Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, February 14, 1877, Page 4

* yiar Communicati o g s Bana St hnaad, 4 THE CHICAGO ‘TRIBUNI WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 14, 1877, The @ribaare. TENMS OF BURSCRIPTION, BY MAIL—IN ADVANCE—TOSTAGE PRETAID AT 2 TRIS 07! alir Edltion, portpatd; 1 ye ta0f A year, per month... 1m e LAy RareamonT WREk iar fxt Bunday iterary and itell e her! 2. nrdav Edition, tweive page 20 :rhwflk\ w postpald, 1 seal 6. Tartsof a year, per mont B WEEKLY EDITION, OST Qre cpy, PeT FeAl Cluh Fnu Clubof {wen Postage pre; ; Yo Specimen coples sen! e, Topresent delay and thistakes, be rure and afve Porte ©ficeaddren in fudl, Incluling Etate and Countr, Remtitances may bemada cither hy dmft, express, FPost-Uftice order, or In regtstered letters, at our risk. "ERMS TO CITY SUNSCRIBERS. Tafly. delteercd, Bunday excepted, 23 cents per week, Laily, delivered, Sunday fnetuded, 50 cents per week Adilress THR THIBUNE COMPANT, Cormer Madiron and Dearborn C AMUSEMENTS, Tinveriy’s Thentre, Tiandolph atreet, between Clari and LaSalle. Ene Gacement of Sime; Jansusclick, ** Chesacy Wold. MeVieker's Theatres Madlson strect, hetween Deathorn and State. Ene Eagentent of Maggie Mitehell. ** Jane Eyre. Adeiphl Theatre, Menroe siveet, corner Dearhora, taininent. Afiernnon and evenis TIESPERTA LODGE, No. 411, A. F. and A, M,—Tleg- At Masonla Ternple, corncr . CInns b eh e cora(ale EL Visiting s oo CIAS T BIENAN, W 31! doiph anil fial Wiedt Y orter g e ed. By orde VA E FOE S Ten e, FOVEREIGNTY LODGE. No, 148, 1, 0, 1t N..—The ‘members ate requested fo meet at 40 West ftandolpli= s Aierton IIE{\‘ m SELIGMAN, Sec, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1877, Greenbncks ot tho Now York Gold Ex- cliange yestorday closed nt 043, A portion of yestenlay's proceedings of the Electoral Commission wero shrouded in ;. impenctrnble gloom, It was when, after , deciding to hold night sessions, tha absence - of gasin tho chamber was discovered, and + an attonpt was mado to supply the doficiency with candles. It was dreary failure, and ufter struggling for an hour in the sickly glare tho Tribunnl gave it up and adjourned. A bill prepared by Corporation.Counsel AxTHONY, of Chicngo, to facilitate the collee- tion of water tnxes, rates, or asscssments, was yestordsy introdnced in the Legislature by Representative Eastox, of Cook. The - bill remedies a serious defect in tho existing law, as it provides for the sale of lands upon which the waler taxes aro unpaid in tho same manner that the collection of other taxes and assessments is enforced by judg- ment and sale. Another bill, providing for the collection of taxes of this kind now in " arrears, was also introduce: Congressman Punyan's respect for tho Florids Cauvassing Board ceased when that body failed to canvass votes enough to re. elect him, Ever sinco the official nnnounce. ment of the Florida voto was mnde, Punsax bas had doubts of the integrity and sbility of the Ropublican canvassers . who could not overcome the majority of nearly 1,000 which Davis, his Democratic competitor, was shown to have * on the face of the retnms.” Punyay proposes to con. test tho seat, and in order to mako himself “golid” with the Democratle majority in the next ouse it becamo necessary for him . to deliver tho long-prepared speech and pro- duco tho cut-and-dried sonsation of yester. © day. A pair of brave patriots and disinterested statesmen wero yosterday added to tho list of reformers who from n solemn senso of duty have felt compelled to ndvocate tho , cause of Old Usufruct. Ponyax and Car- TENTER Aro the latest distinguished converts —the former o Florida earpot-bagger wiln numoerous unsavory Congressional antoced. ents frecly alleged sud as froely belloved, ). such a5 tho snla of a cadotship, » hand in the Freedmen's Bank robbery, ofe.; aud the Iatter tho Wisconsin ox-Senator so cele- brated a3 a purist in polities ond morals, It happens ns n curous coincldenca that both of thesa sensitive statesmon have somchow been counted out of their scats in Congresy, though of course {his circum- stanco has nothing to do with the sudden zeal they Liavo manifested in bohalf of o fuir count and tho election of TrpeN, —e, The Electoral Commission Yesterday on- tered upon tho consideration of the Louisl. ana case, and listened to tho arguments of the Congresionnl counscl nssigued to the duty of appearing for the objectors,—Sena. tor AlcDoxaLp and Represontative Jexes for tho Democrats, and Senator Howz and Gon. Hunwour for the Republicans. Tho spoechies of the Democratic counsel wero chiefly con. ' . fined to the volitlcal nspeots of tho caso,~— tho assertion of frauds concorning which no proot will be entortained by the Commiesion, . ond which consequently might as well have been omitted from tho arguments. The Ropublican counsel consumed their allotted timo in denials nnd counter-allegatious, so ? " that tho Tribunal lstencd to four Lours of talk that hnad no bearing upon the questions to be decided. Martr Oanrrytes, who ap- pears as tho voluntary counsel of the Louisi. ana bulldozers, began {ho legal arguments, and had not finighed when the Commission adjourncd. A decision is expected to.nor. oW, An entire day of valuable time was wastod by the IHouss yesterday in the discussion of the Florida case, which Las already been de. : cided by the Tribunal and the vote counted * for Haves by tho Joint Convention, Busi. ness of the mot vital importance, the con. sideration of numerous sppropriation bills, and other legislation imperatively demanded, remuius in an unfluished and in mony in. stauccs nn untouched condition, and o improvement of every sparo mo- ment that remaing between now and the 8d of March would bardly accom. plish the work to be dons; and yot the House Democracy take an ontire day to talk sbout & question that is generally supposed to be imrcvocably settled. General supposl. tion may, howaver, bo at fault in thlsregard, aud the debate of yesterdsy a part of the programmo of reslstance and obstruction wkich has beon lald out for fulillment in the - event of an adverso decision In the Louislana and Oregon cases. It s difficult to attach cuy other significance to yesterday's waste ©f words and time in the Honse, The Chicn’g'?produu nmrke_t;nm moder. ately active yesterday and casier, except on * flour, wheat, and corn. Mess pork closed 850 * per brl lower, at $15.40 cash end $15.45@" ' 1550 for March. Lard closed 17§@20¢ por 100 tbs lower, ot §10.55 cash aud $10.60 for March. Meats wero easier, closing et blo ;" ar loose shoulders, B}c for short-ribs, and 8i¢ for short-clears. Hightines were casier, nt S1.05 per gallon, Flonr was in moderato demand and strong, Whoat closed 10 high- er, at $1.31§ cash and £1.32% for March. Corn closed je higher, at 413e for March and 45ic for Mny. Onts closed de lower, nt 3o cash and 8580 for March, Ryo was steady, at 69)@70c. Darley closed dull, nt e for JMarch. Hogs were dnll .and sweak, and elosed 15 lower, at $6.73@0.40 for common to extra. Cattlo wero nctivo and unchanged, with sales nb 82.75@5.80. Shoep were firm, Last Satarday ovening thore was in store in this city 3,436,805 bu whent, 2,663,748 bn ‘corn, 675,741 bn oats, 236,207 bu rye, and One hundred dollars in Fws.w in greenbacks at 078,450 bu barley. gold would buy tho close. Ono of the most curious contradictions bat ns grown ont of the Prosidential con- troversy is the attitudo of the original Btate- Sovercignty nullifiers with referenco to Eleet- oral certificatos ond privileges, 'Lho anciont Chicago Bulldozer, for instance, who has been shonting Btates' Rights over sinco lio was able to pronotinco the word, now turns on Justice Boaprey, nnd calls him a horse- thiof and n scoundrel beeuse it s reported that Justice Braprer holds to the doctrine that the States hava control of appointing Electors and may do so in their own way, In other words, Justice Brnaprer s fo be bulldozed for adhering to ono of the element- ary principles of the Federal Govorn- ment, and the DBulldozer abandons the wholo system to which he has devoted himself a lifo long, becnuso that system threatens in this ease to deprive the Demo- crats of tho offices for which they arc so in- ordinately greedy. This course induces the hopa that the Democrats only clung to the State-Sovereignty doctrino for the spoils, aud that, when it will no longer: fotch tho spoils, tley will be willing to abandon it. e —m— ‘Wo presumo thera is no good in appealing fo anything liko public apirit in the case of Mirz Evaxa and his attornoys, beeanse that probally enls no figurs in the desporate strugglo for the privilege of collecting tho Bouth Town taxes and getting tho commis- slons therean, At tho samo time it fs an outrage, after Evaxg hins been benten on nll wides, nnd when it is perfoctly cleor that the Supervisor cannot be compelled to approve his bond, that ha shonld again drag the caso to the Supremo Court simply to defeat tho collection of the personal tax altogetlier. Unless he can do tho collecting, Lo doesn’t propose it shall bo done at all, We do not know that thers is any wny to provent . this spiteful and malignant schetno to koep botl city and county ont of o part of their taxes, If ho is determined to occasion the delay so that the timo will lapsa whon thie Town Collector could have obtmned the personal tax, we have no doubt that County Trensarer Houck will be pre- pared to make up for tho lust time when the list shall fall to him, and prove as energetio and succesaful in the end as if thg collection Lind gone through the usual routine, e — THE CIVIL-WAR PARTY, In noticing the spéech in Congress of Caazn, of Indiana, in which ho denounced the Demoerats who hnd voted for tho Arbitration Inw, thero ia no danger that the public will overlook the disreputable position in which Cann and those who think with bim volon. tarily place thomselves. 'This Indiana statos- man, {n bis frantic utterances, gives expres. clon to tho feclings of the disappoigted Democratio office-seekers in denouncing the Arbitration Commisalon as a devico to trick ‘Tiuoes out of bis election, and in denounc- ing tho Domocrats who voted for it as hav- ing, through their ignorauco and weakposs, thrown away the elcction of a Democratic Presidont. Mr. Cann wos one of somo eighteon or twenty Democrats who voted ogainst the bill, but not one of them could give au Lhon- est and intelligible reason for so doing other than that if, under the law, TiLveN was not alected, thoy might say,.** Wo told you so "; “Wo aro not responsible, becanse wo op- posed the whols thing." 1f, under the law, ‘Tiepe should bo declared elected, they ex- pected thair opposition to be forgotton ; but should Le not bo elocted thoy oxpected to ugo the defeat os ovidenco of their superior wisdom and their greater dovotion to thoir party. But where does this opposition to tha bill for any such reason leave these Den- ocrats? If thoy did not want this bill, nor any other bill of the kind, what did they wunt? ‘Cho argument s that had no such bill boen passed thero would have been no agreement botween the Iouses; that tho Lusiness of comnnting would havo drifted along until the doy fixed by law, when the Ilouse of Represculatives, daclaring that no clection hod been made by the Electoral College, would proceed to elect Mr, Tipey oud declaro him Presldent, and, so far aa it could do so, éommit the Demo. cratie porty and the country fo the support of his clalms, ‘That is what the Democratic office-scekers thinks ought to Lave beon the course adopted, and that is the end to which Mr. Cans and his nusociates who opposed this bill now insist they endeav- ored to bring about, 3lr. Cann oud states- men of his class may purchase the applause of the spoils-huntors by thix vountingof their own shane, but fortuuately thero wero but comparatively fow even in Congross willing to placo themsclves in the samo disgraceful record, ‘Ihis Arbitration law was ameasuro devised by those who framed it to sccuro a tribunal as fair and as Impartial as was possiblo, to determine which candidato had been, under tho Constitution andlaws, fairly, and honest- ly, and legally electod President. Thero were those who objected to tho law beeauso o wajority of the Court wore not open aud prouounced partisan Ropublicans; {hey wanted men whoso record gavo an s surauce tlat they would vote (o inoke Haves Presidout, no matter what might Lo tho law wund the facls, Even in the Republican caucus somo of those who hod participated in framing the law wero sligmatized us weak-kneed Republicans, un. fit to bo trusted. On the othor haud, thero wera thoss who waintained that no law should be frawed which did not sccure a ma- Jorityof the Court of pronouuced Democrats ; they wauted no Court unless it was known beforeband that it would count TiLven fn, Failiug to lave tho Inw cstablish such o Court, theso partisans, who preferrud a clvil war with all its consequences to tho loss of their candidate, voted agalnst the bill, to their own great discredit, The Court hos ot yet cowpleted its business, and there is 10 wan authorized by anything it hus sald or done to declare what will be its judgment on avy of the questions now before it, Men moy form opinions, and .guess, and prediet, but no one in the Court or out of it has suy kuowledge of what it will do. 'The judicial branch of tho Court is composed of wen in whom the country reposcs tho bizhest confidenco in all other matters, and whose judgment npon all questions of life, liberty, and property, and npon the rights and dntics of citizens and the powers of the Government, is accepted adthe lewof tholand. A divided Court is not nuything new. These same five Judges wora divided—thres to two—upon the ques. tion of tho walidily of the act making green. backs n legal-tender, and that was a non- The fact of division no' moro implies partisanship on the part of the partisan question. majority than on that of the minonty of tho fivo Judges. Tho fact that tho Court was not paclied in thoe interest of cither party entitles it to the same rospect and confldence that are oxtonded to any other Court com. posed of men of learning, ability, and per- sonal integrity. Bat Mr. Cann and his associates, who find, or may find, in the judgment of this Court that which warrants them in snying ** We told you s0,” that it was not safe to leave this question to the decision of moen not pledged to decide a particular way, fall back on the position that it was better to have had two Presidents nnd two Governments, with o divided Congress and a civil war, and the States arrayed in support of tho rivals, than to Lave n peaceful, legal sottloment. Tha men who talk of civil war to decide an elec- tion may tickle tha fancy of hungry, disap- ponted spoilsmen, bt they provoke, as they deservo, tho contempt of every Iaw-abiding, honest, and intelligont citizen, e ——— TAE ATTORNEYS-FEE BILL ‘Wao commented a fow daya ngo upon a bill introdnced in the Logislaturo by Mr. Duvxe which provides that among tho costs to be recovered in suits thero shall bo included 810 nttorneys’ fees in nll cases tried boforo Justices of the Peace, aud a sum ranging from 24 to §50 in cases in tho Circult, Superior, and other Courts, We publish this momning a letter from Mr. DussE, and another from Mr. Bvreeot, defonding the bLill, We fail to seo any reason wly we should change our opinion that this is n dangorous bill. A further consideration of it convinces us that it is an outrogeons bill. It might prop- crly bo styled ‘“a bill for the relief of attor- neys," of *“a bill to promote speculative liti gation.” ' If an attorney can find a man who has a clalm or o noto sgainst another, he can undertake not only to recover the money with interost, but also to ly his cliont a premium by dividing with him the legnl fee. If a inan owe another $425, and §450 is unjustly demanded of hiwm, and is sued, lie will, even if he prove he only owed tha $125, havo to pay the plaintiff that sum, and £i0 for plaintifi’s attorney, and 10 for othier costs, besides the feo of his own attor- ney, ond in such cpse it would bave been cheaper to'havo submit{ed to tho origiual extdition. Wo have already pointed out the abuses which will be inseparable from this Inw in Justices’ cascs: It will lead to similar abuses iu the higher courts, though on n moro costly seale. Both Mr, Doxxx and Mr, Snurrior think that something of this kind must be done, becauso of the great number of rasenls who buy goods on credit and who don't pay their bills. It is proposed to make thess peoplo pay the attorney of tho plointif who sues them. In answer to this it is sufllcient to say that there is no law compelling o man to give eredit, or to take notes for cash ; if ho does do this, he doos it with a knowledge of the law that, unless the debtor pays the bill or note, he nust resort to tho courts and omploy and pny an attorney to prasccute the case, IHo' given credit with o full knowledge of what his legul remedios are and what expenses ho moy have to'lncur. Every man knowa that tho'credit systom of necessity involves a tax on the debtor to insura tho creditor not only ngainst bad debts but agninst costs of ccllge- tion. Theso oxpenses are ns much a part of tho credit systom as aro house-ront, clerk- hive, taxes, orany othor item of busincss exponse. Now, this bill is to rolleve cred- itors of this item of expense; to provide them a legal fand out of which they can pay Ar. Dusg, or Mr. Saurreot, or any other attornoy, all tho expenso of tollecting bad or slow debts, Tho bill proposes that whon a man buys $300 worth of goods and glves his nota therefor, that the law will attach $50 to that note to pay Mr. Suurceor his foo for bringing suit and getting judgment thereon. It ainan find bis butcher or grocor's bill 85 or 86 moro tlan it ought honestly be, and refuses to poy it, ho theroby, under thin law, assumes to pay $10 addltional to somo shyster at the Justice Court for prosccuting him to Jjudgment on the whole bill. The result s, ho pays $15 ponalty for questioning the ac. curecy of o butcher’s bill. A cook whoso diguity may bo offended leaves her place, and at the nearest Justico's offico seeks justice and rovengo. She brings suit for 84 wages, to which tho Justice adds $3 for costs and 10 for the attornoy, and without the least provoeation on the part of the defondant thero is o judgment of $17 réndered against him. 3r, Duswe's bill invites—offors—a liberal bounty for all this kind of litigation, not only ju Justicos' Courts but in all the other courts, and therefore is a dangorous bil, ‘The good peopla of Tllinois have gotwlong for vixty yoars without an attorney's fee be- ing made part of the costs, aud if this bill be defonted will manago to get along for another slsty yoars, Costs of court include clerks' and shorlfs' fees, and thoy are collected to reimbur:o the public for the salaries paid to theso officers, It fa now proposed to include attornoys' fees, which arc a mero matter of privato professional enterprise. There {5 no roasons for it. If the bill would declore that tho plaintiff should Le allowed in addition to interest on his claim & reasomablo sum to pay the board of an attorney employed to watch tho case, that would have at least the appearance of candor, and to some persons might appear just. ‘But as tho bill stands, it 14 & uiera tax impozcd by law to compel one man to pay for an attorney Lired to prosc. cute him, and possibly to defeat justice. ‘The proposition introduced into the Coun. ty Bonrd by Commissioner Beaorzy {o donate the Normal Bchool property at Englewood to the State, In case tho State Government will establish there a Northera Normal Univer- sity and eppropriate %20,000 a year for jts maioterance, is in every way worthy of approval, and its prompt adoption in tho Bowd may securo tho location of the Northern Normal University at Englowood. Commissioner Frrzorsirn's opposition to the rcsolution is evidently based upon a misapprehension, as he spoke Of its being absurd to give up the County ‘Noymal 8chool after espending $70,000 on its buildings. 8o far from giving it up, the project (o donate it to the State for its waiutenauco is really a proposition to en- large its sphere of uscfulness, Asit is now, the Englowood school, at the best, can only wccommodato a fraction of Cook County,— tho o'w slraggling towns aud villages out- side of Chicago,—whilo under the proposed arrange.rent ity facilitics would be cxtonded to fiftcen or twenty of the most populous counties of tho State, and at State exponse. It is notorious that at present this so-cniled Normal School at Englewood 8 but little ©lse than a villago common achool ; and, if thero 18 o be an additional Normal Univer. sity established in the northern part of the State, it will bo equally to tho ndvantage of the Btato and this county to utilize "the En. glewood grounds and buildings for that purpose. THE CONTINENTAL LIFE INSURANCE INDLE. SWI The developments made by 8, W. Haw. stoxp, tho ngent who was engaged in insur. ance-wrocking for the New York Continental Life, oro caleulated to mnke every man shiver who holds a lifo insurance policy, however rosy the “stalements” of his com- pany may be. Tho witness madan clean brenst of tho villanies practiced by this Com. pony, his testimony constituting perhaps the boldest avowal of swindling on record. It appoars that this man Haamsosp wns en- gnged by L. W, Frosr, tho ostensible Presi- dout of the Continental Life, in 1874, to buy up policies for the Company in California and somo of the Western and Sonthern States. In the pursnanco of his operntions he worked upen the ignoranco and, credulity of policy- helders, and especially upon policy-holders in poor health, and intimidated them with tho information that tho Continontal Com. pany was nearly baukrfupt, and thus prac. ticed wpon their fears until, rather than loso evorything thoy had been paying in, tho vietims woro rondy to sell out at the ngents' own figures, Insomo instances ho bought for cash and in others for cash and preminms in othor companies,—the amount, however, never going beyond 50 per cont of tho reserve, which he could *‘run off " by purchasing the policy, this 30 per cent also covering his cxponses. Sometimes he paid for policies with policies in tho Southern Life, an insolvent concern which went to pieces somo timoe ngo, and sometimes with policiea for small amounts in the rotten Now Jernoy Mutusl, which hns already been do- clared virtually baukrupt by the Now, Jersey Bocrotary of Btale, the intention being when thero was not much linbility left against the Continental to transfer. overything to the Now Jersoy Mutual. Ono extract from his testimony shows the modus operandi of HanuosD ¢ ‘The lden of the **wrecking™ was to buy off all the policiea held by men In poor health, Twa or three persons died a day or two after I had gotthelr release ontheir policies. Oneman named Cune Ra¥, whowas very Il with rhenmatism, I had to talk with while he was Iylng In bed. Ife hadn 810,000 policy. Jle was very averse to the plan at first, but 1 Anally got him to agree to take §1, 000 and a smaller policy on *‘the Continchtal plan," on which the premtums wers prepalil for some time. Thls I thought dolng very well for tho Com- pany, for the man shortly afterward dicd, but 1did not get any extra percentage for it, The business wns evidently n profitable one. All the risks onlives on tho Pacific Blope, except 400 or 500, wero * run off.” In all of the Stalve that Lo visited e wrecked between $2,600,000 and $3,000,000 for the Company, aud for his eervices in California alono he raceived the handsome sum of §20,- 000 in salary and commissions, After this, what next? What new dovel- opments afe tho Royal Bengalees to give us of adrolt rascality and oxpert villainy ? Or Inve fhe Becurity Lifes, Continental Lifes, Now Jorsoy Mutualy, snd other rotten con. cerns, exhausted the different plans of floecing the publio through a soncs of years, usually amounting to a lifetime ? What confidence can the public have in any of tho Eastorn insurance companies it Eastern Logislatures continne to fall to protect thom ? 1t is timo for the law-makers to investigate tho fraud- ulent management and gross frrogularitios of the officors of thess Companics and guaranteo policy-holders tho widest degreo of protec- tion, Tho sound and Jogitimately-managed companies owe it to themsclves and their reputation to demand that their Legialatures sholl enact tho most stringent laws and hedpo in all companies with such restric. tlons ‘that tho public can have con. fidonce. People must feol that thero ‘s some responsibility in the management and some responsibility also on the part of the Btato or there will soon bo an end to the lifo insurance bustness, through an utter want of confldenco in the fundamontal principles of lifo insuranco. Thero must be noro caro snd energy upon the part of Stato officlals in examining tho companics, and thero must bo some imuedinto notion upon the part of the law-makors which will make penal offenses of such oporations ns that of the Security Life in borrowing funds to ropresent nasots, of tho officers of tlic New Jorscy Mutual in hypothecating nssots of tho Cowpany to ce. curo their individual debts, and of the Con. tinental Lifo in Hasnronn's insuranes wreck- ing. Tho chicf defect of tho lifo insuranco aystem of this country is the immunity from punishmont onjoyed by thoswindlors, When tho Eastern Loglslatures make such opera. tions felonies, tho public will havo some ade. quate protection and confidenco in life insur. ance may be restored, Cr; 'AXES, The Chicago T¥mes, which some months 8go, when the city was in its worst financial plight, advanced somo ridiculous sugges- tions about reducing elty cxponditarcato nil, now thinks £3,000,000 is obout the right sum to be spent, nud says that the party which proclalms its intention to reduce the city expenses to that amount will carry the election this coming spring, 'This is o very reasonablo estimato, sinco we assumo that the Zimes sots this figuro for nctunl expenscs over and above the Iutorest account, which amounts to perbaps $800,000 fo §1,000,000 more, {ncluding tho interest on the flonting dobt. It it is meant, however, that tho sum of 4,000,000 shall cover all the curront ex. penses and tho interest, the schemo is not practicablo without serfously crippling the Fire aud Police Dopartmonts, abandoning aven tho meagro cffort that fs now made to clean the streots, closlug up a large part of the publio schools, stopplag the improve. 1aent for cleansing the North Branch of the river, and refusing to set aside ongthing to apply on tho reduction of the floating debt, ‘Two millions of dollars for current expenses inncity like Chicago, which would be all tbat could be 50 applied in a total taxation of only 3,000,000, would necessitate a penny-wise and pound-foolish jiolicy that would be of serious detriment to Clicago in the long run. The present City Government, which iy the most economical we havo had for gevorat years, proposes o ruy the city during the present flical year within $3,007,000, loss the interest account., ‘I'he appropriations for the nine months which constituted the Iast thical year the' CoLviN regime ‘expected to control were at the rata of %6,000,000; and, had the same crowd bLeen retained in office, they would probably have demanded $7,000,000 for tLis year. The Comptroller's cstimates for 1877, which were submit- ted to the Council a week ago, are only $3,879,703, or less than §3,000,- 000 for actual expendilures outsido of the fnterost acconnt, nnd this ednoss, $211,000 for tho Fullerton nvenuo conduit, and 50,000 for copstruction of The current exponaca for this vinduots, Fear, then, if the estimntes aro approved by the Conneil, will really fall below 24,000,000, nud the parly most likely to carry the next spring cloction iscomposed of those who so- lected the prosont City- Government. It is just possible that the Conncil, in its rovision of the estimates, may bo able to squeezo ont 100,000 for Inying tho foundation of the city's part of the Court-Houso during the year without increasing the total amount to bo appropriated; if this can bo dono, so much tho bettor, Thero is no way In which so material a enving can bo mado to this city as throngh a Inw which will enable the prompt-and sum. mary collection of tho bnck taxes. If they could bo securcd to the City Treasury, the flonting debt would bo snbstantially wiped ont, aud the intercst account reduced by two or thrco hundred thousand dollars. Tha necessity would (hen disappoar for making an annunl approprintion of n quarter of & million {o apply on the flonting debt, 'The saving of theso iwo items would, perhops, ennblo the entira tax-lovy of - tho city to be covered by §3,000,000, including tho pay- ment of interest, Tha collection of the back taxes would also ennblo. the return to the Public-Improvemont Fund of the $625,000 Lorrowed from the moneys appropriated by tho State on account of tho canal, under tho stipulation that they should be used in the reconstruction of the public buildings de- stroyed in the fire of 1871. Thero is no question but ‘that oxtravagant municipal . government has had its day in Chicngo. Any party or combination that shall undertako to restoro tho Corviy system of government, under his namo or any other, will mest with overwhelming defeat at the polls, The bummers may ns well understand that thoy cannot aguin live and thrive in this city at the exponso of toxpayers. Two or threo years more of continued cconomy will lift the flonting dobt, and leave Chicago bet- ter situnted in regard to tdxalion than any largo city in the Union, The taxpayers will be very careful not to surrender .their ad. vantoga at this singe of the proccedings. ——— e Later intelligence from the famino inSouth Indin shows that tha first sccounts which ‘woro printed wera not exnggerated, but, on tho other hand, even fell short of revealing its horrors and extent. Tholatestdispatchos from Lord Carnanvox to the English Gov- ernmont represent that in British territory alono twenty-three millions of people, equir- alent to tho' population of England -and Walos, living on n territory tho size of Franco, aro afflicted with this famino, which number will be incrensed by cases in other districts tont least thirty millions. The cor- respondent of the - London Standard says that tho drought has been of o soverity pass- ing belief; that the very fruittrees are burned np, and the herbage on the river- bouks wilted away ; and that thero is o pos- sibility that ten millions, and a moral cor- tainty that five millions, of people will bo thrown upon the rovenuo for the menns - of support, towards which it is alrondy estimated that the Government Las expended $32,600,000. The possibility that the Government may be bankrupted in {rying to tako care of the sufferers, and the manifest impossibility that it can provide such a vast army with labor, have crented widespfend discussion both in India and En- gland, Bir Jonx Srnicmey, tho Financo Minister in Indin, boldly declares that * Tho peoplo must be rogarded as stricken with a calamity liko earthquako or the plague, and loft to fight it out for thomsclves. If thoy dio, thoy dio, They dio always at the rato of two milllona a year, and we can_ no moro arrest the sudden destruction than wo can the destruction that is always going on,"” ‘This eold-bloodad viow is stoutly maintained s tho correct one by many eminent men in England, who are not regarded as inhuman, but who argue in this wise becauso they be- llovo that tho Blato, in interfering with fam. ine, s fighting a groat Iaw of nature. ‘Tho London Bpectator sums up their line of argu. mont ns follows : To Interfora Is Injurlous, and, even if not hopo- less, 10 Loth unfalr and unwise. 1t s unfair be- canse, as we draw our means from tho people, we are compelled, If we relleve faining, to fina the provident for tha benedt of tha Improvident, and 1o rob the peasant who Jeads a lifo of toil and thrift, involving endlcss sclf-sacelfice, in order to pratect classos who aro aw thriftlcen as animals, and scarcely of moro value to mankind. wise, bocause If wo go on relieving the burden will become' too great, the mighty task of governing ust be given up, and the permanent welfaro order that the unthrlfty smong them may not die littlo sooner than they otherwise would. Tho argument of expediency, thata Foor-law provents revolutlon, thongh truo,In England, is false in Asla, for there the multltude accopta faming as the will of Gob, and neither rages at the Btato for not foeding It, nor la it gratctul to the Stato for keep- Ing it alive. starvation, even when traceablo, as It may havo been In the instance of Bundeleund, to the fndirect action of tho Btate, has never pruduced lusurecction, sud the people of Lengsl no more hate the English because V'ANsiTTaniT's famine oc- curred in thelr day thao they will love the English because they arrested certain hundrods of thousands of deatha Jately In Behar, ‘Che most palpablo. answer to this argu- ment is that tho English have been inter- fering with this so-called law of naturo ever eince they have had posscssion of India. Prior to their occupation of the country the rapldly-incrénsing population was thinned out and kopt down by a varloly of causes which British rule bas terminated. he foudal wars botween rival Princes aud Obief- talng, which killed tens of thousands, have been stopped. Infanticide of fomale ohildren and widow-burnlug have been made penal of. fenses, The wilderncascsand jungles which abounded in wild beasts that caused terrible havoo among the people have been rapldly thinned out of their mau-killera Ly English hunters, 'The epidemics of cholers, typhoid, ond the plague, which swept over India liko great waves, killing off people by the Lundred thousand, just as the oyclone did n fow months ago, have been checked by Eu. glish sanitary solonco to alarge extont, Have ivg ioterfored with the laws of destruc. tion thus far. by preventing all these causes, thero cannot be any serious herm in juterforiug with the natural law of famine, especially when they Liave helped to put the lawn operation. DBy sstting industry free, iucrensivg thoe popular health, and arresting the progross of various destructive sgencles we Lave enumerated, the peoople have rap- idly multiplied, until thoy, now number over two Lundred millions of people, huddled into a territory not so large in area as that portion of our own country between the At- lantic and the Missiesippi. As British rule, therefore, is the direct cuuse of the over- peopling of Indis, the British Government is dircotly respousible for the Lorrible re- sults of that overpeopliug. Even if it were not respousible, the duty of mitigating or romoVing the famino is none the less impera- tive, for, as the Mpectator very forcibly soys : Wby spend, aa we do spend, wmilllons to prevent inclades $250,000 fo apply on the floating indebt- 1t Isan- | 000,000 of mankind will be wacrificed, In. sufering, when waatlow the one muffering which human beings dread so keenly, that they accept livea of monotanaus tofl to avert it, to consnme them In millions? Starvation fanot death, It ts death by tortnre; and If the State ix not. bound to prevent death by torture, what beneficent ohliga- tion han ftatallt We know and recognize most fally that the State 18 only the aggreaation of tax- payers, bt surely the whola principle of modern government Is that the asgregation of taspasers can do, and onght to do, what the Individua! tax- payer cannot do. The whole problem is a colosanl ond for tho English Government to deal with, an it it succeeds it will havo nccomplished one of the most remnarkablo achievementa of all times. To develop tho.industries of Indin and mnke it self-supporting ; to storo up water for drought and to utilizo the rivers for frrigation, so that abundant erops will grow overy yoar ; to cover the country with roads and railronds in order to distribute the plenty of ono part to the ecarcity of anather; to civilizo its people, nnd to save them from destruction by cyclones, and famines, and pestilences, will reflect moro lustre upon England than all her military conquests hava done, 4 — ‘Wa must warn our Republican friends not to crow too loudly beforo they are ont of the woods. A fow days ago wo had a conversn- ton with & prominent Enstorn politician who knowa Judge Braprer's make of inind perfectly well. His dingnosis of the Judge corresponded exactly with the following from Reprrzeo's lotter to the Cincinnati Com. mercial The fear that the Republicans have is that Bran- LEY {8 an Intensely legal man,—1f 1may uso tho term, —even more legnl than Ntepublican, and that he will not hesltate to give the Prestdency to Tis- nex If the technlcal points should be in his favor. The caso of Oregon bias becn cited, and the fear 1n expressed by Republicans that BranLry would not hesitate to c{dent the popular will in that State If the majesty of the law was upon the alde of tho TiLoex Elcctor commlssioned by Groven, And this ls now what the Republicans’ fear most, and, In fact, about oll they fear. I don't mean the Ore- gon case fn_particular, but BnavrLer's genoral lablt of tracking tho technlcal points of the law to the very lctter, let follow what will, These persons fear that Branney is mare s lawser than Itepublican, and the Democeata fear that ho1s moro Republican than lawyer, In the Louisiana caso the Deniocrats in- tend Lo press 'Crusnvrr’s point to the itmost extont, that by tha present laws of Louistann the Returning Bonrd hes no jurisdiction whatever over the counting and eanvassing of voles cnst for Prealdent nnd Vice-Pres- fdont, nnd hence their roturns aro il legal, and that there was no logal clec. tion held for President in Louisiaua; that tho State failed to vote or appoint Elect- ors, and that it mnst bo struck out of ,the count. Thora Is more dangor to the Ropub- licaus for Judga Brapizy to bo. caught on Just such a pinhook as that than from any other point that the Democrnts can raise. He is fearfully techuical. Ifo will never voto to nphold the rasenlly bulldozing of tho White-Linors, but ho may sustain some such legal quibblo as TruxnoLn has invented or discovered. e T ww— The old philosophcrs discovered many cen- turles ago that the best way of whipping an en- emy and making hi'n surrender wus by * heap- Ing conls of fire ou his head.” This was fllus- trated tho other day In the cascof the Keenlng Dost v, Bupt. Hickey, The L'est Lias been for a long timo furlously pitehing tnto Ilrcxey, and trylng to force Wim out of the police. A fow duya ngo the proprictors of the Lost ndopted o reduced scalo of compositiou to correspond with tho depresslon In business and tho increased purchasing power of moncy, Thercupon tho typos “ struck,” and gave the office conalder- able trouble, They inducolalot of newsboys to refuse to sell tho paper, and olso to prevent other buys from sclling it. In slort, thero was a conspiracy to bulldozs the concern, aud things camo to ‘a_crlsls whero physicul as- slstanice was required by the proprictors. Ap- plication was made to their enemy, 1l10KEY, for help. He promptly furnished ft, scattered the strikers and mobocrats, jerked the ringleaders into the lock-up, proved them gullty, and had soveral of them chucked foto the Bridewell to teach them to respect other peopla’s rizhts and toobey the law. Since then the Zost lns not hod a slugle surly growl at IHicker., On the contrary, it.begius to give the ¢ dovll his duc,” and to say complimentary things of the Super- intendent, and pralse his promptitude, efMcien- cy, and enerey, 1o **squelchied the row," it suys, **Ina few minites™: Tho rowdles who could be ldentifica wero cangnt and punlshed with equal promiptness, and an ndo- quate furce wad sent from day to dayunthl It was nceded no lonzer, Chicago 14 & clty whero 1t s #afe, ordinarily, to awalt tho protection of the aw, St Louls, 1t sccms, fs rathor uncertain in like emsergencics, " We are pleased to sco the J'ost and Ilickey shake hands and make up fricnds. Thereis nothing liko heaping coals of fire on your cne- my's head to briug bim to terms, % ————— The Constantinople correspondent of tho London Times gives the reeent circular from tho Porte, tho substance of which we reproduce. Tt fs of futcrest as showing tho Turklsh side of the disputo and giving the reasous why tho Porta rejected the recent decision of tho Cone ference. The Porte aflirms that the programme for the Conference, propbsed by England and accepted by Turkey, contains four cssential points, ns follows: (1) That the institutious 1o b choscn for the threa provinces should not bo such us might make them fnto tributary provinees. ‘was ouly 1o be to giva the inhabitants a certain coutrol over the administration. (8) The status quo ante belfum for buth dervia and Montonegro, (1) That the Conference sbould take ns it gulding priuciple the Indepeudence and in- tegrity of the Ottoman Empire.” Upon these conditions, the Porte accepted the Conferonce, whercupon a majority of the Cunfercucs de- ¢lded “on an autonomous Bulgarla, which was only to pay a fixed sun yearly, lke tho tribe utary States; on o notable cession of territory to Muntencgro; and claltned for the Powers the right of approval ot disapproval of the Gov- crnors, and sot up an Internatlonal Commisslon composed of foreleucers to control the adminis- tration.” The Porte therefors clulms that it was rizht In rejecting the doclslon, e the new proposnls were In direet contradiction with the principles 1ald down In the orlginal pro- granune, and that no blame can attach toit, inasmuch as it oven offercd to consult the Powers with rezard to the uew concesslons demanded of it. —— ‘Tho Memorial Diplowmatigue of Jan. 27 fur- nlslies tho most explicit statement of the sltuas tion of tho Turkish army that has yet been inade and probably the most. rellable. From it welearn that the Army ol the Daoube com- prises 200,000 men, commanded by Avpur. Kenia Pacua, Generalissino of the Turkish army. The Corps of 8ervia and Bosnia, 100,000 strong, {3 commanded by ALI-SA1n Pacua; tho Corps of Albanta, 500,000 strouz, by Dxrvica Pacua; the corps of observation on the fron- tler of Ureec 000 strong, by ARMED-Clugsy Pacua; tho Corps of Batoum, 40,000 strong, by HusseiN-Tausin Pacia; tho Corpsof Erzer ouw, 120,000 strong, by 8asim Pacua; and the Corps of Bagdud, 55,000 strong, by Hussgix- Frvzi Pacua, This would iuke a total of 550,000 Turklsh troops i the field. e — They {tho Dems.] aro terribly disgusted. This grotesque farce of seven purtivan dvisgogues on cuch #1do solemnly cauceling cach other’s votes, while Judge' Josarn P. Busvier decldes tlab o Presidont can ba lawfully appolnted by batlut- Lox-stutling (It he bo the candldate of the oficlal class), is tho outcomie of thelr own wonderful statesmsnabip, —CAlcayo Halldozer. Neiter the old Bulldozer nor bis partisan demagogues callivg themsclves **Democrats' would be terribly alsgusted i Judge Braprzr decided that a President could be elected by fraud, violency, uyd inthwidation. 1f Braprey (%) The aln of these Ilustitutions. only would nphold buildozing asa legitimats male of carrying elections, how tha Qbicage Times would howl with delight! . ———r— Ther're gotto ¥ alrcady, i . goodness, tho can ta Tlow tnany dayeor recka il ba Ere they acrlvent 1, ? —Xew York Commerctal. Iiaso paticnee, gendle stranger, On actting ont they knew . ‘The sooner they got down to L, The svoner they'd reach U ———— “PERBONAL. Gambetta altended ths stato batl at the Tlyacas, staying only long enough to pay proper reapect to the Preatdont of tha ftepablioand attract thoe tention of tho dancera to his noble fgare and ma- Jestlc movoments, Next to Chitcago, Western Maseachusoits has the bluc-glaea manla worss than any other apot on the habitable globe. The hiand of Mr. Howles may be xcen in- tho maventents.and, If Gon, Pleasonton knowa what e Is talkingabout, it Ip & pretty benef- feent hand. Grent preparations are being mado at Antwerp to celebrate noxt August tho 300th anniversaty of tha birth of Rubicns, The musical fetexaro to ho ona geand seale, and there are niso belng organized n arilsta’ congress, an exhibition of anclent paint- Ings, and n retrospective oxhibitlon of paintings of the Belglan school since 1820, = Kate Claxtor, n married woman and an nctrees concorning whom theré was suma nnpleseant scan. dal in Chicago last ¥wmmer, has obtalued, or ap- plied for, o divorce; and tha New York corre- #pondent of the Noston Ruzette reports that sho 18 matelmontally engaged to Me, C. A. Stescnson, 1t was thought at the timo that her comduct In Chiengo wus not In any respect Llaweworthy, and #hio wasalways prevlously known as ah amiable and discreet woman, Gov. \Williame, of Indlana, Is a9 thrifty at Tne dlanapolis os fame reports s was nt Washinzton, Ha keeps to hls rooms snngly when balls ard Riven at his hotel, but permits tha managers of the ene tertainmcnts to announce that tha Governor will ‘racelvo™ fn the Intcrmissions of the dancing, Diue-dcans has superaeded moticy nt Indlanapolla as ‘‘tho only wesr ™3 but wo nrenot tnfurmed that tho riald principles of the new Govornor in respect to #oap and water have yet been enforced, ‘Tho Queen Js dead, Ehe was the royal applo- woman of New York, and her seay extended over'. every vondor of the fralt in the clty, Her name was Catherlno Delenghery; hor age §0; hier fortune £2,800. 'The pravisions of her will were curious, Bhe dirccted that her Lody ba ** waked " in the ap- proved fushion, and. (hat her funcral be *‘as fine as the heart conld deelre,*” The lcares was drawn by fonr dapnle-gray hot and a long linc of care riages followed tothe cemetery. Long live the Queen, whoover sho may bot MacMahon has been called the mastift of con- temporary French polltics, Thiera the fox, Gom. betta the llon, and 3. Jnles Simon the cat. The conteat of the lon and the cat {a now watched with intercet by 8]l who undorstand Its {mportance, The entagontate at first acem Winequally matched, but Stmon, for the timo belng, Is the represonta. tlve of a moro rigld consorvatism than that which Gambetta likes to Indorse, and the heart of the peopla {s with tNW former rather than with the lat- ter, The eloquonco of Gambetta fs etil] applaud- «d, but the prudence of Simon la approved. ‘Thers has been an attempt to explaln the recent Increascd sales of Miss Austen's novels by calling attentlon to the circumstanca that the University of Dombay hios preacribed **Senso and Sonstbill. 1y asona of the books In which students aro re- quired to jass an cdamination. Investigation shares, however, that the demand has heen about cqual for all tha novels, and that tho most expen- 2ivo editions have been preferred. Tho origlual suggeation of Lho Athencum—that Macaulay's bigh prain of 3tiss Austen, as thown in the recently- pabliahed blogeauhy, Is the causo of tha new fne torest [n the subject—~aocma (o be sustalned, The Rev. Mr, Tooth, the Engiish Rituallst who hae gone to Jail for contumacy, is a mariyr to his principlea, e might easily have eratified hiy taste if o Lad choren any placo’ Lut a parish church to indulgo them in, o bas large privato incowe, and, at half the expense his contest bas cost hilm, might huvo sctwp u scparato establishment of blsown. 'Tho Ratlonslists of the Church of Ene gland, strangely enough, sympathizo with Mr. Tooth, fecling that I position cannot be attacked without consequent Injury to thelr own clalms to lberty of conscicnee. Tho Low Churel party ate tacks both Ratlonslists and Rituallsts on common grounds, £ Mra. Woodhull and Mles Clafin havo concolved tho ambitlous project of making an appearance on tho atage In Loudon. They have had a play, ens titled ** Napoleon and Joseplhine, " speclally write ten for the accaslon; and it {s snid to be the {ntene tlun of Miss Tennlo to personate Napolean, while Victorla shilnes us Josephine, A daughter of Mra, Woodhull will undertako the part of Jfortease, The [dea “ls grand, particularly that part of It whicls propases’ to mako use of Tennlo's Napo- leonic profilu on tho wlmlc acone. Sho has been the vqry Napoleon of tho frcc-love movament, In word “and deed, and thers will be probricty in having. her In all respects n Nupoleon in ap- pearance, Tho Englich prolates aro much engaged In dfe- cusulng Nr, Lowe's pusition that frea trade fn ltquorals tho best system for the English peoplo. In lls Fortnlghtly Ievlew articie, Mr, Lowo sald: ** If thero is one fact moro eatablished than anoth- cr it ls that drankenness does nut at all depend on the numbor or paucity of public houses as come pared with the population.” At a recent meeting tho Bilshop of Manciicstor controverted Mr, Lowe's opinlonsand strongly ndvocated the Gothenburg system. He belleved that the objection ** that thore was not suticlent public niorallty 1 constit- uencles and corporations o carry out auch a sys. tem" waa fallacious, 'The Bishops of Chestor and Lichflcld aro also most earucst fu the advocacy of remedial measurcy, " Anciminent plysiclan, writing to the London Times of the valuo of works of art from a medical polnt of view, says he ls o Impressed with the benolt of plctures, plate, Lronzes, carvingy, brice a-brac, china, sculpturc, and art docorations in this conncetion that he will gladly givo 100 guineas tawardsa fund to cover the nuked walls of the London hospitals, ‘Tha subjoct may weom trivial or ridiculous to the practical American mind, but it fs malntained In England with arguments that 8ro mora than respectable, Wa aro not preparcd 83 yot Lo go to the lengih of proscribing Seplate for tho average hosplial patient, and bronzes and oll-paintingy, to suy nothing of aculpturs, may ba spared for a thme withont serlous intluenco upon tho deathi-sato; but a proposition for tho usa of ornamental o scems reusonabls enough to de- serve conslderation, Parcnts who lave sons at collezo In Massachn- sctts will be refolecd to hear that an old statuto has recently been uncarthed, showing that Inn-keepera sud others are probiblied from giving crddit to atudents under ponalty of twice the amount of dobt incarred, Varlous comfortable conscquences would follow the atrict enfarcemnent of (hls statute, Drafts on papa for uionary ™ purposes would bo less frequent and smaller in amount, accounts would geaerally balance at less than thoy do ot present, and there miglt be & Letter record on the tutore' books tlan on tho Bonlfaces', Dut theso benviits weuld bo onjoyed at tha expouse of scrious changes 1u the currlculum, For tho student tho #tatuto meany farcwell to gamu dinners, andto champagne-punch; farawell the nelghing steed, and the shrill post-horn;. farewell the Howers to Angellnc at tho seminary, and tho sccret gifss o Matllda at thu boardlog-tionse,—the occapation of Lothario would Lo guna; bo could fnd nothing bets terto do Lhan to study. ¥ The London Tunes’ editorlal on the uavelling of he Burus statuo in Glasgow by Lord Hampton may perhaps be charged with some excess of en+ thuslasim, 84 was natural under tho circumstances; but it 1, on' the whole, Loth judicious aud calin. ‘The comparison of Durns and Scott ls especlally well-tlmed, though thla sentlment at the close of it is not lkely to meel with nnanimons asscnts **Durns has vendered bis countrymen, sad even tho world at large perhaps, a greater scrvice on the wholo than Bcott. The Idvals of cott are du- lighttul, but they arc fdeals of the past. The thouglits and the sentimonls of the characters de- picted fubis novels sud tales can mover bo re- vived, at Icast in thoso polnts which constitute thelr pecallar charm. Bus tho lifo of which Burns has sung, the vivid play of activn and passlon i his ballads, embody an ideal which can st sii times Lo almed at and spproacked.” The dlstinction be tween ideals of the past and ideals of the prescat fe more fancifal than real, aud the different dogrees of merlt for treating ono vr 1le other caanot be 50 caslly stated. An cxamlnation of (e whols ranto of poetry will show how poora thing It would bo without 3he ideals”of the past, and a study of Dlstory will confirm the oplufon that {deals of the past often Liave tho moat powerful Inducnce upos actiuns of tho prescat, That Walter Scot: did more 10 fora natlonal sentiment than Buzns 138 propos- tlon that may be majutalued with some show of Feasvm .