Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, August 10, 1875, Page 4

4 THE CHICAGO TRIBUN i TUESDAY, ACGUST ™10, '1875. —— e (L1 TERMS OF THE TRIBUNE. NATES OF SUARCRIPTION (FAYARLE 1K ADVANCE), Tostaga Frepnld at thiy Offtees W UGS |l S g 2.00 ‘00 cuplea,,, . he same rata, ve ngent In each town and villsge, Bpecial arrangements made wilh such, Epecimen copiea oent free, To prevent delay and mistekor, be wure and give Tuat-Oilice aidrara in full, including tateand Connty, Tomittances may be made elther by draft, express, T'ost-Ofies order, or In registared letters, ot our risk, ILRYN TO CITT BUDACRINERS, Daily, delivesed, Runday oxcopted, vnts pee week, Daly, delivered, Bunday tnchide entn yer week, Addresn TIHE TRIBUNE COMPANY, Corner Madison and Doarborn-ate,, Cllesgo, Tl “AMUSEMENTS. HOOLEY'S THEATRE—Randolh streel, between Clark snd Lasalle. Eugrgement of (1o Unidn Bquare Compans, “ Tho Two Orphens.” ADELPIII THEATRE—Dearborn sirest, corner Monros, *Tho fee-Wit ho members of Chicagn i No. 127, 1L, A. ML, are requrated lo_join with 1the ubers of Blair Lodge sid Oriental Consixtory, “*Tuesday, Augist It), at 11 o'clock, in uttending the fu- meralof oae nto belosnl compatiton, Geo, 8, Middle- tou. By orderof o SLEAL P, BT i e ——— e ey The Chicage Tribune. Tuesday Morning, August 10, 1875, At the New York Gold Exchinnge yester- dny, greenbacks opened and closed nt 88, being bought in the meantimo nt from 87§ to 88k, An important dectsion has been given by tho Attorney-General of Illinois rclative to tho registry. Mr. Epsann finds that the last Legislature, in revising tho statutes, struck out tho words *city, town, and county,” loaving the law so a8 to require rugistration wnly before Stato elections. Another bureau in the Interior Department soems to call for investigation. It is kaid that among the persons who aunually draw pensions about one-fonrth have no lawful claim, but succeed by means of frand and misreprosentation, and that these bogus pen- siops cost tho Government something like £1,000,000 cach year. And yet DEenavo will nol resign, Mr. JEFFEUSON 18 has nceepted the in- vitation of the Winncbago Agricuitural So- ciety, and will, next month, tell tho people ot Rockford, IlL, what he knows abous till- ing the soil and cultivating sour-npple trees. In his lettor * the Prosident * expresses his desire to behold a part of the country which was o wilderness when ho Inst journeyed through it, and conveys his thanks for a bocoming opportunity. An ordinanco providing for the collection of the taxes of 1875 under tho general law waa passed Inst night by the Common Coun- cil. But one among tho entire body of Aldor- men had the bardihood to propose a post- poncement of action, and ha had ample renzon to be ashamed of the ignorance and stupidity which prompted such a conrse. The remain- der of the Council took an intelligent view of the pressing emergency, and passed the ordinance. The Common Council Iast evening repesled all fonmer action relative to tho coustruction of o Court-Houso and City-Hall, and adopted an ordinance which places tho city in a posi- tion to immedintely co-operate with the coun- ty in tho preliminary steps toward the ercc- tion of the building. Mr. Tuomas Ty ‘was elected tho architeat for the city, and it waa algo stipulated that the Common Council shall dstermino the kind of stone to be used. There is now & prospect that the plans and specifications may be so far prepared as to admit of breaking gronnd this year, 1t fs announced from Springfield that Gov. Brveemaz will to-dsy issue a proclamntion offering, on behalf of the Stato of Nlinois, a reward of $100 each for the approhension of the Willismson County murdorers. The Board of Commigsioners of that county have alrendy offered a reward of $1,000 each, nnd it begins to look as though some- thing would bo dono to redeem tho credit of the Stato of Ilinals, and to wipe out the dis- graco which the Governor's tardy, halting policy has sufferad to attach to the Common. wealth, Nothing less prompt and summary than o few judicious hangings in Williamson County will complotely ro-establish the im~ paired majesty of the law. Democracy 1 Kentucky means what it does in Ohio,~rag-money. Tho canviss hay even been tainted with hints ot repudiation, Yet the party doesn't ssem to have been strengthened thereby, Thu mojority that might reasonably have baon expoocted for it was 60,000 to 70,000, for tho half-organized Ropublicans nominated a ticket only for the sako of keoping up tho party organization and without tho slightest shadow of a chance of sucoess. Yet tho Domocratio majority is rather leas than 40,000,—not a surprising figure in a Btate in a great part of which the tolegraph, the railroad, and the school-house ore unkuown institutions. In Louluville tho Republicans cut down the Dewmocratic ma- jority about 8,000 on a very full vote, Tha advantage to tho Governmont of lav. ing secured®Mr, Ersrer Wasanuey as Chict of tho Sacrot Bervice is again aptly illustrated by tho discovery of tha thief who stole the 247,000 from tho United Statca Treasury, tho loss of which has so seriously disturbed Gen.. Srosves in his rotirement. The complete- noes of the ezposs, and the apprehonsion of all the parties implicated, show Mr, Wasu- Borx’s handiwork. The job hns been carv- fully, quietly, and unostentationsly worked up; the publio had almost forgotten about the robbery, o litllo waa said about it. Mr. ‘Wasmuuan showed no anxiety for notoriety ; but, whan the ennouncement of arrest was finally made, Lie had the thiaf and all Lis con. federates,—n Troasary clork, o saloon-keeper, and a gunbler, Ho had quietly tracked the confederates from ity to city, and decoyed them into » trap for capturing the eontire party. Itwas a handsome pioceof work, and it furnishea a notable contrast to the manner in which offenders againat national laws wero treated nnder former regimes. The Chicago produce marketa wore irregu. lar yeaterday, s a consequence of fino weath. er. Meas pork wos active, and ndvanced 250 per brl, cloaing at §21.50 cash, and $21.60 for Boptember, Lard was dull and Bo per 100 lbs higher, closing st $13.02§@13.65 cash, and $18.80913.82} for Beptember. Mloata were qulst, at 8jo for shouldors, 120 for sbort ribs,and 1330 for short clears, High. winss were quiet and firm at $1.18} per gal. lon, ZLake troights weze dull and weak ab 53 @2}c for corn to Buffalo. Flour was qniet and firm. Wheat was nctive, and declined e, bt closed $¢ higher than Saturday, at $1.274 eash amd £1.25¢ for Seplember. Corn was nctive aud 1@1}c lower, closing firm at 70ye ensh and 72 for September, Oats were nc. tivo and 2@ e lower, closing firm at 44 e for August and 39fc for Septomber. Rye was quiet and casier, at 8Jc bid and 850 asked. Barley was dull and easier, closing strong at §1.14 for September. Hogs wero activa and averaged 100 higher, closing firm; sales at 27,76@8.30 for common to extrn. Cattle were dull and 15@250 lower, Sheep wero steady. Another self-cogrossed publie officer hes turned up. This time the party hoils from Colorado, his residence enver, name Smar- FENLERG, And occupation United States Mar- shal. Denver is quite n bit of a distance, so to spenk, from tho headqunrters of the Iurenu of Justice, yet the peculiar enchantment lent to the view by the Marshal’s manner of doing business helped the Attorney-Genoral at Washington to apprecinte the services which SinarreNpera was rendering tho Government, It appears that the Marsbal, liko many others Lefore him, had carly dreams of suddenly ac- cunaulated wealth, aud also had faith enough in thoso dreams to do all in his power o bring them to fruition. His opportunity Insted seven years, and he improved it. The Government allowed him $1.25 per day for the mmintenance of prisoners while in his lands until disposed of by the courts, No better opportunily for employing the extraor- dinary power of multiplication possessed by tho Marshal was needed. Farstarr'sstory of the men in buckram would pale into insig- nificance before the nccounts current of thiy zcalous oflicer. Prisoners wera credited with the $1.25 daily, months before they were captured, and then, to maintain thoe eternal fitness of things, the Government was charged the §1. months after the criminnls had been convicted and placed in Stata Prison or had escaped. Thua this law ofdcer waxed rich, and gavo no heed to the consequences which au investigntion might entail. The investigation came st last, and the result is that Mr. Suapressene is presented by the Government with n bill amounting to £60,000 or 70,000, which sum the Attorney-Genoral desires Mr. 8. to pay iuto tho Trensury of the United States in order that the people may have a fair show. LEGALITY OF ATE}%;;’ IS5UE OF LEGAL- In Seuator MonTox's great speech at Ur. bena, O., on Saturdny Inst, he referred fo the former Democratic hostility to the greenbeck, Mr, Pexprerox was in Congress at the date of the Legal-Tender act, and opposed it vio- lently. He declared it to bo ** wholesnle rob- bery,” and predicted that the greenbacks, once issued, would nover be recalled or ro. deomed ; that deanngogues would from timo to time demaud an increase of their issue; that those notos would deprecinto; that the weans of widows and orphans wonld be in- vosted in them; that * they would bear the hand of Caix"; nnd that, after reducing tons of thousands of tho people of tho country to bankruptcy and ruin, they would be repudint~ cdl Mr. Pexprerow, in a recent speech, de- clored that he had nover changed his opinion that it was unconatitutional for Congress to maoke anything a legal-tondor save gold and silver, Mr. Monroy, speaking on this point, said: Mr, THURMAN, Mr, BATARD, and X belleve avery Dem- ocratlc metnber of the Senate, has from time to timo de. nled tlia power of Congress to make groenbackaa legal. tender, cliarged that the Bupremo Court by which tha dectafon was made was packed, although tha decision Wont 1o further than lolding that Congress had the power to pase such & law in tizae of war, ‘The legal-tonder cases wero decided by a Court composed of nine Jndges. Chicf-Jus- tice Cuasr sud Justicos NersoN, Crirroup, and Froup held the nct to bo unconsatitation- al ; while tho majorily, consisting of Justices 8rnoxa, DBnaorey, Davis, Murren, and Bwayne, held tho act to bo constitutional ‘I'he Court had proviously, when composed of cight Judges, by a decision of five to threo, decided adversely to the legallty of the Logal- Tenderact 80 far as it applied to contracts mndo previous to theLogal-Tender act, After this first decision, Judge Gnizn, ono of tho majority, resigned; and another member was added to the Court, and to theso two placos Justices Stnove and Branrxy were appointed. ‘The opinion of the majority in tho second caso was deliverod by Justico Srrona, Justics DBraprrey reading a concurring opinion. Jus. tices Davis, Micrem, and Swayne had ex- preased their opinious as dissenting Judges in tho first case. The constitutionality of the Legal-Tender nct was affirmmed by all these Judges upon the ground that it was an gux. ilinry power, as authorizing the means whero- by some other power might bo exercised. The military powers of the Government wero not questioned. Congress had power also to borrow money, and to anticipate its rev- enues, Congress, the Court held, could re- sort to any means appropriste or conducive to tho execution of any or all of the powers of tho Government; and, in considering whether the Legal-Tender act was an appro- priste instrumentality for the exooution of the known powars of Congress, the Court soid ; YPlainly, to this inquiry & consideration of the time when they were enacted and of the clroumastances in which the Govermnent then atood {8 fmportant, It ia nnttobe denfod that scta may ba sdapted Lo the ox- exclae of lawful power, aud appropriata to t, in seasons of exigency, which would be iuapproprists at other Urces, ‘The Court then rcoapitulated the ecironm- stances in which the country was placed when the Legal-Lender acts woro passed : a civil war threatened the overthrow of the Government; the equipment of large armies and navies and their support, and the employment of money Leyoud the ordinary sonrces of supply, were deuntunded ; the Ureasury was empty, and credit was exhansted ; woneyed institutions could advauce no more ; taxation wes inade- quate to pay oven the interest on the debt ulready ducnrred ; the necessity was jmmo- diste and preswing. Thers was duo to tho army ju the tlld $20,000,000 ; the ourrent expenditnre was over $1,000,000 por doy ; the coin in the conutry wos inadequate to the ‘wants of the Government for three months j wo Liad no foreign eredit. Thero was a par- alysis of trade and business, threateninga loss of confidence in the ability of the Gov. emment to continuo its existence, It wau at such a time and in such circumstances that Congress was called upon to devise means for maintaining the army and navy, and for the preservation of tho Government created by the Constitution, It was in such an emergency that the Legal-Tendor acts were passed. If it were certain that nothing clse would have supplied the absolute naecessities of the Government, and nothing else would have saved the Government and the Constitution from destruction, while the Legal-Tender nots would, no man could assert lum Congress had transgrossed its powers, Now,0ould it bemaintained that the enactmenta wers 1o for & logitimats end, nor approprd- ato and ndapted to that end. In tharelection of means for a legitimate end, where each waa appropriate and ndapted fo that end. Congress was its own judge. Congress, aml not the Court, was lo decide the necessity for any Congressional enactment, ‘The necessity existivg, and the means being appropriate to o legitimate end, and not prohibited by the Constitution, the Court held the enactmont valid, Mr, Justice Bravrry, whose vote turned the scale in favor of the legnlity of the tfen- der nets, used this language : 1t follows as aother carollary from the vlews which 1 hiave expressed that the power to make Treasury notes legxl-tender, whilat & mera Incidental one to that of feaning tho :otes thomaclves, and to ous of the forma of borrawlug meney, {a movertheloss a power et ta be resurted to except on eatranrdinary and press- ing occariont, such @ war or other publtc exijen- ciee of areat gravity and {msortance: and should de no lunaer continued than all the ercuwalances of the case demand, The legality of the Legnl-Tender ncts, therefore, rested upon the great and over- whelming necessity created by the War of obtaining money to support armies and na- vies and maintain the nationnl existenco agninst the destruction by which it was men- aced, Even then the acts wore held to bo valid by the mere accident of the resiguntion of Judgo Guisn. nd he not resigned, the decision could not have been obtained from the Court, In thelight of all the facts at~ tending thnt decision, and of the grounds of the decision itelf, is there any person who believes that the Court would sustain the en- actment of & law directing & now issue of Treasury notes, made & legal-tender in time of peaco, with the uational credit fully re- stored ; with the Government in daily ex- clinge of bonds bearing a reduced rate of fo- terest for others bearing the rates demanded in time of war ; with an army reduced to n peace itandard and a navy practically dis- banded ; with production and commiorco in- creased and the Governnient in the receipt of an anuunl surplus of revemie ? Should the Democratic party now obtain tho control of the Government, and shonld it, a8 proposed in Olio, abolish the National Banks and issue four to six hundred addition- al millions of serip and make them legnl- tenders, who is there that belioves the Su- preme Court would sustain such action a day ? Nor do the Democrats believe the Court will da so. But, having abolished the Nationnl Nanks, and baving bad the greenbacks de- clared to Le no longer legal-teuders, they will have created o necessity for the restoration of the old State bank systems, where ench Stato will have n different system. Then tho coun- try will have a heterogeneous currency, and tho notes of no bank will be curvent at par 100 miles from the place of issue, when a man traveling will have to exchange hix bonk- notes, at a shave, for the notes of , the State in which le happens to find hin: Then the sge of wild-cat, red-dog, and blue-pup currency will be rostored ; tho bunsiness of counterfeiting will be revived in allits former glory ; and every broker's oftice in tho land will becomo a place for the salo of uncurrent bank-notes. To this State-bank system the State-Sovereignty party is seeking o return, ond their steps to that end axe : 1, abolition of tha Nutional Banks ; £, a new issuo of le. gal-tendors to be declared void, and thenn Dol chartered by a State in every villago in the Innd to spew out shinplasters to bo coun- terfeited, Mr, Joun Jay, formerly United Statos Alin. ister ot Vienna, is writing a serics of long lot- ters in the Now York Zridune, with the secem- ing purpose of securing o postponemont of the proposod Centenninl Exhibition on ac- count of the inndequacy of the preparations and the discredit it is likely to bring upon the nation. Tho doubts which ho raisos aroe (1) the questionable expediency of our Govern- ment assuming the responsibility of an inter- national exposition ot any time; (2) the un- advisability of making o first attempt so soon after the Vienna Exhibition; (8) tho incon. venience of allying a celebration of the Con. tennial with an international exhibition ; and (1) the probability that European Govern- ments may asgume the invitations to them as a request that they shall pssist in commemo- rating the birth of & Ropublic which is nntag- onistic to the monarchical form of govern- ment. Thoro is one general answer to all these objections, to-wit: It is some four yeam since the plan for celebrating the Centounial by a grand Txposition was adopted, and it is too Iate, within & fow months of this cclobration, to overthrow the entire achewe, and substitute any other that will do tho Amorican people anything liko the same mmonnt of credit. The managers of tho Philadelphia Exhibition claim”that the prep- arations are already further sdvauced than wero those of Vicnna or Paris at tho samoe number of months previous to the opening of their rempective Expositions. If this i true, we sce no good resson why tho Phila- delphin Exposition should not bo n fair re- flex of the industrial and scientific statua and progress of the notlon. 'We might have a more flattering exhibit by waeiting o few years, and availing ourselves meanwhilo of the elaborate suggestions of Alr. Jax and others, but such an exhibit would not fairly repre- sent the condition of the conntry nt the end of the firat 100 yoars, as the Centennial iden of the Exposition intended it should. By waiting fifty years or another century longer, our childron and great-grandchildren might do tho country still more credit, but that is no reason why we should wait. An exhibition at the end of the first centennial will giva an opportunity fora proper compar- ison of tho progress of the next century, It ia not Dbelieved that wo have already reached the acme of excellonce, So far as the Government's connection with the Exposition is concerned, 3r. Jax errs In giving any strength to the notion that the Governmeont has assumed the responsi- bility for either it success or failure. 1In all the legislation on the matter, it has been ex- pressly stipulated that the Government should not bo held responsible for any of tho financial arrangements, This wos o formal natico to the world that the Government s not responsible for the success or failure, and bas not assumed the rosponsibility of the Exposition business. ''ho Government has very properly oxtended every encoursgoment it could logitimately to the enterprise, and hos taken part in the Contennial foature; it bus also assisted the Commission by a fonmal invitation to the forsign Gov. ernments to be represented. Many of thede Governments have slready intimated their Intention to send representatives, and have mado appropristions to that end. Mr, Jax tries to make & polut on the fact that Russis, Greece, Italy, Persia, and Blam have not yet accepted the invitation, and may not be represented at all. We ghonld be sorry it this bo 80, but we caunot attach to it the in. ternational significance which Mr, Jay at. tempts to fix upon it. They will decline to sond ropresontatives for reasons best known to themselves, Me, Juwass. formerly dinis. ter to St Petersburg, has said that, it the Russinn Govermmnent does not send represont- ntives, it will be beeauso §t believes thero fa not muflicient time to prepnre a creditablo represontation. I'ho othern will have cqual. ly good and Linrmless reasons if they stny away, and no national indigoity will be of- fered. It will simply bo a disappointment for the Exhibition, but not serions enough by any monns to occasion an abandonment of the schemo. ‘Tha simple fact is (hat tho Ameriean Cen- tenninl Exhibition has already advanced too far to admit of any serious thought of re- ceding, It must go on, and the mnnngers and the American people should maka the best exhibition they can. 1f wo fail to do ourielven entire justico, oven that circum. stanco will illustrate a national tendency ; and the Exposition, as a whole, will bo a fair and fitting reflex of the present condition and charneter of the American people upon the hundredth birthday of the Republic. What- over that may be, we must abide by it. A LEADING CASE, The lawstit mentioned in our spocial dis- pateh of yesterdny from Davenport, In., will make a sensation, if pressed to trinl. The Davenport & St. Panl Railrond Company plnced n large number of bonds in Europe, through Saviseacn & Co., a firm of Frank. fort bankera. The road bas got into troublo. The ronson therefor, per- baps, Appears from o passing romark made in the dispatch, which spenks of the President of tho railway ns the Seoretary of the ** Construction Company.” 'I'his sort of arganization ought to bg cnlled a ** Destruc- tion Company.” Be this ns it may, the bonds have proved an unprofitable invest- ment, and a number of persons holding them in Germany have sued Sautsnacn & Co. for damoges, alleging that the latter obtainad monoy on them by making false representa- tions. The baukers claim that they merely repented the reprosentations made to them Dby the officors of the Railrond Company, and have notified tho latter that they will sue them to recover anything that they may loso in tho suits brought at Frankfort, This is o mnew thing in litigation. If the TFrankfort Dankers aro held to bo linblo to the vietims who exchanged hard money for very eoft bonds, there will be o mighty crop of such suits in Germany, ITol- land, and England. ‘The decision in the Sir Jonx Hay cass, on which wo commented yesterday, shows that tho English Courts ara prepared to go some lengths in pnnishing the stool-pigeons of speculators. Wil they not go farther in punishing tho active agonts of theso adventurers 2 When tho Committee of the Iouse of Commons was taking testi- mony in behalf of the English holders of worthless forcign bonds, the London press commonted severely upon tho responsibility of London brokers for these speculative swindlers, There onn be no doubt of the moral responsibility, but tho extent of the logal liability remnina to bo deflned. 1f Savrsuaon & Co. and others in their po- sition are mulcted in damages, the over- burdened dockets of our courts will groan under a maltitude of new suits, Ioretoforo there has practically-been no redross for an European who was vietimized by an Amer. icon sharpor. 'I'io Savrsmacs cass, if oar- ried into the Towa courts, may establish a precedent that will right this wrong. How sad it would ba if plundered Americans should take the hint and sue Mr, Henny C. Bowey and othor lending religious editors for solling their editorinl columns to wild- cat ruilroad schemos, and so beggaring thou. sands of poor Christians for tho sake of dis- Lonestly eariching one wealthy one, AT QUESTIONS. Tor tho firit time in the history of the United States, the peoplo havo time and op- portunity to fully discusa the grest questions of toxation und currency, and decido upon them, The issuo of the earnest and eager de- bate now in progress in Okio, and everywhero enst of tho Rocky Mountains, will be tho establishment of o National policy on theso two points, which will bo not only dofinite but pormanont. Herotoforo both questions have been ocensionally taken up, but the dis. cusston hins boen interrupted, reintorruptod, and finally laid nside without nny scttled ro- sults having been renched. With the year 1875 oomes the first fair opportumity to fully and deliberatoly discuss those two vital pointa aunlyticnlly and synthotically, Hitherto they bave been handlod empirically. ‘Whon the Govorninont was established, the fcionco of puper credits was in its infuncy, The data and oxperlence roquisito for it had uot beon gatherod. 'Thers hod not been the necessary induction. AvLexanoer Hamtrrow, backed by the whole Federalist party, and beartily sustnined by President WastunaTon, cronted the United States Dank,with charter that could not bo changod until its appointed term of yonrs had olapsed. The ourrency question was thus kopt out of politics, When the chartor appronched its termination, the question turned on rechartering it, which the paople negatived, and upon its ruins the sys. tom of Btnte banks was founded by the State. Soverciguty party, and led to the terribla financial panic of 1847, from which the country did not rocover for five or slx years, Mennwhilo the tariff bad been a party foot- ball,—tho plaything of politicians. Now it was up, now down, Now proteo- tion, then horizontal, sgain something approaching free trade, was tho policy of the country, Public men knew little or nothing of tho principles of political cconomy, Tha nine years' wonder excited by the appearance of Avam Buiri's *‘ Wealth of Nations" in England was over before we had recovered from tho Revolution, and tho great bovk came veryslowly into noticoon thisside the Atlantic, Wensten stultified himself, ¢ la Bovrwerr, by publicly aunouncing that thero was no such thing as a scienco of political econo- my,—an nsscrtion that was less foollsh then then when Becretary Bourweny imitated it, but was still absurd, So the tariff was treated, not scientifically, Lut soctionally, When the South played mariyr on the strength of alleged discrimivation sgainat bher products, in favor of the North, Oarstoux wuddenly changed sides, abandoned protes. tionism, took up freo trade, wrote the * Ex. position ™ and the ** Address to the Peoplo of Bouth Caroliug,” and destroyed, by the ag. itation be created, all chance of a calm and rational treatinent of the subjeot, Then csme the slavory disoussion, agita- tion, and the Civil War, closely followed by & long and desperate struggls over reconstruc. tion, The latter may be said to have ended with the adoption of .the Louisiana Compro. miso last winter, Now that thess are out of the way, the people of the Uniled Stateahave lelsure and a clear fleld to discuss and declde their abiding polioy on taxation and the cur. renoy, They are the great jury befare whom the opse fs to be argued and tjed,—s osse with plenty of precedents, all of them polnt. lag cae way, The salguat of Fraucs, the Continental currency, the Confodernto gray-back, tho {rrodeemable paper of England of fifty yonrs ngo, that of Italy now, of Austris, of Russia,—tloso oll point one way. The period now opaning before us finds its prototype in that throngh whicl England passed bofore resmming spocie- payments half a century ngo. The * Bull. ion Report,” which turnad the sealo in favor of honest moncy there, is still the great ar- mory,~a colleetion of golden reasons for gold money. 'This, or an adaptation of it, by the way, ought to be printed in handy form for popnlar nso in this country, It forms au appendix to Prof, W, G. Sumven's valuable work on * American Curroncy.” ‘The conclusiona renched by the prosperons and intelligent communitics of the Old World may be condensed into two : (1) The eurrency of n country should con. slst of specie, and of paper Issued on b specio bagis, convertible into gold on demand and at par, issued by privato capital concentrated in bauks regulated by the Natioual Govern- ment, (2) Tho tax on imported goods should be the lowest possible, levied solely for rovenne, leaving the greatest possible freodom of ¢x- change, “I'o these conclusions tho American peoplo will come at Inst. In 1868, thoy utterly rojected tho schemes of dircet repulintion pressed upon them by artful demnagogues led Ly Pexpretox and Jomnsox, who measured public honesty Ly their own low standard. ‘They will reject, sooner or Inter, the schemes of indirect ropudiation now urged by sections of the Democratic party and ita sllies, A majority of the jury is intelligent. Tho greatost intorests aro at stake. Let the argu- mont wax hotter and hotter | BARNUM AND THE NEW YORK PRESS. ‘We regret to see that the New York daily newspnpers aro all by the cars, and are claw- ing, scratching, and snarling at each other, and calling each other =all sorts of hard names. The T'ribune, the T'imes, the World, the Jlerald, the Sun, and the Graphic, are the principal offenders, but all tho littlo con- cerns are at it also, just ns when tho big dogs get into a fight all the small eurs yelp and snop around them, at s safe distance from the sceno of combat. Tho Times nc- cnsed the Tribune of obtaining money under fuluo protonses by misrepresonting ita circu- Intion, and offers to bet fabulons sums that it has the Inrgost circulation, Tho World, like some vigorous Amazon howling at her opponent, keeps shrieking * Jay Gourp " nt tho Z'ribune, now nud {hen stopping to givo the Z%mes n picco of its mind, Tho Sun works itsclf into n frenzy over all threo papers, although the Z'ribune has been Sun- struck tho most, The [lerald is running n-nuck, hitting everybody, The 7'ribune hits back manfully, but won't mention any of its assnilauts Ly name. Tt trents them all with a lofty disdain, turns up itn noso nt them, won't speak to them on the street, Arawa ita skirta nbout itself when it passes them, and 03 tho average fomale who gets 1mad with somo other crushes her with the overwholming epithet *“that womnan,” so the 2'ribune from the top of its tall tower sucer. ingly alludes to its antagonist a3 ** that paper.” Allthisissnd. Goernesings, * Onovery height there lies roposo’; most cortainly, then, should there bo pence nnd rest and serene tranquillity way up in that tall tower, instend of the noise and confusion which now provail there. But the faultis not alono with the 2'ribune. All of thesv papers aro equally to blame, according to the measuro of their strongth, and the raddest fenture of thescrim- mago is tho example which they are setting to the newspapers ountside of New York City. ‘We have hithorto been asked to believe that all the intellect, the brilliancy, tho virtue, tho respectability, and the entorpriso of tho news- papor world was confined to the Now York City papers. Thoy are held up by thom- selves a3 models to copy. 'They never tiro of reminding the world that thoy aro *fthe metropolitan press,” and oll other nowpapers are *‘ provincial.” Peri- odically they condesoend to give us ontsiders leasons in the amonitics of journalism. As oracles, they furnish the authors, and pict- uro-painters, and impresarios with certifi. cates which the provincial papors are expected tohonoratsight. Aud now what aspectacle do these great exemplars, these monopolists of all that is niceand good in journalisin, thesepom- pous, high-toned, swell-fronted, eye-glassed, aud swallow-tailed tenchers and leaders in newspoper literaturo, present us, with their vulgar snarling and slanderous back-biting,! And in hot weather, too! In the month of August, even, whon the dog star is supposed to rage, and dogu run mad, and cholern morbus provails! Now, if tho guides, and teachers, and philosophers of journalism, the ANo, 1, gilt-edgod editors, the very creme de la creme of the profession, conducts itself in this ruf- flanly and low-toned manner, i it any won- der that the Podunk Gazette, and the Squann- cook Herald of Freedom, tho Chicago Y'imes, and the StaatsZeitung, got foul of cach other and ompty buckets of Billingsgate upon one another, and mako themselves a gonoral nuisance in thelr raspective neighborlioods ? They have not hnd *the education and advan- tages of the metropolitan press, They aro not high-toned. They do not belong to Arcadian Clubs, and Lotus Clabs, and Swallow-Tail Claba; do not live in tall towers, caunot have front seats at the opers, gall splondid yachts, drive fout horses at Jorome Park, hava boor- salo ons in their basoments, with elevators at- tached, ontortain protty actresses and prima donnas, and buve the first shy at Dukes, Princes and Princessos, and all manner of foreign and domestic potentates and digni- tarics, They lLave Lad nome of these ad- vauntoges. It will, therefore, not be surpris. ing it oll the provincial papers get at each other, tooth and claw, aud conmmence to ako tho fur fly in imitatlon of the metro. politan press of New York, with the easontial difference, however, that the provincial en. tertainment will be the most enjoyable, since it menns business, and is much more earnest, direct, incisive, and porsonal, than the very hoavy and stupid manner in which the motro. politan nowspapers attack each other, If this soriminage is not stopped before long, we shall bave 8 proposition to make. Mr, Banyus onoe organized a Happy Family, and caused to dwell fn the same cage, on terms of peace and amity, cats and the doge that do worry them, hawke, doves, and rab- .bits, poroupines, rats, weasels and hedge. hoge, eagles, ring-talled and speckled monkeys, ooons, chickens, opoasums, foxes and geese, and nnmerous other animals, very closely resembling the New York dailies, that in thelr natural state wero ncoustomed to fight with or to dino upon each other, The great showman in somo magical way exhibited dogs nnd cats eating from the same dish, coons and chiok. ona drinking from the same pan, foxes and goeae promenading together, vats aud mice Dulloking with tha wassals, and vuvbiss and pussoys nand the ring-tailedand speckled mon. koys playing all sorts of pranks upon the rest of the family with the most perfoact impunity, No clond of trouble ever appenred in this happy family. Tley wero always peaceablo and tolerant of each other’s peenlinrities and habits, oven whon the hungricst. Wa have sometimes thought that DBannoy, wvho alwoys has n great moral purpose underlying his humbugs, had the New York City pressin his mind's vys when Le organized his Happy Family, But whether hio did or not, to leach them a lesson from life, if the scrimmnge is not rtopped boforo long, tho grent showman shonld step in and undertake the work of collecting the rats, cats, dogs, weasels, hedge-hogs, coons, geeso, and monkeys of the motropolitan press and transforming thom into a Happy Family from the brawling, noisy, clamorony, back-biting mob that they now are. Having done this, ho should then be allowed tho privilage of axhibiting them to the provincinl papors lHy. ing together in amity, enting out of the samo pans, and never oven suarling and snapping ut each other. ‘The example will be product. ive of very useful rosults, for so long as tho metropolitaus are scratehing and gouging euch othier, the provincinla will also gouge and sernteh, and old Srorky will not lot Heswve nlone, until some fine day when longer for- bearance ceases to be a virtuo—but wo dare not think of it. ———— ORIME IN IOWA. Agnin comes the old, old story, from Towa, of violence, nisnult, rape, murder, and othor crimus, tho most of them going unpunished. Fifty-soven cases of rape this summer, and only three convictions! Six murders during the last month, and not one of tho murderers will bo hanged—perhaps not one of them will Lo punished! And all this timo the silly sontimentalists of the Bovee school are ap. pealing for mercy for the murderers, and have no sympathy for the murdered, no word of comfort for the friends and relatives of tho vietims, no demand for the protection of society aygnjust the passions and malevolence of murderers. The chiof cause of this fear- ful avalancho of crimo in Town is tho aboli. tion of capital punishment, 'This applies to murder, bat, from tho provalenco of other crimes, it would almost seem that all punish- ment had been abolished. As tho result of this abolition of enpital punishment, thero is - to-day wo check or restraint upon the evil pussions of mou. But, say the sentimen- talists, punisk the murderer by imprisoning Liin for lifo, This is light deterring influence to n man grown so vicions or so desperato an to dcliberately tako the life of his follow.man, and, even were it a punishment, it is nullified by the fact that statistics prove the murderer will bo purdoned before his term expires, and will be let looso to proy upon socicty again, ‘The vory nsme ‘* Penitentinry ” doos not .imply punishinent, but repentance, aud, ns o rule, ropentance, whether real or folgned, is followed by pardon. The murderer, therefors, at the vory outset, if he should be so unfor- tunate as to bo convicted, instead of escaping by technicalities, ns the most of them do, Lnows that ho will go to prison withthe pros- pects of pardon sooner or lator. He knows that in tho Ponitentiary lie will only have to work moderately hard, that he will ba well fed with good substantinl food, that he will also be well clothed, thnt he will have a physiclan whon ke is sick, that he will have his Sundays to himself, that fresh privilegos will grow out of them, and that ho will ba allowed associntion with his fellows ; in other words, that e will en. joy a condition of life which, in most ro- upects, is preferable to his ordinary condition, and that ho will be no worso off in prison than he {8 out of it, but, on the other hand, better. To assert that this is punishment for murder i3 tho boight of absurdity. o assert that it has adequate restraint upon the com- 1mission of crime is disproved by the incrense of crimo sinco haugiog in Towa was abol. ished, Tho only restraint npon the marder- ously disposed §s the certaiuty that he will Lo publicly hanged by the neck until he is dond if he takes tho life of his fellow, and that the punishment is as sure to como as tha sun is to rise or sot. He must know that this punishmant will be sure, that there js no apponl frowm it, and nohope of pardon. 'Thix is not a cruelty, as tuo sentimentalists claim ; and, even if it waro, it id infinitely less cruel than the murderor’s odious crune. It ia simple justice, ond the only adequate com- peusation that can be made. It is a mons. ure of safety which it is tho duty of the Courta to promptly -take, so that soclety may ba protocted, and there is no protection in any other form of punishmont for mur. der. Imprisonmont offors o preminm for murder, 08 is shown by tho news from Iowa. The only hopo and protection for tho people of that State is in the re-ercotion of the gal. lows and its vigorous use. It is time that they nbandoned their costly and dangerous oxperiment of tampering with the sanotity of humanlife. It is time that thoy ceased to listen to the emotional vaporings of silly men and women sentjmentalists ploading for immunity for murderors, A rockless, blundering print on Friday last declared that the city was in dobt some §20,- 000,000 or more, exactly aa follow Bonded dobt. Other {nteros| Non-iuterest-bearing dobt Total ity dobteessssiassrmmresssonens $20,805,840 Having had some of its crrors exposed, it yesterday restated tho account au follows : This Ls the Uth of August, exactly five years since that constitutional lLimitation wss ordsined. The *‘bonded dobt * has not been increased, It is, today, $13,450,000, Add “ certificatoa of indsbitedueas™ over $4,600,000, Add also $500,000 of outstunding bills payable. Total city debt to-day, $17,058,000. Bhowing an increass of cliy debt in five years under the constl- tuttonal probibition of over $3,000,000, This 1u cur un- lawful city debt, This is a reduction of over 2,600,000 in three days, which is doing pretty well. Com- menting on what it ealled the city debt, on Baturday it sald : What fallows will show that, aince the sdoption of the Constitutlon of 1670, the “ cily sutboritica ” bave deliberately, wautonly, and wickedly violsted ona of ita plalnost provisions for the security of the rights of cilizcns § thet they hiave proceedod deliberately to add militons of dollars o a city debt alcesdy tratiadending tlie constitutions! Nmit by mare thau 150 per cent; tuat, no longer sgo than the month of May, they added some $3,000,000 {0 the city debt without tbe alightest authority of law, aud In plain violation of the positive Umitation of shie Constitution, ‘The same paper thus announced & purpose of *tax-payers"” to repudiate & part of this debts And when the reckioss holders of these Iawless “oare tficates of indebtednsas® discover that thess svidences of debt are not wortls the valus of the paper they are priated on, sad that the tax-payers of thu ity do noy Proposs o bleed for the poyment of any such tlgal promins, made by publio oMoers wholly outaide of thelr lawful funcdon and powsr, they will, perhspe, wish that they had raised and conaidersd the quastion 84 the proper tims, On Friday, it claimed that the constitational Umit of dobt in the Oity of Ohicago was 95,582,518, and honoa it nrgued that the olty debt had been unlawfully inoreased until is Was 150 vaz sent ayester than the Conaltution allowed. It now admits ita error as to $11 546,000 bonded debt,which it kindly concedes is Inwful, and no part of which will Lo repu. dinted by tho tax-pnyors, It ropeats its clossia denunciation of the “wicked " cortificates of indebledness, and it will take ahout s weck, perlinps, for that paper to understand thal that *“debt” is o8 lawful as auy other. Il now snys: Haa the city got money In the Troamiry to cover this Increato of itadolt? It certainly Las not. s thers lawfully due to if, over and sbova il other anme siready appropristed, s aum sufiiclent to pay thi Incrests of Jndebtednuas? There certatnly Is not, I fn very far from Letng & mere draft in advance of colleo: tion upon revenuo for which a tax has beon taid, Tt fy 2 dobt; s burden upon the futura and as yet nntazed eartine of o people of this city. It is o debt unlaw- tully incurrod, The city has lawfully duo to it, over and nbove all other suma appropristed, a sum of uncollected taxes sufticient to pay all its out. standing certiticates of indebtedness issuod in anticipation of revenuo, Its uncollected taxes aro of an amount largely in oxcess of oll its outstanding certificates, which certifi. cates aro retired ng the tax is collected. When the first anfouncemont eame of the recent floods in Indiana, Ohio, & partof 1L linols, and Missourl, wo warned our roaders ngainst the natural tendency to exaggerats tho Qumago to ocrops from unfavorable weather. . The Iator roports have strongthen. od the view wo then took of tho matter, ‘While thero is no doubt that great and sorious injury has been donoe to certain localities and valloys, which will entail largo individnal losaes and considerable local wuffering, tho ultimnte cffect on tho erops gonernlly will bo far less damaging than at first supposed. While the floods and atorms havoe made great ravages in the bottom.lands of some stronms, thiera hns been some compensntion in tha fact that the unusual fall of wator lias brought a now lifo into the high and rolling lands, and ronderod them moro productive than they aro ordinnrily, Tho nverage effoot 8 to corn hay boen moro beneflcial than dam. nging, tuking the wholo West togethar ; the fall crop of hiay, as well as tho root crop, will be tho more abundant on account of the rnins ; and tho soveral days of dry, clear weather have onabled the farmers to go into tho fields with their seytlies, mow down the beaten grain, aud savoe more of wheat and onta than was anticipated. Tho result is, that this year's experience will follow the rulo of formor yenrs whon bad crops wore expected, viz.: That thero will bo a botter yicld than was counted upon. Thero is lite tle doubt that our crops will bo sufficiently abundant to take ovory advantage of an in. creased foreign dewand without stinting our. selvey. Tho 7' valuntion of taxablo property in the city, ns- cortained in the manner specified by law, for State and county purposes, by the lnst ng- sessment, 18 $110,650,275,and that tho lawful debt of the City of Chicago is limited to 5 per cont of this sum, or somothing like $5,632,- 000. This repeated blunder results from nse suming that tho valuation as mado by the Assessors of Cook County is final. The *lnst nasgessment * for State nnd county purposes was that madoe Inst yoar, Whon the lacal ns- seasment camo before the State Board lnst yoar, that body more than doubled it. Ilns the ZTimes forgotton that fact? It would seem 80, Tho assessmont for 1876 haa only ‘pasaed through the primary stage; it has nosw to go to Bpringficld to tho Btate Boord of Equalization, where it will be increasod prob ably to a much larger sum, and then it will be ~ complete ns the *‘last nsscssment.” This campletion of the assesstuent will probably tako placo about tho 1st of Soptembor. THE PROPOSED RIFLE-CLUB. Tho city papors containod a notice & day or two sinco of an informal moeting of & number of Rentlemsn to couvider the subjoot of organizing » ritteclub. The number and characior of thoee present was such as to give assuranco that the mattor will not be sutfered to laoguish. A committes waa appoiuted to pre- pare a coustitution and by-laws, and alao to 8o~ oure tho namos of men who are willing to pro- mote tho object by activo particlpation, or by pocunlary aid, and to roport at & subsequent mooting. It in to bs hoped that this movement will com- mend itsolf to tho beat clasaes of onr oitizens, as involviong a highor principlo than. that of s mere atblotic sport. In the early stagesof the Iate War we sufTered terribly from the superiority of our opponents in sharp-shooting. A very large proportion of tho men who eniisted in our army, pariocularly fa tho Enstert tates, had never fired a gun {o thelr llves, and rifle- shooting bad slmost bocoms & lost art. Vigorous messurcs wero at once fnstitut- ed for traloing recruits, and rifle-clubs for inmatruction and practico in ths use of the weapon were very peverally organ- ized, aud oventually rendered most ofticient and valuablo service ; but vory many valuable lives might havo been saved, and probably the mis- fortures of many a bard-fought fleld wight have boon avorted, if the individual membors com- posing our forces had possessed the intuitive skill 1n tho use of arme which comesonly of long famlliarity. It fs truo that nlco marksmanship is rarely of suy avail iu & genoral engagoment, but the man whoso familiarity with the use of his woapon Las scquired an instinotive chiaracter, 80 that no effort ia roquired to inaure the instant application of its powers in the moat effective manner, will rondor far more eficient service than he whose only knowledge of his gun is that soquired in the conras of military discipline. Diaclpline confera the confidenco of power denved from the best possiLle mechanical are rangement of tho masses, whose noitedstrength in relied on to ascomplizh the desired object j but Individusl skill gives to each of the units com- posing thoss masses tho solf-confidonce which In fact constituten their strength. In busy communiliea like ours, these facta are Jiable to bo loat sight of In timo of peace unlesy active measures of preventlon are persiulently adhered to, and, when the evil aays come upon us, we wust for tho penalty and dlsgrace of our ignoraance, In encouraging the organization of rifle-clubs, therefore, snd the practice of rifte-shooting by the award of prizes and the zest of popular sym- pathby, we not only promote a love for one of the noblest uf manlysports in its capacity for physical development, bat {nsure at tha same time the best posslble training for nationst de- fenso by joupiriug a love and famlliarity with the uso of arma. ‘Tuis objeot can be attalned, and the Assools- tlon may become—as the Creedmoor Ciub Las become ta New York—s sourco of intersst sud pride to our citizens, and a sohool of fnatruction in the use of arme, tho possible vaiue of waich cannot be estimated. Dut, in order to seoure thie resnit, it 19 ezsential that it should be sus~ taingd by the sympathy and co-operation of the bost classea of our cltlzens, without whose aid and support It must lsugulsb 1o obsourity, and perhaps acquire the disreputable stain which lsso lable to attsch itself to everyab tempt to popularize athletio mports. The dans ger comes of the foars of thoss who shrind from being the first to selza upon the oppor tunity aod make It » success, and 5o suffer it ¢4 1all jpto the grasp of those whose touch is pollw tion, Thematter s ln the hsnds of men wke willuse avery offort to astablish it onsuch s foundation as will tusuze it efciency and re- spectabillsy, Bus oy mesd iba ald sod oanotansnes of