Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, September 16, 1877, Page 4

Che Cribuve., TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. BY MAIL—IN ADVANCE—POSTAGE PREPAID. Yaris of yeas. per month. Malled to auy address four weelts for, alton: Literary and Sunday Double Sheet.. i Specimen copies sent ise. ‘To prevent delay and mistakes be sure and give Post- Ottce address fn fall, including State and County. Hemittances may be ade either Dy dratc, express, Post-Odice order, or in registered letters, at our risk. TERMS TO CITY SUBSCRIBERS. Dally, delivered, Sunday excepted. 25 cents per week, Dalig, deilvered, Sunday included, 30 cents ver wees. Address THE TRIBUNE Ce ‘Corner Madison aud Deatborn-sts. a Orders for the delivery of Tux Trimene at E Englewood. and Hyde Park left im the couatiag-room ‘will recelve promp! {0 COMMAN) SO. 19. Fy ac ‘ot business. Visiting oir Mey order of IL, SANBORN, E.C. LODGE O PER- 22 Meconse wil Hold eveniig next. Work By order of LL, T.*. P.*. G. 0. 3, TA. ening, Sept. 17. CRAWEOLD, H. P. CORINTAL Speeral Convo ob the Mare KNIGHTS TEM- eft 13. The Order Iiz Order of the B.C. A BUSLUY, Recorder . 200, A. Fe turday evening: at hall, 72 t0 76 Monroe-st. Work oa ee. 1A full artecdance, 1s requested. ¢ By orgener HUNEOW, Secretary. R. No. 699, A. F, & A. M.~Teg- mmiunieation Wednesday evening, Sept. 19, at F:L0o'clock. Important bus! Mepitersare hereby nottied to attead. By ord Me i 2, Secretary. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1877. CHICAGO MARZET SUMMARY. ‘The Chicago produce markets were steadier Sut- arday, provisions being very dull. Mess pork closed stendy.at $12.52!2@12. 55 per br] cash and $12.05@12.07!; eeller the year. Lard closed Heady, at §S.72%@8.75° per 100 Ibs cash and §8.05@8.0715 seller the year. Meats’ closed firm, ‘at 5isc per for loose shoulders and 7c for do short ribs. Lake freighte were firmer, at 318@33ic forcorn to Buffalo, Highwines were steady, at $1. 09 pergal- Jon, Flour was in ocd demand ana steady. Wheat closed 1@1%:¢ higher, a1$1.0714 for September and $1.02 for October, Corn closed yc higher, at 43% for September and 43Xc for October. Oats closed steady, at 241j¢ cash and’24!5c for Octo- ber. Rye was tic lower, at 35}c. Barley closed 14@2elower, at G3ceash ana Gie for Octoder. Hogs werr firmer, at $4.90@5. 65 per 1001us. Cattle were steady at $2,50@5.90; amd sheep sirm ‘at $3.25@4.50. One handred dollars in gold wonld buy $103.22: in greenbacks at the close. At the New York Gold Exchange Saturday greenbecks were worth 97 cents on the dollar, ihe highest price reached since May, 1862, It is denied by the London detectives that Brescen arrived at Liverpool on the Cir- cassian, and if he did sail on that vessel the officers must have dropped him in mid- ocean, discovering that he was too much of a Joxan to be taken along. The expert who has been examining the books of the bauk is of the opinion that the ex-President todk"but little money with him, and that api lo a few dsys before his denprtars he hed | 18 few dags_befora bis danprtnrs be] —————_ Srrxe Bux, from the other side of the border, makes a proposition’. He and his followers will consent to occupy the Big Horn countzy provided plenty of amzauni_ Hon is furnished them and they are cllowed to rosmat will One thing S. B. will not do. He says he will not go on the reservation ind suffer the indignity of living on weeviled beans and musty flour. It is pro- posed that the Government Commission ‘trgue this Iatter point with the Great Chief. ———— As Tween’s revelation rroceeds’ the num- Ser of Imown incorruptible politicians in New York becomes sadly reduced. And the 3oss is not half done yet. The market value »f consciences in New York in 1871 Was, ac- sording to Twern's admission, very high, + tnd considerable negotiation was necessary in some cases in order to reach an agreement between the parties, The resources and necessities of the Ring generally governed, ind tho more ininential the operator the nore claim he had upon the thieves’ ex- suequer. The price of the average Senator in those days was £40,000. ‘There is too much reason to believe that the railroad companies are again discrimi- nating severely against Chicago in the matter of freights. We have indisputable authority for the statement that a larg? lot of flour Was bought in St. Louis last Thursday for shipment to Rhode Island at 10 cents per barrel less than the freight from Chicago to that State; also that grain has recently been taken from Indianzpolis at 1 rebate of § cents per 100 Ibs, making the rate 10 cents jess than from Chicago,—the published dif. ference being only 2 cents. - We never hear of rebates.on shipments from this city by mil to Eastern points. ‘The freight agent is Sirtuously indignant at the suggestion of “‘entting” from this city, but 15 courteons enough to parties desiring to ship from other places in the West. —_—_—_—_ There have been for some time complaints among the grain men of this city regarding an alleged discrimination made by the Mil. waukee’& St Paul Road against Chica go, by requiring all grain shipped here to be sent in bags and not: in bulk, and last week the Council ordered iis Judiciary Committee to investigate the subject. An inquiry into the matter, made on behalf of Tur Temone, and given a another column, shows a radical difference vf opinion between the Milwaukee & St. Paul 2¢ople and the Milwaukee grain men om one side. and the officers of the Northwestern Road and the Chicago elevator Broprie. tors on tho other. It is claimed by se former that the obnozions regu. tion is of long standing, ond was — made because of on inability to fing elevator facilities in Chicago without paying heavily therefor. On the other side, it is claimed that thé Milwaukee & St. Paul, which con. trols al the Milwaukee elevators with one exception, is trying to forea grain from all points where there are no competing lines to goto Milwaukee, and that if this road wished to have the use of an elevator hero it could manage it easily, either by ‘an arrangement with the Chicago & Pacific, or by erecting one of its own somewhere on the Jong line of unoccupied river frontage. The THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1877-SIXTEEN PAGES. part, for the Northwestern admits that it} ga will not allow the rival corporation to usc those which it controls, and it -is practically impossible to reach those near the mouth of the river; but there is no question that if the road chose it could get the right of way to tho river, and there erect or have built for it an clevator of its own. So long as it fails to do that, or omits to make an effort to do it, the presumption must be that it is trying to compel tho grain- growers of the Northwest to ship their prod- ues toacity in which its managers havea special interest, and where they control all the elevators but one. in a to th The comparative indifference with which the contest at Creedmoor between the En- glish and American mifle-teams, though natural, has been observed with some sur- prise. There was a time, when the Ameri- can team went across the ocenn, that there was much excitement on the subject, and people who had never handled a rifle, even ina shooting-gallery, waxed warm over the mer- its of the rival teams and their styles of shooting. But that warmth of feeling was as short-lived as. most American emotions, and the present strife does not cause a heart to throb ora pulso to flutter,—at least in the West. There is that interest which always obtains where representatives of two nations are antagonists in any game or sport, butit does not extend beyond a fecling of curiosity as to the result, It is gratifying to know that the American team won, but it is tiresome to read much concerning the de- mi mm cif tails of the shooting, and it would not be heart-rending if the other side were to carry off the laurels. All that the struggle appears to provo is that this country can furnish half s dozen men who can shoot more accurately at all ranges than the best six England has cl does last week’s shooting prove that John Bull’s representatives may not learn some- thing from their victors, and come out ahead when they again meet in friendly strife their cousins whodwellon this side of the Atlantic. SPENCER AND THE NEWSPAPERS. An impression prevails in the minds of some people that the newspapers were aware of the real condition of the State Savings Bank a long time before the actual collapse, and fhst they shirked their duty to the de- positors by neglecting io make public an ex- pose of the mismanagement and dishonesty which characterized the conduct of the President of the concern. Tae Trmpxe is not singled ont in this charge, but the same allegation is made gen- erally against all the Chicago newspapers; and we have no doubt there are some people who, without believing the newspapers knowingly and purposely suppressed an ex- posure of Srxxcen and his frauds, still cred- it the papers in a general way with believing the concern was bankrapt, and withholdmg this opinion. Tre Tamvxe can only speak with cértainty for itself in this matter, but it imegines that no newspaper in Chicago had any information, up to, within a few days of the assignment, which would have warranted the publication of any assertions affecting the bank's solvency or Srexcen’s personal integrity. Tre Tem. UNE certainly had none, but, on the con- trary, up toashort time before the suspen- sion, supposed that fhe State Sprivex Insti a Soto seals ues at ‘concerns Of the Kind in the couniry, and that its sworn quarterly-pub- lished statements were correct and true. Its careful and conservative management up to the time that Srrxcrz bought into it gave it this reputation, which upheld Srexcer to the last. All its public statements sus- tained this repntation. The other banks of Chicago bad no distinct information that tha State Savings was in a weak or perilons con- dition until Srescrn began going about among them to solicit aid a few days before the collapse,—as he had never previousty had any relations with them,—which revealed the nature of his operations. Indeed, the payment to the depositors of nearly ono million of dollars during the run consequent upon the St. Louis bank failures was a cir- cumstance calculated to allay whatever sus- picion there was floating rbout; and the collapse, coming when it did, was more of a surprise to the banks than if it had occurred immediately or soon after the St. Louis fail. ures, If those persons who aro inclined to sus- pect ihe newspapers of having lnda Jong- previous knowledge of Srexcen’s rascality aud tho bank's weakness will stop to think a moment they will perceive how ridiculons the assumption is, There were a number of gentlemen connected with the Stato Sayings Institution who are not suspected of having been in collusion with Spencer. Wo may mention Dr. Sanry, the Vice-President, Danzex Goovwry, Jr., attorney, ‘one of the Trustees, aud. Judge Grant, one of the Tegal advisers. Theso gentlemen were certainly in a better position to know what was going on in the concern than any outsiders, whether newspaper-men or bankers. They had ac- cess to the books, were present nt meetings of the Board of Trustees, were in daily in- tercourse with Srzxcrn, were personally in- terested in having an honest and judicious administration of the bank’s affairs. If such persons were ignorant, almost up to the very last moment, of the rascality of the manage- ment, and the extent of the bad invest. ments that had been made, bow can it be supposed that any newspaper, or its representatives, having no access to the books and no facilities for examining the assets, should be aware of the rottenness of the concen? The bankers of Chicago, whether National, State, or Savings, had not such information or suspicion of the institu. tion as warranted them in hinting to the public that a bad failure might be expected at any moment, notwithstanding their more intimate relations with the institution; then how should newspapers arrive at the secrets which Spencer had succeeded in keeping from those who were actually associated with him in the management of the bank? Those who believed that the newspapers knew all about it must credit them with a cloirvoyant power, which, though a useful reputation for a newspaper under some circumstances, must be frankly disavowed for this occasion. But let Us even suppose there had been romors in circulation a Year or more ago cal- culated todamage the credit of the State Savings Institution, would it have been the province of the newspaper to give such ru- mors publicity and circulation ? We think ah Tne Tarune, for instance, would have no means of verifying if it tind edd then, ‘ying such rumors, if it B is Gi is al ci in thi th as co th an to as possible. men’s ticket, so-called, in Cook County would not bring the Communists of the country any ueerer to.the realization of their Utopi- an fancies of a compulsory cight-hour law, of making employers responsible for all in- juries to employes, of imprisonment for failure to pay wages, of an absorption by Government of all the railroads, steamboats, telegraphs, factories, etc., and of the adop- tion of a universal system of dividing profits among the laboring classes. nists will have to seize the whole country be- fore they can put these theories “into prac- tice; but, like all other ambitious parties, they look to success in local elections as pre- iimimary and essential to scheme. Meanwhile, they manifestly con- template the local application of their doc- | trines as far as they can bring it about. For instance, the possession of the County ve them publicity to the injury of the bank, would be held pecuniarily responsible a libel suit. Had ‘Tne Tomone published ich rumors, in spite of the denial and warn- ing, and haa the publication thereof precip- itated a panic among the depositors, a run on the bark, aud tho enforced suppression of on institution that might have continued micet its obligations if allowed to pursuo eo usnsl line of business, Te Trmune would have been mulcted in damages for pretty much all it is worth. legitimate demand upon newspapers to take such perilous risks as this, aud they will not do it. fairly open to the criticism of cutting too closely and diving too deeply in private and business affairs than to complaint because they do not recklessly give currency to all the street rumors and club gossip that come to the ears of their reporters and representa- tives, ‘Chere is no Indeed, the newspapers are more ‘Ue assignment of the State Savings was ade on a Tuesday, and published Wednesday orning. We do not believe that any news- paper could have safely attacked the credit of the institution before the preceding Fri- day or Saturday, when the rumors of trouble began to take form and circulate. then Srencenr gave the most emphatic denial to the reports, and insisted that the bank could and would go right slong, and the pub- lic aunouncement of an inevitable collapse on Even ther day would have been risky business. But wherein would such a publication have helped matters, if it had been then made? What good would it have done had Tus ‘Tnrzuns, in case it had deen in possession of information to warrant the statement, an- nounced on the previous Friday or Saturday that the “State”. was weak, and likely to lose any day? Such news would not have benefited any depositor one penny, but night have gotten Taz Trinune into serious been able to sendover. Whether this is due | (rouble. Suppose, acting upon some street to the greater nerve of the Americaus, a bet- | rumor, Tne ‘Trimune had expressed its ter style of shooting, or their more thorough | opinion at the time of the July acquaintance with the atmosphere, issome-|} ron on the Chicago savings banks thing the experts must settle ; it does not | that the “State” was in danger. Such change the fact that our fellows won. Nor} an sunouncement would only have brought on a panic at that time, might have dragged in other banks that are solvent, and in the end. would only have anticipated in the case of the State Savings the events of a month leter without changing the result, In one word, it is the province und duty of a} newspaper to chronicle facts and events as they happen, and not to traffic in predictions or reckless rumors affecting private business; but, in the case of the State Savings Bauk, there were not even. rumors. well enough defined to justify repeating in private con- yersation, 50 far as til within a few days of the collapse. other of the newspapers of Chicago had ad- vance information of the real condition of the bank under Speycen’s management, thoy must speek for themselves. ‘Tue Tamvse knows, un- If any THE PROLETARIAT AND THE TAXPAYER, About the only conspicuous fenture of lo- cal politics, with a distinct reference to the county election, is the attempted organiza- tion of the workingmen, one branch of which has progressed so far as to adopt the namo of the ‘‘ Workingmen’s Industrial La- bor Party of Cook County,” and all branches of which seem to be in concord with the Communistic sentiments first put forth in altimore, and since then generally adopted at all the workingmen’s conventions and mass-meetings . throughout These sentiments apply rather to a national recognition of the Communistie demand for a general leveling and dividing up of things, wb-tha infaranna. the country. fai ing for a local campaign and running a }o- cal ticket, an application of the samedoctrine intended to be made to local affairs so far The success of a Working- The Commu- the national rovernment ‘would enable them to vote moneys more liberally than ever for public improvements and: for distribution among the eleemosynary institutions supported at the county’s expense. That all this in view may be confirmed to some extent by citing the significant fact that in ll the meetings and conventions held by the so-called workingmen of Chicago there have Deen no utterances on behalf of the taxpay- ers, ‘and no expression of a disposition to inculcate more honesty and retrenchment in the management of county affairs, which is the chief aim of all taxpayers and good itizens in the coming election. If we were to judge merely by the rela. tive demonstration of interest and numbers, tho so-called workingmen’s mectings in. Chi- cago would indicate that the movement will be formidable; that this movement is in the hands of idle demagogues who have nothing to do but agitate and organize meetings ; that the re- cent labor troubles and present unemployed condition of large numbers of Iaboring-men afford an unusual opportunity for numerous and well-attended meetings ; all But it must be considered and that new political movements, exhibit their inception much greater energy than 6 old and established organizations. These circumstances, along with the fact that pre- vious movements of a similar nature dis- playing much preliminary force and energy, have flattened out into nothingness when the election came around, have a tendency to moderate public apprehension. At the same time, it is proper to keep in mind that tho purpose of the proletariat and the interest of fe taxpayer are opposed one to the other, the Communists have confessed over and over again by their platforms and in their duct during labor troubles. The organ- ization of the so-called workingmen under the auspices of the Communists ygll include virtually the same material which made up e strength of the People’s Party that ob- tained possession of the City Government four years ago, though the basjs of organiza- tion is different; and the results of s suc- cessfal movement upon the County Govern- ment will Le as disastrous to property-owners d taxpayers as the People’s Party proved be. One thing is very certain in connection import have to pay $3550,000,000 in gold in Europe for what they buy. ‘Tho importer sells his greenbacks and buys gold exchange from the exporter ; if he caprot get exchange he buys the gold and senda that to Earope. If the exporter cannot find a sale for his ex- change on Enrope, ho has the gold sent cnt to him, which in time he sells for green- backs, Thus in the course of a year green- backs are bought and sold for gold at the rate of $4,000.000 a day, or to the amount of $1.200,000,000 a year, Greenbacks, except proviously sold at their valuein gold, are not available in these immense commercial transactions, Leaving the Government out of the case altogether, admitting that the Government should never require the use of a dollar in coin for any purpose, the whole foreign trade of the country wili require the purchase of gold with greenbacka,. or the sale of gold for greenbacks, to the amount of $1,200,000,000 4 year. And yet the ) Greenbackers assume that the country has no use for a metallic currency. but may transact ail its business in paper dollars nev- er to be redeemed. Notwithstanding the notorious falsity of all the assumptions, the glaring absurdity of all the arguments, urged in behalf of this Ppaper-nioney system, this mountebank, dem- agogue, and brawling ignoramus, Cans! is able to find men willing to “chp in” their money to pay him for preaching this non- sense under the plea of educating the “workmg classes.” —_—_— FUNDS FOR THE CITY-HALL BUILDING. ‘We make room for, and ask public atten- tion to, a communication on the subject of raising money to pay for building the City- Hall. A tax levied in April, 1878, sonpeila- ing purposes will not be available as révenuo before September, 1979, and money cannot be raised by the issue of city certificates. Tho writer suggests a plan for raising over $100,000 annually for this building fund. He writes as follows: Yo the Editor of The Tribune. Curcaao, Sept. 15.—The estimated cost of the Court-House building, including both the city and county wings, was, two years or more ago, some- thing leas than $2,600,000, This would leave rs the cost of the city wing $1,300,000. Since that time there have been chsnges in the original plan, both as to materials and design, increasing, poasi- bly, the cost, but thie has been more than offset by. the great reduction in the cost of Jabor anid ma- Pendent movement may bo sold out, or it may be that they will be held together for the -purpose of nominating and sunning a ticket. But, in either case, it is expected and intended that the movement shall event- uate in tho interest of these same dema- gognes who are running it. If they sell out, they will reap the profits; if not, they will be candidates for office and tho residuary leg- atees of all the perquisites. In ueither case is there any other outlook for the working- men than that of being used as tools in the hands of unscrupalous and designing men, nor any other prospect for taxpayers, in case of the success of the demagogues one way or the other, than that of being betrayed and plundered worse than ever in county affairs. GREENBACKISM AGAIN. It has been some time since we have had in Chicago an old-fashioned, square-out, flat- footed advocacy of the simon-pure green- back paper-money doctrine ; and Saw Cany's speech, though old and familiar, was a relief to tho finer-spun, though hardly less irra- tional, doctrine of the latter-day parents of the rag baby. The fact that this venerable humbug can earn g living as itinerant orator on this subject is evidence that there is still a large body of people who agree, or think they agree, with him in the financial policy he advocates; and because of this we again ask attention to a subject on which so many “people think deeply and, though honestly, mistakenly. The doctrine taught by Cary and his school proceeds upon the theory that money is a mere legal creation; that it is not essentinl that money shall have any in- trinsic value; that all that is necessary to create money is for the Government to stamp any material, declare it to be money, and it becomes money; that this legal money, whether it be of paper, leather, gold, or silver, can have no greater value than the Government places on it, but that it must have that value under all circumstances. Thecustom—universal, we belicve—has been in the issue of paper money to recite thereon a “promise to pay” a certain sum; the greenback, for instance, is a “promise to pay” o stated number of dollars, supposed or assumed to be coin dollars. Of course, if the Government by mera force of Jaw can ereate dollars, then tho process of issuing promises to pay dollars is useless, Why | terials. ‘The city has a fond of $630,000 “en the paper dollars direct? Mr, | tecelved from the State set apart for pele bap " “| the construction of this building, and this Canx took the plain position that ‘a promise to pay debts in gold when there was no gold was a cheat, a delusion, and a snaro.” “If there wasn’t gold and silver to transact the business of the country, promises to pay gold and silver were a cheat and a swindle, he didn’t care who is- sued those promises.” ‘‘ Nobody wanted gold at all; it was the most utterly valueless metal ever dug ont of the earth, and fit only to make trinkets, idols for the heathen, and to fill teeth.” ‘ Instead of issuing promises to pay in gold, let the Government issue this formula: ‘ This noto is a legal tender for debts and taxes within the limits of the United Siates.’” Instead of the greonback promising to pay ten dollars, it should recite, “ This is ten dollars,” with the addition of being a legal tender. This is the currency which, being thus stamped by the Treasmy, would have the value of ten dollars, would never have to be redeemed, would .be “money ” capable of being manufactured will Ieave a8 the sum reguired to be raised by taxation to finish the City-Hall abuut $650, 000. T suppose that to ratse this em there willbe a tux laid annually of $150,000-to $200,000. The cost of collecting, including the lost taxes and the in- terest on the deferred revenue, will require a levy of from 13 to 20 percent additional to cover the costs and deficiencies in collecting the sum or revenue to meet the appropriations. Now, cannot this revenue be collected, or at feaet part of it, without any cost or Joss, promptly, and without any grievance to the general public? I thiak it can. There are inthis city 2,700 places licensed to sell liquors. Abont one-third of these ecil nothing but heer and wine, though they may eell all other forms of drink. The other 1,800 sell spirituous Nquors. AN these establishments pay the ehmo rate of icense—352 a year. Now I propose that the City Council shall classify theze establishments, 1, those which shall be licensed to sell beer and wine exclusively; 2, those which shall be. licensed as now to sell all kinds of liquors. Let the Council then fix as the rate of license for. the first class $80 each, per annum, and for the second class $100 per annam, and provide that of the revenue from the first class, 25 percent, and of the revenue from ae abundant and | the eecond class, 50 per cent shail be applied without limit, and ee alli . | exclusively to the cost of building the City-Hall. cheap. Having discarded metallic money | Ae saming thatthe number of aaloana be the eame as wholly useless, ond asserted the superiority of paper dollars, —which are their Sen saciak ied sebeeee Sascaate it fory ‘leary iustrated how abundant money wonld become and how cheap it could be had. In all this kind of argument the point is carefully 1gnored that, while a Govern. ment may, under certain circumstances, make its own promises to pay a legal tender in the payment of debts, there is no power to compel s man to take such mony in exchange for Inbor or merchandise. While man may be compelled to accept the paper in payment of a debt, and while a workman may be compelled to accept such pnper at its face value in paymont of a week's or a month's wages due him, there is n0 power to compel the butcher or the grocer to take the money in exchange for meat, or bread, or groceries, While the workman is compelled to take these “ dollars” at full valuation, he cannot compel any man to take them in ex- change for goods except at whatever valine the grocer may choose to give them. While the paper dollars may be forced upon persons iv payment of debts at 100 conts, they may bo available only to purchase food or clothing at 75, 50, or even 25 cents. So long, then, as paper money canuot be made exchangerble for merchandise except at just so much asa man chooses to give for it, the Government stamp and the law mak- ing it a legal tender must fail to Bive to it the least purchasing power." AN the Greenbackers profess to favor the remonetization of silver, and Cany ‘arges that greenback dollars be issued; that silver be purchased by the ton, then coined, and all the bonds paid off. Silver has a valne in gold; greenback dollars (not prom- ises) would buy no more silver than could be bought with the gold that could be obtained for the greenbacks. If greenbacks were worth 50 cents in gotd, they would purchase no more silver than could be purchased with 50 cents in gold. If asilver dollar was worth 95 cents in gold, and greenbacks were worth 47$ cents, it would take ‘two paper dol- Jars to. purchese one silver dollar. But the paper dollars having vo future value, having no futuro redemption in coin, would not purchase silver or anything else. The Empire of Hayti is the only country that bas psper money such as is advocated by Cany. They discard gold ond silver, and have paper dollars created by law. It takes $3,000 of that currency to purchase a pair of shoes, ‘and an American recently there was offered a package of cigars for $2,000 Haytien dollars, or a silver half.dollar of the United States. Money in Hayti is a legal tender, is abundant, and-sv cheap that it can be borrowed without interest, The issue of any such money would have the effect of driving out of circulation every form cf metallic currency; the silver, if coined at all, would be exported as bullion, and, though men might get $10, $20, or S40 a day wages, the currenvy would not pur- chase as mych food or clothing as a single silver dollar. Cheayening the money does not increase wages; paying a man three Paper dollars worth 25 cents each is not an increase of wages over one dollar worth 100 cents, Another argument is, that, if greenbacks Were made receivable for duties on imports, then there would be no furthor use for gold for any purpose, and greenbacks would be worth more than gold, The Government use ag now we will have ay an annual revenue from saloons applicable to the City-Hall Fund as -sttowe mine 000 licenses at $15 each... 8°13, 500 1,800 hicenses at $50 cach. 90,600 Total rovende...+...c.20. sos. It migot be stipulated or understood that tnis increase of heense rate was made for special revenue to build the City-Hail, and was to be dis- continued when revenue for that, purpose should nolonser be required. It might be further pro- vided that a special license of $10 for each billiard- table and $5 for cach pool-table should be paid, and that the revenue from these sources should be added to the Special Building Fund. Iam prevared to Velieve that the great majority of the proprictors of the saloons will cheerfully respond to this additional license for this specitic purpose. This addition to the beerand wine loons will be but $3.a year each, or something tess than 15 cents a week each. ‘The other salouns will have to pay something less than $1 each per week additional, for which they will have the privilege of selling spirituous liquors given to them exciu- sively. I do not believe the proprietor of a reputable satoon tn the city will object to the extra license for this special purpose. Neo persons will rejoice mora than they will if the increused license close up all the low, disorderly establishments which tend to disgrace the whole trade. The special fand of over $100,000, being cot- lected annually, without any cost for collection and without sbatements of any kind, will reduce the sum to be raised annnally by taxation to a very. moderste figure. say from $25,000 to $50,000, A commend this eubject to the consideration of the people, the Council, the workingmen, and. all others interested. Citr-Hau. ————___, THE REPULSE AT PLEVNA. Thus far the Russian storming parties at Plevna have accomplished hitle or nothing. ‘The operations there iesemble in some re- spects the foolhardy aud wasteful attacks of Suiensas Pasha on the Scbipka Pass. In both instances the prize to be gained was a tempting one, but in both also it was hang- ing out of the rench of ordinary luman ef- fort.. Tentative movements might have dis- closed the real strength of the enemy in each instance, and saved many lives as well as preserved the morale of the attacking armies, ‘The Russians before Plevna must suffer not merely from actual ensualties in the field, but from o disheartening feeling among the soldiers that Vate itself is against them. If there is one lesson this war has taught more effectually than any other it is the de- cay of the old method of carrying intrenched camps.by storm, Mere enthusiasm is but a poor substitute for strength, and the glory of dying in the front rank does not compensate for its disadvantages. Naked valor and elan cannot carry the day against an army under cover with breech-loaders in their bands, ‘The slaughter before Plevna in the various attacks during tho last ten deys must have been frightful. Col. Wrrnester says that the Grivica redoubt visited by him was henped full of dead and wounded, and this was, at last accounts, the only position which the Russians had been able to hold. This reads marvelously like the story of the first batile of Pleyna. If the Russians do not soon retrisve them- sclves, they must give up all hope of carry- ing Plevna with tho present force at their command. Indeed, it looks now as if they had. already arrived at this sensible conclu. sion, and resolved to mask the town until the army of the Czarowitch is either ro leased or driven back. Moanwhile, all per sons interested in the war will wait with anxiety for reports from the Jantra and the Lom. The junction of Sutercan and Me- ueEMeT may be effected at any’ tine, anda allegation that the Milwankee & St. Paul cannot get into an-elevator is sustained in Application to Srescen or the other bank officers would have been met by an emphatic denial of their truth, aud a distinct intimation that Ta: Tawonz, if it with the local organizations of workingmen, They are all in the hands of demagognes. The result may be that the workingmen who | think they have enlisted in a genuine inde- for gold is very slight compared with that de- manded by commerce. We import and ex- Port annually merchandise to the value $1,200,000,000. The men who export sell their goods abroad and have to their credit there $650,000,000 of gold. The men who pitched battle will follow between them and the Czarowitch. It is likely to be a Sedan for one side or the other. Not much importance need be -attached at present to the report that Oswax Pasha bas won & great victory at Dubrit, and thus opeued up his line of communications between Plevna and Sofia, The report comes from Shumla, which has been a noto- riously inaccurate source of information since the war began. If, however, the news shonid be confirmed, it would indicate that Osxay is stronger than anybody supposed. He must have been tolerably confident of his position at Plevna if he could divert s con- siderabla force from there to win a battle in his rear. DOCTRINES OF PRE-EXISTENCE. We kave priated on successive Sundays articles from the London Spectator on Im- mortality, and answers thereto of W. R. Grea and others. A cognate subject, pos- sessed of an interest almost ns fascinating, is the doctrine of Pre-existence propounded by the ancients and entertained, with a cer- tain secretiveness perhaps, by a vast number of moderns. A writer who ought to be glad to give his name to the svorld, Bat does not, treats the subject exhanstively in the last number of the Penn Monthy, reviewing the field from the early days of Buddhism and Brahmanism to the modern period of Ep- warp Beecuer. The doctrine traveled, it is well known, from India to Greece, where it was entertained by Prrnacoras and Prato, andafterwards by Pxoziycs and Procxvs. Thence it passed over to Judaism through Patio of Alexandria, the Pharisees, and the Doctors of the Kabbalah, and to Christian Theology through the Alexandrian Gnostics and Ozicen ard his school. The reviewer observes, in a prefatory way, that the docrine of Pre-existenca is intimately associated with the doctrine of Immortality. Both imply. a certain quality of prominence in spiritual essence, “ Where is our human dignity if we are but the upstarts of yesterday? May not that which so recently was not, with equal right as soon’lapse out of being into oblivion? It was this argument which bad special weight with the old Greek philosophers. They asserted the eternity of the son) in order to vindicate its immortality.” The Christian conception of Creation does, it is true, deprivé this argument of 1ts literal force, and yet our instinctive belief in immortality imphes a half-conscious acceptance of some such view of the matter. 5 The intellectual feebleness of infants is thought by some to contradict the theory of a previous existence, in which, it may be supposed, a state of advancement was reach- ed. In reply to this, it may be said that the infant, inarked as is its feebleness in com. parison with the full growth of manhood, may yet. be proficient in human learning as compared with a lower order of beings, of whose surroundings we neither know nor can. imagine anything, We must confess that the conception of the infant as the product of's divine: institation lower than our own is at once flattering to the pride and soothing tothe fancy. ‘The opinion that infants do not think merely hecause their thonghts do not run in the same channels as those of their elders is prematnre and audacious. As Dr. Turrer or Dr. Houtanp so exquisitely remarks : Who can tell what the baby thinks? Who can follow the gossamer Sinks By which the manikin feels bis way ‘Out from che vhores of the Great Uninown, Blind, and wailing, and alone Into the light of day? sion. Tuo author we are following, how- ever, does not indulge in sentiment. Hecon- tradicts'the alleged results of the study of infant psychology by -holding (1) that the nature and extent of the mental furniture possesséd by children “obliges a resort to the theory of pre-existence; (2) that the Pres- encs of radical evil in the hearts of children leads many men of acute observation to be- lieve that the human spirit had made choice of the evil before its birth into this life; and (3) that in the case of second childhood we sea that the spirit of man is capa- ble of being divested for a time of the a-cumulated experience of a long life, and of returuing to just such a condition as that of the child who is but newly gifted with the powers of speech and motion, “The great and good prelate, Freperics Cunisttay vos Orrrvcgn, of Wurtembarg (1702-1782), became in his old age a devout and innocent child, after a long lifo of usefulness, partly spent in the composition of works profound- ly speculative as well as thoroughly edifying, ‘The change began with a gradual loss of speech, so that for three years he was dumb. Leaving his study and his library, whose books were now sealed to him, he would go to the streets and sit down on the ground to join the children in their plays, and by his passionate eagerness in their games, and his shartug their rapturous delight in field, in wood, in tlowers, he showed himself as mach achild as any of his playmates. The waters of Styx, whieh the ancients represented as drunk to produce forgetfulness in souls who were about to re-enter upon this earthly life, were not altogether fabulous.” in this couuection occurs a consideration of the common experience, in accordance with which nearly every person is placed in asituation which he indistinctly recalls as having kuown before. Perhaps not much dependence is to be placed on this expo- rience. Wo are, iudeed, such stuff as dreams ate made of, and our little lite is rounded with «sleep. Our author takes the ingemous position with reference tu these indistinct recollections that they result from. # mental process akin to the muscular action which produces binocular vision. His as- sumption is perhaps a tritle fautastio; for there is just as-little evidence of duality iu the faculties as there is of immortality, and the one assumptivn does not prove nor dis- prove the other. Duulity in the brain and in the uervous orguuization is, indeed, a well-established fact, but 1t does not extend to products of the forces excited by the or- ganisms—at least, there is no evidence that it does. ‘The history of the belief in pre-eristence can scarcely be traced within the limits of a newspaper article. Metempsychosis was a fundamental article in the creed of the an- cient Buddhists and Brahmans. The Besh- man considers absorption in Brahm the sum of human felicity; the Buddhist desires xothing so mnch as snnihilation. Both look forward to the final change as a happy re- lease from the dreadful penalties of residence in what Mr. Tyspacs calls tho “promise and potency of every form of life.” The Greeks derived their Pythagorean dovtrine from India, and our author presumes, on what authority we know - not, that Pyraaq onas himself visited India. Two cen- turies afterwards Prato expanded the doc- trine in the ‘‘Phiedrus,” which, the writer says, wes suggested by the splendid religious procession which closed the Pan-Athenwan Festival, and in which nearly the whole pepulstion of the city took part. The next important advocate of pre-existence was So much for the sentiment of the discus- | Furto, a Jew of Alexandria, who was about 25 years old when Curisr was born, He gave 8 version of Platonic philosophy adapted to the religious beliefs of his own { people. Tha -Neoplatonist Philosopher, chief among whom were Prormys a? Proctus, flourished from the end of thy second century to the beginning of the sixth. “‘Pzorixus,” says Corzrtg; was aman of wonderful ability, ang Som of the sublimest passages I ever tea? are in his works.” Hoe asserted thas the highest principle of all ig Rot intelligence, but unity,—a unity da void of intelligence becanse above it, and bringing forth all things by a natural Reces sity, withont the exercise of volition or in: telligence. This was but o variation of the doctrine of emanation, which took the place of the idea of creation, and which vas held. by the disciples of this school generally. They were not Pantheists, but tanght that there was individuality in that which bad emsnated from the Father. ‘Matier bas no real being; it is the non-existent, tha mayi of the universe, the necessary boundary-ling between being and uot being. The sonig who have descended into it did so from pride and the desire of a false independence, They now more or less forget their first estate and the Father whom they hare do. serted.” The Gnostic theory assumed the creation of the world by some fallen spirit or principle, and the pre-existence of men ina higher stage, whence they had descended not by individual fall, but by deceit. Consideration of the subject is not com. pleted in the present review, which, from the nature of the case, is fragmentary. We cannot, Lowever, dismiss it without allasion toone remarkable passage. in which it i maintained that Curtsr himse’f and tho Jews of His time believed and taught pre-ex istence. “Which did sin,” His disciples asked him, ‘this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Tho exegesis is: Wa this man born blind because his parents hid done wroilg, or because he had done wrong himself in a previous state of existence? An other time He asked Hig disciples: **Whon say men that I am?” ‘They answered; “Some say Euisan; others, Jemextun; othe ers, one of the old prophets.” This view of the mission of Cunist is remarkable, and, to many minds at least, it will bo new. It is zo‘ ualikely to arouse some,controversy ; for, if the greatest Tencher knowa to hnmanity taught pre-existence, he expounded a doc trine which most of His followers have Deg- lected or despised. —_—— Saat Carr, Obio Democratic currerey-dilu- tiovist, takes a different view of the eect of 80-called contraction from that held by h's Ohio Democratic dilution: brother, Gen. GzorsE WV. Moreay. The latter in bis speeches is shoving, first, that the Republicans contracted the eur- rency (meaning the 7-30 bonds) by six hundred millions between 1865 and 1871, and ia another Dart of his speech he demonstrates that during this period the country enjoyed. wonderful Prosperity. In another part of his speech he shows that from 1871 till 1873 Congress acted on the let-alone policy, and neither contracted nor expanded the currency, but waited for the country to ‘grow up to specie payments,” but at the end of the two years of the waiting policy the panic came; that, during the yeors Congress kept trving to strengthen the public credit. by funding the currency bonds. bus‘ness steadily improved; as soon as they adopted the policy of “ letting it alone” depression and panic ful- lowed. But Sam Cary preaches quite a differ- ent gospel from that of bis Demozratic brother. He attributes the hard times Wholly to con- traction and scarcity of currency to perform business; the funding of the 7-30 bonds into 5-20's is what he calls contraction, and to this measure he ascrives the panic and business ce pression. These brethren should re'vearse thei Pieces together before going out preaching,. at the contradictions read awkwardly and are apt tu. confuse their hearers. a < a ne The St. Louis Aepublican having remarked that the Chicago Vews seemed to be ran a3 ¢ tender tothe Glohe-Lemocrat of St. Louis, and adding that “Whenever the @.-D. wants tr utter a lie of especially large pronortions it al ways contrives somchow to have it printed in the Chicago Vews, and then rehashes it to St- Louis readers uvon the authority of this Chica go tender,” Wells-Street Winser, in his Times Of the 3d iuvst., comments as follows: The editor of this triding publication WNeics} is the Chicago specia! liar of the Democrat. “Ue it was who farnisned the sto six Chicago vavinge-benks had ¢; and the managers of abi of them we: ir fi ‘The staff was nuts to the Globe. It appreciates its Chicago man, and he, Poor dependent, bespatters his employer with praise. Af any of the ‘six savings-banks ” shall close their doors, wili it be in order to call the editor of the Times a ‘Paul Pry” for informing them who it was that had assailed and had. helped to make the runon them? Willitbe a fair pro sumption that he knew they were rotten at the time, and was trying in some way to help them cheat their depositors? a Saxt Carr safd in his barangue that “ Gold Was the most worthless metal ever.dug from the earth; it was needed for nothing except to fill rotten teeth, and for personat adornments.” Reducing its value to ita use in thearts, this wag avery false and shallow assertion, as gold ig employed for hundreds of purposes, for the rea son that no other substance answers so well, But the worth or worthlessness of gold is really determined by its market value. Wuat will mankind give for it? What will they exchanee for it! What kind of product, article, or com- modity do they-refuse to exchange for it? Will they, sell houso and farm tot Can their farms, mills, shops, or ships be bougiit for it? Ts it treely accepted in payment of dcets? Wil) ten give food, fuel, and raiment for it? Will i buy medical services? Will it pay taxes} Wilh Publishers receive It in payment of subscrip- tous and advertising? 1f an affirmative answer be given to all these questions, it must require considerable bardinood on the part of Sam Carr or any other blathesskite to call it “ worthless.”* pe eeaelisiodls {the 2 Saxt Cary sail that England had $2 of Money per capita and France $60, whereas we had but $14.9. Where did he get the notion that France had more than twice as much eur- Tency as Englaud! According to Sam, Great Sritain, which bas a population within three rations of tiat of France, but has vastly more commercial and bauking capital, scratches alone on a begearly 7H) millions of currency, whereas France spreads herselY over 2,160 millions! ‘This isa specimen of the accuracy of his state- ments. The truth is, that the active money of neither France nor Great Britain exceeds 600 to 700 millions. What amount of gold and silver May be hidden awway—buried in the ground—by. the French peasantry is unknown; bat whatever the sum {s, {t cannot be reckoned as part of the elireulating medium! of France, for the good reason that it does not circulate. a The wits of Mr. Wootter, of Louisville, ap- Dear to have gone Woouvey-gathering, for he ‘has published s card in the Courier-Journal de- clining to assist at the reception of the Presi- dent. This is the same Mr. Woouter, we be- lieve, who is accredited with the umiable and ingenious practice of bulldozing courts by sub sitting briefs of his arzuments with 16,000 or 17,000 authorities cited, with chapter and verse, allof them being the production of his own ebullient imagination. However, Judges who don’t know him are, according to local tradi- tion, often blutfed by his gigantic show of eru- dition into giving judgment in bis favor. ac To judge from the columns of the contem- borary press, the great mystery fs not who Oz MAN Pasha is so much as who he isn’t. By the Way, Oakey Haut went East to grow up with thecountry. Perhaps-—. —————— : The Herald, having {alled the Democratic and Republican parties, has now throwa poor AMY Fawartt down a stairway and killed her. ¥e