Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, March 10, 1878, Page 4

4 % 4 THE ‘CHICAGO . TRIBUNE: SUNDAY; MARCH 10,. 1878—=SIXTEEN . PAGES. —_——— Thye Trilbmne, TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. BY MATL—IN ADVANCE—POSTAGE PREPATD. Teily Editfon, one y 51200 Jerihof 8 yesr. ver 100 Eunday Ecition: iouble &1 51 eclmen copies sent tree. Give Post-Otlice address n fall tacluding state and County. Teemifttances mayhe made efther by draft. cxpress, Pout-Otllce order. or fn registered leticrs, at our stz TERMS TO CITY SUBSCRIBERS. B sily, dclivered, Sunday excepted, 25 Cents per W %w;‘, Gellverad, Sundsy included, 30 cents per week. Address THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, ‘Corner Madison and Dearborn-sts.. Chicago. Tl Orders for the delivery of Taz THIUNE at Evanston, Fiewood, and Hyde Park left In the counting-room cution. TE CicAGo TEIRTNE has established branch offices forthe recetprof subscriptivasand adyertisements a3 Zoll NEW YORE~—Room 29 Tribunie Bullding. F. T. Mc- FADDES, Manager. PARIS, France—Xo. 16 Tiue de 1o Grange-Bateliere. H. Manvrz, Azent. LONDON. Eng.—Americen Exchange, 449 Strand. Dexzy ¥. GILLIG. ARent. ®AN FEANCISCO, C SOCLETY MEETINGS. Iace Hotel. —The veteran and distin- MASONIC LECTGRE il lecture guished crafteman, Lro. Comelins Moore. &t Orfental Hall, 122 LaSalle-st., a4 follo Sy ‘bolism, its relstion to Art, Masonry; and Morals, Tues- day evening, Marcl 3. Liobert Burns, his fomes, Habizs, Loves nfs, Thursday eventog, Marell 14 Admiston, 50 cents. 1his includes both lecturcs. Bro. 3toore's lectured have been Lighly praised, snd nterest all, whethor thes are or sto not Masonk.' Tickets for Salt by W. AL Dale, Druggist, 155 S Goldsteln; Th State-st.z A. Fouie, 380R-<L. 3 West Madison- Gooduian. Jiall, Tucsday © Chsirman AFAYETTE CHAPTER. X0. 2, R. A. M.—Hall 78 )l%nnh‘-!!. ‘—S&tated Cunvocation Monday evening. March 11, 8t 73§ 0'ciock, for business and work ou the Mark Dezree. Visitors cordially invited meet with ue. 1y grler of W. Ho K E. N. TUCKEL, Secretars. RXIGHTS TEM- MMANDERY, APOLLO COMMANDE oIS TG PLAR.—Specinl Conclave o3, half-past 3 0'clock prompt. The O1 will be conferred. Visiiors always welco of the E. C. J. &, DUN. CHICAGO COMMANDE! “Conciave Monday evenluz. Mari corner_of Halsied and fiandolph-sts.. “&t Tor netruction i manual snd drill. Visitng Sir Koighis courtevusly fovited. By order of L.L.BOND, E.C. JAS. E. MEGINN. Recorder. VAN RENSSELAER GRANDLODGE OF PERFEC- TION will confer the 13l of Itoyal Arch Decrecof the A, & A. Scotisl cal. By order of Ritc on Thursds 5 PETTIBONE, T. Gr. Sec’s. ED. GOODAL CORINTHIAN CHAPTER, NO. @0. R. A. M.— Reular Convocatlon Aonday evening March 11, Work oniue it A. Degree. ARD.ILP. HARCH 10, 1878. SURDAY, In New Yorkon Satarday greenbacks were wortl 99 cents on the dollar. Cincinnati, Parisian in all things, fur- nishes the romsnce of a millionaire dying from actual want. Russin has mede snother concession in allowing Turkey to send a delegate to the European Congress. B Tord Lyoxs, who is talked of as the suc- cessor of Lord Dersy in the British Foreign Office, is less of a statesman then a dip- lomat. : Thoe MoGarpamaw claim rose up like a disquicted ghost to vex s Senate committee yesterdey. The ouly result of its resurrec- tion wae to smirch the characters of some men dead and gone, and others of questiona- ble probity still living. ‘While Chicago revels in balmiest spring weather there is a strife among the elements in the Far West. A terrific snow-storm has almost completely buricd Cheyenne, and trains on the transcontinental roads between " Omaka and Ogden are all stopped. A brief cable dispatch tells of the destruc- tion Dy fire of a steamship in the Mediterra- nean Sea, with a loss of 500 lives. The pas- sengers are said to have been Circassians from the Turkish port of Cavaila, or Kavals, which is one of the boundary towns of the new DBalgerian province. Cape Elis, where the disaster occurred, is, 8s near as can be ascertained, on the west coast of Greece. An interesting bit of Democratic reform was inadvertently exposed to the public last Thursday, when Congressman SixeLrTON de- nied all knowledge of the ection of his col- league, VaxcE, on the Printing Committee in sppointing his cousin as an expert. The cousin, it wss shown, was a simple Ohio miller, whose knowledge of printing was about equal to none at all, although ke drew Lis salary with a gratifying expertness. Gen. Graxt's stay in Constantinople was unaccountably’ short. He arrived there last Sunday, sad a cable dispatch announced a banquet in his Lonor given by Minister Laxanp Tuesday evening. It would be sup- posed that he would take occasion to wisit the Russian headquarters, but evidently he bas not done so0; the eable has likewise been silent es to whether or not he was received by the poorlittle Sultan. He left the Turk- ish Capital Thursday, and is now being lionized in Athens. But what cansed his sudden departure from the seat of wer, where naturally he would find most o in- terest him? Can it be that the tragic Aserican Minister in Coustantinople hes emulated the respected Minister at Paris, ond warned Gen, GRANT that the Turks were eager to proclnim him Sultan ? - The Hon.' Crantrs. L. ‘Wixsoy, whose death occurred yesterdny at San Autonio, Texss, wos one of the self-made men of the West. He camo to this city i tho year 1835, and has been prominently before the public gor xore than thirty years. His biography is the history of the Ezening Journal, with & 'lefigh paper he has been identified since its origin, in 1844. A sketch of his newspaper carcer is given in another column. Few men in the West have had a wider acquaintance, political and socinl, and fewer still have passed through an active journalistic life with =0 few encmies. For several years he has been m failing health, and, like the Inte Mr. Bowwes, of the Springfield Republican, o Jof: his house in order. Thers will bs ne change in the manngement or policy of tho Journal, which will continue ns heretofore under the editorial control of Lieut.-Gov. Savaax. —— Abrief cable dispatch yesterday announced the death of tho -Archduke Fraxczs, father of the Emperor of Austriy. He wasa man of no particalar ability or force of char- acter, and for many years has occupied as obscure a position in Austrian politics os was possible to one of his rank. In 1845, the 3agyar revolution seemed. about to over- throw the Empire. Kossorn was at the head of the Committee of Safety, and the Aus- trian army leff Vienna to march upon the Hungarians. But hardly had it departed -from the Capital before the citizens rose in revolt and compelled the Emperor FEspmvasp to flee to Olmutz. Despairing of ever recon- ciling the tarbulent elements of his Empire, Fropovaxp abdicated. The. crown was re- “fused - by his brother Fraxcis, just deceased, and wes made over - to his nephow, Fraxcis Joseem, whose reigp, notwithstanding the stupendous difficulties that he has had to contend with, has been fairly prosperous. * Political economists who have been en- deavoring to selve the. financial problem of the times may as well shut up shop and go home. ““1utnal Friend” Mourtox baslenta gigantic brain to the subject, and has evolved the solution in a phrase worthy of Tarzzyraxp. Says Mr. MourTos : * Good butter and prosperity; bad Dutter and nd- versity.” The relation of the dniry to the condition of the country, we are frce to ad- mit, hes never been fully understood here- tofore, and the Alutual Friend's proposition o has, therefore, all the strength of novelty. But why limit the application of the pre- tended axiom ton single agricultural prod- uct? Let us =dd, for instance, good eggs and happiness—bnd eggs and misery. Or, Dutch cheese and virtue—Limburger cheeso and vice. THE BACEK-TAXES SCARE. We yesterday explained that there was no ocension for the excitement and alarm which have been crezted by the demand of the Tax- Collector for the payment of the city taxes Jevied for the years 1S73and 1874 Itis important, however, that this explanation shall be made as general as - possible, so that it may bo brought to the knowledgo of every taxpayer who finds himself confront.ed with a demand to poy taxes for those years when e already holds a receipt for the sames The explanation is very simple: In 1573 and 1874 the Common Council of those years persisted, in opposition to the earnest advice of the best citizens, in having a valuation of the taxable property made by city officers, and upon these valuations the taxes of those years were levied. In duc time, when these taxes became due, they were paid to an amouat probably equal to 65 per cent. The other 35 per cent were not paid, and n large portion of the dclinquents appealed to the Supreme Court. That Court decided that the assessments or valuations made by the city officers were illegal ; that the city should have levied its taxes on the valuation made for State and county purposes; and heace the taxes levied in 1873 and 1574 were illegal and void. The resnlt was that the Gourt declared the whole tax, as well that which had been pnid as that which had not been paid, illegal. In the meantime, a large proportion of these nnpaid taxes have been paid voluntarily into the City Tressury. The total city tax for 1873.'74 on real and personal property was in round num- Dbers about §11,000,000. Of this whole sum about $1,950,000 had not been collected up to the 1st of February, 1878, and of this de- ficit about 310,000 only was for personal taxes. We find, therefore, that of the taxes, real and personal, for the years 1873-'74, somethiog over £9,000,000 has been paid, and something les than 2,000,000 has not been paid. ) Under these circumstances, the Legisla- ture enacted that there should be a new tax levied for 1873, end slso for the year 1874, and to make it & general, and not a special, tax, it shoutd be levied on the whole prop- erty within the city,—on the property which had paid the §9,000,000 of taxes aswell ason that which had not paid the £2,000,- 002 Technically, the whole prop- erty, real and personal, in the city is retaxed to the sum of £11,000,000, though in fact there is less than $2,000,000 due. The law, however, did not contem- plate that the payments made should be lost. It was intended only to reach the property which had not paid any taxes at all daring those years. The fact that the new levies of taxes were to be made on the State valuations of 1878 and of 1874, sud not upon the city valuatious for those years, leads to the result thet in some instances the valuation of one man's property by the State was much less than the valuation of the same property by the city, and, in that case, his tax-receipts will show that he has paid more than is now claimed of him. In other cases, and notably in the matter of corporations taxed on capital stock, ths re- verse will be the rule, and the present de- maud will be for more than has been already peid. The:law provides that, in every case where & property-holder has paid the city tax for 1873 and '74, he can present his receipts for those taxes already paid and have the same entered up in full satisfaction for the tax now claimed =ogainst lim; if there be any difference between the sum paid by him end that now claimed, the amount of that difference only can be claimed. So, at the utmost, no person who has paid his taxes for 1878 and 74 cen be required to pay any- thing more than the difference arising from tho distribution of the tax on the varying valuations. The sum of $1,950,000 back taxes which it is sought by this process to colleet is subject to a deduction, not yet definitely known. Mr. Grorge Vax Horrex was Collector of Taxes in 1875 and 1876, and collected most of the taxes for 1873 and '74. His known deficit is about $154,000. That is, it is known that he collected this sum of taxes and made no return of it. How much more he collected without making entry on the Dooks, leaving the tax still charged ngainst the property, is yet to be disclosed, and many persons who have received notifica- tion of taxes due by them for those years will find by presenting their tax-veceipts that Mr. Vax Horrey, though he took their money, did not credit them with the pay- ment on the books, leaving them on the record still charged with the tax. The wide difference between the shadow and the substance is shown in the fact that, of the personal-property taxes levied in the whole city for the two years, only £340,000 remains unpaid, while Collector Knupary's warrant for the collection of the unpaid personal taxes for those £ivo years in the Town of South Chicago alone was £1,700,000. ‘We repeat that the whole sum of taxes in ll Chicago, real and personel, for the years. 1873 and '74 was $11,000,000, of which $1,950,000 only remains unpaid, and the new -levies for those years only seek and are only intended to recover this unpaid balance, and nomore. The city Las no moral right to collect the tax twice from any person, and the City Government, if so disposed, would not be sustained in such & demand. The city, however, will be entirely satisfied if those who have paid no taxes for 1573 and *74 will now do so, and we are certain that if any delinquent on real or personal prop- erty for thoso years—those who have paid 1o taxes for those years—will now tender the Comptroller the amounts due by them according to the original acsessments, Mr. Fanwers will nof only accept the money, Dut will satisfy the payer that the city will press no demand for any more. The sum now dne the city on real prop- erty for -tho years1§73 and '74 is about 1,600,000, This sum remnins; if not a lien, at lenst such o clond upon the title to the property that it cannot be sold until the tax is paid. ‘The shortes, chespest, and most direct way, therefore, to avoid and escape the back-taxes law, is to pay up these tases now and get a discharge in full. In the mesntime, all persons who have paid their taxcs for 1878 and 1874 lmv_s nothing to fear from the back-taxes act, if they will tako the precaution within the next ninety days to visit the County Treasurer's ‘office and exhibit their tax-rcceipts, and have their accounts adjusted on the books. Only to those who bave not paid their taxes for {hree years does the law bring any new liability. THE EUROPEAN CONGRESS. All the Earopean Powers have now given their assent and agreed to send representa- tives to tho Congress which, it is decided, will be Leld at Berlin, and probably, as Bis- aarck intimated in his recent speech in Peslinment, some time during the Iatter part of the present month. As a German city hies been selected for the locality, by cour- tesy and usage one of the German repre- sentatives will preside, probably Prince Bis- srcE himself, should his health permit. Tho full list of representatives is not known, but it is certain that Lord Lyoxs will repre- sent England; Prince Gorrscuasorr, Rus- sia; Prince Bisaanck, Goermany ; and Count ANDRassY, Austrin. It is already announced semi-officially that no questions will be sub- mtted to this Congress that do not concern Europe at large. Franco agrees to the Con- gress upon the condition that the Enstern question shall be the only one brought up. Prince AvenspesG has also stated in the Austrian Reichsrath that every guestion but the Eastern would be excluded from the scope of discussion. Russia takes the some gromnd; likewise Germany. If, then, England goes into the Congress with the demadd, as it is mow intimated, that every point of the Russo. Turkish treaty shall reccive the sanction of the Eunropean Powers, she will be over- ruled, and to this decision she will have to submit, because she is powerless to do other- wise. She must abide by the decision of the mojority or fight the majority. That- England will fight combired Europe is as unlikely as the supposition that sho will fight Russia alone,or any other single Conti- nental Power, unless it were one of the Ger- man Duchies or Slavic principalities. The basis of discussion is so well settled that it may be accepted in advance, however much Eugland may protest. The discussion then narrows itself down to the Eastern question, in which England is vitally concerned. This of itself is njbroad and comprehensive theme, and clastic enough to stretch over a large number of subsidiary questions. As no two nations view the Eastern ques- tion alike, it would be impossible to define it nccurately. England ap- plies the term ‘o everything that affects her interests between the Mediterranenn Sea end the Indian Ocean, and Russin compre- hends in the term every interest she has from the Baltic to the Chinese frontier, while with Germany and Anstria it goes no farther than the mouths of the Danube; and in the case of Franco ends with the Suez Cansl. To England and Russia the Eastern question is one of politics; to Austrin and Germany, of commerce ; to France, of francs and sentiment,—of francs, because sho holds Suez Canal stock; the’sentiment, because *forty centuries looked down” from the Pyramids npon Naroreox’s army. ‘The Lon- don Spectator of Feb. 23 probably defines the question as it will be considered in, the Congress with suflicient accuracy when it limits it to the freedom of Constentinople, the freedom of the Straits, and the freedom of the people of Egypt. Thero is no doubt that these three points are vital to England, and that she cannot make any concessions with re- gard to them withont involving her complete isolation from her Asiatic possessions, and the ultimate surrender of India to Russia. But will it be necessary to maike any conces- sions? With regard to the first 'pmpasifion, TRussia has over and over again, officially and unofficinlly, pledged herself not to ocenpy Constantinople, and the terms of the pre- liminary treaty not only leave Constantino- ple on the Bosphorns and Gallipoli on the Dardanelles in Turkish hands, but the coun- try of Roumelia as far west as Adrianople. She cannot break that pledge withoat in- curring n degree of odium that no na- tion can afford to bear, and placing herself in a position where no other Power would make treaties with ber. She could not afford to incur the enmity of the world that would be aroused by such perfidy. With regard to the freedom of the Straits, Russin has already expressed herself in favor of opening them free to the commerce of the world. If the surveillanco of them as to war-vessels reverts {o tho Tarks, they sim- ply retarn to the status quo ante-bellum, and things ure as they were. If the Turks should refuse in time of war to allow English vessels to pass up into the Black Sen, England has already shown a way to avoid it by going nup to Constantinople the other day without a firman and in viola- tion of treaty stipulations. So far as Egypt is concerned there will be no trouble, as that province is destined to pass into English hands. There is not a nation in Europe to object to it except France, and Brswancs hos already advised England if she wants Egypt to take it, and he will guarantee that France shall not interfers. With these three questions settled—and nothing seemsto stand in the way 6f seitlement—it is difficult to understand why England is exercising herself so vigorously over the coming Con- gress. A TALKING OPERA TROUPE. The present season of the Straxoscr Opera Troupo has been notable in two ways. First, with no good reason for it, it has been a re- markable financial success. Second, the only other important success it has achieved has been in talking rather than in singing. In- terviewers have reaped a rich harvest out of the talkative prime donne. The talk com- menced last fall, when Cary rode on the olatform and took cold because KEeLnoce would keep the windows down. Upon this simple basis the reporters constructed a sav- age war between the two, and, by the time they reached Chicago, the fair combatants were actually madeto believe they didn’t like each other, and snid very naughty things about each other. They went East, and for 4 time peaca reigned ; but whenthe third pri- ‘ma donna, Mile. Roze, camein, there wasan- other element of discordance. The tri-lateral war did not break out until the troupe reached St. Louis. The Globe-Democrat of that city discovered that there was a bitter feeling between Canr and Krrrogs, and that the latter was so vindictive towards the pretty Roze that she pitched her costumes, paint-pots, and rof Ze-hoxes out of the dressing-room, and-lost no eppnrtunil:y'to annoy her. ‘The St. Lonis Post then' tried its hand at the interviewing business, sod found that neither of the thred ladies was to blame, but that the mischief-maker was MMr. Marresoy, husband of MMlle. Roze, -who, in order to enhance his wife's reputation, was keeping Kerzogo in a pet by doing his best to have Cany outshine the latter, which would give his own wifo a better opportu- ity to'come into the popular favor in the wake of Cany. When the troupe got to Louisville, 3r. 3arresox broke silence and began to talk, and denied everything that had been said about him, that he had ever set afloat any gossip, that he had ever applauded Cany at KELLOGG'S ex- pense, or that there was nny jealousy be- tween his wife and Keutoce. Last week the troupe was in Cincinnati, and all the prime donne commenced talking. Miss KerrooG seid there was mo war in, her troupe. Why should she be jealous of any one? Miss Cany said: ‘‘Bless your soul, there is no war between us, and there never was.” Mlle. Roze opened her pretty eyes to their widest extent, and said: ““I get all the flattery, and more, perhaps, than I deserve, and my treatment by Miss Kextoce is all I could wish. As for Miss Cary, she is ma cher ama.” And lnstly came Mr. Marrz- soN in a sort of general benediction, bless- ing all three as loving sisters, and charging all the gossip to Mr. Hess, who, being hun- dreds of miles away at that {ime, was a con- venient seapegoat. Tho Cincinnati papers, therefore, not having Mr. Hess to interview, and being unable to get anything out of the throe primo donne except that they nlways bad, did, should, and would love each other to distraction, they commenced a universal onslaught upon poor Stramoscm for substi- tiiting “ Mignon '* for *Don Giovanni.” The attack has kept him busy making replies, in which he advances every possible excuse ex- copt the right one, namely, that his troupe cannot give “Don Giovanni,” or snything that resembles it. Meanwhile, an afllicted public is glad to learn that there is mo trouble, nnd never bas been any, and never will be any, betwsen these three ladies. This being the case, why do they not stop talking, and order their husbands, and cousins, and agents to stop? They have talied too much already. They have opened their protty mouths to every reporter who has come near them. Much may be allowed for the feminine love of talk, but they bave falked atus untyl we are tired. Giveus a rest. ‘ CHICAGO’S GRAIN TRADE. The impression is spreading that Clicago is losing its grain trade. It is evident from investigation that this impression is merely the outgrowth of superficial observation. It is true that the elevators have not been doing the business during the last. few months that they formerly did, and that there is not the accumulation of grain at this point that there usually is at ‘the close of winter. But this is not in itself an indi- cation of any decrease of trade. The winter has been an open one, and there has been a stendy demand for grain for export at the ruling rates. There has consequently been s regular movement of grain through Chi- engo. A comparison of the receipts and shipments of grain at Chicago during the winter justclosed with thepreceding winter shows a very decided incrense, in spite of tho fact that the olevatorshave been comparatively empty. And this grain has been handled, and the business has been done, in Chicago. The difference is that good prices and an open way have afforded a ready miarket and quick transit for the grain. The railroads have not had to contend against snow-drifts, broken rails, and the other delays incident to a severe winter, but have been prepared to carry forward much largor quantities of grain than usual in the winter season. Nor Lave the shippers found it necessary to em- ploy the clovators for transfer purposes, in- asmuch as they have been able to transfer promptly on ‘tho tracks, and at & much less cost. Though the elevators made a bid for the_business by reducing their rates to 1 cents for the first ten days and % of & cent for each succeeding ten days, the reduction did mot secure the business, as transfers of grain bave been made og the track as lowas } of a cent per bushel. ‘Wherever prompt sales of the grain have been made—and this has been the rule of the season—it has been unnecessary to incur the storage costs. This saving affects only the owners of clevators, for, if anything, more money is paid for labor by direct transfer on the tracks than through the ele- vators, and the profits for those who handle the grain in Chicago have been larger with- ont imposing 5o much cost on buyer or seller. ‘Even consignments of grain that have passed directly through Chicago without stopping have in most cases represen'tgd Chicago busi- ness, as the grain was bought and sold by Chicago merchants, but so promptly as not 1o necessitate delay at this point. 1t would be more true to say that Chicago’ is no longer gaining in the grain trade at the rate of former years. This is owing to many reasons, some of which can be helped and some of which cannot. It was natural, as the wheat aren extended to the north, that a ‘more northern point of shipment should be selected if it could offer equal facilities with Chicago. It was natural that the corn prod- uct of the Southwest should seek s more direct ontlet with an increase of transporta- tion facilities through nearer centres. Such a tendency could not bo averted. To the ex- tent that grain is going around Chicago ‘which ought to come to and through Chicago, the loss is attributable to the unfair discrimi- nation of certain railronds, and Chicago should exert itself by every possible means of persuasion and retaliation to prevent such discrimination. There may be other causes which can be removed and thus save a part of the diversion of the grain trade. It is probablo that the elevators can better afford to make a still further reduction in their charges than to be idle, and they can thus help to attract business here in spite of railroad discrimination. It may be that the commission men may make more favorable terms. The merchants and Board of Trade dealers might inaugurate a policyof discrim- ination against the railroads which are known to practice discrimination against Chicago. The inspection of grain at this point may, perhaps, be improved by exercising a closer and more impartial supervision over it. Probsbly another effort next winter may succeed in taking the inspec- tion out of the hands of the polit- ical authorities and placing it under the control of the Board of Trade, where it properly belongs. No one of these things could overcome the influence‘s working against the increase of Chicago’s grain trade, but all combined might do so. * Another phase of this matter which is again attracting considerable attention is thy influence of the rule adopted by the Board a oping a separate notion. year or 5o ago with the ostensible purpose of preventing ‘“corners.” The essential part of the rule is as follows: 1t ta hereby provided that, in determining the Iegitimato valte of property fu case of dispnte, 1t value in other markets, or for manufacturing pur- poses-in this market, torcther with such.other facus as muy justly enfer into the determination of itatrac value, shall be considercd, Irrespective of any fictitions price it may at the time be selling for in this market. While the langusge of this rule ceTtainly appears to be fair, it is contended by a large faction of traders that its operation tends to shut out Chicago s a high bidder for the grain product of the West, and hence im- pairs the groin trade of the city. In other words, the rule is said to operate in favor of the “bears” in such a manner as to keep the “bulls” at a constant disadvantnge. The theory is that it reacts on Chicago, inns- much as a fall in the price of wheat hero in- fluences the Now York market, which in turn is cited ssareason for another fall here, so that, in the end, a contract must De settled on alow basis actuallg brought about by the ‘bear” operations in the home market. There is a wide-spread feel- ing that this practice gives the sellers an un- fair advantage over tlie buyers, and that this prevailing condition tends to koep down the prices ; such a tendency would certainly at- tract the ill-will of the producers, and prompt them to seck other markets. We think it would do no harm to reopen the question for the purpose of taking evidence on both sides, and thus determine ihe exact influence which the practice under the present rule actually exerts upon Chicago as a grain market. THE HERESY OF PROF. SMITH. W. Ropertsox Sauts, an eminent Pro- fessor of Theology in the Free-Church Col- lege at Aberdecn, Scotland, has been put on trinl by the Presbytery of that place for heresy. His principal offense was the writ- ing of the article on the Biblo in the new editionof the Encyclopmdia Britannica. This article is believed by o number of his asso- ciates to be heterodox, because it contradicts the inspiration of tho Scriptures. Besides. the positive negations of Divine authority which it contains, it is supposed to have “an uusettling tendency,” and to be injuri- ous for “its neutrality of attitude” with ref- erence to some of the vital canons of Bibli- cal criticism. Whethor Prof. Syura can be justly charged with heresy is a question for the Presbytery to determine; but there nced be no hesitation in saying that his views of Biblical inspirntion differ widely from those most prevalent in the Church. His main proposition in judging of the Old Testament is that ¢ The limits of individual books are not the limits of authorship.” Thus he holds that two documents can be dissected out of the Book of Geuesis. Tho dovetail- ing of these documents and the fur- nishing of the necessary material to bridge the gaps between them he sup- poses to be the work of a third hand. “Whether the samo haunds or only the same tendencies as appear in the non-Levitical parts of Genesis run on as far as the Book of Kings, is n question,” remarks Prof. Siyrs, “+hich cannot be viewed as decided.” He had previously committed himself, however, by saying that the traditional lore of the priests, tho teachings'of the prophets, and the roligious life of the moro enlightened of the people, aro three currents of influence which continue through the Old Testament de- velopment. The counterpart of theso he finds in the three main sectionsof the early history. #Up to the Book of Joshua,” he incautionsly remarks, * all tkree run side by side.” This is o sufficiently distinct avowal of his own belief. Another evidence of heresy in Prof. Sate's article is his treatment of the Book of Deuteronomy. * This book,” he- says, “‘presents a quite distinct typo of style, which suggests to many critics the iden that Deateronomy is the work of the last editor of the whole history from Genesis to Kings, or, at least, of tho non- Levitical parts thereof.” ““This conclusion,” o ndds, **is not stringent, for & good denl wny be said in favor of the view that tho Deuteronomic style, which is very capable of imitation, was ddopted by the writers of different periods. But even so, it is diffi- cult to suppose that the legislative part of Deuteronomy is as old as Moses, . . . Boyond doubt the book is a prophetic legis- lative programme.” Another ecriticism of Prof. Syurn's to which special objection has been taken relates to the Book of Proverbs, which he says very bluntly is ‘‘the essence of the wisdom of centuries,” instead of being, a3 commonly supposed, the repository of the wisdom of Sororoy zlone. From the quotations that have been given it will be easy to form an idea of Prof. Sarra's attitude with reference to the inspi- ration of the Scriptures. He holds the Di- vine interposition to be subordinate to the literary necessities of the times. * The Semitic genins,” he remarks, ‘‘docs not at all lie in the direction of organic structure, In srchitecture, in poetry. in history, the Hebrew adds part to part, instead of devel- The temple was an aggregation of small cells, the longest Psalm is an acrostic, and so the longest Bib- lical history is a stratification and not an or- gonism. This process was facilitated .by the habit of anonymeous writing, and the accom- panying lack of anything like a copyright. . . . Indefsult of akeen sense for organ- ic unity very little harmony was sought in pointsof external structure, though great skill was shown in throwing the whole material into a balanced scheme of external arrange- ment.” This is a perfectly rational explana- tion of the literary method and style of the historical parts of the Bible, but it is not consistent with the received doctrines of the 1nspiration of the Scriptures. In discussing -this aspect of the case before the Presbytery, Principal Browx said that he was at a loss to know how the Book of Deuteronomy, for instance, could be called inspired history when the authenticity of its historical state- ments was questioned. The words spoken and things done by Moses are not described in this Book, Prof. Sxurm maintains, os the history of actual occurrence, but merely as an historical dress *‘in dramatic form,” put upon & certain state of things to give it additional dignity and sacredness. This view requires us to believe that when Moses, after rehearsing the chief points in the history of the Israelites and the great principles of their economy, is said ¢ to have written it down and caused it to be placed beside the ark,” he in fact did noth- ing of the kind, butis only represented to have done so. + No rational theory of inspira- tion can be made to coincide with this extraordinary interpretation of Deuteron- omy. Prof. Syuta seems himself conscions of this difficulty, for he says: *“If the an- thor put his work in the mouth of Moszs, instead of giving it with Ezexrew a directly prophetic form, he did so, not in pions fraud, but simply because his object was not to give & new law, but to expound and de- velop Mosaic principles in relation to new needs.” Which is equivalent to saying that a pious fraud consists only in the for- gery of a law, not in the invention of au- thority for a new exnosition of it. Prof. Syrri's ease has been roviewed with o great deal of sympathy by a number of Biblical scholars in Great Britain, who seem to consider it & hardship that he should be put on trinl for expressing his bonest con- victions. There has been in this respect an unnecessary confusion of idess. It is one thing for Prof. S:urm to proach and write what he honestly believes to be trme, It is quite another thing for him, holding opinions at variance with those of his Church, to re- tain his place s a teacher of candidates for. the ministry in that Church. He was ap- pointed to teach the received doctrines of the Churceh, not to invent and teach new doctrines. If it shall appenr on investiga- tion that his opinions are not sound Presby- terian doctrine, he will properly be removed from his Professorship.” This is entirely aside from the correctness of his views," which have been widely quoted and op- proved by learned Biblical critics. A reader of Tne TRiBUNE asks: “Does the ¢MoxnoE doctrine” prevent the United States from sencing representatives to unite with the European Powers in scttlement between Russia and Turkey?? The question would imply an impression on the part of the asker that the “*MoxroE doctrine ™ is some sort of constitu- tional amendment or United States statute. What is kno¥n as the * Mo~noE doctrine * was the utterance of President Moxskoz in his mes- sage of 1823, after the recognition of the inde- pendence of Mexico and the South American provinces that had been under Spanish domin- ion, to the effect that the United States shoula always lold aloof from the cntanglements of the Europcan natiozs, and that the effort on the part of any FEuaropean Power to extend its sway on the Western Continent shouid be regarded as a men- ace to this Government, and be resisted ac- cordinglv. The * doctrine,” so announced, has been nccepted to such a degreethat it has passed. into the unwritten law of the country,—a kind of law which is the most sacred and efficient in England. Whiie tacre is nothing, then, in the “ MoxRroe doctrine » to prevent the United States from joining the European Powers in a Peacc Conference, that doctrine exercises suffi- cicnt moral force to restrain the Government trom any such: unwise proceedinz. The repre- sentation of the United States Government at any oflicial scitlement of European complica- tions would imply the privileze of European In- tervention on the American Continent, which it is the best interest of the United States always to deny and r . ———— South Carolina has alwass been prolific of queer people. The latest contribution to the list is one JOSEPILUS WOODLUFF, who was elcct- ed Clerk of the State Senate in 1568, and who was so indiscreet as to keep a diary. This record of Mr. Josernus WooDRUFE'S was de- voied maiuly io the notatioun of disbursements of corruption funds, and the remarks are gen- eratly of a quaint and plaiotive character. For instance, Joseruus fouad it pretty rough to disburse money 2nd not be able to save any as it zoes throuzh.” A printing fund, ageregat- ing $1,556 539 in cight years, or more thun had been expended for that purpose during the entire previous existence of the State, was di- vided up amoune the Ring, and JOsEracs prayed Gop to forzive bhim for pavine vut a portion of it ona Sunday. JoSEPHUS. as the dispensing agent o, the King, came to the conclusion that the people be was dealing with were all “wwolves,” except one, who was a **huge hog,” and another, who was “a terrible ozre and a regular sucker and scare-crow ™ in fact, they were all very disagrceable animals to have around. After the appropriation bad been ex- hausted, Josepues had to admit, thouzh he had *“tricd his best,” that he had not succeeded in satisfying everybody, notwithstanding the plentiful entrics of items to MosEs, CarDOZO, WuITTENORE, ¢ al., ranging from $1,500 to §20,000. Camrpozo even exacted a piano out of the printing appropriation, over and above his money dividends. Mr. JosEPIUS WOODRUFF'S was certainly a bard lot,—unless he forgot to record how much he saved for himself. ————— dics intestate, then tho children of the Auyp lian-married brother take all the property t leaves, and the Canadian cousins ret norgy Or, if one brother oes to Australia and s rematns fn England, and, both becoming wig ers, marry their sisters-in-law and have gy dren by their second wives, should the En, rother die intestate, his relatives from antipodes would take his property, to the clusion of his own children. It may bemn:' lated as an axiom that no woman objects to h‘ husband, after her death, marrying her sm; all that she complains about. is his courting thy sister ere yet he i3 a2 widower. — Some of the romance attaching tique obelisk named after the r::bt.yll’::; Egvption Quecn must be destroyed Y toe commonplace statement that 1ts- value s oy stoac s only $1,250. The CLEOPATRA’S Neeal, it will be remembered, was wrecked inst aatom, *while voyaging to England, and was picked un by a schooner, whose' Captain subscquen‘ln claimed salvaze. There was great difioulty ) determining the market price of the obelisk for a very natural reason: tie Government saij that it was worth only its weight in stone, while the bold sea-captain wanted to have it gy praised asa work of art and n precious relic, Tn this he prevailed, the Admiralty Court fising the value of the calsson and careo 2t $125,000 ———— 3 A remnant of the Puritanieal Age has been discovered amone the Maine statuzcs, in the shape of a faw declaring that © Wholver blas. phemes the holy name of Gob by denging, curs. ing, or continually reproaching Gon, Iiis ereq. tion, wovernmeat, final judgment of the world Jesus Curist, the Holy Ghost. or the Roly Scriptures as contained in the canonical books of the Old or New Testament, or by exposing them to contempt and ridieule, shall be punisiediy imprisonment not more than two vears, or by fine not exceeding 5200.” This has been rake] up oy certaia religious people who propose tg keep Col. INGERSOLL from carrying out bis 3 vlan of lecturing in that State. Jomx KELLY has *‘two papers, both daily,» which are at present cndeavorinz to prove that the taxes in New Yorkare rather low thanother. wise, and that that city basn't even a gring- stone—let alone a millstone—of debt round irs neck. Accordingly, one of Misther Kewry's young gintlemin demolishes a eritie by .saging, “The author of this langzuage has dipped his pen in the brimstone of malice.” ——— Some of Mr. HAYES' appointments areof o character to make even his best friends(of whom we are which) fear that there are streaks of goloid iu the numget of his Civil-Service re- form. ————— There arc forty-one newspapersin Paris, bot they are mostly small shects printed in larre trpe. The contents of ten of taem wonld hard. 1y fillthe ecolumns of one issuc oI Tne Trincse, ———— Mr. Havzs’ cfforts at conciliation bavz not met with much response in Louisiana. M, Havzs may have heard of the tender-hearel child that stroked the mud-turtle. = e C— 4 Pope Leo XIIL's life has been busy blameless, the only thing allezed againsh hir, belug that be has written some poetry. Lg none of us are perfect. ——— The English 1oss during the Eastern war hag been comparatively small. Mr. Grapstoss was the only maa killed; but, then, he waskilled a zood deal. We always knew that the Sun's suzxiwor; would kell off the Cubzn Republic soouss or later. . ; PERSONAL. “Mark Twain” sails to-morrow for Em fope, there ta spend a couple of years. e will b accompanied by his family. The late Larz Anderson, of Cincinnati,a brother of the hero of Fort Sumter. was borne to the grave by his nine stalwart xons, issue of his second marriage. Isanc Cooper, tho last survivor of the Shannon’s erew, has just dicd in England, atthe ageof 86. He was In the fizh with the Ches peake as & marine, and enjored a pension of $1 a year from Greensvich Hospital. According o tho semi-official Politischs To the Editor of The Tribune. Cimcaco, March 7.—Will you please tell nsin TaE TEIBUNE why some new moous scem 1o lie on their dacks while otners almost stand up on the end? And how they come to be, called **wet moon™ and **dry inovn " Pleasf answer and obiige many Youza FoLks When the young moon is farther north than the sun, the sunlight extends further under than the average, aud the crescent is deseribed aslying on its back. On the contrary, when the moon is fartber sonth than the san, the sunlight reaches bevond the astronomically northern point of the moon’s limb, and the crescent s more nearly perpendicatar. This exolanation will perhaps cnable the * Young Folks™ to understond why the new moon in spring is always more rccumbeont than is the uew moon in autumn. They may easily trace out the relative positions of the two inthe different scasons by the zid of a celestial globe; but the cffect is sometimes dceereased ana some- times dimioished by the fact that the moon doces not move in the plane of the ccliptic. The new moons of spring are now inclined more than the average due to the scason: nine years’ lience they will be inclined less than the aver- age. The moon has been supposed to be wet or dry according as the positign of its cup-shaped crescent indicated its relative capacity to hoid water without spilling it; the idea is now rele- gated to the domain of fairy-land; it hasno place in science. . . ——— Clearly, cremation would never do. Suppose o man came home 2 little late on lodee-nights, and while rummaging inthe pavtry knocked over a shelf full of bis relatives putupina glass? Or that he bad a dispute with his sccond. wife, and injudiciously reminded her of the virtues and culinary ability of her predecessor? —an iusnlt to which, as a woman of spirit, she could only reply by hurline the little brown jus containing that sainted predecessor’s residuum at his head. It would sound odd to hear him say totke servant: *M'ria, get *he broom and sweepup my poor first wife; put ler in the cracked sugar-bowl on the top shel till £ bring home an Etruscan cinerary urn this cvening.” e— Capt. I1ARRISON, who has been arrested for robbine the dead of the wrecked Metropolis, was a prominent dssistant of Briss, the Spirit- ualist, and bad married a woman engazed with Lim in the same busincss only a couple of days before the steamer sailed. She was drowned, and Mr. HARRISON got money to take her re- mains home and pocketed it, burying the corpse on the beach, after cutting off its hair, which was unusually long, and, he said, ‘would sell welt. 1f Mr. IIaRkisoN, in the ** Sweet Bye- and-Bye,” doesn’t find lodeings in a Summer Land where they use thermometers forty-six feet long, we are much mistaken. ——— Funny city, New York. At a recent meeting of the Board of Education, when one member proposed an investization into the case of & teacher upon whom offenses of the *‘most out- rageous aod degrading nature’ have been charged, another member bounddd up and asked his colleazues “if they wished to blazon forth to the world the corruption in the schools.” This ornament of Tammany cvidently belicves in hushing things up. —— Mistah CONKLING’S {ricnds give out with bated breath that the zreat Columblan Orator is preparing o speech on the President’s first year's experience which will curl up all the Ilamp-posts within hearing, and turn the hair of all the barbers® wig-blocks white in a single hour. We will bet Mistah CONKLING g hat that ne won't deliver it. —— A very peculiar complication exists in En- land’s laws on the deccased-wife's-sister ques- tion. If there are three brothers, and one zoes to Australia and there marries his sister-in- 1aw, and another goes to Canada and does like- wise, and the third remains in England sod Correspondznz of Vienna, Scrver Pasha said s couple of weeks since:that. s Tarkey had lost all her Enropean possessions, the best thiug that ehe could do wonld le, with the assistance of Russia, to renovate her Asiatic Calipbate; in which cass Engzland would vers soon learn that if Turkey needed Lritish _support in Europe England could not do without Turkish aid in Asia. Alfred de Musset had & great contempt for the French Academy. One day when the Forty were in scsston hie went to the porter’s lodge and inguired: **Is M. Victor Hugo here®" _The por- “ter starcd, ** Docsn't the gentleman know that 3. Hngoisin exiie?™ **AN! then there is no- pml)' in the Academy. eh?!” snarled the poet, bas- tening away. as if il other Academicians sare Hugo were not worth a moment's consideration. The death of Amelin Tyler, at Braitle- boro, Vt., at the age of 72, recalls the fact that her illustrions father, Chief-Justice Royall Trler, of Vermont, an unsuccessfal suitor for the hand of Abigail Adams, the President’s daughter, was the author of **May-Day" and **The Contzast," the first successfally-acted plays ever produced by 3 native writer. They had to be brought out at New York, for New England then did not allow acting within her sacred borders. 2 Charles Reade is still writing letters tothe TLondon papers about **The Coming Man.” The last letter on **The Coming Man™ deals witk— antiquity. The writer says that the Infant World wag the Stone Age; the Juvenile World began with tne invention of the shicld by intelligent savages, and ended with the declaration by Bacon of the road to trath; the Adalt Worid then began, znd the O1d World will be here a few thonsand yesrs hence, when the Atlantic is fished and Africs i plowed from the Cape of Good Hope to Cairo. There died o few days ago ot Paris a man named Poulet-Malassis, who should have made & fortune in the publisbing business. Hisambition | was to discern the coming anthor before the com- ing’ author had arrived, and to prodace a3 anthor's works with all the luxury and fie taste that printer and binder could devise. Unhspolly he began the work twenty yearstoo soon, sod though many of his early books are pricclees no%, and any volume bearing the punuing mark of the publisher, o pullet illy-seated on a spit’ (poukd mal assis), 15 eagerly songht for by collectors, b ‘made but little money oat of his speculation. Don Cameron tried to marry the lovely rs. Shunk, but msn proposes and womsa de- clines—sometimes. Then he paid attentions i0 Secretary Sherman's nlece, and, on the 21t of February, at o Juncheon to which seventy-f¢® ladies sat down. the news was formally snnoanc: cd. In cleven minates after-the party boke up the news was known all over the city. T bride-clect has a round thongh slender and grsce ful form. Tler face Is fresb ond bright, with dee? biue eyes, and long dark eyelashes. Her featores are regalar, and when smiling shows while, 1655 lar tecth. Ter complexion is one of her g charms, for It is fair, clear, and rosy, bair dfl_ brown, with nataral curls fallinz over the wel shaped brow. She is one month over 10 years age, which s two years Jess than the aze of Cameron, the eldeat of her step-danzaters-elech The irrepressible Sir Wilfrid Lawson, fl: M. P. who annaally opposes the adjonrment o Parliament-over Derby-Day, has been givio e DBritish Ministry 2 severe zoinz-over in '3 speec tohis constitatents. At the begioninz of &8¢ seseion, he ald, they should Lave made an 230 nouncement something like tois: **Grau Theatrical Performance! The piece cilled “Dritish Interests’ will be played every night o the next fortnight by Her Majesty's servants. Tbo First Lord of the Admiralty will sing * Heaits of 0Oak,” Lord John Manners, crowned with laurels of Iilles, will perform the sword -excrciee, Mr. Cfo% will dance the war-dance, Mr. CavendishBentinck will appear in the character of a ‘Bashi-Bazouks Lord Beaconsfleld himself will poke up (¢ Dritish lion till he roars again, and the Chancellof of the Exchequer will take the money at the door. The band will- piay * Rule Britanola’ the whole time, and the proceedings will concinde wih & panorams, 1 which will be scen in tho back- ground tac British flect sailing up and down B8 Dardanellcs, the crews singlnz in chorns: Here we o up, up, up. Here we go down, down, dow, e - -Here we £0 round, rogad. rouad. N i L S S ) " (