Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, September 30, 1877, Page 4

4 THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, I87T7—SIXTEEN FAGHN, The Tribune, TERMS OF SURSCRIPTION. BY MAIL~IN ADVANCE—POSTAGE PRETAID. Dally Edition. one rear. Parixof a year, per moii atled to sny addrees four Literary and Eunda) Editior Touble Shee 2.30 Saturday Editivn, 1w u'uu “Tri-Wecekly, .50 Purts of a vear. jrer month, o WEEKLY EDITION, POSTPAID. s 1.25 One cOpy. per year.. ot 25 Club of ten.. ] 1.00 Club of twe " Spectmen coples sent free. To prevent delsy and mistakes be surc and give Post- ‘Ofhce address in full, Including State and County. Remfttances msy be made cither by drafl. express, Post-Oftice order, or in reglstered ictters, at onr risk. TERMS TO CITY SUBSCRIBELS. Daily, delivered, Sunday cxeepted, 25 cents per week. Tatly, delivered, Sundny tncluded. 30 cents per week. Address THE TEIBUNE COMPANY, Corner Madieon ard Dearborn-sts.. Chicago, Il Orders for the delisery of Tix TRIBTK® at Evanston. Englewood, and llyde Park left tn the counilng-room will receive bromps attention. SOCIETY MEETINGS. GEX. GEORGE A. CUSTER POST. XO. 40, G. A. —Comrades, attention! You are hereby notifled that ‘we mect hereafter ou Wedn y evening at # o'clock. 1n ball fn Kailroad Chapel. State-st. Oan Oct. 3. the Post will be vislted by thic $tate Commander and Adju- Zant, ."dl‘&;y a m;;fllnl;trrl l:le" atiunal Council. Visit- Comiradet cordiatiy inviced: b T. C. VIERLING, Commander, JOBN MORAN, Adjutant. 1. 0. 0. F.—All Lodees {n Chilcago are requested to eend reprerentatives, with certificates of their election under eeal of the Lodgento be represented. 1o a meet- 1o of the Commitier of the Bowrd of General Lelief, 1. 0. 0. F., to be fn_Excelsfor parlors Thursday urpose of adopuing 8 consiftution and by laws, sad electiug oft- ee: er order o ‘ommiifee. = JouX D. MURPIY, Secretary. evening, Oct. 4. at 7:30 o'elack. for the LAFAYETTE CHALTELR No. 2. I A. M.—Hall, 70 Monroe-er.~Spechal Convocation 3onday evening. Get. 1, a7 for work on the M. P. aud M. E. De- & 30 0clock, 1 Vi Corafally fnvited. By order of M. rees. " Visiiors Corafally fuvtted_ By irder of M.'E. E. N. TCCKER, Sec” 043, A F.and A. M. D. C. CR i 2l Nos. and 2+0 M kee-av. "Regular Co munlcation mest Wednesdsy evening, Oct. 3, aL7 o'clock sharp. Thind Degree, Visiting Brethren cor- dislipinstied, Dy order”JAMES REATS, WM. JOHN GINOCHIO, sec. CORINTRIAN CHAPTER, NO. 63, R. A. M.— Special Convocation Monday evening, Oct. 1, at7:30 o'clock. Work on the P and M. EW. De By order. A ; J.0. DICKERSON, Secretar ST. BERNARD COMMI. RY, NO. 3, K. T.— Stated Conciave Wednesday evening. Oct, 3, at 7:30 o'clock. Work on the C of K.T. Visittng Sir isly invited. By order. Eaighua are courteously taviged, By amer @ B C. 3.0. DICKERSOY, tecorder. APOLLO COMMANDEF PLAK-Special Conclave 3i.on Tuesday evenlng in of ihe Tempie will be conf come. By orderof the E. XO. 1. RNIGNTS TEM- sylum, 7210 78 Monroe- Oct. 2. The Order Visitors always wel- . DUNLOP, Recorder. CHICAGO CHAPTEE, No. 127, Convocation of Chicage Chapts 2t their rooms, Xo. 134 TwruLy. v evening, Oci. 3, at 7:30° Mark Desrre. Perorder of ELI SMITI, Sccretary A. M.—Regular . will be heid cond Rire clock. Work on the E. P. TOBEY, I. P. ZAND LODGE OF PER- )y on Thursday o, iy onler of VAN RENSSELA FECTION will hold rentng next. Work on th ORN EDGOODALE, Grand S CHICAGO COMMANDERY, N0, 18 K. T.—Atten- tion, SIr Kalghts. Stated Conclave Monday evening. Der. 1, for work an Order. Visiting Sir Knights sourteonsly fnvited. By onler of & - v 5. JNO.H.SANBORY, E. C, JAS. E. MEGINY, Ree. CHICAGO LODGE. No437. A. ¥. and A. M.—Regu- 1ar Communication Nionday. 0ct. 1,'8 o"clock p. m.. for Lhe dispatch of businexs und work. A full attendunce f members {6 requested. Ry urier of ke W. M. NATHAN HEFTER, Sec. BLAIR LONGE, NO. 392 A. F. and A. M.—There &1l be & regular communication at Masonic Hi 72 Manroe-st.,commencing at 7= 0'cluck, Work on Degree. Vislting brethren cordlally vited. Ity o J. M. TERWILLIGER. W. M, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1877. CHICAGO MARKET SUMMARY. The Chicazo produce markets were irregular Fatarday. - Mcss pork closed Tiic per brl lower, x $13.65813.67% for October and S12.97%@ 13.00 for January. Lard closed 2iic per 100 hs lower, st $6.67@5.70 cash and $8.324 eeller Yae year. Meats were dall, at 6}:c for loose shoul- ders and 8¢ for do short ribs. Lake freights were active, at 4%c for corn to Buffalo. Highwines were steady. at $1.08 per gallon. Flour was dull 3nd unchanced. Wheat closed steady, at $1.18 for Septemver and $1.06 for October. Corn closed e lower, at 42%c cash and 42%c for October. Oats tlosed tame, at 23ic for cash or October. Rye Fas quiet, at 53¢, Barley closed dull, at 61c for Detober and G2%c 1or November. Hogs were 5¢ higher, at $5.30@5.90. Cattle were nominal at B2.50@5.25; and sheep quoted at $2.75@4.75. The summer packing of the West to date equals 2,055,000 hoge. The receipts of wheat in Chicazo during September wcre 9,061 car-loads, or about 3,400,000 bu. There was inspected into store in 1his clty Saturday 638 cars wheat, 334 cars and 23,400 bu corn. 111 cars and 4.000 bu oats, 35 carstye, and 95 cars barley. Total (1213 cars), 482,000 bu. One handred dollars in gold would buy §103.00 in greenbacks at the cloee. At the New York Gold Exchange on Sat- urday greenbacks ruled at 97@973. That distinguished statesman, Mr. Bor ‘Tooxps, is en route for Boston, to consult an oculist &bout the very eves which he once said would serve him when he called the roll of his slaves ai, the foot of Bunker Hill Mon- ument. 1t is to be hoped that the ““ On to Mexico” faction will be gratified with the intelligence that a vast and vigorous army of 100 men have marched into the “ sister Republic” in pursuit of horse-thieves. While this army is on that business, by the way, they might perhaps accomplish much good by a well- conducted campaign sgainst the ‘“On to Mexico ” faction. The Hungarian plot discovered by the Aus- triann suthorities appears to have been a scheme of considerable magnitude. Turkish sympathizers in Transylvania had wmade the initial arrangements looking to the rmising of a legion told Sheriff KerxN that he was & supporter of Hes1yg, and had sold out to the foe. There- upon the Sheriff of Cook Connty slapped his traducer in the face, and the meeting tem- pestuously adjourned. The party of Reform, Honesty, Economy, McCarrrey, and HoLDEN is not harmomous, and is trying thus early to find excuses for its certain defeat in No- ‘vember. It is & matter of general agreement among representatives of all branches of trade in this city ‘that the business done by them last week was gratifyingly large, and much in excess of what they they had looked for- ward to. It did not need their assmrances, however, to prove to even the most indiffer- ent observer that the season was au active one. The crowds upon the streets, the throngs in all the shops, wholesale and retail, the attendance at the Exposition, con- sisting chiefly of country people, were good enough indications that the day of better things was at hand. 'The prosperity of the great show on the lake shore is satisfactory evidence of the amotnt of money which is being spent in Chicago just now. The price of admission is but 25 cents, or half what it was last year, and yet the receints last weeck were equal to thosa for the same period in 1876. Nearly all the visitors are from out of town,—the city people waiting till the rush is over.— and, after theyhave seen the show, they vicit the shops and make their purchases, and they are heavier than they have been for years. Tuz Trinune finds that its sales of papers havo largely increased, and it is neces- sary for it to print over 1,000 more than usual per day in order to supply this extra demand. The commercial banks report that their deposits are increasing, and that the traces of the savings-bank panic are rapidly disappearing. The people of Chicago aro elastic, and not given to despondency. They do not cry long over their wounds, but take heart of grace and go to work again. They are beginning to feel the influence of this recent business revival, and will be prompt to take advantage of it, and make this the busiest and most profitable season we have had for years. THE INEQUALITIES OF YAXATION. Some years ugo a broker in this city, in making his schedule of personal property for taxation, wrote down that he Lsd cash on hand §35,000. The Assessor returned this schedule unchanged. No objection be- ing interposed, it was cousolidated with the whole county nscessment reported to the State Board of Equalization. That Board added 76 per cent to the assessment of per- sonal property in this county, making the valuation upon the cash of the broker at the rate of $1.76 per dollar. Upon an appeal to the Supreme Court, that body decided that no relief could be given; that the bank- er had been guilty of laches,—had slept on his rights; that the law afforded every citi- zen full means of protection, and that he should have attended to te business before the county authoniiss. It has never beea very clear r. .ne: dinds of the public how the law affoiis any kind of protection to the citizen in tais matter of taxation. For sevetal years the State Board has by resolution declared that the ¢5- sessment of property for taxnble purposes was at the rate of 50 per cent of it cash vaine. Inmaking their returns of r:.:.onal property in this county the general rublic have adopted this 50-per-cent rul:, that is, the owners of personal property made re- turns thercof at half its value, and the As- sessor, following the same rule, adopted that valuation. When the County Board ravised these vaiuntions it added 20 per cent to tho assessments for the South Town. ITow the State Bosrd has added 55 per cent to the whole county assessmient, first naving de- clared that the general valustion of the prop- erty throughout the State was 50 per cent of the real value. Now let us com- pute the effect of this valustion by an actual case: A, having personal property worth $2,000, returned this under the 50-per- cent rule at £1,000: to this the County Board added 20 per cent, or $200; and the State Board has added £330, meking n total valuation of 31,750 ; which, being, according to the State Board,only 50 per cent of its resl value, makes that $2,000 worth $3,300. The Supreme Court has ruled that the State Board is a law nnto itself, and that in the ab- sence of fraud its valuations are final. The State Board has decided thafgthe equalized valuation of property as completed by it is at the rate of 50 per cent of the real value; while, a5 in the case of the broker, whose greenbacks were assessed at $1.75 on the dollar, and in the case we have pu of prop- erty valued at 87} per cent of its roal value, the decision of the State Board that it is only 30 per cent must stand as s finality, and is without redrass. ‘We suggest that the declaration of the Supreme Court in the Apsir case—that the law afforded ample protection te every citi- zen, if the citizen will resort to the remedies provided—is not sustained by fect, and that the citizen has mo legal protestion against injustice and unfairness in the matter of taxation. In the first place, the lsw is im- perative that property shall be ::!ued at its full cash value; the Assessors a-c sworn to assess all property at its full cash value; the to number 5,000 men, which, fogether witha Turkish corps assigned to that duty, were to make an attempt to destroy the TRoumsnian railways. The Hungarian Gen- eral Krarra is s0id to have been one of the leaders. A prodigious effort is being made by the Committee appointed to investigate the Patent Offico fire to demonstrate that the conflagration was the work of an incendiary, and that the objeet was to destroy all evi- dence of certain frauds. Asthere is nothing 1o upset this theory but the fact that the flames originated in tho dryest part of the dryest building on the earth, it is possible that the Committce will ignore the proba- Dility that the fire arose from the friction of a couple of handsomely bound reports, and Present a true bill against some ¢ parties un- known.” ‘With an artistic eye to effect, Tweep saves the pudding and nuts of his Tevelations until the end, and proposes, when his testimony is ell in, to crucify Attornsey-General Famcarp 1y producing the *confession™ repudiated by that functionary some time ago. Mean. while, ““Big Six” contents himself and the Committee by telling whom he used to divide his stolen money with, enumerating a for- mer Police Commissioner, an Assistant Secre- tary of State, and the Albany Erening Jour- nal. Ho shows up this gang as a sort of side dish, promising to fill in at last with something worth while. The Democratic Central Committes met yesterday evening to try {o make arrange- ments for holding the County Convention. The litile gathering was marked by thoss sweetnesses which are always found where dapding Democrats assembls. Mr. Kesny ) forms of listing given to citizens on which to make' returns require full cash values to b returned. - The practice, however, is aglinit this ; the requirement of the law is ignored, and the State Board gravely assumes annually to fix, arbitrarily, o rate at which the valua- tion hss been made. It deals with counties. It decides which of the 102 counties nre ns- sessed too high and which too low on each description of property, and adds to or takes from the aggregate valuation returned by such counties with uncontrolled freodom. The State Board levies taxes by countics, and not upon property of indi- viduals. If a man in Kane County has a farm worth $50 an acre, and makes return thereof as required by law at that value, and the State Board shall decide that all the land in Kane County has been assessed tco low, and adds 100 per cent to the valuation of lands in that county, this person will have his land ass: d for taxation at $100 an acre, and there iSno legal remedy or relief, The Constitution of the State provides for ‘“levying a tax by valug’:on, fo that every person and corporation sl pay a fax in proportion to the value «£ his, her, orits Pproperty.” It does not previde for *“levying a tax by valuation, so that each couc’y shall be-taxed such sum as s Bosrd rivting at Springfield shall apportion therete.” I:is uaavoidable in the assessment of property that various degrees of accuracy in the val- uation shall occar. Property in a county may be assessed at 40, 50, 60, 75, 80, or 100 per cent of its real value. This inequality the State Board doés not attempt to correct. It deals with counties ; it adds 40, 60, or 100 per cent to value of property in the whole county, thus doing the grossest injustice to those whoss property had already been val- ued af or ‘near its full value, No degres of | watehfulness or care upon the part of the citizen can guard against injustice in the as- sessment after it has loft the control of the county. authorities. In the matter of taxa- tion, therefore, not merely for State, but for county, town, and city purposes, the citizen is ot the mercy of an irresponsible Board, whose proceedings are not to levy a tax by valuation on the property of each citizen, in proportion to its value, but whose function istolevy taxes by counties, and whose de- cision is final, except in the case of fraund. The aggrieved citizen is without remedy. The courts are closed against him ; and he finds that he is not required to pay taxes in proportion to the value of his property, but according to the value which the State Board may think proper to place on all the prop- erty in his county. THE COUNTY BOARD. ‘We hope there is no citizen of Chicago who will allow himself to forget that there are five members of the County Board to be elected in November, and that four of these sre to be elected by the voters residing in the city. These five mombers are of more importance to the protection of the public interest than are all the other officers com- bmed. These men will be the controlling power in the County Board, and the pro- ceedings of the County Board are of more direct and pecuniary concern to the people of this city than are those of the State Leg- islature. This Board levies more taxes to be collected in this city than does the Legisla- ture. Itisansnomaly in government. It lovies taxes, votes the appropriations, and its members personally expend the whole revenue of the county. The members make all the appropriations; they personally pur- chase the food and clothing for the insane, for the hospital, for the’alms-house, and for the outdoor relief. They vote the money to pay for building the Court-House, aud all other public buildings; they fix the price of materials and of Iabor, and vote such extras in the way of gratuities as may be asked and perhaps paid for by the contract~ ors. They are only limited in these expend- itures by the amount of taxes they can levy and collect. The Board consists of only fifteen members, and eight aro at the same time a quorum and a majority, apd eight members have absolute power. It is need- less to repeat the history of the present Board. Several of Lhe members are now on trial for official misconduct and dishonesty. The vacancies happening this year are of such & character that the present ruling ma- jority will bo porpetuated, or that majority will be chauged {o a minority, according to the character of the men who may be elected this fall. If five honest citizens can be found who will give their time to-the public service, and they shall e elected, then the public will have some degree of protection for at leust the year to follow. If. howerver, a different class of persons shall be elected, then the disgraceful transactions of several years past will be repeated with renewed energy. The office of County Commissioner was never intended to be one of profit. To any man having an honest way of living, it in- volved a serious sncrifice of time and a matter of irksome labor to accept the office. To the man who seeks it as a matter of profit and s a means of living, it presents many opportunities. No man ought to bo elected who expects to live upon what he can make out of it. Any other class of men will find that office, like jury duty, a great burden, however necessary it may be. In sclecting caudidates and in voting for . candidates, the idea of picking out men who are in want of a means of living should be abandoned. The office ought not to pay a Commissioner over $150 a year, and that for an immense amount of labor and of time. Noman ought to be elected who seeks the place for the money there is in it, because honestly there is no money init. Itisto be hoped that every voter in the city will be impressed with the importance of this election, and that there will be a general aud hearty union of all parties in the elec- tion of men who will reform the character of that Board, A SOCIALISTIC SOPHISM. . Sunday is the day when the workingmen of the cities have most time to give heed to the discussions of the public questionsin which they take au interest, and conse- quently it is Sunday that is generally chosen by the Communistic leaders and socialist demagogues to ventilate their vagaries. One of these chaps, well known for his rockless attacks on every principle that holds society together in its commercial and political re- lations, took advantags of a meeting of workingmen last Sunday to evolve the most preposterous of all the socialistic doctrines that have come under our notice. In order to emphasize the value of organization, and to pander to the greed and imagination of his hearers, he told them that *‘ combina- tion ” is all that is necessary to secure labor- ing men any wages they chooss to demand, and that they might as well as not wear the best of clothes, smoke the best of cigars, and enjoy princely fare, and pictures, and sillk dresses, and pianos, and all the luxuries of life that they might individually covet. It was only for them to demand wealth and take it. “With combination,” he added, ““ the hod-carrier may demand and get $5 and $6 a dayas wgll as $1 a day.” The speaker. knew very well that he was telling a lie, and that he was counseling a course sure to lead either to starvation or plunder. But such sentiments find easy credence among the ignorant people to whom they are addressed, and it is on this account that it is well to follow them out to their logical results. If the hod-carriers should combine and succeed in obtaining $6 a day instead of $1, it is not within reason fo suppose that combination would ceass with them. If it did, then the successful combination of the hod- carriers would bringadditional suffering upon all other classes of labor. This combina- tion alone for a sixfold increase of ‘wages would probably double the cost of building, ‘which would immediately double rents and add in due proportion to the household ex- penses of all workingmen, while their wages remained the same as before. But the suc- cessful example of the hod-carriers would induce other classes of laboring men sim- ilarly to combine and exact sixfotd the ‘wages they had been receiving. The man who earns $3 a day would demand $18, and the man who earns $5 & day would demand 230, and so on. Those classes that shounld be powerless to combine, or neglect to do 50, ‘would be reduced to s condition of slavery, for it would be equivalent to this in avery cnse where the rate of wages remained the same, while the cost of every- thing consumed by the laborer, so paid, had been increased sixfold. Such workingmen, then, as should remain outside the general combination would be worse off than the negro slave before the "War, for he hada master and owner whose interest prompted l:lim to keep -the slave properly fed and clothed, while that class of workingmen whose wages were not incrensed would find it impossible to buy brend, and clothes, and fuel at six times their former cost. - It is reasorable to conclude, then, that if one class of workingmen or trades-unions could secure six times their present wages, then all other classes could do the same. This would include all the wages- class, whether in the foundry, or fac- tory, or commercial counting-house, or employed in the streets, in the transporta- tion busiuess, or the business of farming or plowing. Then all the *princely fare, and pictures, and silk dresses, and pianos, and cigars, and liguors, and other luxuries ” which the Communist orator held up before the covetous hod-carrier, would increase six- fold in price, and they would be as far be- youd the reach of the hod-carrier then as they are now. Everything would be on the samo plane after the common multiplication by six. Wherein would be the advantage to the workingman? The country tried the policy of multiplying things by two fora good many years. We were able to keep it up for awhilo because war inciensed con- sumption and diminished production, and we borrowed from foreign countries the difference. But even this double infla- tion led us finally to a general condition of commercial collapse, to a panic, and to long years of depression, during which we have been endeavoring to come down to o proper basis. How long would n six- fold inflation last and where would it end? are questions which may be answered by our experience in the double inflation. But this process of inflation by combina- tion would immediately precipitate national disaster. Unless the farm-laborers combined similarly, they would bo thrown out of em- ployment and starve, for all exchanges which the farmer takes would cost him six times. what they did before. It would be necessary, therefore, for the farmers and farm-laborers to combine for sixfold more. Then farm-produce,—the wheat, com, barley, onts, rye, cattle, hogs, cotton, rice, sugar,—all would command six times as . This would instantly shut n market. The Minnesota {armer, or Louisiana planter, or Texas stock- raiser who finds & market abroad for his wheat, or cotton, or beef at the present price would be thenceforth excluded from a foreign market by necessarily holding his stuff atsixtimes that price. Soiwith every branch of manufacture. But all observing men admit that the great trouble now comes from the lack of demand for the production of the country. This is the cause of relatively low wages and hard times. The proposition to combine and increase all wages sixfold is a proposition to reduce the demand still more. Now we have home consumption and foreign consumption, but the proposed incronse of wages would limit us to howe consumption aloue. The farmers would have to reduce their crops and the manufacturers close their mills aud foundries, whereby the num- per of nnemployed men would be increased and the extent of suffering would be en- Inrged, notwithstanding the fact that wages would be nominally six times what they were before. Yet this is the kind of advice which the demagogues and Communistic agitators preach to the workingmen, imposing on their ignorance and pandering to their cupidity. RENAN ON THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN. Ervest ReNax has written for the Contem- porary Revicw an article on the * Gospel Ac- cording to Jorx.” He takes the ground, not at all singular in these days, that this book of the New Testawment has been overrated. The simplicity and sincerity of the earlier Gos- pels are not to be found in it. RENav ad- vances reasons for believing that the Book of Jomy was written, not by the Disciple whom Jesus loved, but by a namesnke of the Apos- tle called the Presbyteros Joaxves and a cer-~ tain AmisTioN, who knew by heart many of the Lorp's discourses. They resided at Ephesus with Jory, heard his story of the life of Jesus, constituted him an oracle, and, after his death, published what they had heard from him, with embellishments of their own, as the Word of Gobo. It was a motter of local pride that Ephesus should find & place within the canon for the Apostle who had honored that city by his residence. The friends of the Apostle, in such a cause, felt themselves suthorized to speak in his name, and to write twenty-five or thirty years after JorN's death ‘what it was regretted that he himself did not make permanent during life. This, in brief, is the theory of Revan. It implies a certain degree of infidelity, and as such may shock those who place implicit confidence in the received version of the origin and publication of the Gospels. How- ever this may be, thereneed be no hesitation in entertaining his criticisms of the literary style of the Gospel. He finds it wordy and inflated, unreal and obscure. ¢ The guthor does not narrste; he demon- trates.” Nothing can be more fatig- uing than thote long accounts of mir- acles, and thoso discussions turning on misapprehensions, in which the adversaries of Jesus play the part of idiots. ‘Moreover, the composition is often mystical. It resem- bles the controversies of the ancient Greck philosophists, which revolve about definitions in endless mazes; or the disputes of the nominaliets, idealists, and realiste, which are the essence of pure philosophy, and the source of everlasting and fruitless specula- tion. Hence arose the doctrine of Gnosti- cism, and the division of the personality of Jesvs. Many already spoke of the mon Canistos 25 of a being distinct from the man named Jesus. It became imperative to oppose to this a tangible Word, and this was what the new Gospel did.” The life of Jesus a8 told by Jomw consequently differs in the gravest manner from the one nar- rated in the writings of , Lok, and MatreEw. The suthor makes the discourses of Jesus formal, and deprives them of apocalyptic utterances. He is obliged to take refuge in metaphysics. * This false position produces at length a fatiguing im- Ppression, andone ends by finding that the Jews were excusable for not having apprehended new mystertes presented to them in so ob- scure a manner.” In the Gospel of Jomy, JESUS “ argues to demonstrate His divinity.” ““Ono feels that the author's aim is not to re- port words that were actually spoken, but to give authority to hus favorite ideas by placing them in the mouth of the Divine Master.” REexAN describes this Gospel in two words 8s a ““ metaphysical drama.” It was pecaliar- 1y a style of writing which recommended it- self to the Greeks. “ The fresh charm of the Galilean Idyl, lit by the sun of the King- dom of Gop, was little appreciated by the troe Hellenes. They necessarily preferred a Gospel where the dream was transported in- to the sphere of abstractions, and whera the belief in the approaching end of the world was suppressed.” ¢ Judaism is forgotten, condemned ; the Jews are wicked men, ene- mies of the truth, - The suthar will no long- er know anything about them, except that they have lilled Jxsus and thesaints ; just as, for the Persian Shiites, tho name of Arsb is synonymous with impious and unbeliever, be- cause the Arabs were those who slew the most eminent saints among the founders of Islam.” “ There is no longer here any question as to Jjustification by faith or works. The problem is carried beyond those simple terms. Ac- quaintance with trath, knowledge,—these are the essentials. Salvation comes by gnosis, by initiation into certain secrot mys- teries.” .“Understood thus, Jesus is no longer a prophet; understood thus, Chris- tianity is no longer a sect of Judaism; it is the religion of reason.” Rexax dates the era of Christian philosophy and abstract speculation from the appearance of tha Johannine writings. In the same period he places the birth of religions intolerance, the Justifieation of which he finds in that “‘de- plorable ” sixth verse of the fifteenth chap- ter: 11 5 man abide not in Dfe, heiscast forthas a branch, und is withered: and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. "This verse, RENAN says, kindled the fires of the Inquisition. ‘Wa have been at the pains to make a syn- opsis of this remarkable article, not because the views therein presented are at all funda- mental or necessarily sound, but because the writings of such aman on such asubject command attention. RENAXN has studied the life of Jesus with painstaking fidelity, and his histories of the four Gospels are as minute, if not as accurate, as any now ex- tant. His judgment of the Gospel of Sr. Jonx may be harsh and erroneous, but it is not hasty or unsupported by a shadow of evidence. It may well invite the atiention of Christian theologians and scholars learned in exegesis, whether within or without the pale of the Church. THE SECRET OF TURKISH CRUELTY. There are people in this world so strange- ly constituted that they sympathize with the Turks in their war with Russia. There are many Christian people, including even min- isters and missionaries, who have given pub- lic expression to that sympathy. Thers are newspapers, like the Chicago ZTimes for in- stance, which maiuly sympathize with the Turks because they mainly sympathize with everything else that is malignant, venomous, and cruel. There is, however, but ono nation which has publicly manifested sym- pathy with the Mussulman, and that is England, whose sympathy is a matter of dol- lars and cents on the onc hand, and political jealousy of Russia on the other. Thero is a little voluma recently published by Mr. FReewaw, the eminent English his. torian, upon “flie Ottoman Power in Europe,” which ought to command the care- ful nttention of every sympathizer with the Tark. It shows very clearly the secret of those hideous atrocities which have charac- terized the Tarkish army in its conduct of the present war. It explains why no wonnded Russian soldiers are allowed to live; why the plains and mountains of Bulgaria are strewn with the mautilated bodies of her people; why the streets of Adrianople are daily witnesses to the executions of Bulgarians; why the populatibns of villages and towns are massacred by thdu. sands; why women are violated and children are tortured ; why those who have escaped death or torture by the sword are dying by starvation ; and why the perpetrators of thiese horrors are rewarded by the Porte, The re- ligious element is the all-controlling influence thet characterizes the Turks in the conduct of the war. Their political and military in- stitutions are based upon the religious, which nare unchangeable. The law of Turkey, says Mr. FreeaaN, declares that “The blood of the infidel is of no value till it is protected by the Aman.” The Aman isa pardon for not embracing Islamism, but its conditions are horrible. The infidel must pay whatever tribute the Mussulman mayimpose,—**it may be a part of his substance, or the wife of his bosom, or the fruit of his body.” Hehas no right of self-defense. He 1s not allowed to bear arms. His evidence is not received in the courts. - Hindoos, Chinese, and the whole Pagan world are not entitled to clam the Amaun. They can be put to death at pleasure. As to the Christian; Mr. FrEraay says: At this moment the Turk is under no obligation by his law or religion to epare the lives of his Russian captives. They hsve not ssked, nor nas he grant- ed them, the aman; and without the aman the life of any Ruesian who falls into his hands is forfeit. If he spares him, it is a concession to Enropean opinion, which it might be awkward to offend. But to take the lifc of a Christian, fighting against Mussnlmans, is to do a meritorions act; and the more such lives o True Delfever takes, the greater is hisreward in Paradise. That is the ingrained belief of everysoldier in the Sultan's army who is loyal to his creed, and it is a doctrine which is preached by multitudes of ulemas and dervishes throughout the Turkish Empire. The only exception to Mussulman fanati- cism is the Jew ; and he issecure, because he is not the rival of the Mussulman, does not proselyte, and is unambitions. Turkey and Islamism sre in no danger from him, so he is treated with sublime indifference. The Turk cannot be civilized, because his law is un- changeable. He cannot be merciful, for the same reason. For the same reason his prom- ises can never be fulfilled. In the face of such facts as these, it is hard to understand how any one who is not a Turk can sympa- thize with a Turk. CATHOLIC COLONIZATION. St. Louis, Sept. 18.—The ncgotiations which have been In progress for two or three wecks past between the Catholic Colonization Association, of this city, and the Central Branch of the Union Pa- cific Railroad Company, for the purchase of lands on the line of that road, have been concluded and contracts executed m due form. The land pur- shased is in Pottawatomie County, Kan. ; amount, 12,000 acres at $3.60 per acre. A large colony will be immediately organized for settlement on this lana. —Associated Press dispatch. ; ‘The example thus set by a portion of the Catholic population of St. Louis may be imi- tated in all the large cities of the country with material advantage both to Catholic emigrants and the general welfare. Thers hasalways been a decided tendency smong the foreign Catholics who come to this coun- try to nggregate in cities. The greatest por- tion of them are Irish, and at home they ‘wera either farmers or agricultural laborers. They come to America 8s a land of freedom and promise with the hope of bettering their condition. Perhaps it is natural that they should turn first to city life, since their wretched condition in their native land has usually been associated with agricultural pur- suits. But they ignore the fact that the essentinl difference between the New and the Old World - consists in the expanse and fertility and cheapness of tillsble earth. The same amount of energy which, under the depressing conditions of Irish society, has yielded them a scant living and left only recollections of abject poverty and want, would give them a good living and securo individual independence in agricult- ural pursnits in this country. The Irish land-tenant and the American farmer labor under very different surroundings, and their "mistake isin supposing that the same pur- suit in this country will yield the same re- sulis as_ in Ireland,—that is, n condition of life from which they have fled with the hope of improvement. As a consequence, they settle down in the lower strata of metropolitan existence. Usually ignorant of a trade and without special training for any of the sxilled pursuits of city life, the men become day-laborers on the streets, hod-carriers, or menials, and earn 8 mero pittance. The women, equally avoid- ing the hardships of agricultural life s they have known it at home, become house-serv- auts if single, or, if married, huddle their families into the poor hovels of the sub- urbs, and help their husbands eke out a scanty subsistence by the hard labor of washing, scrubbing, and house-clean- ing. Every class of work which these people, as a rule, are prepared to undertake, is poorly paid and uncertain. And no mat- ter how lard they work or carefully save, they can make little headway, while there is o constant temptation to fall into intemper- ance and its baleful consequences. The Catholic Chureh, for a period, encour- aged this tondency of the Irish immigrants. Thirty years ago Bishop Hucmss, of New York, publicly warned the immigrants not to go ont into the West and beyond the rench of their churches. There is reason to be- lieve that he subsequently regretted having given this advice. It is pretty certam, how- ever, that this sentiment for some years prompted the Church authorities to exert their influence in retaining the Catholics in populous centres where there were amplo church facilities. Butexperience has taught that the physical and moral influences of that phase of city life into which they drift are so baneful that the direct religious influences of the Church fail to compensate for them. Of late years, now that the Church has extended its branches through the country, it no longer interferes directly to keep the Irish Catholics in the cities, but even yet there can hardly be said to be an active influence in persuading them to take up farm-life. Yet it is evident that the Church authorities, with the Cardinal at the head, and the co-operation of the clergy, could in no way do their people so much good as by advocating and encouraging their settling on public and railroad lands in the ‘West and South. This may be done in colonies, after the St. Louis fashion, which shall enable each colony to support a church and a8 clergyman. That process will sssure to the Catholics the religious influence which the Church authorities are so anxious should surround them. There is no rassonable objection to this kind of colonization. The Catholics have the same right to the free and unrestrained enjoyment of their dogmatic belif and practices that is possessed by all other sects; there is no doubt that strict conformation to the rules of tieir Chureh and the precepts of their religious guides will make them good citizens ; their colonies may become as thrifty and well-to-do as Protestant colonies ; and their lives will bo far happier and more prosperous than in the overcrowded cities. ‘We have said that some change has been noticed within the last few years in this matter. It has been remarked that, as the native New Englanders have abandoned the work of tilling the recky and comparatively sterile land of their section of the country, and have songht the more fruitful soil of tte West, Northwest, and Southwest, their places have been taken largely by the Irish, and it would not be surprising if a couple of generations wonld see the New England farm- ers largely of Insh descent, instead of finding among thew the blue blood of Paritan an- cestry. But this New England movement is confined mostly to the new arrivals, and, as 1mmigration has fallen off more than one- Ahulf within the last four years, more good cau be done by organizing colonies among the Trish Catholics who are now residents of the cities. If the Church were to take an active intérest in promoting and encouraging the voluntary associations for settling new farming communities in the West and South, no agency wonld be so efficient in reducing the surplus population of cities. and freeing them of the very class that fare the worstand contribute the least good in the'rash and tur- moil of city life. We are satisfied that the clergy could do nothing that would be so ben- eficial to the immortal souls or the mortal bodies of masses of their people as by giving these movements the assistance of active Church influence. —— FATLURE OF THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN. After successive phasesof victory and de- feat, the contending armies in Bulgaria have ot last settled down into that apathetic and inactive condition which, at this advanced state of the season, shows that the campaign of 1877 is virtually at an end. Looking the whole campsign over, from the time the Russiaus crossed the Pruth in April last to the present, it must be admitted, though the Russians still raintain a footing in Bulgaria, that they have -been defeated. Not td'have driven the Turks back is tantamount to a defeat. The Russians should have been at this time south of the Balkan Mountains, with their base at Tirnova and their advance at Adrianople. In reality, they are on the line of the Danube still, with their base at Bucharest and their advance at Plevna, while their campaign in Armenia has been so dis- astrous and so badly managed that the Turks have drawn from their Asiatic forces to meke good their European losses with the utmost impunity. Meanwhile the snow is falling at Schipka. The rains are descending in Bulgaria. The rivers are swollen. . The roads are growing impassable by reason of mud, and every day transpor- tation grows more difficult. Dysentery and fevers have set in, and all Northern Bulgaria is one vast hospital. The vast army of the Muscovite is stranded, after losing thousands upon thousands in the trenches of Plevna, Tirnova, and Schipka, and the Mussulman still holds his position in the almost impreg- nable redoubts of the former place, in the strongholds of the Quadrilateral, and along the formidable slopes of the Balkans. The Russian soldiers have fought with the cour- age of heroes, but almost every time as a forlorn hope. The Turkish soldiers, how- ever, havs fought equally well; and, if the Turkish officers have made errors of delay, they have been more than offset by the er- rors of management of the Russian officers 5 and now it remains as the result of six months’ fighting that the Turks hold all their original positions, excepting those immedi- ately on the riverin the vicinity of Sistova and Nikopolis. The Russians, in a campaign of half a year, have simply succeeded in crossing the Danube and in losing several thousand men, while the Turks still retain the four fortresses of the Quadrilateral, cutting off the force in the Dobrudscha marshes, and the three armies of Osuax Pasha, Surervax Pasha, and Memeser Arr maintain their strategic positions. The Russians must now commence their prepara- tions for hibernation in Northern Bulgaria, bat, even to accomplish this, must be pre- pared at any moment to defend their bridge. crogsing at Sistova, and maintain & winter camp as strongly fortified asif it were a sup. mer camp, with & powerful enemy threaten. * ing it. "There are numerons errors upon the b of the Russians, sufficient to account for ihg failure of the campaign. They crossel the Pruth and poured over the Danube with fiy. ing colors and all the pomp and pageantry.of war, as if they were going out to see %4 reed shaken by the wind.” They underestimateq the strength of the Turkish armies, the . fighting qualities of the rank and file, the executive sbility of the officers, the chrrge. ter of the Turkish armaments, and the facili. ties of transportation afforded by the Tark. ish fleet. They learned nothing from the valuable lessons of the Franco-German war, They have never attacked, as did the Prog. sinns at Weissenburg, Worth, Gravelotte, ang Mars-la-Tour, with overwhelming numbers, In every instance they have attacked wity equal or with inferior numbers an enemy better armed than themselves and securely lodged behind intrenchments, while they were in the open field. Had they made ony such attack, and overwhelmingly defeated thy Turks in a general engagement, it would have been a long step towards final victory, Bat they did not, and their failure to do it inspired the Turks with fresh courage, re. stored their confidence, which had begun tq diminish when they saw the really brilliant manner in which the Russians crossed the Danube and surmounted the appalling dif. culties of the Balkans, and aroused to a still more vindictive pitch the hatred of raca and religion involved in this bloody war. Another serious error was committed in the management of their lines of transportation. Their only railrond in Roumania runs through Bucharest to Giurgevo, where a crossing of the river was impracticable, owing to the formidable fortress of R: chuk which corfronted them on the Tur bank. Their crossing had to be made farther up the river, at Sistova, but, when they had made it, they should have Iaid a line' of road from Giurgevo to Sistova. Instend of that they have hanled all theix supplies by the slow system of wagons to Sistova, and theuce over the monatainouns districts of Bulgaria to their headqnarters. Had American officers been conducting the campaign, a railroad line wonld have been built clear to Tiruova before this. The last and most fatal error of the Russians was in allowing Osyax Pesha's army at Plevna to be reinforced and revictualed by the convoy from Sofia. Had thi$ not been done, Osyay Pasha’s army must very soon have been threatened by starvation,—afoe more power- ful than all the Russian armies,—and Plevaa must have fellen,—a disasier which would have retrieved all their previous losses, and might have proved fatal also to Memeser Azr'sarmy. Instead of allowing over 20,009 troops and an immense train of provisions to pass through a country hosie to the Tarks and enter Plevna, they should have detached every available man from the front and absolately destroyed it. Instead of this they opposed nearly 20,000 infantry, sup- ported. by artillery, with a small cavalry force, and the result, as might have becn expected, was a fiasco. It is now scarcely possible that wo shall hear of much more fighting in Bulgaria this season. - The campaigu is substantially over, and in addif.iv; to the losses inflicted npon the Russinns it has bronght about importans political results. England is relieved from any present apprehension as to the Eastern question. Germany i3 relieved from any danger of a Franco-Russian allinnce. Tha relations of Germany and Austria are estal- lished more strongly than ever, and Ger- many comes to the front as the lecding mil- itary Power in Barope. Worse than all com- bined, Russia, iostead of protecting tho Christians, has exposed them to additional suffering and’danger, with no hope of pres- ent interference in their behalf. The pres. ent campaign, however, is but the begiuning of the end. It is impossible for a nation of ten millions to overcome one of eighty mill- ions. Russia must triumph in the end It may take another year yet, or even two years more, but in the end the butcher of -Europe will be overcome and punished. There scems to be a quarrel and a solit in the ranks of the Irish Home-Ruiers, growiug out of the BIGGAR-PARNELL attempt to obsiruct all legislation in the British Parliament. The Lou- don Spectator of Sept. 13, speaking of the split, says: It is clear that Irish opinion is by no means sdequately formed on the point at issne between Mr, Burr and Mr. B) ®. The Freeman's Jour- nal is hesitating,—supports Mr. Brrr on the whole, but is dispoeed to think his denaaciation of Obatruction as ** uncoustitutional "' quite irrele- vant. **How often,” itasks, ‘‘has Mr. Brrr demonstrated to the Irish people that the Britizh Constitution is not for them? How often has he roved, inand out of Parliament. that, as far as reland was concerned, the British Constitution wasa hollow mockery and transparent sham?™ So. oo, the Doily Erpress mocks at Mr. Berr's Sparin pretcnsions, and twits him with havinz threatened obstruction on the Education Esti- mates, if Parliament wonld not pass his University- bill. The fiipp!rar_l/ F'ree Press goes with Mr. Betr, but is inclined to advocate ‘‘greater encrgy " among the Home-Rulers as a party, and thinks the Obstructionists huve shown that more might bave been done without unconstitu- tional obstruction. The Limerick Zeporter, agan, supports Mr. BUTr heartily, but the 7s/er Exam- iner takes the part of the Obstructionists. Fur- ther at 2 meeting of the Limerick and Clare Farm- ers’ Club, a votc of confidence in Mr. BC1T was passed, “but various specches on behalf of the Ub- structionists were aleo delivered. On the whole, the Catliolic Church supports Mr. Butt and mod: ertion, bat it is obvious that popalar feeling het tates, and in many places inclines to the scnsa- tional side. We wish the Government wonld, in the samie yession, propose a strong policy sainst the Obstructionists, and yet a strong policy on the Irish Education question, which should satisfy the moderate party in Ireland that even on a question like the University question. the British Constita- tion iz as serviceable for Ireland as for England and Scotland. Mr. Burr's University bill is in principle a very sound one. —— AUSTIXN holds that the term *international law?” isan abuse of language, ipasmuch a5 3 law properly so-called is a command given by a political superior and sanctioned by a penalty,— conditions which are not fulfilled in the case of so-called international law. Prof. BIRRBECE, of Cambridge, has lately attempted to controvert this position. He claims tnat ¢There are certain rules, admitted on all hands to be laws in the fullest scnse of the word, which have not been imposed by nDfl_lmm' superior.” This is, however, a plain begging of the question. The rules which he cites, such as those regulating the descent of the crows in certain countrics, and those defining the rela- tions between the States and the United States, are not admiited to be laws *‘in the fullest sense of the term.” The obscurity hangios over these “rules” have led to some of the greatest wars known in history merely because they were not commands given by a colitieal superior and sanctioned by penalties. ——— Speaking of pensions, an exchange observes that ““The Tuglish pension-roll is apparently shortening, znd the days of generosity iu this respect are long past. The Lord-Chancellors, who may be thrown out of office any time by 8 party revolution, arc in that event dropped upon a cushicn of £5,000 a year. An eX- Speaker of the Commons has £4,000 a year, hut the Commons keep one man for Speaker as long as possible, and there is only une ex-oflicio. Cablnet Ministcrs may draw £2,000 a year, but do not, generally, it they arc men of wealid. A dozen ex-Ambassadors bave allowances, and some servants of rast Royalty, even one of Georze 1IL’s. Qf the pensions awarded for b il s - R i Livwad ECE ? E f