Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, February 4, 1877, Page 4

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1877—SIXTE ¢ Tribwne. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. BY MAIL—IN ADVANCE—POSTAGE PREPAID AT TS OFFICE. Iy Edition, postpaid: 1 year. P e e montr, Mafled 10 any address Tour Wi unday Editfon: Literary and Rell hec: S Raturday Edition, iweive pages. S Wegkls, postpaid, 1 Jear- Parts of a year, per month WEEKLY EDITION, POSTPAID. Qne copr. per Year.. Postaze prepaid. l Specimen copfes sent free. Tr::‘wvnnx delay and mistakes, be sureand give Poste Cfceaddress fn full, including State and County. Liemittances may bemade elther by draft, express, " Pot-Otbice order, or In registered letters. at our risk. “ERMS TO CITY SUBSCRIBERS. Tafly, deltcered, Sunday escepted, 25 cents per week. Tistly, delivered, Sundgy included, 30 cents per week Adds THE TEIBUNE COMPANY, Caroer Madleon and Dearborh-sts.. Chicago, UL SOCIETY MEETINGS. No. 1, K. of P.—Attention D ity Seavsitey 1o At your Enizh ‘ou_are Cs all, corner of Blae 1sland-av, and Fourteenth- :‘(:“li% !l!hgfidl)‘ evening, 8th ingt., for work on it. of . ang dedication of pew Castle Hall. The truncheon of anthority will be sounded prompuly at 7:30 p, m. ‘iemibers of the order atemaLy Ihv i CLARKE . C. SORS AR Koot 7, anas. EXPRE: \"S PROTECTIVE AND DO N Do) The annual ciection was heid in their hall, comer of Adame and LaSalle streets, the 318t of December, 1876, and the following offi- Sons rereclectod: - Veter CamaInghty, Preadonts Archibald McLellan, Vice-Presides s Dorney, Recording Secretary; Stephen Bras Financfal Sec- retary; James McBride surer; P‘cr’cfl l\sl’ll’)'. Marshal; John Barry, Willlam Devereux, Patrick Con nedl, Fi nance Committee. 1, ENIGHTS APOLLO COMMANDERY, X0 lenTs ol TEMPLAR_Siteation, Sir Knighta: Siate at Asylum, 74 and 7 lonroc-st., on BerUFOD €S o Elock o he Onderof K. T. willbe conferred. snd ft fs expected that Sir Knights of this Commandery Laving uniforms will come fully cquipned. Visitng. SIF Kights Courteously Invited. Byorderaf the E. . J. R DUNLUP, Reconder. FLETADES LODGE. No. 478, A. F. au et % SE e ¢ requested. Feror- Bl Pl arteadince of members requsued: TrS ST. BERNARD COMMANDERT. No. 35, K. T.— tated Conclave Wedneadas evening, Feb. 7, at 7:30 B R A Ordes . . M. BURBANE, E. C. J .0. DICKINSOX, Recorder- CORINTRIAN CIAPTEL, NO. 63, R- A oclock, Workenileli 3. Desmee oo b, J. 0. DICKINSOY, Secrotary; LAFATYETTE CHAP! Coavocation Monday eve Torwork on P. and M.E. Degroes. ¥ited. By orderof the H, P. 2, R. A._M.~Speclal at jock: ‘Visttors cordlally n: E.N. TUCKER, cretary. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4. 1877 At the New York Gold Exchange on Sat- arday graenbacks ranged at 943@95¢. —— Argument as to the adi ibility of evi- dence was commenced before the Electoral Commission | yesterday,—Messrs. Mernicy and Brack representing the Democrats, and Messrs. Srovemrox and AlurraEws speaking for the Republicans. Wrrriax M. Evants and Cmazres 0'Covor will close the argn. ments forthe respective parties on ifonday forenoon. Among the measures introdnced at Spring- £eld yesterday was one for the resumption of specie-payments so far as taxes gre con. cerned. This bill provides that after the 1st day of January, 1879, all taxes shall be paidin coin or its equivalent. Two bills, having for their object the compulsory at~ tendance of children at school, were intro- duced in the Hous: The direct foreign exports of what the trade calls provisions"—meaning pork— fror2 Chicago have assumed enormons pro- portions., The increase of this export trade is something remarkable—indeed, astonish. ing. Counting from the 1st of October to he 27th of January of lasi season and this seasow, we find the following comparative exportations of pork : Pork, brl 21,6 5. Lard, tes 2,640 “ 35,650 « Mears, bxa. 21142 | 112 898 Reducing the actual w ight of meats to tons, there were exported in the four months of 1875.6 the *number of 0,100 tons, and for the corresponding four months Jjust Ppassed, 60,900 tons, which is an increase of more than 100 per cenf, President Grant's long-promised message on the subject of specie-rtsnumption is print- ed elsewhere. The President is confident, from the existing condition of our trade with foreign nations, and the accumulation of Specie- during the past Year resulting from the large trade balance in our favor, and also in view of the steedy supply of the American mines, that Tesaumption can practically be attained before the term now fived upon by law, and that such 2 course would largely benefit every material interest of the country. The deteils of the President’s scheme will interest financiers; but it is hardly probable, with the conflicting views esisting smong Congressmen on this subject, that any practical legislation will be effected during the present session. There are indications that the County Ring hias already taken steps o bo represented by 2 powerfal lobby at Springfield, to assist in the defeat of Senstor Robmsox’s bill cna- Dling the people of Cook County to elect on entirely new County Board next fall and every year theresfter. The' presence of g lobby todefent this bill will be the best evidence fo all honest members of the Legislature that ¢ ought to be passed, and every member who Tefases it his vote and support will £fall un. der the suspicion of having yielded to the “‘influences ” of & corrupt. lobby in behalf of 8 corrupt ring of taxesters. Under the present system of electing the County Board, the preseut Ring can perpetuate itself, for ten members out of the fiftcen holdover every year, and, as each member is voted for only by a certain portion of the county, no combined action of the taxpayers will suffice to protect their own interests and drive out the tlieves. We can 53y very plainly to the Cook County members that any one of them who opposes the bill for the reorganization Pt the Board may ns well give up all polit. ical aspirations for the future ; as to the members of the Legislature from districts outside of Cook County, we can conceive of zio reason why they should wish to deny to Cook County taxpayers a relief from sys- tematic robbery. — Those letters from Gov. Wrris to the wit- ness Aliopox, which the Bourbon | organs and the TrLozx clique have been dedlaring would convict Gov. WELLs of an attempt to sell ont the vote of Louisiana to Trupes for & million of dollars, have at last been made public, and are published elsewliere in our telegraph columns. Instead of convicting Gov. WerLs of corruption, they convict the witness AADDOX of being little less than an unmitigated liar. Ynstead of showing any dishonesty upon Gov. Weuzs' part they show a determination on his part, that the paroled prisoners of Gen. GrasT, aided by the white-livered cowards of the North, shall not rulein Louisiana. He demands of this very man Mippox that he shall go to the President and wam him of the dangers of the situstion, and he notifies Senstor West that the Democracy are using money, force,and fraud to carry the election. Such ae the contents of these mysterious letters which Mappox has sought to use for blackmailing purposes. In the face of such disclosures as these, the Housé Election Com- mittee persistently refuses to allow Senator West and other Republicans to testify, knowing that they will convict this witness of most infamous falsehoods. The truth, howerver, will not long remain concealed, as Senator West, if he 18 not allowed to pro- duce his statement before the Committee, will make it before the Senate in the form of a personal explanation. The Chicago produce markets were less activeSaturdsy, andsteadier. Mess pork closed 5@7c per brl higher, at $16.00@16.02} cash and $16.20@16.22} for March, Lard closed 10c per 100 1bs higher, at $10.65@10.674 cash and $10.774 for March. Meats closed firmer, at 5je for shoulders, boxed; Bjc for short- ribs; and 8ic for short-clears. Highwines ‘were unchanged, at $1.05 per gallon, Flour was quiet and steady. Wheat closed firmer, at $1.26} for February and $1.27{ for March. Corn closed 4e higher, at 42ic cash and 4GJe for May. Oats closed steady, at 333c cash and 35c for Afarch. Rye was 1c lower, at GSc. Barley closed essier, at 584c for Feb- ruary and 58}c for March. Hogs were dull and closed 5@10c lower, at $5.70@6.10. The cattle market was dull and unchanged, with sales at §2.50@5.75. Sheep were quiet, One hundred dollars in gold would buy $105.373 in greenbacks at the close. : CHICAGO AND THE LEGISLATURE. Chicago, as a large and commercial me- tropolis, has many swants peculiar to her lo- cation, her large population, and her trade, which are not known to the people of the State generally. Nevertheless, Chicago is an important part of the State, and the Legisla- ture, if satisfied that the legislation is need- ed and is just of itself, will not refuse it. The laws, or amendments to existing laws, which are required at this time by this city and county may be briefly stated in the fol- lowing terms: 1. Alaw, or an amendment to the General Revenue law, by which the Municipal Gov- ernments in the State may levy, assess, and collect the unpaid taxes of former years. These are not new or extra taxes, but taxes levied in good faith for logal purposes, and which the property taxed has escaped be- cause of defects in the law, and not because of any guestion affecting the merits of the taxes. " These resisted and unpaid taxes amonnt in this city to about two millions and ahalf of dollars, and in other cities ard of equal proportion. All these cities are in debt to the amount of this deficiency in their revenue, and are Lelpless under exist- ing law to pay that debt unless from the pro- ceeds of taxes which the law affords them no suthority to collect. Chicago asks for hersclf and all the other cities in the State an act of the Legislature conferring the power to collect these unpaid taxes, 2. Alaw, or rathier an amendment to the Revenue law, simplifying the Pproceedings, abolishing muck of the machinery, especially the ecxpensive, ponderous multiplication of books, and the worthless but costly poblica tion of tax-lists, and such changes as will take away the premium on tux-defaulting, and providing an increasing progressiva pen- alty for delays and omissions to pay taxes when due, and like penalties upon property forfeited because of non-psyment of taxes, At present taxpayers borrow the amount of their taxes from the public at simple interest, and repay it 2t their pleasure. This system of crippling the State revenue, and the reve- nue of all the local governments, is becom- ing so general that it is now a State griev- ance and no longer a local one. In this re. spect our Revenue law is anomalous; it has 1o penalties for the non-payment of taxes 5 aud this singular omission, unknown in any other State, is daily iycreasing the indiffer- ence with which property-liolders meet their obligations to the Government. Taxes have become the most accommodating of all debts, —they may be paid at the pleasure of the debtor, without penalty for the neglect. 3. Under the Constitution this county has 2 Government which unites both legislative and executive powers. It levies taxes, ap- propriates the money, and through its own -members expends that money, It is easily understood thst & Government exercising such powers tends towards corruption, and naturally attracts to its support every man who seeks to be supported at the public expense instead of bis own. Indecd, the same class of persons Ppersistently seek membership in this Government. The County Treasury has become a sort of soup- Youse, from which the idle, corrapt, gam- bling, and dishonest population expect to be fed and furnished with spending-money. Under the name of charity, the support of the poor and the insane, the sick and the helpless, is used as a technical excuse to en. sblea gang of confederates to plunder the public by dishonest contracts. For the bet. ter success of this scheme, the members of this County Board, though representing a common constituency, are elected by dis- tricts and at intervals, so that it is impossible for public opinion to reach the guilty except a few at a time, while a controlling majority is always mnintained agninst the public. The people of this county, without difference of party, ask that the elcetion of this Board be made an annual one, and that the whole fif. teen be clécted by the vote of tho whole people of the county. Outside of the cor. ruptionists and their dependents, thers is no difference of opinion on this subject in thig county. The bill proposed by Senator Roprx- 5ox meets this cosa thoroughly, and it is to be hoped that the Legislature will farnish the people of this county with the means of ridding themselves of an intolerable evil, 4. This city and, to a proportionate ex- tent, all the other citics and towns of the State ask relief by an amendment to the Vagrant law. It is not Decessary to punish poverty; but vagrancy, which partakes largely of crime, may be said to be protected by the existing law of this State, ,Thereisa very large criminal population which migrates from point to point, and generally is found in large cities. This Ppopulation, however well known to the police, cannot be arrest. ed anless charged with the commission of crime. They are vagrants in the worst sense of the term, and when arrested and convicted of vagrancy aro sentenced to pay afine of $20, poyable within a period fixed by law. The aim of the law is to drive them away; bat $20 will not drive s criminal out of Chicago, when he can make ten times that sum by pilfering. He therefore appeals from the fine, and during the two or three years it takes to have his appeal decided he is protected from further arrest. If, how- ever, this Vagrant law be changed, as sug- gested by Superintendeat Hicxey, 50 as to make the penalty $200, or the alternative one year's libor in the House of Correction, the criminal class will speedily depart from such inhospitable shores, and seek other more liberal quarters as they now flock to llinois when persecuted elsewhere. If it be true, as these vagrants claim, that the world owes them a living, then the world !msn right to fix the terms on which that living shall be earned. ; 5. A law is needed sadly to correct an sbuse of the law giving a change of venue in criminal cases. Itisa common thing for an accused person to arraign the whf:le Bench of Judges and the whole community with hostility and prejudice, and thereupon demand a change of venue as o matter of right. Judges are every day confronted with affidavits charging them with pre- judged opinions sud unfairness against par- ties of whom and of whose cases they hod never heard and knew nothing. TFrom these affidavits there is no sppeal, and tho change of venue follows as a matter of right. This change of venuc law extends to the Justices’ Courts, and the practice is universal to de- feat justice by the transfer of all city cases from Justice to Justice, until witnessps are got out of the way and all other means adopted to prevent honest and prompt trials. ‘Wo do not believe there is a Judge in this State who would try acase in which he felt the slightest feeling or prejudice against the accused, nor would he, if the accused gave any reasonable cause for asking a changoe of venue, refuse it. But, when the demand is founded on evident perjury, and for mere delay, the Courts of every degree ought to have some discretion in the matter. 6. Two bills have already been introduced re-establishing the Registry law in the cases of .all city and town elections. In rural towns, where every voter 1s known person- ally to all the others, there mny be no ocea- sion for registration of voters; but in cities, where committing frouds at elections is an established trade or profession, such a law is a partial protection which the Legislaturo should be willing o extend. All the cities in the State are interested in honest Gov- ernments, and honest elections are essential to honest Governments. No man who wit- nessed the town clections in Chicago last spring would hesitate in providing any law- ful means to prevent the repetition of such sz infamous mockery of law, fairness, and honesty. — THE FATLURE OF THE CONFERENCE. The English papers of Jan. 20, containing comments upon the failure of the Constanti- nople Conference, have reached us, and the substance of these comments will be of i terest as reflecting tho tone of English opin- ion. It may be assumed at the outset that," while all of them wash their hands of Tur- key, none of them doubts that Russia will fight when she gets ready, and that she will get ready when the spring comes. The London T'imessays: * Except for the de- fense of our own interests, or for the general cause of humanity, we have no concern with Turkish affairs.” This is cold language from the ex-champion of Turkey, which only last suminer sent its fleet to the Dardanelles when danger threatened the *Sick Man,” and led him to suppose that once more, as of old, Englond was to lend her support to his maintenance and integrity, With regard to the possible action of Russin, the Z¥mes still cannot overlook tha declaration made by the Czar in his Moscow speech, and says : “* An Imperial pledge has been given, and to brealk it might be dishon. orable, and even dangerous.” It thinks that Russia’s guaranteslies in the six corpsd'armee which it can mobilize, and the quarter of a million of men which it can Place on the frontier, and that this is just as “ good a guarantea for the conduct of o neighbor as if the territory were patrolled by o police with foreign oflicers.” The Spectator does not stop to discuss the reasons which induced the Turks to reject the ultimatum, but con- siders it * sufficient that the ring of Pashas who in a wenk reign govern Turkey think it safe to do s0.” Being face to face with Rus. sia, the only thing left is for Russia to act, and this the Spectator believes Russia will do, after first protecting her flank by making some arrangements with the Anstrians, or offering such terms to Berlin as will induce Brsyanck to forbid Austria to- move, Tpon this point the Spectator says : The ‘first plan will be difticalt, owing to the op- Position of the Magyars, who would gladly support Turkey; but Prince GORTSCHAKOFF may have much to offer to the Gorman Chaucellor, and, owing to the unhappy policy of Great Dritain, which cven now, by joining Russia, might solve all dificulties, he must offer heavy terms. The negotiations will take time, of course, and time is for the next rix weeks pure maln to Russia, firstly, ‘because her commissariatarrangements are unfinished; second- Iy, becausc the Danube is almost impassable from drifting fce; and, thirdly, because thero is evident. Iy some grave difiiculty in the settlement of the chief command. This declaration by the Spectator is con- firmed by the cuble dispatch announcing that Russia is already commencing negotiations with Austria. The Saturday Review closes along article upon the situstion with the following significant declaration : The balance of evidence is in favor of the fitness of the Russian army to opena campaign In the spring with reasonable prospects of success. The deficiency in the numbers of the mobilized troopy has been supplied from the levies of other districts; ond the defects of administration which have prob- ably Leen discovered must huvd been in some degree remedied. The Turkish Minfsters may bave been right in rejecting the original proposals, which bad been devised for the purpose of satis- fring the eupposed cxigencies of Russia. They have been culpably impradent it they have drawn Jrom Gen. ToNATIEFF's unexpected moderation the inference that they may safely set Russia at de- fiance, while they at the same time offend all the Governments of Europe. ———— LET IN THE SUNLIGHT. ‘While homeopathy, allopathy, and other pathies are having their struggles over bel- ladonna, the sulphates, aud other prophy- lactics, there is one pathy which we would most earnestly recommend, and which we Presume none of the big pill, little pill, or root and “yarb” doctors will seriously deny is a physical blessing, whatever view they may take of its tendency to make their busi- nessdull. We refer tothe sunlight,—a medi- cine so free and all.abounding that the first tendency of men and women is to neglect it. In Europe particular attention is paid to secaring the benefits of this great and beneficent natural remedy. In all Densions, boarding-houses, and lhotels, wherever trav- elers congregate, rooms baving a south light are considered ,the most desirable, then the west, and after that the cast, light; but no one will take a room having the north Iight if he ecan avoid it, and such rooms are always lower priced. In this country, however, there seems to bg an implacable feud between people gnd the sun,—theone striving vigorously and even fiercely to get into houses, and the others striving just as fiercely and vigorously to keep him out. The average American Lousekeeper does not think she has fulfilled her whole duty until she hasmade the rounds of the whole household, shut all the doors, closed all the shutters, and drawn all the car- £ains o the east and south sides of the house. This is the morning’s job, In the afternoon she makes the same grand round on the west side of the house. fShe is not quite happy and contented until the san has gone down and darkness sets in, She is substantially aided in her raid against the sunlight by the Deaviest of shades, curtains, and lambrequins. Thus the fight goes on day by day and sea- son by season. In summer sho shuts out tho sun because it is too hot. In winter she shuts it out because it will spoil her carpets. In spring and fall she has other reasons. She has reasons for all seasons. Thus she keeps the housoin perpotual shede, in which the children grow up sickly, dwarfed, full of aches and pains, and finally have to be sent off into the conn- | try post-haste so that they may get into that very sunlight which they have been denicd at home, and in which the country children run and are glorified. The fashionable fe- male world follows the samenbominable prac- tice, lolling sbout in the darkened house all day and rushing into the gaslight at night, with results which arp only too painfully apparent in pale faces, weak backs, aching hends, and general good-for-nothingness and all-goneness, "This is their condition nenrly two-thirds of the yeor. ‘The other third is spent at country resorts, seasides, beaches, and watering places in the sunlight and open air, where they are reinvigorated by the genial warmth and bracing freshness for another campaign in the shadow. Gon. PreasontoN’s blue glass may cure, or it may not. Whether it does or not, he has rendered his kind an invaluable service by getting the sun into the house, whether it comes in as a blue, red, green, or yellow ray. He has hit at the very foundation of hygiene. Undoubtedly much of the present prevailing unhealthliness has been caused by the ab- sence of sunlight during the past seven or eight weeks. With rare exceptions, the sun has been hidden behind clouds since lnst Thanksgiving, and wo have lived in the shade, exposed to-the heavy, lowering influ- ences of the leaden clouds, inducing depres- sion and low spirits, which in turn have had & depressing effect upon the body. The pathy which we can suggest without incur- ring the wrath of any school of doctors, be- ing outside the profession, cannot be too seriously considered by our readers. Let in the sunlight. Take a sun- bath every morning. Nature offers three great sovereign remedies,—cold water, fresh air, and the warm, vivifying, exhilarating sunlight, which cxpands, invigorates, and ani- mates everything it touches. There is no potion, elixir, or balm liko it. It is better than belladonna, salpho-carbolate of sods, or any lotion or potion the doctors can mix. Get it through white glass, blue glass, or red glass,—it makes little difference as to color > only get it. HEATING GITIES BY STEAM. It is o very common mistake to proceed upon the assumption that we have reached the limit of scientific appliances for conven- ience and comfort, and. to scoff at new schemes for enlarging the scope of well- known forees as impracticable and visionary. The fact is that we are’ only on the thresh- old of science and invention, and life may be rendered a good deal mors endurable by tarning scientific and mechanical investiga- tion fo practical improvements for the well- being of mankind. The person who sup- poses.that the resources of heat and elec- tricity havo been exhausted by steam and the telegraph have not been shrewd observers of the progress already made. Every denizen of a crowded city has - daily cause to reflect that, with all the *‘ modern improvements,” a good many comforts and conveniences might be added to the stock; and chemists, engineers, and mechanics still owe the world something from the vast forces which Nature has placed at their command. It will not be many years befora the stove- makers will have to turn their attention to something elso in order to earn a living, for the next step in the progress of steam will be to supply cities and towns with heat in mwuch the same fashion that they are mow supplied with gas and water. The subject has been discussed for some time, and at Inst a practical experiment is to. be made in Lockport, N. Y., if indeed that can be ealled an experiment which only needs proper in- genuity to assure success. We print in an- other column some sccounts of Mr. Horzy's plan. There is nothing peculiar or intricate about it, It is simply an enlargement of the aren for supplying steam on materially the same plan as that by which large buildings sre now supplied. It has already been demonstrated that steam can be carried a whole mile ; but the Lockport trisl will be based upon supplying from a common boiler, or battery of boilers, sufficient steam for consumption in an ares holf & mile square. There are main Ppipes gradunted from three down to two and a half, two, one and a balf, and one inches in dinme- ter, according tothe distance from the boilers., ‘These pipes are placed about four fest be- neath the surface of the ground ; they are of iron, first covered with nsbestos and then placed in ducts of wood about two inches thick. The outside pipe of . wood protects the inper from water and moisture, and the asbestos reduces the condensation sbont threefourths. A coreful estimate of the relative cost of heating this district of half a mile square shows that, under the prevail- ing system of stoves, furnaces, private steam-boilers, ete., the cost is over $100,000 for what can be furnished under the com. mon-supply plan for less than $38,000, or o saving of nearly two-thirds, If such & system can be advantageously applied in a small town, how much mors 50 inalarge city! Whatga blessing it would be to Chicago if all the heating, cooking, man. ufpeturing, running of elevators, eic., could be done by having a set of. boilers located in the centre of every half-mile square, burn. ing hard coal, or soft’ coal with smoke-con- sumers. The number of fires would ba di. minished, the accidents would be fewer, the cost of heating and manufacturing notably decrensed, & great amount of labor saved, and the cleanliness and beauty of the city pre- served thereby. The supply of steam is not even now confined to any oue building. There are several bunild. ingsin the centre of the city which sup- ply sofficient steam to surrounding buildings for heating purposes and for running eleva. tors. We believe the American Express Com. pany’s building and the Journal Building do this. The system only needs to be estended as a business enterprise to become at once profitable to those who undertske it and economical to those who avail themselves of it. Chicago pluck and capital should mot wait to follow the example of any other city. in this new movement. A mumber of the large boiler-makers, like the CraNES, GaTss, AcArrror, and others, should form & com- pany with the hecessary eapital, secare a central location on the South Side between Harrison street and the river, erect their buildings and boilers, lay their pipes, and announce their steam for sale. They will find plenty of purchasers, and their example will soon be followed in other sections of the city. There only remains fo invent some sort of metre or gauge by which the steam ‘can bo measured as it is used by the different consumers, aud the charge regulated accord- ingly; but wo havo no doubl that Chicago ingenuity can devise s method for this by the tima the works shall have been finished and the pipes laid. The first set of works should be in full operation by next winter. SHALL WE LEARN A LESSON 7 By the time the Presidential contest is settled (favorably to the Republican candi- date, we may hope) the country will be in o better condition to learn a lesson respect- ing tho South thian at any previous date. Time is necessarily an important element in such o complicated problem as was left upon our_hands by the Civil War. Passions must cool, facts must be clearly ascertained, experiments must be tried, a cortain amount of friction must be developed in connection with new machinery, mistakes must be per- ceived and corrected, and human nature must work itself out in'such wise as his- tory shows that it ever does wunder certain - conditions. We had to deal with the inflamed * feeling caused by o four years' desperste struggle between the two halves of the nation, in which the one half was left disappointed, ruined, and sullen, by its military and politi- cal overthrow, and the other half remained victor, but suspicious and jealous, even in its desire to be generous. Wa hed also involved in the result a great question of philanthropy and political economy connected with the abolition of slavery. What should be done with four millions of ‘qgegraded freedmen compulsorily taken from the hands of their masters, who had been thé late Rebels? ‘What relation should they bear to the indi- vidual State and to the United States? This was further affected by a social and race difficulty,—theslaves being negroes, and, in several States, constituting a majority of the pépulation. There was great danger that important measures would be taken hastily and unwisely, under the infln- ‘enco of resentment, or of suspicious fear, or of party-ambition, or of sentimental philan. thropy, or of some other misleading infla. ence, which would result in erudo statesman- ship. Itisno confession of unusmal igno. rance, or of faulty short-sightedness, to admit that many blunders were made, in circumstances largely unprecedented. We see to-day all Europe perplexed in counsels, aud baffed in action, over the * Eastern Question”; and yet our Southern problem required of our statesmen quite as high and varied qualities as the fate of Turkey calls for in Europenn diplomatists, Twelve years will have elapsed when the new President seats himself in his chair of state since the close of the War, during which time three national Presidential con- tests have occurred, besides the numerous local elections. The effect of the social, in- dustrial, educational, religious, and political influences which have meauwhilo bean oper- ative at the South has become known, The serious difficultics which have emerged are patent not to us alone, but toall the world. They have been sufficiently grave to make every patriot anxious for the futura of the country, and glad to escape by a special extro-constitutional device another armed conflict. In the discussion of facts and principles forced upon Congress, upon editors of newspapers, and upon the people them- selves, by the disputes which have arisen, some things have become plain which to the average apprehension were previously ob- scure. Tt is therefore not without reason that we suggest that the study of even so brief a period of history should impart & val- uable lesson. One' thing to be learned is, that true statesmanship must rest on. apractical, and not on s sentimental, foundation. Government isa very prosaic matter. It can have little to do with schemes of Utopian excellence which take in all the elements but the one most im- portant—human nature. It can have no pets and proteges. It can afford as little to gratify resentments against entire clasges, lowever abstractly just the resentments may be. It canuot become a partisan in race- rivalries. It has the simple and practical function of preserving order, preventing violence, punishing crime, encouraging in- dustry, and constraining all classes and con- ditions of men to live together Deaceably un- der common laws and institntions. From this it follows that we can wisely proceed neither to punish the once rebellious whites nor to reward the loyal blacks by any special Federal legislation, but must leave them both to reap all the benefits made possible by simply impartinl constitutional provisions, Aunother part of the lesson is, that natural facts must be left to nataral forces, and can. not be changed by artificial methods, It is natire that knowledge should be power ; that the cducated classes should rale the na.. educated ; that the Pproperty of a community should control its government. No system of laws, no combination of numbers, no ¢an- venient distribution of military force, will long avail to reverse the native tendency of the superior-cultured white race to manege the political affairs of the community, as surely as the pecuniary interests. ‘The mo. ment they determine to do this, the fact is ultimately assured, by their education, shrewdness, foresight, experience, disci- pline,wealth, and ability to take adventage of the known weaknesses of the negroes. A writer in the last Harper's Magazine says of Barbadoes: * The negroes who were emancipated in 1834 own no land of any conscquence, and have but little to say in public affairs, the white minority having de- cidedly the upper hand.’” * Plainly, an attempt to keep the adminis- trative power for s time in the hands of the ignorant negroes, by consolidating a black vote, will for the most part simply result in dividing the offices between morally and intellectually incompetent blacks, and imported whites, popularly known as ¢ carpet-baggers,” who, for per- sonal greed and ambition, will pander to the pnssions snd foster the prejudices of the freedmen, This necessarily results in poor government and foul corruption, and aggra- Vates race jealousy and hatred, nmtil relief is sought by violence, intimidation, and bribery. And thus sgain we learn that a long- Perpetuated barbarism is only to be over. come by slow remedies. No act of legisla- tion and no military aid will suddenly raise the negro to the lovel of the white. His special friends, and the clear-sighted patriots who perceive that the fature welfare of the country is largely in his hands, will there. fore fall back upon education of mind and heart s the only panaces for the evils of his Present condition. Schools and churches are what he needs far beyond ballots and bayonets. The same writer quoted above says of the negroes in Barbadoes: ** When they have the ability, they, however, rise sometimes to high positions, there being TOW one negro member of the Assembly and a negro Solicitor-General,—in both cases highly-endowed ‘men.” Educate the negro, snd he .will know how to vote wisely, discriminating between real friends and flattering demagogues. Edu- cate him, and he will compel respect from those who now despise. FEducate him, and he will naturally take and appropriate whatever is fitted to his eapacity. .Educate him, and he will combine, rationally and not blindly, with his fellows to secure a due recog- nition. Insist, on his behalf, as also for the benefit of the poor whits,~who is on the same lovel of ignorant incapacity, though a little higher socially,—upon the common school; and to this add, for the aspiring few, the high or normal school and the col- lege, and in the course of onc brief genera- tion the race-guestion and the color-line will take care of themselves. A natural solution of the problem will gradually prepare itself. Let the Southern States devote themselves to general education, and let the Northern pat- riots and philanthropists supplement the effort by missionary teachers and preachers. — ———————— THE PROPOSED NORMAY, SCHOOL. A bil has been introduced into the Mllinois Senate to appropriate 50,000 for a Northern Normal University (there alresdy being a State and a Southern Normal), to be located by a commission to be appointed by the Governor. Of course, the first $50,000 would be merely the beginning of 2n inter- minable series of biennial appropriations, — first, for the purchase of land; second, for the erection of buildings; third, for the fur- nishing thereof ; and therenfter for the sup- port of the institution. There is nothing like geographical subdivisions to suggest op- portunities for the appropriation of public funds. If there were not already n Southern Normal School, nobody would think of the necessity for a Northern Normal School ; af- ter a while there will bea demand for an Eastern, then for 8 Western, and by that time, five cotnties in the State being pro- vided with them, all tho other counties in the State will insist upon being similarly favored. We are not at all convinced of the desirn- bility of 2 new State Normal School in addi- tion to those already in operation, but we are convinced that the people of Illinois are not disposed in these times to have a quarter of 2 million dollars, more or less, added to their taxes to simply provide the necessary buildings and appliances for a new Normal School. If therois a demand for another State institation of this kind in the northern portion of Tllinois, then the State can getit, we think, withont the expenditure of ome dollar. There is located in Cook County, at the pretty town of Englewood, just sounth of Chicago, and directly connected by rail with oll the railroads centering in Chicago, a County Normal School, withspaciens grounds, commodious buildings, and delightful sur- roundings, whick now merely serves to support s Principal and assistants without doing anybody else any good. Chicago derives no benefit from thig institution, as we have a City Normal School connected with the Public and High School system. The County Normal, consequently, can only extend its facilities to the few small towns in Cook County outside of Chicago. Yet there aro buildings which we have no doubt will sccommodate -500 students, including the boarding-house, which may well be used for school purposes. Here, then, are grounds and buildings already provided and mow practically unused, located oatside of this city, but near enough to it to enjoy all the’| advantages of its ready accessibility and nu- merous railrosd communications. The cost of living in Englewood is Probably no larger than in any other village of like size in the State, and the location has attractions which can scarcely be equaled in any other part of the State. ‘We have no doubt that the State can se- cure the use of the grounds and buildings at Englewood simply by agreeing to appro- priate the necessary money to support the school, without incurring any expense for the purchase of a site aud the erection of a university. If, then, this project for a Northern Normal Schoal is to be pushed, it is obviously the duty of both the State and Cook County to agree tpon the occupation of the Englewood property. Cook County can afford to agree to it, since such an ar rangement will assure the facilities of a Normal School to the very people for whom it was constructed, and the advantage to the State is apparent from the fact that ail otigi- nal investment will be saved, and the cost of the institution will simply be represented by the current expenses. Chicago has not one of the State institutions, and indeed asks none for itself ; but, if there is to be anotber State school, the Englewood property should be utilized. We have heretofore recom- mended that these Englewood buildings, to avoid their present idleness and uselessness, might be advantageously turned over to the -State to be used as an additional school for the deaf and dumb, but we understand that the donators of the ground object to this unless they shall receive some compensation. They can scarcely object to the present proposition, however, as it retains the scope and purpose for which the ground was originally set aside. The Chicago Journal is one of the thick- headed faction that won't understand any- thing that interferes with party suceess, no matter what the means necessary to secure that success. The President of the Senate, in the absence of any law of Congress reg- ulating the counting of the vota for Presi- dent, can only act as o ministerial officer, and count those returns certified to him by the Governors of the several States as the pro- ceedings of the Electors legally appointed. The law makes this certificate of the Gov- emnor & requisite part of the returns, and the evidence of the legality of these re- turns. The President of the Senate has no judicial power ; he must follow the letter of the law; and for the same resson that he would count those returns from Louisiana certified to by the Governor, he would have to count the returns from Oregon certified toby the Governor of that State. It was because the President of the Senate had no authority to go behind the Governor's cer- tificate that a tribunal was created having the judidial power to do so. But the Journal 58y8 : Two sets of retums were presented to Vicd- President FErry. The CroNts pupers showed tlat the Iawfal Electors were Opz1z, Canrwnicnr, and Croxrs. Feany would have had no aathority to inquire Into the validity of CroNtx's title, The Governor’s certificate would be final. But the re- tarns would also show, by the attestation of the President and Sceretary of the College, and the ey- 1dence of twwo outof the three Electors, that Croxrs created a vacancy by withdrawingfromthe College, and that his place was supplied in accordsnce with law. This is rank ignorance or stupidity. In which returns certify that Opziz, ang g WRIGHT not being present, two Othery :l'r : appointed to fill the vacancies, The Gore i or cortifies that Oroxty and hig 0" were the Electors. A, ing 5 Journal, the President of the Senata v, e have to go to Croxmys Teturns o findflfld that Opzry and CirTwricEr o Electors, and then would 1wej h their pegy; mony, and judicially decide tghnt th’:sff 4 dence overrides the certificate of the Gon. ermor. This would bo. the exerciy oo judicial power,—a departure from the letter of the law, which makes the Governor's cer. tificate prima Jacie evidence of he valigiy o of the. returns of which it forms 5 s Cannot the Journal understand that it wag because the President of the Sennte had g power to exercise any Judicial porrer and that any such Proceeding on hig part ‘;'Wld be followed promptly by the election of gy, other President by the Honse of Representy, tives, it was Decessary to provids g coury suthorized to decide this Oregon case, ang strip it of its frands? If the President of the Senate had no power to judicil]]y decidy that a certificate having the Tequisites of 1oy should be set aside for ona WADLDG theg requisites, how was that caso to bs remeg; except by placing the power of decision i tribunal authorized to act Judicially? Just previous to the ndjaurnm;h—t of the Stats Senatc yesterday at noon, Senator Sovrmworry presented the following resolution: Wurnzeas, The members of -the Cook Connty, except Senators Kanps Pre Biave sbiented thenscivesfrom this a1y Toag spuce of time, without Jeave B e Ve frst obtained fron VuEnzas, There seems to be their returning to their seats dudxn;: mr::;:{ eesslon of the General Assembly; therefore it Jesolred, By the Senate of the State of Tllingis, that the seats of the said Senators, except those of the 2aid, K’:n:; and n‘w:,"ihc 30d the same gy creby declared vacant, and the n, Senators be stricken from the pay-rol;. ° ¢ Mid This may be consldered most consumedly witty by the Senate, but it smacks of Imperit. nence and malice. For how long a time did gy of the Cook County Senators absent them. selves?. The Legislature adjourned on the sy, of January until Thursday, Feb. 1. Why wag the sdjournment made to run longer than 1) Monday, the 29th. or Tuesday, the 30th, of Jang. ary? Fixing the time of reasscnubling on Thory. day was sbsurd. When the roll was called only seventecn of the fifty-one members answered to their names. Others straggled tn on Friday any & few on Saturday; but a full hopse could net be expected before the commencement of the week. Asthe Legislatare is not in the habit of sitting on Saturday until near the close of the session, the “long time of absence ™ of thy Cook Senators was a {ragment of a week of two days. We shall see how punctually SouTnwoRTH will be hercafter. When absent, a note will probably be made of i, ——— A prominent member of the Chicago Board of Trade relates an experlence in his gy family which tends to confirm the bluersy theory. His daughter had been an Invalid for the first place, the returns by the Republican Electors do not show that they were appoint- ed ; they have no certificate from the Gov- ernor of their appointment. The only. cer- tificate that Electors were appointed is that attached to the returns made by Croxry, scveral months, and recently has been so. much debilitated that she ‘Wwas_upable to move ber limbs more than a few fnches. Last week he had one of the windows of his residence fitted up with blue glass, and the young lady was wheeled in. her chair to a ‘position where she could enjoy the benefit of the ray. The first doy she felt somewhat better. The second day the affected part was uncovered, so that she could receive the full force of the T3y onthe lower part of the spine, without the Interpoi- tion of clothing. The family was astonished the following morning to see her bound into. the room at breakfast time, the pleture and the very fact of health, She is entirely recovered, and her father is a happy man, though he con- fesses that, while the blue glass appears to bes wonderful thing, he “cannot see throngh it » as clearly as he would like to. ——— Scoator-elect HiLy, of Georgia, is the *favor- ite son?” of all the fire-eaters, who absurdly believe thathe “chawed up Jrx Bramsz” o the fiery encounter that took place about a year 80 over the JEFF Davis and Andersonvile Prison horrors. When it was ascertained thst he was elected over Senmator Norwoos, ;m abler but milder-mannered man, the report ‘of the scene says: . 2Members were embracing and ‘weeping, even; hata were thrown high in air; men jumped on the deaks and hurrahed; the crowd in the corridors and about the State-House answered them, and the excitement was wild. Among the many dispulches sent was o scurrilous one to_Seoater BLuxE: +* Scramble ont of the back window of the Senate. Bex Hure 8 coming in at the froatdoor." - Anotber read: ‘‘The people have beaten the politicisas once more, and LEB South gives another Hewar Crat (%) to the Republic.” TUpon the Bnnounce- ment by the President of the Senate of Mr. Buu's election far the term of six years, the Speaker re- marked, **You should eay” for the term of his matural life. . ————— Sax Bowrzes, who does mot like President GRaNT overmuch, s constrafned to pay this compliment to his Jate special message indors ing the Arbitration Electoral bli: i Gen. GRANT'S message accompanying his signs- ture to the Electora! blfi is by npll 0dds the ablest state paper he ever wrote, if, Indeed, he wroteit. To compress within that space a correct statemest of the constitutional law and historical precedents, an impressive prescntation of the crisle, a clear defense of the bill, as ‘‘not a compromise of right, butan enforcement of right," an_effective plea for its passage au_essentinl to clear the titleof the next President, and o _pertinent suggestion for a fature constitational amendment, makes alto- gether a feat in the_art of statement of which any man might be proud. A strong reason, for snspect- ing that Gen. GnaNt wrote it Is a Just doutt » whether Mr. Fisit could **say his say" in that €vace. Less than five weeks of official life now remain to President Grast, and we hope thatnd act of bis In the meantime will disspate the savory odor which this message will throw over the close of his term, 1 —— Nearly 20,000 alligator skins arc yearly used by the boot and shoe manufacturers in the United States. Only a portion of the hides are serviceable. These are packed in barrels, in strong brine, and shipped to the Norshern tan- ner, who keeps them under treatment for from six to eight months, when they are ready for use. The skins formerly came almost entircly from Louisiang, and New Orleans was the grest centre of the business. The Florida swamps and morasses arc now the harvest-ields, and Jacksonville, in that State, the great depob The alligators often attain a length of eighteen to twenty fect, aud frequently live to a very old age. e ———— The United States Penston Agent at Colum- bus, 0., recently died. The position 13 a fab one, eaid to net $10,000 or more per annum, there has been a great scramble for it among the Ohio politicians. The President has gent in the name of A. T. Wikorr for the position Mr. WIRosT is the Chairman of the Obio State Republican Committee, end is understood 0 have been the candidate of Gov. Hares aud Senator SHERMAN. PERSORAL. The new brochure entitled **The Wine-Bibbens' ‘Temperance Soclety,” is founded onno less orig- inol an fdea then that of relating the experience of 2 number of moderate drinkers. In this Instance, we believe, the moderate drinkers do not go down to untimely graves, but live to do good bothto themselves and others. A Jewlah paper printed in Hebrew at New York has discovered that the Bennett-dlay duel was s conspiracy on the part of the Catholic Charch to obtain possession of the Herald. But the inhou& Church cannot be concolved as fired with an ambi- tion to take the Herald for any reason e-'lfiemvuul which impels it to hunt the devil, namely: with 8 view to suppression: and if the Catholic Church wants the Herald for that parpose, itls to be e gretted the Charch can't have it. Anodd case was recently tried before s London Judge, fnvolving no less serious a question than the extent to which playing ona musical instra~ ment may bea public nolsance. The plaintiff in this case lived in chambers. The defendant had ad- Jolning apartments, and had bulit in them & large-sized organ. He was accustomed toplsy thereon, 28 the plaintift dolorously complained, very bad music, for hours st a time. The nolsd was so distracting that it frequently drove the plaintiff out of doors. The Judge held tha M