Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, July 25, 1875, Page 4

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, JULY 25, 1875.—SIXTEEN PAGES. TERMS OF THE TRIBUNE BATES OF FUBSCRIPTION (PAYADLY IN ADVANCE). Postage Prepaid at this Office. ‘WrerrNoEOUsE automatio brake proved the most efective, stopping a train running 52 miles an hour in 20{ seconds, and within & distance of 913 feet. With the aid of the sand-tubes, the train was stopped in & distance of 8§40 feet. With such brakes as these, the danger from collisions ought to bo reduced to a very slight minimum, and might be averted altogether, if a patent brakeman could be found who was always at his post and did not donsumesa minute or more getting to his brake after the signal was given. One important feature of this trial, and . one upon which Americans will be eure to congratulate themselves, is the fact that the WEsTINGEOUSE brake is an American invention. While England has made many improvements in railroad travel- ing, the need has long been felt of some form of brake which should be under the control of the engineer, and this need was supplied by the WESTINGHOUSE brake, which has been tried with the remarkable results indicated above. Parts of & year at the samo rate. ‘WANTED—One active sgent in each town and village, Bpectal arrxngementa made with such, Spectmen copies sent free. To prevent delsy and mistakes, be sure and give Poat-Office addresa in full, inclnding Statesnd County. Remittances may bs made either by draft, express, Post-Oftion arder, or n registered letters, s our riak, . TERMS 70 CITY 6UBSCRIDEDS. Duily, dcliversd, Sunday excepted, 23 cents per week. Daily, delivared, Sundsy included. 30 cents per week. Addross THE TRIBUNE COMPANT, Oorner Madtson and Dearborn-sta., Chicago, Il ADELPHI THEATR®—Dearborn street, corner Monroe, * The.Jlee-Witch,” TOOLEY’S THEATRE—Randolph ltrs‘e& between Clark and LsSalle, Engigement of the Union Square Company. * The Two Orphans.™ SOCIETY MEETINGS. A THE VALUE OF DEPOSITS IN THE SAVINGS VAN RENSSELATR GEAXD LODGE OF PERFEC- BANKS, TION, A. & A. Scotch Rite Masons.—There will be & Kegular Asscmbly at Consistorial Hall, 72 Monroe-st., ‘Thursdsy QVOW‘”BQ&X'} ‘Work 1?111;.\1& i&lnd 5th Do~ Ero By tas * ED,'GOODALE, Gr. Secy. Strange as it may appesr to many of the thoughtless or superficial observers of the currency question, the class of population most deeply interested in the restoration of paper money to par is that class who are de- pendent upon their current wages for the support of themselves and families, and who, by dint of self-denial and thrift, have been ablo to put away, as a reserve for the fature, in some savings bank, from fifty to five hun- dred dollars each. Actual official returns, a year ago, showed that at the close of 1873, in the very height of the non-employment following the panic, there were in ten States 2,186,619 depositors in avings banks, having 1o their credit no less than $759,946,632, or an average for each depositor of $347. The population of theso same States at that time was 11,733,800, showing that one in every five and one-third persons was a depositor. A new instance of the expenses which the | Making an allowance for deposits by the same professed adoption of the charter of 1872 | person in more than one bank, it is assumed hins entailed upon the city js discovered in | that there is a depositor in every six persons the sppointment of a Commission, consisting | of the whole population of these ten States. of Messrs. Huzp, ToLer, and Roor, to revise | They were the New England States, Califor- the city ordinances in conformity with the [ nia, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and new regime. Considerations of prudance and | Obio. economy should have suggested to the Mayor [ The savings deposits in Chicago now ag- the postponement of such a Commission un- | pregate $10,000,000, which, assuming the til after the Supreme Court shall have decid- | population to be 450,000, and allowing one ed that the charter of 1872 was legally adopt- | depositor for each ten inhabitants, will give ed,—which, to say the least, is extremely | 45,000 persons—men, women, and children— doubtful The proposed revision will have | who are depositors in the savings banks of to be made, of conrse, if the charter is held | this city, having an average deposit of $222 to have been adopted, and we have no doubt | each. There is, thercfore, an average of one the gentlemen sppointed are as competent for | savings-bank depositor in every two families the work 8s any who could be selected ; but | of five persons in Chicago. These depositors we hope that, pending the coatesting of the | are men, women, and boys and girls, who are charter in the courts, their own sense of pub- | gt work,—and are exclusively working peo- PORT DEARBORN LODGE, No. 214, L. 0. 0. Fue Members are requested to meet at their hall, cormer of Madison and Hal“ed—ch_uillonar}ay. .Yu]{‘%, hBl l((,lf),:};(:: fun our lats Bre R et E. ANDREWS, N. G. M. L. BCRAEFFES, Sec. pro tem. TTENTION, SIR ENIGHTS !—Specil conclavs of CL\A!uqo Commandery, No. 19, K. T., oaday evening, July 26, 1€76, for work on K. T. Order. Visiting 8ir Kaighta conrteously invited. By order of the Em. e . A WILLTAMS, Revorder. The Chicags Tribune. Bunday Morning, July 25, 1875. the reverse is the case. Numberless as the trials have been for breach of trust, pecula- tion, defaleation, malfeasance, corruptions, briberies, frauds, and thefts in pablic offices, in almost every instance that we can remem- ber, justice has been so administered as to redound to the advantage of the criminal rather than of the State. Technicalities have been piled upon technicalities, and in every instance they have been in favor of the crim- inal, although his guilt may have been as clear asthe open daylight. Of the almost numberlesscriminals in thiscountry who have been tried, how many have been punished ? Of the numberless millions stolen or obtained by fraud, defalcation, or blackmail, how much hes been restored to the wronged parties, be it in National, State, or Municipal Govern- ments? Tweep's famous queshon, * What are you going to do about it ?” has not yet been satisfactorily answered in any case, and TweeD is once more asking it with ref- men whe hold aloof from the ordinary polit- ical combinations of public life in cities. ¥o pay attaches to these positions, since it is as- sumed that the men who occupy them are actuated by philanthropic motives. -They compose a Visiting: Board, and have inhmfl". ed to them the most important responsi- bilities, those of forming the child intp s wuseful and upright citizen. These are the duties which a proposition to abolish the Board of Education is intended to undermine, and their place would be sup- plied by selfishness, ignorance, sordidness, political chicanery, blackmail, and theft. We can only say that, if this proposition to abolish the School Board was not conceived in ignorance, it was suggested in the interest of a blackm ailing ring. that they had been gradually increasing be- yond the average increase of shipping; fl_.mt they were commonly of vessels which carried 8 heavy insurance ; and that shipowners were regularly engaged in ‘s conspiracy to prevent the proper inspection of sea-going vessels. These facts stunned for the time the British public; but, as in the case of TweED, the first burning sense of indignation has given place to a mere curious interest in the pro- ceedings for reform, and those whe most sympathize with Mr. PrrusoLr are the least ready to offer him effective support. The shipowners have arrayed the money-power against him, acd have controlled, by influences of various kinds, ‘many members of a Parliament which, to its credit be it said, cannot be bought by money. Many of Mr. Prusorr’s opponents are doubt- less convinced that he is a zealot, only half- informed, and three times too hot ; and, ina certain sense, they are right. Prmsorr is the value of these deposits. Itis a question to these people whether greenbacks shall be advanced to par, and these deposits made equal to $47,000,000, or whether they shall be reduced so that these deposits shall be worth but 60, 70, or 80 cents on the dollar.. We have seen that in ten States of the TUnion there were $760,000,000 on deposit in the savings banks, and if we add only $260,- 000,000 for like deposits in the savings banks of the other twenty-seven States, we have an sggregate amount of actual cash belonging to the wage laborers of ONE THOUSAND MULL- TONS OF DOLLAES, or a sum equal to one-half of the national debt. This great class of people, holding this vast amount of money, the scanty savings of their daily and weekly wages, are deeply interested in the question whether, when they draw their money, they shall be paid in actual dollars, each worth 100 cents in gold, or whether they shall be paid with substitutes for dollars, worth anywhere THE CITY ELECTION THIS FALL, If th®re is one duty more imperative than another resting upon the people of -Chicago, and one remedy more certain than another from 50 to 90 cents on the dollar. Every | an enthusiast, as all reformers are; and, for S S erence to the sq,ooo,noo_ suit, ?riLh poor cont ftokem from the value of & | thatresson, heisahard man to desl with | 0 correct the present infamous maladminis- | prospect of anything but a negative Teply, greenback is equal to ons million | The stuff that goes to prison for principle is tration of the City Government, it is for the | Therg is virtnally no punishment for this and @ half of dollars taken from | not easily consumed. Mr.Punmous's violent | People of Chicago to nominate this fall a com.- | clogs of criminals in this country. The thief plete city ticket for all the offices that will be goes unpunished, and does not even restors shriek of * villains,” sddressed to the Gov- ernment which threw outhisbil, Iwas not the most discreet thing hé could hove donej neither was it necessarily a confession of failure. It meant either that the man was mad, or that he was sane and confident of the value of these accumulated savings of 1abor,—these hardly-spared dimes taken from weekly wages of the hard-working class; and, when it is proposed to so increase the number of greenbacks that their value will vacant, without regard to the ballot-box stuff- ed charter of 1872. For instance, this fall a Mayor, City Attorney, City Treasurer, and twenty Aldermen should be elected, and the roason why they should be elected is a very the money which he hasstolen, but flourishes like the green bay tree with his ill-gotten gains. More than this, he does not even lose caste. He still remains in society, ot least so long as the money which run down to 60 or 70 cents, taking from I : sa them three to four hundred millions of their L e strength of his cause ; and many people | Pressing one. T”frfm‘em ond validity of | o hag pocketed lasts. He has his savings, this very working class is called | will not believe that he was mad. ~ ~ dhe charter of 1872 aro called in question | ooterie of friends and sdmirers, and in the courts, and have been denied from | fhere are mot wanting numerous oth- upon to vote their own impoverishment and the destruction of their own accumulated savings. Let any depositor work out how much his savings would be worth with green- backs at par, how much they are worth now at 88 cents, and how much he will lose on them should greenbacks be forced down 10, 20, or 30 cents less. the very instant of its alleged adop- tion. The honest and respectable portion of our citizens claim, and that elaim is well founded, that the election was carried by ballot-box stuffing and the most outrageous and barefaced frauds. This -question is now pending in the courts ; but there are very grave doubts whether the snit THE BOARD OF EDUCATIOR. We have reserved until to-day our com- ment upon Ald. Cuv1ERTON'S resolution, intro- duced at the last meeting of the Common Council, to abolish the Board of Education, in order that all the people of Chicago may have ample leisure to consider the enormity of the proposition. If isaltogether the worst ers to emulate his example in the confident and well-grounded expectation that the legal quibble which, the Court has allowed, has saved one will save all. Even the bondsmen rarely suffer. They are generally let off scot free. The peculator rests a little while from his labors. The public excitement dies away. Once it is lic duty will restrain them from piling up ex- | ple, dependent on their current wages. They penses which may prove to be utterly value- | include those who have several years' eavings, Jesz, as they will be in case the charter shall | amounting to 1,200 or §1,500 each, down to bs set aside. those who have 600, $300, £100, $50, £20, and to the beginners who are striving to get their first $10. 'This body of persons, who may with propriety be called the real repre- sentatives of the industrial classes, have now on deposit to their credit $10,000,000, which is payable to them in greenbacks. How are they affected by the rise and fall of the valune of currency ? These hard-working people are not speculators or gamblers; they are not betting on the price of commodities; they owe little or no debts; they are holding these savings fordays of sickness, for the time when they may be out of employment, or accumu- lating enough to purchase a house or lot. To them every penny added to their stock is of great value, and every penny taken from it is 50 much health, strength, and life-blood taken from them. Assuming for the occasion that greenbacks are worth 85 cents on the dollar, the money for which they have toiled will purchese but $86,500,000 of food, fuel, clothing, or other Old Brir Arres and Pig-Iron Keirey will cow rejoice at the discovery of an ally in the Sonth. The Charleston (S. C.) News and Courier is out boldly for rag-money, and, as- suming to speak for the Demoeracy of that State, threatens to make a combination with the Western Democracy in the Netional Con- vention in behalf of the gambiers and specu- lators in rag-money. The coolness of this proceeding arises from the fact that it not only is presumptuous in supposing that the 'Western Democracy is going to train with Boun AvrLeN, Wexprrs Panuures, Pig-Iron Kzurey, Bex BrTies, and Dax Vormess, and the rest, but it is not authorized even to speak for the South, More than two-thirds of the South- ern Democratic papers, among them the six strongest papers in the South—the Louisville Oourier~Journal, New Orleans Témnes, Balti- more Gazette, St. Louis Bepublican, Memphis Avulancke, and Mobile Register—are in favor of honest par money. Nevertheless we pre- sume that Kerrey and Anrex will get a crumb of comfort out of this South Carolina bom- best—that Kxwey will once more saiazaon his sans culottes, and Arres will blow his old fog-horn louder than eve property. It may be that what they can buy with it will be sold as worth §10,000,000, but that does not alter the fact that the $10,000,- 000 of greenbacks will only purchase precise- ly what 8,500N00 of real dollars will buy and pay for. ‘When, therefore, greenbacks fall in value 10 B4 cents, the value of their deposits shrink £100,000 ; when greenbacks fall to 83 cents, their deposits are worth §1,700,000 less than the aggregate sum they have nominally on deposit. Every fall of 1 cent in the value of greenbacks, and the changes are sometimes frequent in a single day, is equal to $100,000; every advance of a cent in the value of green- ‘backs is equal to an increase of a correspond- ing sum in the aggregate value of their de- posits. On Friday last the value of green- ‘backs changed several times. They opened in the morning at 88} cents, advanced to 89} at noon, and closed at 89 cents. The value of $10,000,000 of greenbacks on deposit in the Chicago savings banks changed from £8,875,000 in the morning to $8,950,000 at noon, and then fell back to $8,900,000 at the close of the day. Ten days ago they were worth £8,500,000, and the ad- vance of 4 centsin the value of greenbacks has added §400,000 to the coin value of the deposits in the Chicago savings banks. The working people, who by self-sacrifice, self-denial, thrift, and economy have amassed this large sum of savings, have therefore a deep interest in the question whether the $10,000,000 which the savings banks of Chi- cago owe them shsall be paid to them in money worth 100 cents on the dollar, or in depreciated money warth 95, 90, 85, 75, or G0 cents on the dollar. All of the depositors, by looking ot the daily quotation in TEx TaIBUNE of the value of greenbacks, can tell Low much they are short of their nominal value as dollars, and can estimate how much the daily changes have reduced or increased the value of their own deposits. Each de- positor can readily estimate how much he and his fellow-depositors will lose should there be another issue of greenbacks, sending their value down to 75 or 70 cents on the dollar. But the depositors in the savings ‘banks are not the only persons interested in having the value of greenbscks advanced to par. There were a few days ago on deposit in oll the banks of this cty, in round numbers, the following sums There seems to be a decided breach in the political alliance which inflicted so serious a dose of bummerism upon the city nearly two years ggo. Mr. Hesixe, one of the chiefs of that era, broke away some time ago, and now Mr. Dax O'Hara, who shared Hesmve’s sceptre and power at that time, has been im- paling Mr, CoLviN upon his classical lance. Covvrx has some of the ring Aldermen with him yet, we beliove, but he has alienated such important vote-brokers as those named ebove, and Maex SgermvaN, Mrrs Kenok, and Mrxe Eavss, besides. It looks very much as though the combination is broken in two in the middle; but there is no telling. When election timo comes around in the fall, it is not impossible that botk factions will bury the hutchet and join forces for the purpose of repossessing them- sclves of the public spoils. It will .not be strange if Hesing and Acxew lie' down to- gether, and pet lombs like Corviy and O’Hara lead them, and SHEERIDAS and Jaxe Rruw fall upon esch other's breasts, and the whole crowd formerly known as the HrstNe- O'Hiza combination go in again for a parti- tion of plund Xow that the prospect is bad for the paving of Wabash or Michigan avenue during the present season, we think that the Board of Public Works can nowhere uss their money to 50 much advantage as in persistent repairs of these two thoroughfares. The streets are almost impassable in their present condition, end they can only be made tolerable by keep- ing teams and repairars constantly at work. As a general rule, our stresls would &ll be in & much better condition, would lost longer, snd cost lass, if repairs were made more prompilly and efficiently. We do not balieve that there is a large city in the world where repairs on Etreets are so much neglected as in Chicago. Itis en extremely short-sighted and costly policy. As to Michigan avenus, the Board would also do well to ascertain by experi- ment whether they cannot get a better quali- ty of gravel along the canal than that which 1In savings banke.. 10,020,000 comes to the city from Joliet. Michigan av- Tn Natiofal Banks 32,5),000 In State banks, 4,500,000 enue was paved with gravel which had o Isrge cdmixture of sand and clay, and it bas never done the servioe which the people who paid for it had the right to expsct. In ro- pairing the street, some useful experiments could be mads with other gravel Total... -$47,000,000 That is the sum of money which the banks owe to the people of this city, and whichis paysble in depreciated notes. It is the acca- mulated gains of the depositors; it is the ac- tive capital employed to handle the crops, pay wages, purchase goods and materials, and to produce salable articles. Itis a question of concern to these depositors, including substantially the whole population, whether the banks shall pay these depositors $47,000,- 000, or broken promises to pay $40,000,000, or §$35,000,000, or $30,000,000. Every cent taken from the value of & greenback is equal to $470,000 in the valus of thess deposits ; every five cents taken from the valve of Beveral experiments have recently besn rade with railrosd-brakes in England which are of extraordinary interest. Ths trials ‘were made on the Midland Railway, with the ordinary brake. Trains running 47 miles an bour wero not stopped in less from 62§ to 89 seconds, and they ran, after the brakes. ‘ore put on, from 2,389 to 3,265 feet. Eight other styles were then trisd at various speeds, from 46 to 56 miles s hour, and the trains wans stapped in fram 50 to 80 seconds. The | greenbacks is equal to §2,350,000 taken from. | partion, than thoss of mogt other nations; can be pressed forward to a conclusion before the time to elect a ticket ander the old char- ter, if the charter of 1872 should be set aside. Should the '72 charter be set aside, say next winter, then the time for election under the old charter will have passed, and the present incumbents will hold over for two years longer, or until 1877, before they can be ousted. But if the people of this city go ahead and nominate good, capable men, adecent City Government will be ready to take hold and administer the affairs of the city assoon as the courts throw out the present fraudulent one. Otherwise no one will be ready, and the bummers will have the city in their grasp for another two years. It is the plain duty of the Republicans of this city, therefore, to hold their Convention this THE BUSINESS OUTLOOK. The trifling panic in England is over. A few weak firms gave up the ghost, but the sweeping disaster so confidently predicted by American victims of Anglophobia has not come. A country which, thanks toits un- shackled trade, sells its wares all over the world, and which does business on the solid basis of gold, is not as casily swept into a panic as one which invites hard times by using shinplasters and ruins its industries by pretending to *““protect” them. The London crisis, in fact, was not half as bnd as the ca- blegrams made it out to be. There were sev- eral heavy failures, but it is probable that the creditors of the bankrupts got an average of at Jeast from 12 to 18 shillings on the pound sterling. Failures like those suggestion that has grown out of the recent charter frauds. It illustrates more vividly than anything else the base uses to which it is proposed to prostitute the new powers al- leged to be conferred upon the Common Council by the charter of 1872. But, while it serves to point out the peouliar instincts of 8 certain class of Aldermen likely to favor this resolution, we are of the opinion that they have overreached themselves in this case, and that they are inhibited from abol- ishing the Board. The legal argument against this proposi- tion is two-fold: In the first place, the pow- ers of the Common Council to sbolish and create offices is limited by the charter of 1872 to the ninety-six special powers enu- merated in that charter, and among these found he will not be punished, the public seems to care little whether the city or county gets its money back, and in course of time the thief becomes a martyr, enjoys the admiration of some and the sympathy of others, and for the rest of his life goes knee- deep in clover,—either in his own or in a for- eign country. This foreshadows ths future of Twexp. There is slight reason to expect that he will not beat New York in the civil suit upon pure technicalities which the Court will uphold. Having done this he will be the six-million-dollar lion of New York, and will gather about him all his old cronies and pothouse admirers, and resume his old life of swell and luxury, as well as his old political power, ending probably in running for Governor of the State, or, at least, being of Jar Cooxe, Iowa AixN, and the | ghere jg no elanse which ean be construed as | fall just asif there had been no charter elec- | gont to Congress. If he gets loose with six Freedmen's Bank, rarely occur in Eo- | gnphorizing an interference with the Board | tion st all last April, and nominate the very | millions of stolen money, there is not power gland ~ When they do, the bankrupts | of Equcation, or the present school system. | bestmen they can find for office—men of | enough smong the honest class in New York nre apt to meditate over their mistake inside a cell. The London money-market has fally recovered from the flarry. It is reported as honesty, fearlessness, and sbility, It is equally the duty of the Democrats, particu- larly of the *‘ Jeffersonians,” to hold their to keep him out of any political office he wishes to occapy. All this shows a low and demoralized tone of society and the courts, In the second place, our Board of Education was not ereated, like the Board of Police, by & special act of the Legislature for the use or extremely easy, with money cheap and | penefit of Chicago. It is a part and parcelof | Convention and nominate as good men 88 | and there never will be any change in the abundant. The fact cannot fail to exert & | the general system of education throughout | they ean find, so that this city | condition of things until the moral standard favorable influence upon our financial future. | he State, defined by the Legislature of tho | shall not be left at the mercy of | of society is elevated and the standard of the the bummers. Whoever wins in the contest, somebody must be responsible, and that somebody must be a great national party, whether it be Republican or Democrat. Bummers bave no responsibility, and the people of this city are getting tired not only of their misrule, but of being compelled to organize for the purpose of watching them and preventing them from completely ruin- ing the city. The two great political parties, therefore, will fail in their plain duty and surrender the city to the bummers if they do not hold their Conventions, go into election, and choose good men to be ready to take the administration, pending the decision on the charter question. Any neglect of this duty would give the bummers an opportunity to establish themselves in power so that they may never be dislodged. The unemployed wealth of England will seek investment. The recent disclosures made by the Committee of Foreign Bondholders, by the Investigating Committee of the House of Commons, and by several notable trials in the English courts, will do much to prevent wildly speculative investments. Sound en- terprises will, therefore, ‘stand a better chance. They will not be elbowed out of the market by fraudulent but alluring schemes. The capital which the patient economy of the American people has created since 1873 will therefore be reinforced by English capital. ‘We may expect to see the wheels of trade work with fresh force under the pressure of this new wealth. 'The prophecy is already beginning to receive its verification. Our five per-cents are selling more rapidly in Eu- rope than ever before. Their continued sale means the withdrawal of the Government 5-20', bearing 6 per cent rate of interest, the consequent reduction of national expendi- tures, lighter taxes, and therefore®the remov- al of part of the burdens of industry and trade. Our business fature, viewed from a foreign standpoint, thus seems to be quite rose- colored. The home prospects are also en- couraging. ‘The cotton and cereal crops will both be large. The first is credibly estimated at 4,500,000 bales—the largest since the War. The second will be excep- tionally large, and the proportion of it available for export is greater than usual, because a goodly share of last year's product is still on hand, having been held back for the sake of higher prices, and be- couse the South, for the first time, will be an exporter, instead of importer, of bread- stuffa. We shall therefore export a large quantity, and, from present appearances, we shall get fair prices for it. A note in the last number of the Nation summarizes Abe crop- prospects of Europe. It shows astate of things very good for the American farmer, if not 50 good for Europe.: The French grain- fields have been seriously injured by the re- cent rains and floods. North Germany and England will yield less wheat than usual, on account of too heavy rains. Extreme heat has played havoc with the Hungary crop. The section which competes more. than any other with the United States—the Black Sea provinces of Russin—has suffered from both heat and locusts. The two together, according to the Nation, *“have seriously ditiinished the spring and winter yield of wheat.” As far as can be judged mow, the cash value of our grain exports will be ‘greater than ever before. In othér words, the wealth produced during the current year will ‘be very grest. Now,the only way to recover from a commercial crisis is to pro- duce new wealth to take the place of that the destruction of which causgd the crisis. It is evidont, then, that we are on the high roed fo recovery. The country, it is true, is handicapped by the weight of the excessive tariff and injured by ‘an irredeemable cur- rency; but the naturally strong constitution of the American public is pulling them, through the trouble. The near future looks bright. Mr. Punsonn, Member of Parliament, is prepared to make a martyr of himself ; and it cannot be denied that he has a good cause. The dispatches state that he appeared in the House, just before his violent outbreak against the Government, with a carpet-bag in his hand, fully expecting to be sent to prison. Bo there is method in his madness. There cannot be many persons, even on this side the Atlantic, at all acquainted with British affairs, who do not know something of this famous Mr. Prmsory, and the reform he has undertaken to sccomplish. It is now several years gince he drew the attention of Parlisment to the criminal loss of lifs at sea, occasioned by the greed of ship- owners, and especially by over-insor- ance. The statistics relsting to this subject, collected and published by Mr. Protsory, wersconvincingand appalling, He showed—if our memory is not at fault— that the British lasses wers greater, in pro. State in a general statute, and applicable to all districts of 2,000 inhabitants and over, and all cities of 100,000 inhabitants and more. In the latter class, the act provides that the Board of Education shall consist of fifteen members,” who hold office for three years each, snd one-third of whom retire every year. This statute intrusts the Board of Education with purchasing school sites and erecting school-houses, borrowing money for school purposes, furnishing and maintaining the schoals, employing teachers and fixing salaries, renting buildings and rooms, designating studies and text-books, dividing the city into school districts, and generally prescribing the conduct and man- ngement of the schools. The same sct also expressly says that ‘‘schools in such cities [i. e., having 100,000 inhabitants or more] shall be governed as stated, and no power given to the Board shall be exercised by the City Council” We can scarcely imagine that the charter of 1872 is so sweeping and com- prehensive as to confer upon the Aldermen of the City of Chicago the power of repealing 2ny other general law which applies to Chi- cago only as it applies to the remainder ‘of the State simply because such general law may not suit their Aldermanic tastes. The moral argument against CurreeTON's proposition is even stronger than the legal argument, and is likewise two-fold. In the first place, it should be the aim af every hon- est man in the Council who has the welfare of the city at heart to disturb the old system of city government as little as possible until it shall be decided whetherthe disputed point —the charter of 1872—was legally adopted or not,—a question now pending before the courts. Inthe second place,—and this is by all odds the most important consideration,— the abolition of the Board of Eduecation would lead to the m8st disgraceful system of blackmail and plunder that hes ever prevailed under a municipal corporation. Whether or not it was conceived for that purpose, such would be the inevitable result. We do not hesitate to say that it would be less demoralizing on the community if the leaders of an Aldermanic “ring* were taken bodily by an outraged people and hanged to the lamp-posts in the street than to inaugurate a system whereby one man would nominally control the schools of Chi- cago, but which would, in fact, be a prosti- tution of the schools to the money-making propensities of the Alderman who ars * on the make.” y The effect of this proposed abolition of the Board of Education must be obvious enough upon a moment’s reflection. It will be to confer upon ‘a creature of the Council the powers now exercised by the Board,—a con- dition expressly inhibited by the act of the Legislature creating the present system. There would be blackmail and stealing every- where. Not a school-site could be purchased without blackmail and stealing; not a school- ‘housecould be built, or furnished and equipped, without a combination with or commis- sion from the contractors. The schoal-funds and rents from school property wonld be is constant jeopardy. There would be as many changes in text-books asin the moon, and Dot one but woald bring grist to the ring’s mill. Finally, the appointment of teachers would become & mere matter of political pat- ronage, and our public schools, from being ameng the bestin the country, would speedily degenerate into mere vehicles for the benefit and promotion of bummerism. This is the prospect ahead, if the Council had the power to abolish the Board of Educaiion and invest its powers in one of their confederates, i Boards of Education previil everywhere, in every city and State in America, and, in one form or another, in every couatry where the public-school system exists in any phass, In Germany, Switzerland, England, Canada, and everywhere in the United States, the public schools are under the general mapagement of Boards: The reasons for this are clear enough. Their relations’ to the publio are peculiarly tender and delicate. They are generally chosen from among fath- courts is completely changed. When society ceases to take tinsel for gold, and courts are not administered to shield rogues and defeat justice, thieves may then be punished, but not until then. EXTRAORDINARY ASSESSMENTS. . The end sought in the assessment of prop- erty for State purposes is to reach 60 per cent of the real valuation. This end is not accomplished in the aggregate; the valua- tion for the whole State, of real and person- al property, does not exceed 40 per cent. It is not, perhaps, so important that property should be assessed for State purposes at any particular rate of valuation, because the sum to be raised is a fixed one, and the rate of tax is apportioned according to the total valu- ation. Butthe criminality ‘of assessments is to be found in the want of uniformity in the assessment. Thus, if the real propertyin this county be assessed in the aggregate at 80 per cent of its real value, the State Board, in order to make it equal to 60 per cent of its real value, will increase the whole assessed value of property in this county by adding 100 per cent thereto. This illustrates the severity and. injustice of the want of uniformity in *the local mssess- ment. Thus, one piece of real estate may be assessed in this city at 100 per cent of its value, others at 80, 60, 40, 20, and down to 5 per cent. When the State Board adds 100 per cent to local sssessments, the owners pay taxes on 200, 160, 120, 80, 40, 20, and 10 per cent of its real value. From this inequality and injustice there is no appeal “The property-owner is bound by the local as- sessment, and the more nearly property is originally assessed at its real value, the pro- portionately greater is the penslty inflicted upon the owner. Mr. DericksoN, s member of the State Board, has just written a letter to the County Commissioners giving instances whers his own property is assessed, *one piece ainot over five cents on the dollar of its real value, and the other at not much greater valuation ; while other property of his neighbors, of less valoe, is assessed at much larger sums. Speaking from a long experience on this sub- ject, he thus appeals to the County Board : Upon such examination ssThave been enabled to @ive to the asseesmenta of 1875, I can discover no im- provement on the asseasment of 1873 and 1874 In- dead, injustice is 80 apparent, and there is such prima facie evidenceof perjury and intentiousl fraud on the part of the Assessors, that it is a serious question Whether it {8 not the duty of some ans to ey the ‘whole matter before ths Grand Jury. 1 dlscover some property asseased at not over 5 per cent of ita cash valne, and other % 100 per cent of its eazh value, i There can bs 1o reasonabls excure for this fnequal- ity. Letmeurgeupon you the duty of making a thorough examination and correction of the amess- ments far this year befors you maks your returns to the Btate Auditar for xorisw by ths Btate Board of Equalization, ‘We are informed by other citizens that the so-called assessment for this year is mare scan- dalous than any that have precededit ; 8o scan~ dalous, in fact, as to warrant a belief that the undlervaluations are seemingly the zesult of corruption, and that property hss been re- taraed high or low according to the consider- ation given on demand. Where blackmail has been refused, o punishment has been in- flicted; where the owner has mads the thing all right, there the assessments are nominal. The remedy is with the public. Any per- son can go to the County Board, and discover not only at what rate his property is assexsed, but also at what rate all other property of the same kind can be assessed, and the wrong may be corrected. Ar. DrrioxsoN frankly states his own case. Let others be equally frank, and especially let- property-ouwners point out the gross inequality by which cer- tain property is sssessed at 5 per cent, and other property at ita cash value. m— THE TWEED FARCE, Tweep, who stole six to eight millions of dollars from the New York City Treasury, is slowly but very surely unriveting the chains which bind him, and will soon step boldfy out again, unhampered Ly any obstacles, and free of all the complications in which his enormous theft involved him, and he will ac- complish this without once admitting his guilt or asserting his innocence. His pres- ent operations are directed towards defeating the city in its $6,000,000 suit, and the pre. liminary movements, based purely on legal technicalities and pettifogging quirks, are, of course, favorable to him, for quibbles never are in favor of the wronged party. The New York Evening Post states very con- cisely the technical points at issus, as fol- lows: Judge DoNORUX has ordered that the plaintiffe amend their complaint by stating specifically * what right or interest the Mayor, Aldermen, and Com- monalty set up or pretend ta.” To be eure, it is notorious that these millions were taken from the City Treasury, but TWEED must be formally advised ‘whether the people really want to get the moncy back and are actually concerned in the matter at sll. Judge DoNoHUE has ordered further that the plaintiffs shall elect whother they sue for * neglect to sudit the claims against the city,” or for “fraud, conspiracy, or com- bination on the part of the said TWEED and WaTsoR,” It is true that the money was taken and that Twezp bas it ; but how did he get it? Was it transferred from the Treasury to his pocket by means of fraudu- lent clatms froudulently audited, or by fraudulent claims not audited atall? To the ordinary mind it ‘makes very little difference which way the money was taken, but it makes & great desl of difference to TweED and his lawyers, who ars defending the suit not on ita merits, but by technicalities, Supposs that the plaintiffs elect to aue for neglect to sudit. The defendant will insist that they ought to have aued for conspiracy, and will carry that point to the conrt of last resort, Suppose that the plaintiffs eloct to gue for conspiracy. The defendant will inaist that they ought to have sued for neglect to audit, and will go up t0 Albany with that question., Either way, the pur- poss of the technical defensa will be served. In a word, TweEp is freeing himself, step by step, upon the benefit of a mistake in the form of a claim, the plaintiffs not being al- lowed by the Court to adjust the form of the claim to the facts. The TwEED case furnishes a fair illastra- tion of the general disposition] of cases of this class,. a3 well 28 of specific and direct instances of theft, burglary, etc. There is no trouble about the apprehension of the thief, but, having caught him, the despair of the case then is how to punish him. In France, justice i8 quick, simple, and direct. Had Tweep stolen from the City of Paris, his property, no matter where it was or into whose possession it had gonme, would have been seized, down to the very last sous, and would have been turned over to the city in reparation for its losses, while Twxep him- gelf wonld have been consigned to the Peni- tentiary or bean sent to some penal colony to serve out a ferm long enough to make amends for his offense. In Germany, he would have been plunged into a dungeon and kept there until every cemt of the stolen ‘money bad been retarned, and then he wounld bhave been punished besides. Technicalities ‘would not have saved him. In England, less summary justice would have overtsken Twxep, but none the less certain, and, more than that, he would probably have been dis- qualified from ever holding affice sgain. Year after yoar, the complsint comes from the verious watering-places thai the young men sre not doing their duty in the places of fsstionable resart. The hot ballwooms, the . drives, the promenades, the springs, even the ‘banrooms, know them no mors, or know disappeared; thoss who TemaAin ypy stereotyped creatures in white and eye-glasses, dear to the f, bat not powerful thinkers, nor good ing men. What is the reason of the Perhaps the truth may be I letters, elsewhere printed thig which, by a curious juxtapositi sudden and strong light onp:nn::' de ment of social tastez. The wige 7 itis said, are taking their guns, and fishing-rods, to the woods of York, and Wisconsin, whers abundant sport, of a king and at comparatively oxpense of money, nerve, or On their way, sometimes, watering-place hotels to seo their mothers ; but they readily yield lows in white broadcloth all periority in their peculiar this tendency to break awayfroma ion may be carried, cannot easily dicted, but a letter from Twin shows uhat it may have a heal The club of ladies and gentlemen Who hepy been camping out at that favored placs their season moro thoroughly thag, it stampeded Saratoga, Long Bran port ; and, since their experieng favorable, they will doubtless itators. The result may be a change lic sentiment quite as sensible ag it & they look ety The probably-tragic end of Prof. and hie yonthful companion, Mr, G least the mystery which surrounds since Thursdsy evening two weeks the subject of Aeronsutics with ag which does not attach toit atall which the peopls of Chicago may it again, unless, perhaps, somo equally. tunate aeronauts from among them m‘;m; Dovarpsox and GRIMWOUD, meet with sy ly-unfortunate death. Io viewof the interest of the public in the subject, wy ban thought that a short history of Aeronantig would be acceptable to the readers of Tax Tap The inventors of the balloon 'were the brothey StzerEx and Joserm MoNTGOLFIZE, smag paper-manufacturer as s small town ecallad 2, nonsy, in France. The MoxTaorymn were srdent Huguenots, and suffersd a prad deai after the massacre of St. Both brothers wers mathematiciang and arehi, Annonay affords a fine visw of the Alps. Ty two MoxraoLrizrs had often watchedths aums of clouds aloog the sides of the monrhi, and, being of s reflective cast of mind they began to inquire into the csmeg of the equilibrinm of asses of clouds sauling throngh the air. Ty found a theoretical solution; but, not satisfsd with this, resolved to test their ability in copp ing Nature. They thought of making artifeid clouds, and of sending them to join hovered about the tops of the Alps. veloped the vapor of water ina It rose for a moment ; but, the va; ing, it soom fell to the ground. to incloge ths smoke prodnced of wood, in but here they better success. They now gk EarEE??E ent Kinds of Air,” in which the learned chemist conclusion that it would be possible, by inclosing inalight envelopes gas lighter than air,% cause the whole to rise. He firat tried hydror gen ; but the material of his envelope not being able to prevent its escape, his balloon s000 19 turned. The brothers now lightad s fire, beld paper-bags over it, aud found that, whea well filled with the emoke or the heated air, the bag moved rapidly upward. It was on the 5th of June, 1783, that the firs} public ballcon-ascension was effected, under the direction of the MoNTGoL¥IER brothers, Theiz balloon was made of lice, snd was 105 fost ta circumference. It was beated from litils pils of straw; and, when set free, rose to a considen able height, traveled ten minutes, snd thes descended about & mile and a half from the plasce The ascension of MoxTaorLrrza's balloca ere- ated a general sensation wherever the news spread, and other ascensions followed in quick succession. Two brothers, of BopemT, decided to revest the MoNTGOLFIER experiment. at this time known ss infammable air—wsl, used, instead of common heated air, to fill the palloon, which was made of gilk, varnishad with a2 species of gum, and was about 13 feet i dismeter. The inflation began on the 23d ot August, 1783, and was not concluded untl the 27th, when it was set free and rose to ths height of abont 8,000 feet. A vast as- of people gathered at the Champs de Mars, and witnessed it ne-nd-_ The excitement created by the novel eight in the gay city of Paris was g0 intense that the crowd did not disperse, although, shortly aftar the balloon had‘mads its ascent, & heayy showee of rain began to fall. The rain, however, & not check in any way the fight of the balloce. After remaining in the aira little lees than 83 hour, it descended 15 miles from the Champsds Mars. It met with & very inhospitable recepticd from the peasantry among whom it fell ; for believing it to be a messenger of Satan, they tore it into shreds. About the middle of the following month Joserx MoNTGOLFIZR sent up » balloon in b8 presence of the French Royal family, st Ver- eailles. This time, a cage, with cock, s dusk and s sheep, for tenants, was sttached to tbé bag. They were carried to » height of L5® feet, and returned uninjured, aftar s journey of 2 miles, performed in 8 minutes, to the earth FRANCOIS PHILATEE DE ROZIER was the first human being who ventured i navigsts the air. After various experiments i3 & balloon attached to the ground with ropes, b8 risked himselfin & free one, and his fixst {8 ascent was successful. A abort time after, othes| ascents were made by two other men, Mesars. CRARIES and Bonxar. reduced the balloon to pretty much the form i, has at presens. He introduced the nsiting, i58; valve, and the car. After this, balloo® sacensions became a rathlr everyday affair. Tho first American balloon-ascension 00K placein 1783, and the first English oze in 18 Of the most noted balloan-8scesr sions, we have epace to mention but & fo% That of Luxazpi, Secretary to the Aml from Naples to England. ia remarksble more . the excitement its novelsy produced in than from soy wonderful incidenta with bis serial trip, ar any new discovery mals byhim. His balloon was 33 feet in diamstets’ and, when exhibitac at the Lyceum in the S attracted vast numbers tosee it. Ho madebis s oension Bept. 15, 1784, from the Artillery| wronih; in the presence of the Prince of Wales sod ¥ vaat concourse of peopls. Ha took s pigeds: & cat, and a dog with him, balloon upwarde or downwards by 7 oars, large mumber of which ho took vith biTk-. The pigeon flaw away, and he descended sfte® he had beeti up an hour and a half, to deposi® the cat, which was suffering from tho cold, &% terra firma. Ona of bis oars broke and fell 1sdy, supposing it to be the asransut himself, somuchaffected that she died. A jury siiting' » criminal trial acquitted 8 young msn of felopy, rathar than run the risk of nob Desxing the ascension, The King, in dascendsd the seecnd tme a¢ Stanbom, L Wace. s pecems tha Hon o the dags asd and boped to steer 58