werd allowed to live untdl 10 o'clock. Thé officers, having first taken oll possitle care.to become ignorans of the position of the ship, then did ‘what they cold £o moké_passengers and crew unfit for meeting ths . results of that ignorance. “Many of the crew and passengers wers in- toxicated,” says Mr. Stems, “one of the off. — | came a revoltingly selfish and bratal struggle for the boats, the result, in great measure, of | official encouregement of drunkenness. Some of the catouses were 50 far goné” thot they lsy in ‘a drunken stupor.on deok -until the waves washed them sway. The rest them, rowing. off with -others ‘which inighi Lave spved scores’ of lives. The" Captain; opened fire on them with a revolver, in vain, and then: went back t6 duty and - death. - His four immediate subordinates were apparently | in these boats, * They saved their own: lives at the cost of ‘many others. The value: they put.upon them will probably not be" appreti- ated by the survivors of the murdered passen- gers,—for, if this story bo true, the desd were ‘murdered. It was said, immedintely after the disaster, that the fog-bell which might have warned the Schillor of thé riear- ness of ‘the fatal roefwas not Neard. Was | this due to drunkenness? . . e While everything seams to have been done .on the vessel to insare a thorough wrecl, the ‘needed arrangements for making the conse- ‘quent loss of life as'complete dspossible were attended to on shore. : The signal system had., been carefully bungled. All communication betwoen the lighthonse and ‘the shorp had boon prevented. 'The result of theso arrange- ments was the destriction of 800 lives. -The Coroner’s jury at the Soilly. Islands has re- buked the mismanagement there. . Who is to effectively rebuke the more criminal misman- sgement on board the i ¥ OF ERGLAND. Poople have grown. resigned to poisoned food and poisoned wine, beer, and liquor, but | the idea of poisoned weter is unfamiliar to | those of them who have not had the plesure of ‘crossing the Chicago River.on a hot day. Now, however, the English are indnlging in a | grent scare on this subject. Part of: the 1 -elarmists say that the whole water-sapply is i giving out, and ol of -them agree that it 1sin | 8 thoroughly bad state. In soma parts of the country there is practically a watar-famine, “Itis no uncommon thing for women and children to wait for honrs, with little vessels, to carry away a scanty supply for the domes- tic purposes of the whole family.” Where the: precious fluid is more sbundant, manufacto- ries use it as a motive-powsr and 2a a sewer. fo carry away their refuse. It is much too valuable to be absorbed in drinking and wash- ing, 8o the average Briton uses compound of water, sewags, mud; snd microscopic par~ esites for such purposes. The evil is by no means confined to small towns. It is per- baps greatest in London, where the drainage of a million people cozes into the source of supply. Anditis universal. A short time 8g0, » member of the finest Club in London, the Athenssnm, examined ths tank from which the water used in the Club was drawn. He found a foob of slime st the bottom of it. Tpon trying the water: under & microscope, ho discovered an infinite variety of . the most horrid forms of life. He detailed his studies and their rosults in a lotter to the London Zimes. Attention was called to the matter in Parlinment, and the writer was accorded #n interview with members of the Ministry, The latter promised to take action on the mat- ter. Meanwhile, somescientific men tookit on themselves to make a carefal investigation into the whole water-supply of London. They found it almost incredibly bad. The inhab- itants of the world's great city are practically drinking their own sewage,—only this and nothing more. The matter is a very serous one, for good water is one-of the prime neces- sories of ‘health: and’ lif3,. Mr. Dismaruy, early in tho session of Parliament, announced in & jaunty, offband way that he would attend to the purification of the watorsupply ot once. Now he hag-mads -the humiliating confession, through one of his subordinates; that the question is “too vast™ for tha Gov- ernment to frame an answer to it. It thisis 80, tho danger is evidently too vast for any one person to wholly escape it. Englishe men must reconcile thomsalves to .being poisoned, unless, indeed,” they decide that the hedlth of the many is of moars weight than the money-making of - the. fow. ‘The real reagon of the sudden loss of Gov- ernmental interest in the.motter was not that it could not be remedied, but that the manu- facturing interests wonld go over to Liberal- ism if the Conservative Ministry mado them give up their usurped prerogative of poison. ing every stream in England, ; BRIBERY IN. PEILADELPRIA. Thera is & lively time in municipal circles in Philadelphin. There are some measures bafore tho Common Council of, that city in- volving s large expenditure of money, in- cluding, we believe, the extension of ‘the water system o several suburbs. The Com- mon Council refuse to pass the . legislation, but do ot reject it, and the impression is that money is demanded for votes. Mayor BroxevLy has written » public letter to the City Solicitor, in which he has denounced the Council for waiting o be bribed It seems that & * Council- of Ten ” members of the City ‘Council have the mansgement of the affair, and, as will be well understood here, upon the depokit of a cortain suim of money where the ten may direct, the legisla. tion will take place ; otherwiss not. One of the Boards of the Common Cotneil in its indignation sppointed a cormmittes to investigate, and summoned the Mayor. to appear before them fo explain hislétter. He appenred and refused to answer any questions in detail, further than 'to say'that he' had written his lotter after repeated conversations with members of the' Cominén Counieil, and he gavo the names of & number of the Coun. cil with whom he had' conversdd, inaltding several members of the, Committce. - When giving these names, he directed the reporter to write one of thom plainly. Hero is part of the Mayor's examination) = | . A~T hod 8 coniversation with ans of the members mentioned, who sald that the matier had bean ar ‘rangod, sud that it would pass thst Tharwday; { told kim I did nat think s0, sod T would rether it would crovded intd the boals, swamiping some of | { and gos ‘companies. All the blackmail that | that the dstliss ase s | was tobe gotout of theso lines of jobs has, we | suppose, been gatheredin in Philadelphia long j @80, while . here in Chicago the good work | | contintes to - be profituble.. . We have, in | ‘addition, meny . other- things’ which are of | ! sufficient publio interest to induce a num- njust o5 to aseatl cherscter smg {njure roputation ; but we find in the chreh Jomrasls ¥uch 8 £re0 a0 of tho words “{a0del,” hypocriten itrimmer,” ond “fool® that wa fat to open up Against tho berty the press takos with character, losy o might burt the feelingu of tome af tha Ukristias edr., Lars hereabouts, and bo a4 unfortunate 28 the boy thay PLUTAZCH spealt of, %o threww & stomo at & czoes dog and struck his stepracther, ; Furthermore, we “cannot avoid the fesling ‘that Tapers ate much like exps or potatoes expossd for. #ale in market, the purchaser of which ia not to be sx.. | ber of gentlemen to give their whols time to the city without pay. Forty thousand dol- i 1ars, looked &t from & Chicago point of iew, | seems to-be a small sum to be divided among' 'fi‘fif":&?fi?“fi,‘““"‘ :x'n.du- purchaz | such & numerous body a. the 10 BOARS Of | market mam e yata conepm en o O 300" a% ta | the Philsdelphia Common Council. prrchuser, e = = 4 But we decline, 5t present, the matn argument. W 1 . ART IN THE WIST. Shall atudy up tho case xnd shall open p & amen, doas “ratuls ” ths moment ths refizious orgunyresch ;uch a condition of virtuo as to enable ua to weive fo. it0 our argument s fatr amount of exazpla,’ - !¢ The bareness of Westarn life is the staple, | opic on which our visitors from Earope and | | the East talk - Everybody is making money, | { or trying to make money, they say, and no- | body has leisure for books, and cultre, snd- ‘art. The sweeping statement has soms truth {init; but the- element of verity grows less overy year. - The publishing and book-gelling |- days of this month. People who believe ‘intsreststhat contre in"Chicago thrive apace, | that doath is the end of all things, soul and Growing wealth -brings refinement in its | mind as well as body, are to tell WLy they, | train. - Thero are a dozen art-sales in this | think 50, and then thoss who beliove it tb by [ EATH, Persons who ére efraid to dio should go to Boston. - For Boston, or part of..it, holds an - “Anti-Denth Convention” on tho last two’ city whera there used to be one, and a much better grade.of painting is appreciated and bought." The annual displays at the Inter- State ‘Exposition bave done not a little towards art-culture. For the first time the Deople of the Northwast have had the chance the prelude to a celestial life are to tell their reasons for the faith that is in them. Certain persons who call themselves * Spiritists™ will explain their theory of ‘the hereafter, which Seems to consist in a belief that they will float. around indefinitely in space with the same fo see really fine collections of art. |Bort of delicious = half-conscionsness that That chance has been eagerly seized. | Precodes a morning map. It is hoped It is said that some hundreds of thousands . that » Buddhist can be secured. who of . persons visited the gallary of last year, [ Will . dilate on the boundless happi- The sales of paintings, at the close of the | ness of complete absorption, in the First Causa, Exposition, . amounted to $40,00. The | will talk sbout Nirvana with ali the accents prospects of this year are even better. | on it, and will thus wips cut all the terrors of For the first time in American history, a | “falling asleep in Buddha™ A lot of me. thoronghly ropresentativo collection of Ameri- | diums will also attend, each of them, -of can art will be shown.. Some choice foreign | course, with the standard number of familisr’ paintings, loaned from private galleries, will | spirits, mainly the ghosts of Indians, who bo exhibited, but the main feature will be | Will sy, “Me in happy hunting-grounds* this display of the artistic friumphs of our and will thus conclusively prove immortality. countrymen. The great artists and the grend Then the exposars of the mediums will ba let pofrons of st are aiding the Committeo ~loose, and u terrific combat of the decpestin- actively, and the result promises to mark an ' ferest will ensue. If this resuits in destroy. epoch in the esthetic development of the ;ing the ghosts and the argument for immor- West. "It isintended that these annual exhibi. | tality deduced from their imaginary exist. tions shall become great annual art-sales, in | €nce, still the debate will' continue.” For' an’ which the chioicest works of our native artists | Svolutinnist or two will show that the carions cau bo obtained :This year, the art- ! Puzzlo ws call life constantly becories mora ists -will certainly do their share . of | complicated,—that is, more highly organized, the work. Thoy will fill the six galleries at | —that is, surer to continue in being,—and, the Exposition Building with the finest ! paintings ever gathered togother at any one | time in this country. - The rest depends upon | the public. If visitors who can afford to buy | do 50; if they fall into the habit of purchas- ing paintings here instesd of sbroad,—then a round aggregate of sales will make it worth tho artists’ while to repeat every year hereaf- | ter the especial efforts they are making now. Every journal in the Northwest can do something towards bringing this- about by leiting its readers know the exceptional chances they will have for getting good pic~ tures at reasonable rates this’ fall and - every 1all hereafter, at the annual Exposition. The ert-gallery is not local It is of far greater importance, The majority of its visitors will come from out .of town. Ite lines and tints of beauty will educate and delight the whole West. It is under the charge of a Committee which believes devoutly in it as & potent educational force. The work which it necessitates is done as a labor of love: That work is now nearly finished. Tta re- sults will appear next September. Whether or not it is to be fully crowned with success depends upon the great public, not only that vast number who have eyes to sce but the smaller baud who shave besides greenbacks wherewith to'buy. We spare the .reader a well-known statement sbout s thing of beauty, but it should ba remembered that the quotation has become “hackneyed only be- canse it is g0 trua. MEMORABILIA OF WASEI®GTON. ‘The Stats of New York is now exhibiting a noteworthy collection of articles which onca belonged to Grorax Wasmcrow. Unlike many othef relics, their anthenticity is be- yond question ; for they were kept as heir- looms in the Wisarvcrox family, and were Bought by New York from the widowof Col. Liwrs W. Wasnmvoroy, who wes the grand- s0n of the nephew of the grest original. Hs waa also the WASEINGTON Who gained & nich | in /history by , béing captured by Jomx Browx, ¥ The collection of memorials begins with the surveying tools used by Truthful Geonox. Then comes the -silver watch-eal which ha lost while rallying the troops after Brap- Doux’s defeat. It waa plowed up eighty- seven years afterwards. Next toit is the gold seal which replaced it, and which was worn during and after the Revolution. The cabi- met contains, tao, the pistol given the fixst President by Lavaverre, and the sword pre- sented to him by Freprrick the Grest. The sword wos sent about 1780 with a verbal message: *From the oldest General in the world to the greatest.” - The wording of tha message has been disputed, but thia is the form - according to fomily tradition. Tha New Jersey Journalof Aug. 3, 1780, quotes it in this way,, WasavaTox -wors this sword on all State occasions, and it appears in the two mdst famous portrsits of him. ‘When Jomx Beown ‘eaptured Col. Wasma. ToN, he. seized this historic relio and La- PAYETTR'S pistol. The sword was taken from Browx by Gen. R. E. Lza and roturned to | its owner, and the pistol was sent back a year afterwards by Owzx Browx. There are papers in the cabinet of grest historical value. . In one of them, Wasarxarox record- ed his opinion’ of the character of twenty- thrés’ American Generals who were living in 1792. “0ld Pur” is disposed of with -the remark that he is only conspicuous in his own State. The most important of thess papers is a draft of the famous Farewoll Ad- dress: ' It covers nineteen written pages, and is ol in Wasnrserox's handwriting. It was composed in May, 1792, when he thought he ot X tald him that T had mnderatood from the begin- ning that not & dollar waa1o be spent ‘In this matier, and If thero was that T would sxposs it from fne formation from s cortatn member I ws 12d to believe that voies for the bl could be secured for s onudd. eration, 2 Q=Who was that? A.~THat X decline to snswer: Ihave already given his name; 4f he'don’t tell 4, T will give 1t to you, Q—What was that conalderation? ' A.~The first ds- mand was $40,000 they osme dawn o $35,000, sad the fellow said, ¢ By desu, $24,090 wonld 0ol compromise the mattar.® 3 Q—That was & memberof Councll? A.—Tes,sir, Q—Which branch? A—T bave giren you the naes, and T will be hers when you <all them, Q—When was thiat? A.—Ths day or dats I canood 2. 1t was prior to Iy writing the Tetter. Q~Was ture ‘smy other member who demsaded any amount of money ‘for his Infiuence? A.—o, 5i7; 002 man T mentionsd xays that 340,000 bad besn pald to puas the origioal bl awarding the contriak, cers having Wfilb{rfidtymm’ A very complote celebration' it -was; -begin. ning with ladling out lignor and ending with 8 ‘grand . transformation scens of 300 pecple becoming corpses.. - “Thers was a fearfl ‘state of confusion and excitament on board ™ e séeult of clicial sarelisenias; - And they 22 bs named the men who got the money | - Belag aeked 2 to whom ho refezred, the Mayor sald, “I declina to anawer that question. I bave already ‘mentioned bis name, and sdvised you to'sorits it dewn vory carcfully, : Philadelphia is fortunate in having a Mayor who will not consent to corruption. Phils- delphis is oldsr than Chicago, snd. hag got ihrough; wd Sappuss, with botmesailisad fobe would serve only one term. The first copy was submitted to Mabisow, and the paper now at Albany is the Address aa revised by ‘WasnmoTox after Muvison's criticisms -hod been recsived. HawriToN, who is 80 often credited with the authorship of the whole, Was not consulted until 1796. In that year he expanded the Address, and probably gave it the form in which it was published. But the Albany draft shows that most of the ideas wore due to either Wasmmiorom or Mypisox. Pyss. Bwiio, in the current number of the Alzarce, thug discourses of the wickedness of the socular presswhen comparsd with that of the religions newspapers : T Wi0XED Darirza.—To those who are expreasing by letter and by word desirs that we of the reigions Prees ahould “rebuke * the wicked daller, we would 3tats that wa are not quite elear o8 to the smount of diferonce between » wicked dally aad A religlons Weekly, ' Thst tha latter is in the main more religions wo admit, And at least seven times leas reckless, be- causa it comes only once in seven days ; but the case s 4 difficuls one, and the religious woakly doss not, upia I s g ok o ey s hoes o e gt 14 i Binging . N o i warid, the Baat, and thoh S6vik B i vetp bl will deduce from this law of progression: & state of existence in the hereafter. So ths jangle, and wrangle, and row will goon. It will be pull ssint, pull sinner, pull Christian,’ stheist, infidel, medium, rationalist, Bud" dhist, Mahometan, and what not. The pro., joctors of the Convention believe thit ths result of its deliberations will be to establish the fact of immortality and fo. destroy all fear of death. We see no mention of hell in the programme ; but that is perhaps consid- ered to be effets superstition. A lady said of Lovzs XIV. that * God would think twics be- faro venturing to damn n person af his qual ity.” Each American sovereign siems to think the same thing might be s0id of him. However, if the programme is earried out, persons afraid of death can rely upon being freed from their fears. They will either be- come convinced of the fact of blessed immor- tality and the consequent scare-crow nstire of death, or they will be go bored that imme- diate dissolution will seem to them ons of the least of evils. q CORCERNING COPYRIGHT. fir. Disparzx has been interviewed & commitéee of English authors on the subject of an international copyright between this country and England. The list of the Coms mittee contains no especially grest names; unless we are to class those of Cminzm Beas and Wosm: Coruaws as such. Thisj bowever, would ba t00 much honor for thesa victims of a fatal fecundity. Crpable’ if writing two or three first-class books apiecs, they have frittered away. their powers by compiling dozens. Sill, if the sutaors sre not great, their grievance is. It is an unde. ninble hardship that the work of a mank brain ehould be publicly stolen on- this sids of the ocean becsuse he happens to haw been born and to live on the ‘oilwe. This' literary piracy, of which neary every prominént publisher in Ameria has been guilty at ome time er another, is the more unjust, inasmuch s Fa: gland reflects credit upon herself by allowig our authors to copyright their books thew, while we deny Eaglishmen the correspondig privilege hero. It does nob appear whatle Mr. Dismazsx has been asked to retelite ty canceling the rights we now enjoy in tis respect in Englaud, or fo try to negotiates treatv on the subject. The only possile good result of the former action would bato induce American. sgthors to take a more ic- tive interest in urging the passage of a co7= right law hore." It is the publishers, howewr, who need to be converted. The authorsws already sgreed. The amountof satisfacon to be derived by the English writers fromha Imowledge that their American fellows ere being robbed as well ss they, could be nith- er very great nor very high-toned. g - A strong argument can be mada in fave of refusing copyright to works publishe .in other languages than gur own. The s of translation, if. fitly performed, is s0 Teat ' that the translator rarely gets anything 20re than a fair' remuneration for hislabor: fe is Iucky, in fact, if he gets that.. But heso reasons do not apply to English loks. Denying them copyright is justified onr by the general principle that the greatestiocd of the greatest number demands that toks should be published as cheaply as posdle. But the gdded cost of an author’s fee imch more than 10 per cent, save in very eep- tional circumstances, and thers are few..23- ers who would grumble at this slight incase forsuch a cause. It would be a greful thing for American suthors to take somisc- tion in favor of international copyriglin response to that of their British brethre: * — . The Naw York Herald remacks of the Beey- 045D lettor sad the responsibility of the Gezal for bis shocking ntierances: “We preito think only of his humamiy, and conrteay,zd eourage, and not of any of the foolish purpcs he may have supporsed in the heat ana furct an unhappy war” Most of the Gend's friends, we suppose, prefer to puriue & sifar line of thought. Certainly thers can be no 3t~ isfaction for any of them in consideringhe sctual subject of discussion, or in frankiyt- tempting to say whether an advocale of b~ fiag principles is, 2s a matter of fack, huns, oourtecus, or couragsaus. ! A guit for 100,000 damages on sceomel malpractice wsa on trisl in New York &y duriog several days of the week just past. he dsfendants wers & Dr. Riomaxp Dxasy,be graduated at the Howard Medics] School inbly and the New York Eyo sad Esr Infirmary. b8 DIaintiff is & Iady who had been_trestedcar gragulsted Lds by Dr. Drusy, and who st Wards, as ahe alloges, became totally bliie consequence of the treatment. The prosscom attempted to show that Dr. Dxnsy usediom tlie piaintX brushes which had spplisd 4o pattents suffering . from