Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, August 15, 1875, Page 4

TERMS OF THE TRIBUNE. MATES OF SUESCRIPTION (PAYABLE IN ADVANCE). Postage Prepaid at this Office. 1 13.00 | Weeily, 1 Rl S R : - AP o oo| T Farts of a year st the same rate. WANTZD—One active agent in each town and village, Bpecial arrangements made with such, Specimen copies sent free. To prevent delsy and mistakes, bs sure ané give Post-Office sddrees in full, including Stateand County. EBemittances may be made either by draft, express, Post-Office order, or in registered letters, at our risk, TERMS TO CITY SUBSCEIBERS, Dafly, delivered, Sunday excepted, 25 cents per week. Dialy, deliversd, Sundsy included, 30 cents per woek. Address THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, Corper Madison and Dearborn-sts.. Chicago, TIL CHICAGO THEATRE—Clark street, between Ran- <olph and Lake, * Tom Penryn.” H THEATRE—Randolph street, between Cl;"k and LaSalle, Eugagement of Jobn Dillon, “ Sare.” ADELPAI THEATRE—Dewrborn street, oorner ‘Moures. *Hand and Glove.” SOCIETY MEETINGS. ATTENTION, 8TR ENIGHTS !—Stated conclave of Cliicago Commandery, No. 19, K, T., Monday evening, Aug. 16, 1675, for business and work on K. T. Order. Vimting Sir Kaights courteousiy inviied. ~By.order af the Em. Com. G. A. WILLIAMS, B "BUSINESS NCTaSH POPULAR RESORT.—THE ELEGANT DENTAL Parlors, cor. Clark and £ancolph-sta., hss become the most fxsbionatle resart for wany of Gur fixllll,z::a % fl. man of COUTtesy, £ - XcChesney i8 a gentle! )usd e el Gold filling, warranf o e Tates. A full sot af teeth, tha very best, $5.0. Ehe Chivagy Cribune, Bunday Morming, August 15, 1875. At the New York Exchange- yesterdsy, greenbacks ranged between 884@884, closing gt (he latter price. The Carlists report that they have defeated tho Alphonsists. The Alphonsists report that they have defeated the Carlists. The reader, heving paid his 5 cents, car take his choice. The New York Evening Post says: ‘“‘The Chicago Inter-Ocean reveals strange ignor- ance,” ete. But why should the Post con- sume its valusble space in announcing this potent fact? - e In December, 1865, the loans of the Na- tional Banks amounted to only $498,843,417. In September, 1873, before the panic, the bank loans were §040,233,304 Yet Mr. Eruiey ssys that the “terrible contraction ” between these dates caused the crisis! gttty Col. Varentrse BAKe has been dismissed from the British army. The indiscretion of & moment has rnined his life. But how diferently they manage these things in our enlightened country. Better be a ‘minister in the house of the Lord in Brooklyn than a dweller in the tonts of the army in England. The Chicago Times has not yet confessed its ignorance or its criminglity in asserting that the lnst assessment of taxsble property in this city aggregated $110,000,000, 5 per cent of which was the lawful extent to which the City of Chicago could be indebted. Nor has it confessed its willful mendacity inassert- ing that the city debt- was $20,000,000, or, §15,000,000 in excess of the amount to which the city could lawfully be indebted. The note found in a bottle near Loke View, purporting to be in the handwriting of Dox- AIDSO, the acronaut, has been pronounced a forgery by the Manager of Barvuw's Hip- podrome. Itis & pity that the sensational fool who concocted the forgery could not' be panished in some manner which would for- cvermore prevent him from tampering with the feelings of the friends'and relatives of the lost men. Thers is no excuse for such bratsl business. The Indian question has been settled on part of the Mexico-American boundary-line by settling the Indians. Several hundred Apaches raided across the Rio Grande into the State of Chihushua. They scalped, and ‘burned, and outraged, and plundered, and murdered at their own savage will. Sudden- 1y, to the great surprise of the cowardly braves, the residents of Northern Chihushus gathered together, attacked the Indians, cap- tured some, and killed more. On this side of the border, such radical treatment would sad- Iy interfere with the prospective profits of the Interior Department Ring ; butthe un- tutored Mexicans are foolish enough to kil off their savages. The extermination of our stock of Indians would probably sadly de- crease the vaguely-conjectured annual income of Dezaxo and * Son Jomx.” A few days since an order in the civil uit against Tweep was formelly entered in the Supreme Court Chambers directing the city to serve upon the attorneys for Twrep a bill of particulars * of the plaintiff’s claim, setting forth in full and in deteil such parts of and items in the bills, accounts, or vouchers men- tioned or referred to in the complaint as they claiin to have been fictitious, and such as they claim represent supplies, materials, or labor not furnished to the plaintifis, giving the description, date, and amount thereof, and also a bill of particulars of the plaintiff’s claim, setting forth in full and in detail such parts and items in the bills, accounts, vouch- ers mentioned or referred to in the complaint 2s they claim to have been overcharged, or in any other respect false or erroncous, and also scttng forth the prices at which it is claimed said items should have been charged.” As it is altogether doubtful whether such an itemized bill can be furnished by the city, this may be considered another tri- unph of quibble and technicality for TWEED, sad shows once more how the law can be ?mdl:nd distorted in the hands of a dex- erous lawyer to subserve the purposes of in- justice and to shield the gnl;lty. Apropos of this subject, the Springfield (Mass.) Repub- lcan very pertinently suggests that the moral right of lawyers *“ to place their brains, skill, experience, fertility of resource and ex- padient, absolutely at the service of any criminal rich enough to pay them thair " price,” ought to be thoioughly discussed and Pprosecuted to some result. E The Chicago produce markets were rather tame on Saturday. Mess pork was less act ive, and 10c per brl lower, cloging firm at £20.85 cash, and $20.90 for September. TLard was dull and 5¢ per 100 Ibs higher, closing at $13.45 cash, and 13.50 for Sep- tember. Mestawere quist and ashade easier, at 8§@RJe for shoulders, 123c for short ribs, «nd 12}@12)c for short clears. Highwines were quiet and fim, st €119 per gal- sen. Lake freights were dull and wesk, at 20 for corn to Bufialo, Flour was quist and Mochanzed. Whast wes less aetive, a0d j@lo THE C .H[CAGO TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 1875.—SIXTEEN "PAGES, lower, closing at $1.20} cash, and $1.18} for Beptember. Corn was slow, and iclower, closing at 677c cash, and 68§o for September. Oats were active, and 1@1iclower, closing 8t 40c for August, and 33}c for September. Rye was quiet, and 1c lower, at80c for Septem- ber. Barley was guiet and unchanged, clos- ing at 108 for September, and $1.06 for October. Hogs were in good demand and were firmer, closing 5c higher for bacon grades. Sales were at $7.00@8.00. Cattle were dull and weak at Fridsy’s guotations. Sheep were inactive, at $3.50@3.00 for com- mon to extra. One hundred dollars in gold would buy $118.374 in greenbacks at the close. . risk of having the morigages foreclosed by their failure to pay the taxes. There is no pretense that these taxes are not valid—.lnw— fully levied for lawful purposes. The fmlure to collect is wholly due to a defect in the special Iaws. This difficulty, will, however, not apply to the collection of the taxes of 1875 and all future taxes. Any man who has any constitutional scruples sbout the legality of these certificates should relieve his mind, and the city also, by paying his taxes and extin- guishing certificates to that amount. THE CITY’S COMPLICATIONS. | The Common Council on last Monday night had the grace to submit to the absolnte neces- e . THE CITY INDEBTEDNESS. = The Chicago Z'imes yesterdsy indulged in over two columns of stuff to show that t.l}e outstanding oertificates of indebtedness is- sued by the city against the uncollected taxes are illegal, and threatens that the Z'imes will appeal to the courts for an ordér that that indebtedness shall be repudiated. It says: It was & blunder and & crime,—s crime against which a severe punishment is provided in the eriminal code. Itwss sach a lawless act, tanding to injure the citys credit, and o injure the security of ita bond- holders, a5 gives to the latter a right to s writ of injunction from a Court of Chancery, enjolning tho payment of this unlawful city debt until after the old bonded debt has been psid, or at least until that debt has bean reduced suficiently to bring the aggregate of city indebtedness within the constitutional imit. The holders of the lawful debt have right to apply for and to obtain such an injunction upon the psyment of the unlawful debt. Not only for their own protection, but to protect the tax-payers of this city againat any future incresse of the city’s debt contrary to law, they ought to do it This is a distinct statement of the casa which the Z¥mes makes, snd will maintain, To prove this position, it proceeds to state the amount of the outstanding claims agamst the city on the beginning of each fiscal year since 1871, showing its growth, and, by the suppression of an important part of the truth, seeks to establish thée fact that £4,000,000 of illegal debt has been created. The important fact suppressed is that every cent of the indebtedness represented by an outstanding certificate or other form of lia- Dbility has been, and is now, balanced by a much larger sum of overdue and unpaid taxes. We give a tabulated statement of the unfunded lisbilities of the city incurred un- der specisl sppropristions, to meet which taxes were levied, which taxes are all due, bat have pot yet been collected. The dates are April 1 in the years named, showing debt and uncollected taxes on the same day : Tnfunded Tneollected habilities. tazes. 1671, $1,735,030 1872 3,063,607 1873. 4,390,887 1874 5,955,675 6,747,058 There is the complete suswer to the Re- pudistion organ and all its followers. With the exception of a few items, the float- ing debt of the cityis due to the non-collec- tion of the taxes levied to meet appropria- tions; for the want of the revenue, the city has had to give the creditor a certificate payable out of the taxes when colleoted. The date when this form of debt begun is ignificant. The fiscal year of Chicago be- gins April 1, and ends March 381 in the fol- lowing year. The appropriations are made on the 3d of June, the tax-rate is levied in September or October, and the tax payable in December. Until 1872, the tax-sale for de- linquent taxes took place in March, so that the year's revenue was collected within the fiscal yeer. On the 1st of April, 1871, the tax- sale for the taxes of 1870 had not been com- pleted, but nearly the whole revenue of that year was collected before May, 1871. These taxes were for the year 1870. The Common Council, in June, 1871, appropriated for the year beginning April 1 preceding, $4,300,- 000, and o tax of 15 mills was required to produce that revenue. A very large proporiion of these appropriations bhad been expended when, in October, the fire destroyed much of the taxable property. The Common Council arbitrarily reduced the rate of tax to 10 mills; the Legislature thereapon allowed a rebate of tax on the destroyed property, and postponed the time for the collection of the tax. The taxlevy for 1871 was therefore reduced $1,400,000 and a rebate of $600,000, leaving & total tax-levy of 2,300,000 to meet appro- priations of $4,300,000. A portion of this deficiency wes supplied by the money ob- tained from the State for the canal improve- ment, but on the 1st of April, 1872, there was due of uncollected taxes for 1871 and previ- ous years, $3,063,607, and outstanding and unpaid bills to the smount of $1,106,515. The time for an ‘enforced collection of taxes having been postponed by the Legisla- ture until after the expiration of the year for which they were levied, leaves the city with- out any revenue from those taxes. Thus the taxes for the support of the city for the year beginning April 1, 1875, and ending March 21, 1876, cannot be collected by sale until Sept. 1, 1876, or fire months after the ex- piration of the year for wlich the tazes are- levied.- Thus, under our present law, the city will not have any revenue from the taxes for 1875.'6 until five months after that year has expired. While waiting for that revenue, it has to *“ pay”™ its current ex- penses, the interest on the city debt, and maintain Fire, Police, and Schoal Depart- ments, clean and repair streets and light them, repair and construct bridges and oper- ate them, construct sewers, and extend the water-service, and all the other expenditures of a city of 450,000 inhabitants. How? By giving certificates payable out of the city taxes actually levied but not collected. The Chicago Times declares that such certificates, paysble out of the taxes when collected, are 50 unconstitutional, fraudulent, and illegal, that the courts mnst be appealed to that their payment be forbidden, and that paper pro- poses to *“ maintain” judicial proceedings to sustain the illegal and fraudulent character of thepaper. That the people of this city, and the repudiators and their organ may see how eagily these certificates can be paid if the taxes were only paid, we give the state- ment of what taxes were due and unpaid on the 1t of April last: Ye Total due the city..ceuersnsanes Since April last a large amount of these taxes have been paid, and the proceeds have been spplied to the redemption of the out- standing certificates; of the taxes of 1878 two-thirds have been collected, and of those of 1874 several millions will have been paid during the present month. Bat, for the ex- penditures of the current year, the defioit in the collection will have to be met by ihe is- sue of other certificates. All these taxes are alien on the property, none of which can be sold or mortgaged without the previous payment of taxes. All persons who have mortgages on their property, and are under contract to pay the texes thereon, yun the sity of abandoning its entire assessment and equalization system, and, for the collection of the taxes of 1875, to resort to the machinery provided by the State for the collection of State taves. . So far asthe future is concerned, therefore, the collection of revenune for the city is placed on the same footing of. security as is the collection of the rovenue for the State and county. Tax-resistants hereafter, in order to defeat the collection of city taxes, will also have to resist and oppose the collec- tion of the State and county taxes. The complications of the city are to this extent relieved, but they are nevertheless serious enough to embarrass the most astute lawyers. The city has in round numbers outstanding certificates of indebtedness, which are drafts drawn against uncollected taxes, to the amount of $4,000,000. The amount of these uncollected taxes is very largely in excess of the certificates ; but, owing to the persistent efforts of the city to collect its taxes under questionable specia} acts, instead of under the general law of the State, the arrearages of taxes have been grow- ing at an extraordinary rate, involving the necessity of suspending various suthorized expenditures and the continued issue of city certificates. The uncollected taxes are of three kinds. 1. Taxes upon personal prop. | erty, which are collectable by distraint. 2. Taxes on real estate for which the city has judgment against. the property, and which follows the property like any other lien of record until paid. 8. Taxes on real property for which the city has no-judgment, but which nevertheless is a lien attaching to the property, and can only be relieved by payment. All of this tax for which the city has judgment, and perhaps 80 per cent of the uncollected personal tax, will be collected, beyond all peradventure,—the most of it within a year. The tax on real estate for which the city has no judgment, covering the years 1872, '73, and 'T4, will aggregate possibly $1,250,000. This tax the Comptroller and the 'corporation lawyers think may be collected under the law which makes taxes on real estate a lien on the per- sonal property of the owners, and collect- able by distress, as tax upon personal proper- ty. To this opinion there are other lawyers who object, and who insist that it is a tax sgainst specific property, for which no other than that specific property is lisble. This is a point, therefore, that will have to be deter- mined by the Courts. b Under the State Revenue law the State An- ditor certifies, for State tax, a rate of tax to be extended by the County Clerk. Under that same law the City of Chicago certifies to the County Clerk an aggregate sum of money to be raised by taxation, and he fixes the rate to produce that amount from the assessed value of the property. When a State or county tax is not paid, the County Clerk, the succeeding year, includes it on his books, and a second judgment andlien are obtained there- for. So this can be done in the future in all cases where the city tax shall not be paid. But there is no provision of law for the re- assessment of past city taxes, because these taxes were assessed and levied by the city |. ‘under its own machinery, and not under the General Revenue law. The County Clerk and County Collector have no official knowl- edge that the city had its own assessments in 1878, or 1874, or that it had its own rmate of taxation for these years, and can of course teke noofficial knowledge thereof. How, then, can the city have these unpaid taxes of 1873 and '74 for which it has no judgment brought forward and included in subsequent taxation ? Is there any law by which this may be done ? The difficulty arises from the shifting from one system to the other. Had the change been made in 1874 instead of 1875, the amount of uncollected revenue involved would have been less than $100,000. Now it is $1,250,000, and had not the change been made in 1875 it would have amounted next year to over $3,000,000. The change, even when it was made, was fortunate. It stopped the leak for the future; but the difficulty with these uncollected taxes on real estate for past years for which the city had no judgment remains. If they cannot be collected by distress on the personal property of the owners, as Mr. HavEs suggests they can be,” how are they to be reached ? Will it require additional legislation, and can the Legislature provide a remedy ? J 1t must be borne in mind that there is no objection to the tax itself. That is conceded to have been lawfully imposed, for a legal purpose. The objection was exclusively to the machinery employed to collect it. We submit this difficulty to the lawyers, and will be glad to receive suggestions as to the mode of collecting this portion of the uncollected tax. The other portions of that tax will, of course, be collected in time. ON THE RIGHT TRACK. The Jeffersonians,—at least a portion of them,—after wandering about in a vague, un- certain manner so long, have at last’ struck the right track, and, if they have the courage to follow it and will not allow the Cosmopoli- tans and the bummers to drive them out of it, they may at last accomplish something useful, and not be the mere ornamental ap- pendage to the Cosmops which they now are. At the meeting of the council held at the Bherman House on Friday evening there was avery free, although somewhat irregulan, talk about the fature policy of the Club, which was at last summed up in a series of resolutions, which provided, among other things, that the late charter election was a fraud and has been virtually so decided by Judges Booth and Farwell in the pending quo warranto case, and therefore the city suthorities shoald abandon all farther action in the premises; that, under the Constita- tion, -their tenure of ofice cannot be extended beyond the time for which they are elected; that, “in order torelieve the City Government from further expense, litigation, u{d confusion, and to sscertain finally the will _ af the people, the proper city su- thorities be requested to submit the charter ?f 1872 to the people, st the general election in November, for adoption or rejection, when the voters can determine whether they will nccept it or remain under the original organi h.wnl the city "; that “it isagl;:iim?:s nécessary to hold & general election for city officers on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in Novembernext.” And as a signifi. ocant sequitur to thess recommendations, tha resolutions provide * that, if the city authori~ tios refuse to adopt the course above recom- mended, to submit the issue to the people for and final doterminntion, the Jeffer- sonian Olub will nrge the prosecution of the contest sgainst the charter of 1872 to the end.” This looks like business, and for the first time the fact of the utility of the Jeffersonian Club is established. The resolutions are bombshells sent plumply into the nests of the officeholders and the bummers. They are yet pending, action upon them having been deferred until a subsequent meeting; bat, in case they are passed and then are not heeded by the parties to whom they are directsd, the explosion will be an eventful one. They are a ringing challenge of defiance to the Cosmops or bummers of the party that they must clean ont their foul nesta. They are, in fact, a notice to all concerned that the respectable elements of the Dem- ocratio party will join hands with the Citizens’ Association in denouncing and sup- pressing ballot-box stuffing, frouds, and trickeries devised to cheat the people out of their rightsand to stifle their voice at the polls. The resolation in favor of an election in ‘November is pertinent and exactly the thing that is needed in the present complica- tion of affairs. Even if the Democrats should be guccessful, we should at least have a party in power which would be responsible, instend of the present irresponsible and heterogeneous crowd of officeholders and bummers, who have delivered the city over into the hands of vagrants, thieves, bunko men, and gamblers, and set law and order at defiance. The Jefferso- nians are on the right track at last, and are commending themselves to the respectable people of the city. There is no other course which they can purwue with honor or safety to themselves. If at their next meeting they shall adopt the resolutions entire, they will have placed themselves upon & basis of principle. If they are not adopt- ed, they will have abandoned the opportunity to accomplish any good for the city or them- selves, and they might as well dissolve their organization, and save being swallowed up by the Cosmopolitans snd bummers, the officeholders and tax-eaters. We believe there is principle enough in this organization to secure such a result. If not, the sooner it puts up the shutters and closes out business, the better for it. There is one way in which the asphalt pavement used in Philadelphia and Pitts- burg, and carefully observed by Commis- sioner Prixprvinie when he was at the East, may be rendered very serviceable to Chicago. This is in repairing the wooden-block pave- ments that are hopelessly ruined, and on streets where the property-owners refuse to repave. The Board of Public Works have recognized the opporinnity, and have begun to lay the cement in certain localities of the condition described. A sample of the pave- ment may be seen on Adams street, just west of the bridge. It is composed of the fol- lowing ingredients: 1. A fine gravel, which can be obtained easily and cheaply on the lake.shore. 2. Coal-tar, which is distilled so a8 to run off sll the watery portions, and leave it a thick, compact substance. 3. These two are mixed with a cer- tain proportion of cement, adding a litfle sulphur to the composition, which seems to facilitate a more perfect chemical union of the various ingredients. This forms the compound, which may be made harder or softer according to the relative proportions of the component parts. It is laid with the coarser material at the bottom and the finer at the top, and then rolled. Comparatively little rolling is required, however, as the sub- stance adheres and packs naturally. It is then hard and smooth, with a certain degree of elasticity. Itissaidto bave a remarkable durability, and resists equally the influence of the frostand the heat. In Philadelphis, where it has been laid for several years, it is reported as in apparently as good condition a8 at first. This composition can be put down over the wooden pavements going into decay, at even less cost, it is found, than to repair them by taking up the old, rotten blocks and supply- ing their places with new ones, The holes and sunken places are filled with the coarser parts of the composition, and then the paste is leid over the whole evenly, giving just such ‘a surface 88 if there were an entire new pavement of this material. It has been found that the cost of repairing the pavementsin this manner is only 30 cents a square yard, which would amount to about $1.60 a linear foot, or 80 cents on each side of the street. At this comparatively small cost, with the necessity for improving certain thoroughfares, and the desirable results fo be achieved, the Board of Public Works will be justified in making very extensive improvements in this ‘way at the expense of the general public. There is also a hopeful ontlook for & con- siderable improvement in the character of the ‘block pavements. The experience of many years has demonstrated that the accessories formerly used in the original NicorsoN pave- ment, such as the underlying boards, the strips,, nails, and tar, may all be dispensed with to positive advantage, and st a great saving in cost. The quickness of the decay in the block pavement comes mainly from the rotting of the wood; this has more to do with it than the wear and tear of use. The suggestion of round cedar-posts, which farm- ers have always found the most durable in the ground, probably arose from noting this circumstance. The posts are used in their natural size and shape, cut some inches long, and set in the ground just as the oblong pine ‘blocks are now located. There are two nota- ble advantsges in the new style, viz.: (1) The pressure of the wheeling against the edges isnever evenly distributed on account of the circular form of the blocks, and (2) the cedsr-posts last longer in the ground than the pine blocks, This mew style of pavement has had a trial of several years in Detroit, snd is reported there to be superior to the old pine blocks. It has been recently 1aid here on Market street, between Madison and Adams, and also to some extent on the West Side. The cedar can be obtained as easily and cheaply as pine, and, if its substi- tution will make the change described, it will be & great publio blessing to Chicago. The telegraph reports the arrival of Messrs. Moopx and Savxey from Liverpool at New York. Mr. Moopy is going to Northfield, Mags,, for 8 two-months’ rest, and SaNxey, like Noaw’s dove, has not.yet found a resting- place. Now that the great Evangelist is on hig native heath oncemare, his friends in Chi- cago should be up and doing. While he rests from his labors, they should work, and get everything in readiness for his return to this city, not only that he may have a hearty welcome, but that he may have a permanent abiding-place in his new church. The work shonld be commenced immedistely, and un. doubtedly the fack of his uresence in this country will at once spur up his friends to | weeks. Then they got drunk. They had an ! lawyers, one of whom sent the g & realizing sense of their duties, before wick- ed St. Louis steps in and gets him. away. There never was such a harvest for Mr. Moopy to work in as St. Louis, and the few good people there will make extra efforts to gecure him. We cannot spare him, how- ever, and for this reason his friends must go to work immediately to prevent that wicked place from getting ahead of them. THE FRENCH ASSEMBLY. ‘When Germany was ready to make peace with France thers was nobody to act for the latter. The Prussians held Paris, the whole eastern boundary of France, and the north- ern provinces, The Uhlan had looked across to the white cliffs of England and had carried his raids far towards Bordeaux. The Empo- ror of France was a prisoner. The Empress and the Prince Imperial were exiles. Thers was no Legislature. The Provisional Govern- ments had been ephemerids, blazing up brill- iantly at one moment, like a Fourth-of-July wheel, and sputtering into darkness the next. Germany had France by the throat. She was willing to relax her grasp, but wanted to be paid for doing 80, 'Who was to promise, who was to guarantes, the price demanded? The Assembly of Bordeaux, since transferred to Versailles, was elected to answer this qn’es- tion. Organized simply to treat with Ger- many, it was naoturally composed of persons who had little or nothing to do with foment- ing or carrying on the war against Germany. It was a conservative body, with few Radicals and few Bonsapartists, representing the prop- erty and respectability of France pretty fairly, but not intended to represent the po- litical feelings of the nation. France wanted to make the best possible bargain,—only, this and nothing more,—and chose the As- sembly with an eye single to this main chance. No one thought of naming a definite time during which the Assembly should sit. In fact, there was nobody empowered to name any time. And thus it came to pass that a few hundred men, elected by France, but repro- senting France only on one question, and that one something soon settled and disposed of, found themselves sitting at Versailes, with all the powers of the people intrusted to them and with no one suthorized to take .these powers away. It is not strange that such an omnipotent body has been loth to ab- dicate. Its members, united, are all-power- fol. Dispersed, they would be almost pow- erless. Many of them could not hope for re- election. Thus private ambitions have re- inforced public needs, and kept the Assembly from committing legislative suicide, After the treaty was negotiated and the Communes suppressed, little of importance was done un- til five months ago. Then the ghost of a Bonapartist coup d'efat terrified the Deputies into sudden action. Some importent consti- tutional bills were passed. Everything seemed to be ripe for a dissolution of the As- sembly and an election, next fall, of the two Houses of the new Parliament of France. Suddenly all this was changed. The Assem- bly having provided for its successor, refused to name the day of succession. It voted to adjourn to Nov. 4. It cannot get through the work before it until 1876 begins, perhaps not until some months of our centennial year have passed. The reason of this reac- tion is the growing fear of the Republican party. The Bonapartist ghost islaid, but the Red phantom is grisly and grim. This Assem- bly is certainly more conservative than the next one will be, and no one can tell how great the difference is to be. The Deputies are afraid of the future. That is, they are afraid of France, They are unwilling to trust her with self-government. And yet they need not be. The last five years have been rich in political lessons. The new Con- stitution, unlike any previous one, is a growth, and therefore stands a far better chance of survival. France has learned that” she is stronger than Paris; that order does not nec- essarily involve despotism; that a responsible Executive is better than an irresponsible one. The surest way to make self-government im- possible in the future is to demy it now. If the Assembly refuses to dissolve, and clings to power much longer, it will invite the revolution it dreads. Revolution will mean the temporary establishment Jof the Paris and Lyons Communes and the ensuing return of Hevrt V. or Naroreon IV. The present ruling body has deserved well of the country. It has done everything good within its power with one exception. A great ne- cessity called it into life. Another great ne- cessity demands its death. A MENDICANT TYPE, Mr. G. A. Brixe hes been posing before the British public in the attitude of an awfal warning. The performance is not an alto- gether voluntary one, since it is the London “Charity Organization Committee™ which has obtained and published the biograpby of this beggar. He is now living quite com- fortably at the expense of honest workers in an almshouse. He has lived for sixty-three years at their expense in poor-houses, jails, and other publio institutions. The story of these sixty-three years of successful rascality —for needless beggary i rascality—is now told. We commend the tale to the givers of indiseriminate charity. G. A. B.’s great gift was gab, He could tell lies with the fluency that the public usually takes as the sign of trath. Helived by lying. Now he was a shipwrecked sailor, and now & bankrupt tradesman. He was slways & striking proof of the adage that dress maokes the man. His lies were always resin, nutmegs, eto. port used to be slaves. If theisland were in intoxicated dance, which ended in their stick- ing their legs through the cobbler’s - crazy ceiling. Their agility was too great for crip- ples. The exposure drove them from the place. Such stories, repeated ad infinitum, form this beggar's biography. What is true of him is probably true of many of the beggars who parade the streets of Chicago with painted sores, and sham infirmities, and lying pla- cards, and live on the charity that thinksa man who will not work deserves to be sup- ported by others. BRITISH OCEANICA. The Assembly and Council of South Aus- tralia has petitioned the Queen to annex New Guinea. The fact is important, not only in itself, but as an indication of the strong colo- nial sentiment in favor of future coloniza- tion. South Australia is one of the most promising dependencies of England, and ex- erts a controlling influence in Anstralian pol- itics. The important system of land-regis- tration and transfer known as the TorreNs plan originated in it, and has since been adopted by all Australin. While England seems to grow weary of her colonies, the lat- ter not only insist upon being taken care of by the mother-country for the time being, but they insist, too, that the colonial area shall be extended. The ultimate political des- tiny of the ‘“fifth continent” is independence, but her statesmen wish to see all the desira- ble parts of Oceanica civilized by English blood and money in order that the federation of the futyre may be strong and rich. “They know that Australia will reap what England sows, and they have no objections to having & goodly amount of sowing done. New Guinea, or Papus, is the largest island on the globe, provided Australia’s claim to ‘being the fifth continent instead of the first island is allowed. Half of it is claimed by Holland, but her sovereignty isonly ashadow. She has sbandoned her military posts, and exercises no real authority whatever. The mountains in the interior abcund in choice timber,—iron-wood, ebony, etc. The low shores are swamped with vegetation and frait- trees. Rice, sugar, and tobacco are oulti- vated on the uplands. The present exporis are bifds, bark, pearls, tortoise-shell, ebony, One main article of ex- civilized hands, this list would be greatly ex- tended. Tobacco, sugar, rice, and perhaps cotton, would be systematically cultivated on a large scale; the choice timber of the in- terior would be. utilized; and great quanti- ties of fish would be cured for export. The natives differ from the neighboring races in being chaste and longlived. They would probably be swept out of existence, however, by civilization,—the hope of the superior, the end of the inferior, rices, The acquisition of New Guinea would practically give England the control of all Australagia. It i3 the part under Great Britain’s flag. The Feejee Tslands, Britain's latest scquisition, lie just across the watery border-line between Aus- tralasia and Polynesia. Their occupation probably means the gradual subjection of the other scattered groups in the South Seas, with the etception of the Sandwich Islands; which will be saved by their proximity to the TUnited States, and Samoa, now owned to all intents and purposes by Sremezeoz L It is not impossible that England will some time accept Java, Bumatra, Borneo, and Celebes as a consideration for allowing Germany to annex Holland. In that event, persons now living may see the whole of QOceanica under the British flag. only not important of it which is already FIRST NIGHTS.” The theatrical season is just about to be- gin. InNew York, such an announcement makes a flutter. Everybody goes to his or her favorite theatre, watches the new play with keen interest, and decides on its merits. In Chicago, everybody waits for somebody else to go and pass judgment on these first courses in the theatrical bill of fare for the season. The mark of provincialism is on our theatre-going classes. They are afraid tolike a play unless somebody in the East has liked it beforehand. A better drama than either “Big Bonanza” or “Two Orphans,” pro- duced here for the first iime, would not ran a week. Andiences could not be got for it. The morsel that tickles our theatrical palate must be flavored with Eastern applause or English approval. The large class of citizens who believe in the good influence of the theatre as an educa- tional force, and who regret the mengreness of asmusements among our restless, nervous, busy people, must, for mere consistency’s sake, desire to hasten the day when Chicago is to be as truly metropolitan in her play as she is in her work. But this can never come to pass until we decide for ourselves, and encourage 8 play because good, mot because somebody else has said it was good. Our present provincialism in this respect is an injury not only to Chica- go, but to the whole country outside of New York City. For the whole country, witha possible half-exception in favor of Boston, shows the same elavish tendency to ape the opinions of the biggest city, and refuse ap- proval to anything which a New York man- - ager, company, audience, and newspaper have not graciously granted the provinces permis- sion to like. "The result of this is that a new play can be produced, as a rule, only in New York. It will not pay an outside man- sger to encourage local talent by put- it is ting a home-play on the bosrds. The expense of mounting it will be as great as that involved in reproducing & worn-out Eastern sensation, and its at-’ tractiveness to the public will be in inverse ratio to its newness, freshness, and local tone. The reputable theatres of the me- tropolis cannot produce more than half-a- dozen new plays, at the outside, each season. ‘Thus it happens that the demand for dra- matio writing is 'pitifully small, and the supply, of course, corresponds to it. The American mind msy be called essentially dramatie. With a fair field, we would pro- duce great playwrights and great plays. Asit is, our contributions to stage literature con- sist mainly in vapid revampings of Fremch sensations, and the literary -classes of the country are full of maute, inglorious Soerioaxs and Gorpmares. The managers of two Chicago theatres are about to make an attempt to break down this foolish dependence on the East. Both will produce, early this season, plays written by gentlemen of this city. If the “‘first nighta” are a fail- ure, because people are afraid to go and judge for themselves, this will probably be the end, at least for along time, of the at- tempt. If not, our example will be imitated elsewhere, and a better day will dawn for the American dramatist and the American stage. A suit has been brought before a United States Commissioner in 8t. Louis to settle the question whether the word “ shiyataz * is & soursilons one. Tha il crieltinléd 1o & quszral biwedt teo adapted to his garb,—verbal trimmings of it, soto speak. Sometimes dress made hima woman, His sppearance as the mother of several fatherless children (hired by the day) never failed to touch the charitable heart. Mr, Brive, unfortunately, had a weakness for,rum. The circumstance not only inter- fered with his profits, by occasionally making his tongue and his breath tell different stories, but it sometimes led to ignominious detection. On one occasion, when he was clearing 6 ghill- ings an hour by standing on a Sun- derland sidewalk, at the end of a row of girls, each one of whom had the word *““motherless” pinned on her ragged gown, he poured spirits down his throat an- til his own spirit rose to the point of playful- 1y pounding the oldest girl. As she was paid only for standing still and crying occasional- 1y, she rebelled at this treatment and expgsed his trickery. The same weakness ruined his most promising campaign. He went down to St. Winifred's Wells, Wales, with a woman who was living with him at the time. They hired a small room over a cobbler’s shop, and betook themselves next morning to the me- dicinal wella. Bzmve had the rheumatism in his legs and the pro fem. Mrs, B, had it in her arms. He hobbled on crutches. Both groaned. They frequented the springs for some dsys. The wealthy invalids swal- lowed the bait, and as a result Mr, and Mrs. B, swallowed wine, porter, beaf, mutton, ete, in any quantity, They Lved, Lo kavi. on thie Zat of the lmd o fva 3 th with the following words written on t;«. al:zv‘:. ope : * This communication, being fro, ster, the same is returzed nnupeged."m.:l:fi was thereupon brought by the receiverof the lot- ter nnder the statute probibiting the sending of obecene, indecent, or scurrilous writing the mail. s {haong —_—— AGASSIZ? EARLY YEARY Eamr Bravcmanp, tHe celobrated scientist aud writer, has just published interesting paper in the Revue des Deur uo::’, on tho part of Aoasstz' life with which the puy. Lic in this colintry is least conversant,—bis egy, days in Europe. A short review of mx.nu,f CHARD'S paper cannot fail to prove i to the American admirers of the great z Louis Acassiz was born on eh: Blno:rg:‘ 1807, at the Village of Motier, Switzerlang, o{; the northweatern shore of Lake Morat, not g4y from the bsttle-fleld where Cmanves the Bald met with his ‘celebrated defeat. Acagny father w;n pastor of the Villags of Motier, 2od his grandfather and great- d1asl s e L At an age when other children wers only be. ginning to go to school, young Aazssz was g tending the Brienne Gymoasium. His favority amusement, both going to and returning from school, was, at thia time, the coliecting of insects. A little later, after his fatner bsd removed from Motier to the amal city of Orbe, we find him take also ty plants, and constructiog s herbarium. When be reached that stage in hia studies at which it wag customary to enter on the clasaics, he wag sent to the Academy of Lausanne to get initisteq into them. This, it would seem, was the least coogenial portion of his studant life; for ng sooner were the doors of the Lausanue Acads my closed upon him than he returned to his first love,—scientific investigation. 3 Compelled to choose a profession, he began the study of medicine. The first two years of his medical course he spent at Zurich, acd the following years in Germany. We find him mn 1826 at Heidelberg, whers TrEprvaxy wae then Professor of Comparative Anatomy, Biscro¥F, of Botany, and LEuRArT, of Zoology, A yoar later he went to the University of Mg. nich, where Oz~ sod DoLLINGE, and other emi. nent nataralists, were residing. O=EN foresaw that Acasaiz was predestined to celeonyy, and said one day, speaking of the yoang Swiss’s “1 ' have had maoy soholars, but only one has under. stood me,” adding very characteristically, * apd yet I am not sure that even he has underatood me well.” The period of Acassrz’ stay at BMunich was an important one in the history of Science. In- vestigators had just began to study the.candi. tions of embryonic life. The new study proved exceedingly attractive to Acssaz. The completion of an important work on the subject demanded s knowledge of certain adimals There was 10 one to uudertake the task bu Acasarz. He set to work, and while eogeged upon it conceived the idea of the gigantio under- taking which was destined to prove a mociment to his genius. Bat all this time AgAssrz did not neglect otber stndies. fle was an asmduons listener for many years to the philosophicsl tec. tures of Scmrtiing; believing the stody of metaphysics part of the preparation necesaary to fit him for the studyof the phemomeus of Nature, and to inveatigato 88 far as posaidle the origia of life. From 1817 to 1820, two philosophers, J. B. oz Serx and P. Mantivs, had made prolonged ex- plorations in the interior of Brazil. The flors and fauna of South America were at this time but veryimperfectly known, and the collectionsof plants and anjmals made by Sprx aod Marrrvs containgd a number of species Which had never 28 yet been seen in Europs, and which wers therefore of great interest to naturalista, ‘The two natuialists undertook the publication cf 2n illustrated work, in which they intendedtoas- quaint the reading world with a minate koowl- edge of the newly-discovered fishes. Bpredied leaving the zoological part of the work incom~ plete. Marrivs, looking sbout him fora com- petent co-laborer, hit upon Agassiz. The young naturalist did not cecoil from the task. His exe- oution of it wan aqual t hia promiso. AaAsstz now weat to Vienna to study the fishes of the Danubeand its tributaries. The con servatora of the Museum received him with great coartesy and consideration. The living species of fishes Agasgrz always observed with great delight ; but his ambition was to throw light on the history of the extinct species. In 1891 he went to Paris, whers Cuvixe, the founder of a new science, recaived him with tae greatest kindness, placing overything in hig pos- sesgion which might help to advance the amtih tious straoger in his studies at his disposal. ArexanpER vox Humsonor, atthe same. tims in France, recognized Aaassiz as hie peer. The necessity of an incoms which could be ds- pended upon now began to make iteelf felt; ad Acassrz spplied to Mr. Lovis CouL, one of the most distinguishea citizens of Neufchatel, far the position of Professor of Natural History in the Gymnasium of that city. Hitherto noone had ever dreamed of teaching natural history st Neufchatel ; and Agassrz’ demand meaat the creation of a place specially for him. Mr. Cot Liv favored the scheme, and, after some naRo>: tiaticns, Agaserz was installed the first Pro- fessor of Natural History at Noufchstel with the modest stipend of 2,000 franes per year. But Neufchatel was sadly provided with the neceasary appliances for s Professar- ship of Nataral History. There was not a siogls collection of objects to {llustrats tbe subjectin the whole city. Not a hall could be found in which to teach it, or in which to make the begio~ nings of » museum. But Acassiz was not to b dsnnted. He had brought a few specimens with him from Germany, and these, together witha few others picked up about the city itself, sul- Hced to start a museum in s room providsd for it at last in the Hotel de Ville. Acasstz hera continned his own studies. Nev- er remarkable for a love for money, and never hesitating to spend it Iavisaly when his favorils studies demanded it, he did not sct in Neufchst- elagif his income were only abont 8400 » ves™. He employed artista to prepare the designd for his forthcoming work, and en; » countryman of his own to open s litho- graphio printing establishment for their pub- licstion. The result of all thia sctivily was the publication in 1833 of the firat part of his Researches on Fossil Fishes. The exect: tion of this grest work necessitated visits toall the principal musenms; for the moat remark- able fossil fishes are, as s rule, kept in the plscs of discovery, and AGAssIZ Was therefore fre- quently called to France, Germany, Sootland, England. and Ireland,—in all of which countrisd his reputation had preceded him, and insllot which he met with the sttention from u:hflhfl. %o which his eminent attainments entitled bis- It was not long before Agasarz’ presence itself felt in Neufchatol. His lectures intro- duced a taste for science into the moro calth vated circles of the city. Ho founded 8 small aeademy, and established the Neafchatel 450“‘1 of Natural Sciences. A scientifio periodical ¥ published by the society, and smong the contd butions sre some of real merit. While ing his Iabors on foesil fish, AGAsaZ concelved the ides of uniting another work on the ft-h'i\ watar fishes of Europe. Not satisfied with deseription of their externsl conformation, b¢ investigated thelr internal orgsnization, 853 still more minutely the of theif development. Nor did that exhaust bis Lt logue of stndies. The mollusks, sooph7ed 803 radistes also claimed his astentio, and his . searches on the structure of the latter snd e {manner of incresse are smong the most {otes" esting contributions that have been mads 10859 study of naturat history. ‘Aouserz, who had hitnerto devoted kimsel! almost exclusively to investigations in 200087 and paleontology, now directed his sttention the study of the movement of glaciem, & & partment of sclonoo in which he met with & amount of waccses equal to that which psd phases