Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, May 3, 1878, Page 4

a THE CHICAGO 'TRIBUNE: FRIDAY- MAY 3, 187s. . any llability to nccrue on the contract against the ! him who could not exhibit a clean record 3 Tlye Tribawwe, TERMS OF SURSCRIPTION. BT MAIL—TN ADYANCE—POSTAGE PREPAID. afly Fdition, ane vear. £31 oy attons Liersry Etie dheet e, Eaturday Faition, T ieskiz, one yes ‘artaot & year, per mon One cony, Per yesr. Cinb of four...... Bpecimen coptessent tree. Glve Post-Ultica address 1o foll, inclnding Btatesad . Connty. ftemitiances maybe made elther by draft, express, Font-Office order, orin reglutered letters, at our elak. TERMS TO CITT SUDSCRINERS, Daily, delivered, Sunday excepted, 25 cents per week. Datly, delivered, Sundsy Included, 30 cents per week. Address THE TRIBUNE COMPANY, Corner Madieon and Dearborn-sta., Chicago, il Orders for the detivaryof Tas TRinuNeas Evanston, FEnglewsod, and Hyde Park left In the ctounting-room ‘willreceive promot a TRIBUNE BRANCH OFFICES. THR CRICAGO TRIRCKE has established branch offices for the recefptof subscrintions and advertisements a3 follows: W NEW YORK—~Room 20 Tridune Duflding. ¥, T. M- Fanpzx, Manager. TARIB, France—No, 10 Run de Is Grange-Bateliere, 1, Manzxe, Agent. LONDON, Eog.—American Eschasge, 448 Strand. Hexry F. GrLiie, Agent. 8AN FRANCISCO, Cal.—Palsce Iiotel — e AMUSEMENTS, e MaVicker’'s Theatre. Madfron sireet, between Dearborn sad State, *'0ur Aldermen,” Hooley’s Theatre. Tandolph street, between Clark and TaSalle. Bagagement of Mad. Modjeska. **Adrienne." Hnverly’s Theatre. Monroe street, corner of Dearborn, Joshlart's Pan- orama of the Chicsgo Firs. New Chicago Theatre. Clark street, opposite Bherman House, Engage- ment of Mme. Rents's Female Minstrels, *'Female Forty Thieves.” Colisenm. Clark street, opposite new City-flall. Eogagement of G. W. Thompeon. ‘‘¥awcup.” Varicty entertajn. ment., e —e SOCIETY MEETINGS. * COVENANT LODGE, NO. 520, A, F. & A. M.— mrul-r Communication this (Friday) evening, at 8 o'clock. aL Corinthian Hall, No. 187 ast Kizle-st, ork on the M. M. Degree, ' Vislilog brethren aro cors dislly invited. * By order, T WM. RERR, Becretary. % HOMRE LODGR, NO. 608, A. F. & A,M,-~134 Twen ty-second.at.—Bpeclal Communication this (¥riday) evening at 7 o'clock for work on K. A, _ Regular Come munlcaiion &L B p: M, foF wark ofi M. 3. Lexree, Visiting breturen cnmmllln'lted. AL Z. HERRICR, Secrctary, OMIENTAL LODGE, No. 33, A. F. & A. J.—1Tall 122 Lasalle-st, Biated Communication this ‘riday) DR ATG TERAERTd 30 b6 promTEe. VIMbars cordiaty 1o Viied. "By order of the Maaigr. oo iort Sordialy fne ¥ N. TUCKEIL Becretary. e FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1478, Groonbacks at the New York Stock Ex. changa yesterday closed at 993, Jony Monnissex's ostata is estimated at sbout $30,000 all told,~—n much smaller sum than it was sopposed ho had sccumulated, and too small to pay his debts and leave'any- thing to the hoirs, e Springfleld is tho placo and the 26th of June tho date sottled upon by the State Cen- tral Committee for the holding of the Illinols Republican State Convention, Itwas thought by many that the party throughont the Btate ‘would be tho gainer by holding the Convene tion in Obicago ot a date consideraby later than that chosen, but the Committeo were ,disinclined to"undorttke tho oxperiment. — The question of the power of the Common Council of Ohicago to levy n licensa tax of $50 upon every streot-raliwny car operated in the city in sbout to bo tested bofore Judge Drontoxp, of tho United States Ciroult Court, upon an application to restrain the enforcoment of tho tax by tha cily and its payment by the North Chicago Company, of which the applicant is a stockholder. —— From both Vienna and 8t. Potershurg como assuranced that Eogland and Russia, through German influences, have ogreed to talk over thoir differences cnlmly, and en. deavor to arrive at au understanding without resorting to the arbitrament of war, The dispatches indicate that n bosis lins beon ndopted which gives promiss of a more sat- infactory result than has been the case in previous negotiation T —— Appalling bavoo was created lst ovening at Minueapolis by an explosion in the Wash- Lurn A Mill, the largest flouring-mill in America, Othor mills ndjacont were sot on firo, and fully one-half of the flouring inter. est, the lurgest and most important in the city, was wiped out as the rosult of the fenr. ful disaster. To this add a loss of ffteen livos, and the calamity suffored by Minne. apolis is incressed to terribly proportions. Mr. Wrtant, of Ponnsylvanin, deliveregd a leoturo lnst ovoning in the Hall of the Honso of Roprosantatives at Washington, reading {from printed elips to an audiones composed in all of less than a dozon people, including pages and employes. ‘The cost to the people of the Unitad States for lectures of this kind 1s $200 por hour for the gas consumod in lighting up the Capitol at night. M, ‘Wutanr is a Democratio candidate for Gov. ernor of Pennsylvania upon a platform of Econowy and Reform | e —— Tho riotous disturbances which of lato have givou Montreal au unpleasaut notoriety a8 a city whose coat of arms should repre- sent rowdyism rampant and tho officers of the law couchant have drawn the sitention of the Dominion Parliament to the necessity of taking monsures for the suppression and prevention of these disgruceful occurrences: A bill hoa been prepared, aud tho approval of the Government seoured, which provides for placing under martial law a district in which there is good renson to bolieve that divorder is about to prevail, and for tho enforcement of vigorous milltary measures to put down the rioters, 'The neceirity of such & law, has been amply demonstrated, 1t {s eald that an application will ba made to tho County Board for an appropriation to dofray the cost of appealing the cise of Buzusy and Coxnevry, the condemncd mur. derers of Huau McConviLre, to tho Supreme Court. There is norisk in predicting that the movement will fail, Al that the Consti- tation guarsotees and the law allows—a fair and impartial trial by jury of their peers— « this brace of murderers have already had, They were found guilty of the - atrocious batchery of an inoffensive citizen, and sen- teuced to death, and it is rather too much to ask tho tuspayers of Cook County to beur tho expenso of an attempt to cheat justice of its dua by a resurt to the Bupreme Court. Debate began in the Beuate yesterdsy upon the propoaition for the repeal of the Resumption law, which is before that body {u two forms,~—viz.: the Houss bill for abso- lute ropeul, already passed, and the substi- tuls ruported by the Benate Finance Cowm- mittes, which is an nid rather than an obstacle to resumption. The apecches yesterday wero by Mr. Fenny, of Miohigan, and Mr, Voornzes, of Indinna, both in favor of repeal. The other side of the important question will be ably presented, and with gold, silver, and greenbacks prac- tically on an equhl footing, thero shonld be no difficnlty in persuading any but the abandoned inflation demagognes of the Vooknxes strips that the conntry can and will resume specio pnyments before the Inw goes into offect, and that its repeal wonld be both useless and mischievous, Everybody glad to know that the long agony of the Now Orleans Collectorship is over, the Senato having yesterday voted unanimounsly in concurrence in the unani. mous report of the Committes on Commorce recommending the confirmation of Gzonax L. Stz for the office. This was the place which Paczanp domanded ea the salve for his wounds in 1876, and Gen, AxpEnson, of tha Roturning Board, also claimed it as his reward. Strong representations were made against the claims of both Packarp and Ax. nerson, the appointment of eithor'of whom 83 Collector would hava been ns distasteful ns tho seloction of Mr. Ssutnm was satisface tory to the business interests of New Or- leans, Political considerations added to those reasons sufficed to detormine the nomination of 8urrm, whose unanimons confirmation showa that the Presidont and tho Benate aro in porfect accord on the subject. HOW TO RESUME. Among all the aids to resumption that have been muggested by the Becretary of the Treasury, thero is one that hns not yet oo- curred to bim which, once in practical opern- tion, would probably solve the problem of itself. Greenbacks are now within 4 of 1 per cent of par with gold. Gold commands this nominal premium simply becanse it is in demnand for the payment of duties, Gold payment of duties is required by the Govern- mont simply to meot the interest on the pub- lio debt. Any plan which will provide for the payment of the interest on the public debt without an actual accnmulation of gold to mest the conpons ns they fall due will enable the Government to dispense with exclusive gold payments for dutics, When gold payment for duties shall be no longer required, then there will be no exclusive use for gold, and it will nced but the .simple an- nouncement of resumption to place specio and greenback notos nt par, and romove all dangerof arun on the Trensury for the redemption of greenbacks in gold. The coin intorest on the publio debt amounts annually in round figures to $90,000,000,—tho jnterest on the Pacific Railrond bonds being payalle in green- backs, 'The S8inking Fund (also coin) amounts to about 34,000,000, bat it is probable that this annnal accumulation will bo suspended for o term of years, Tho coin receipts from ocustoms duties will amount this yearto about $126,000,000,— enough’in any caso to balanca the coin in- terest ond Binking Fund together, and some 435,000,000 more than is necessary if the Sinking Fund be suspended, as it ought to be. 'The practice now s to hoard in the Trensury the coin rovenua from the customs duties, and therowith - re- deom the coupons in installments as they come due. Bomo two or three weeks bofore the coupons fall due, the Seoratary advertiges . that he will rodeem them on presontation at Washington or the Sub- Trensuries, If ho may redeem coupons ten days before they fall due,' then ho may also redeom them sixty or ninety days before due, Oursuggestion is, that he shall annouuce, sy May 15, that he will recelve all coupons re- deemable July 1 in payment of duties ot any time during the interval he. tween MAay 16 and July 1, and that thereafter he shell periodienlly mako n similar announcement antedating the matnr- ity of tho coupons by sixty or ninety days, 'The theory is, that this will afford a market for coupons beforothey bocoma due, and canse thew to flow into the Tressury, where thuy will actnally be the property of the Govern- ment at tima of their maturity. - As the coin rovenues from dutios and the coin payments for public interest about balance each other, {his process of retiring the coupons will re- liove tho Government of the neceasity of ac. cumnulating coin, Let us see how such a plan would operate, It {s plain enough where tho bondholder is also un importer. A merchant having auties to pay will prefer to pay thom by passing over to the Government coupons on which ho cannot otherwise realizo for sixty days rather than to cxchange greenbacks for gold at the smallest premium, nnd oven rather than pay over the pgold itself if hLe has it; for, in this* way, he mnkes a mnote duo him avalablo at s full faco valuo and wons time before it be. comes duo and payable. But if this is the natoral impulse, owing to the profit on the trangaction, then it will operata in precisely the same way whon the bolder of the coupous and the jmporter baviug duties to pay sro two differont porsons. In the latter caso, the broker steps into mako tho ex. change, and the profits of tho transnction are divided. 'Thus the foreign bondbolder will be ronched, He will have uotice that he can et bis money, less a small disconnt, for the coupon ninety days before due, nad ho will sond the coupon to n Now York broker for that purpose. The broker will send him a gold draft, becauso he knows lio can turn over the coupon ot & small profit to an im- porting merchant, who can pay his duties therowith. In fact, the foreign bondholder will be able to got the money on Lis coupon from n Loudon Lroker before due, for the London broker can send it to the Unlted Btates in leu of gold or bill of exchango for cotton or grain or money dus iu this country on foreign purchases. ‘The coupons will always have A speolal value for thy payment of duties, and will thus, directly und through the middlemen, find their way into the “United States Troasury, and liquidate them. selves. Not much goid would then be re- ceived by the CGovernment in payment of duties, but none would be needed, since the caupous representing the public fnterest would be canceled. 'The Government necessity for hoarding coin having disappeared, it would no longer be a purchaser of coin, and there would Lo no public demand for gold, since all preforred or exclusive use therefor would have disappeared. With an adequate coin resorve in the Troasury, and redemption on demand the proolaimed rule of the Gov. ernment, there would be small demand for re- demption. The United States Treasury notes would be as good as the Bank of England notes. ‘Thoy would be preferred in genersl circulation on account of their convenieuce, Gold coln, now hoarded, would speedily come into circulation, because it could only be boarded ataloss. The product of our mines would be sdded to the volume of Awmerican wouoy as rupidly ay it aliould be produced and coined. The only special de- mand thers wonld be for coin wonld be to send abrond in payment of foreign pur- chnses, but this conld not arise ax long 88 wo continue to goll mora stafl than we buy abrond. And if the balanco of trade shonld change, the current yicld of gold, and the absence of any special use for it in this country, would furnish an abundanco for export. Tho Government could rafely announce resumption to-morrow under these clreumstances; and, if the plan be put in operation atonce, gold and greenbacks will be at par and in circulation side by side without waiting for any formal annonnce- ment of Qovernment resumption. If the law warrants the Becretary in putting this plan inio execation, he shonld not hesitate 1o tnke the responsibility, for the accoptance in payment of datios of Governmont coupons which mnat otherwisa be redeomed in gold cannot possibly result in injury or incon- venience to any one. If the Becrotary has not the authority under tho law lo enter upon this plan, then Le shonld immediatoly nsk Congross to give him nuthority {o pro- coed with it, At the present siage of things, this single menasuro will euffice to bring abont actual resumption, and ot the same time cxpand the currency by adding not only the slock of coin to the genaral circulation, ‘but also the coupons, which will do the duty of passing through two or three hands, and making two or three sottlements, befors they reach tho Treasury. AMEND THE BANKRUPT LAW, The amendment of tho Senate to tho bill providing for the repenl of the Dank- rupt law extends the dato for filing of peti- tions until the 1st of January. Thia post- ponement is wiso for sevoral reasons, First, becanse it will give opportunity for every. body who desires to take ndvantage of the law a8 it stands ot present to do so. No-. body who can help it will take advantago of tho law, for the privilego of handing one's eatate, be it great or small, ovor to lnwyers and court officials to be devoured is not so inestimable ns some of the advocates of repeal seom to think it is, Persons lope- lossly in debt should be rolieved of their burdena. Neithor public nor private intor- ests can be adyanced by having any con. siderable number of merchants crushed under pnst.due obligations, representing o shrinkage of valnes which hmnan foresight could not provide for. It would be botter for the commuuity that their obligations, upon o surrender of thoir effects, should be wiped out, and everybody permitted to take a frosh start. Tho country has got down to hard-pan, aad {s about to enter upona peried of solid and permanent prosperity. The business community needs a grand clearanco and settlement of old debts,—the loss of which, mince they would never bo paid in any event, is more appnront than real, Anothor reason for postponing the date is that it will give opportunity for the maturing of a new nad better National Bankrupt law. The defects of this one having been per- caived, it will be better to remedy them and to provide a substitato at once, than to leave the-country to flounder through the difii- culties of thirty-eight State jurisdictions and practioes for any period, however short. The oxperience of this couniry has not proved that o National Bankrupt law is un nccessary, It has proved rather that tho demand for such alaw is suro to be ex. pressod and accoded to sooner or later. It has been 8o expressod aud met now on threo different occasions, and it is & noticeable fact that ench timo the law has been in force for o longer time. Tho prosent law, it is ad- mitted, is botter than tho one of 1800, which was too sovere against debtors, and than the ono of 18{1, which was too lenient, Con. gress ought to bo able to procaed from this point to make n law which will be satisfacto- ry all around, Postponement having been proocured, the time will be improved by somo member of the Senate, no doubt, to bring in such a Iaw as wo have suggested,—n law which shall be at once simple, economical in its operation, and certain of execution, Sim. plicity will help -very much-to insnro tho other condition, If the diffioulty of under- standing tho old law had nod been so groat, debtors might not have been called upon to poy lawyers so roundly for the benefits it con. forred. The costs and attorneys’ fees, which ore tho most importaut things to be ro- formed, are now oxorbitant. It fa true the Supreme Court posscsses the discrotion to regulate the tariff of costs; but, it having neglacted to excrcise its powor Mudiclously, the interference of Cougross is called for. With an amendment strictly imiting costs, and prohibiting the payment of more thau a certain ressonablo per cent of assets in law- yers' fees, a law that would anawor all the pur- posex of the conntry could easily be framed. Thore lias lately Leen a revolation of opiuion on this subject in the Benate, Ropeal is now as obstinately opposed as it was a fow days ago fusisted on. For this change of senti- ment tha country is indebted to the personal exertions of Mossrd. Davis, I'munmay, Ep. uuNDs, and other sound lawyers. Itis to be hoped that they will bnng in a new law at the enrliest practicable moment; and that in drafting it they will not forget to liwmit strictly tho feod which mombers of thelr pro- {feasion wmay receive in bankruptoy cases, LEGALITY OF THE QITY SCRIP BUSTAINED, The caso of Furrn ngaiust the City of Obicngo, involving the valldity of tho ity gerip, which was heard by Judges WiLLians, Rooens, MeAvLtstir, snd Boots, was deoid; ed yestorday, Judge WirLiaus dolivering the opiuion, ‘The bill filed by Forven charged that the debt of the city nlready exceeded the consti. tutional limit, and that-the )kxor oud Comp- troller had recontly issucd certain orders on the City Treasury, payable out of the taxes of 1878 when collacted ; that theso orders wero ovidences of debt croated by the city in excess of the constitutional limit, and were thorefore illegal and void, and the bill asked tbat the further issue thereof be enjoined. The city authorities filed a demurrer, admit ting the facts, but denying the legal conclu. sions, The Court yesterday sustalned the demurrer, After reciting the constitutional provision and the statute, sud referring to the judguent of the Bupremo Court in the caso of Epwarps against the City of Spriug. field, which judgment was affirmed in tho more recent cose' of Law vs. Huck, the Court declared that the law in thbis State might be considered settled. The Supreme Court in the BSpringfleld case, referring to the rule laid down in cortain cases that, when taxes are levied and appropristions made, expenditurcs in anticipation of reve- nhe are mot probibited, adopted this rule with s qualification, and said : Intble view ar0 only smp"ed to yield our assent (o tbhe recogulzed by the sutharitles ro- ferred Lo, with ibis qualidcation: (1) The 1ax ap- propriated wust, at_tha time, be sctually leviv (2) By tho legal efect of tbe contract beiweun iha corporation and the individual, wadv at ibe Lune of the appropristivn, and jasuinz and sccepts ing of & warrant ot order ‘o the ‘Lreasury for ite paywmeut whea collactad. must oucraty W Brevent corparation, The principle, as we underatand, i, that there ls In auch case no debt, beeanre ane thing in eimply given And accepted In exchanuo for Another, W hen the appropriation (s mada and the wareant order on the 'Frn!llr {9 lssned and accented for §ta payment when coflected, tlie trans. action 18 closed upan the part of the carporation, leaving no fatnre abligation, eitaer absolute or con- tingent, upon it whereby its dobt may be incressed, The Circuit Judgos yesterday decided that the scrip or Treasury orders issued by the city and now {ssuing create no liability agninst the city ; that their acceptance re. leases the corporation from any further lia- bility to pay them; that in faot and in Inw they are an assignment by the city of a specified sum of n specified tax, and the payee, in recepting this assignment, gives up bia claim against the city, The Court also holds that it waslawful for the city to bind itsclf to roceiva these onders in paymont of taxes. The presont serlp, the Court bolds, falls within the qualifieations of the Bupreme Court in the Springfleld oase, and Is legal—is an’'absolute order on the Treasury for pay- mont whon the taxes ara collected, and are logally rocoivable in paymont of taxes. Tha legality of the scrip may tharefore be considered sottled so far ns {t can bedeter- mined byany Court from whose judgmont thore is anappeal. Tho four Judges—>Mo- Avvtstes, Wisniams, DBoorw, and Rooers— concur in the opinion, and thero is 1o rea. sonable donbt that the higher Court will con- firm their jndgment. This decision ought to have the effegt of romoving all objections on tho part of those having large amounts of taxcs to pay noxt winter and spring, and who con afford to carry the poper for that time, Having escaped the contingency which would have forced the city to suspend op- ernlions, the city authorities should renlize the faot that even with logalized sorip, bear- ingno interest, it will not be possible to carry on the Government many more years, Thero must be some means found by which the time for the collsction of taxes and the time for their ex- ponditure shall be brought nearer, and if possible have n largs part of the yoar's cur. rent taxos collected within the municipal yoar. This must be done by having the taxes col. lactod six br nine months earlier than at prosent, or by so changing the fiscal year as to extand it over the term in which the taxes are collested. This can be done by baving one-half yenr's tax lovied in advance of the present term of the flscal year, and tho be- ginning of the next fiscal year brought forwnrd at least six months, In that or in somoe other practicable way the city must take atops bofore auother yoar bo- gins to avold tho coatly and perilous prac. tice of doing a cash Lusiness exclusively on credit and without the authority to pny in- torest. If the city could pay each year's ex- pouditnres from the revenuc of that year, there might bo a saving of 20 per cent in the cost of the Government ; but so long as the city can only pay its exponses eightoen months after the expense is incurred, so long will the City Government dragout a help. loss, starving existence, linblo to a fotal col- Iapse at any moment. IMPROVEMENT OF THE FOX AND WIS- CONSIN RIVERS. Sonator MaTraews, of Ollo, scems disposed to do the country a substoutial service by thoe introduction of a resolution last week which ralses an inquiry regarding the im. provement of the Fox aud Wiscousin Rivers, in the Btate of Wisconsin, The resolution is in theso worda : Resolred, That the Socretary of War be, and he 1s heraby, directed to report to the Henate what anount of money has been expended for improve- menta of the Fox and Widconaln Rivers and Inters recting canal or canata in the State of Wieconsin; also fww much It will cost to completo lhe sal fmprovementa 80 ns to make the rame navigable and uscful, and what public benedt has beon or s 1ikely to be derived from each improvements and expenditure; also how much money has boen ex- punded for procuring the right of way, lowage, or damage {o private pruperty, and how inuch money hins been expended tor atiorneys' focs in sottling rights of way; the numes of the sttorneys and the natnes and salaries of all mon employed” aa supers intsudents upon the ssld improvements, Heuntor Camxnoy, of Wisconsin, objected to tue consideration of the resolution at that time, and it want over under the rule; but it calls for just such information that the people nesds, and if it Is vigorously pressed upon the attention of the Henate and the country it will result in the oxposure, and perbaps the abandonment, of one of the most oxpensive and impracticable efforts at internal improvements that was ovor under- takon, About ton years pgo certain Wisconsin statesinen and political economists conceived the brilliant iden of uniting the Great Lakes with the *Father of Waters"” by tho im- provement of the Fox and “Old Wisconse,"” and cutting a ship.canal uniting the two at Dortage Clty, where the twp rivers approach within three miles of each other,—the farmer making {ta way mto Lake Winoebago, and thenco into Lake Michigan, via Green Day, and the lnt- ter omptying itself juto the Mississippl noar Prairie du Chicn. The Fox has always af- forded a precarious sort of navigation for raftsmon, and tn seasons of unusual freshets a certain clnss of flat-bottomed steam-scows built at Oshkosh, and warranted to run wherover there was & heavy dew, penetrated the Intorfor as far es New London, DBut the Fox was a woll-defined stroam, and its placa ou the maps was the samo year after year, But not so with the Wiscousin, Ity bed covers an immense amount of territory too unstable and uucertain to be held by a war- rantee deed, and the nomadio habits of jts currents and channels are sufliclout to craze the brain of the wost experieuced log-driver that ever floated on the broad bosom of its trencherous wators, Every heuvy freshot changes ils course, and, after it debouches into the open country from the rock-walled Dells near Kilbourn Olty, it seems to defy all restraint, and spreads itself ont promis. cuously with a zigzag loosoncss over the bot- tow-lands adjoiniug. That it should ever Lave entered the hend of any practical man torender navigable such a stream as this, and confine its truant waters wilbin a Hmit narrow euough to be used for the substantin! purposcs of inter- communication, s indeed wouderful; but, making sll due allowance for self-interest ond Jocal fesling, and adding thercto tho in. gredient of political demagogery, it Is atill passing strange that the Government should be iuveigled into an undertaking at once absurd, wholly impracticable, and eanor- wmously expensive, Aud yet it Las been done, Millious have already been spont upon it, and in the Appropriation bill just passed by the House huudreds of thousands more are ap- propriated to continus the foolish work. The scheme to improve these two 1iverns and ‘‘cheapen transportation ™ originated about the same time that the Grauger clement took shape in the West in the efort lo regu. lato the chiarges of railway corporstions on freight and passengers, aud every small poli- ticlau embraced the opportunity to help Limself by * cottoning " to the local lunacy, For a time every candidate for a State oflice in Wisconsin and every candidate for Cougress was compelled to show his hand upon this *great question® of improving the Fox and Wiscousin Rivers, aud wo uato upon the money-nbaorbing subjeot. And it is bocauso of tho fear of popular opinfon that the Wisconsin delegation in Congress aro not to be relied upon for any honest and straightforward help in exposing tho real length, broadth, and thickness of this frand upon thoe ‘Publio Treasury, Thoro is nota man in that delegation who does not know that the proposed *‘improvement™ is o snare, & delusion, and a humbug, snd yet not one of them Jdnres to oxpress his honest opinion concerning it. He does not dare do it becanse he would be fiying in the face of demagogues at home, for it is not to be dis- guised but that some of the people are asclam. orous for the expenditure of Governmont money in making internal improvementa in the Badger State as thoy nre in Mississippi for the building of lovees and the protection of! cotlon and sugar plantations, The rosolntion of Mr. Marraewa is es. pecially opportune at a time when so many localities nre Yying to insert gheir iuitial wedgs into the National Treasury for pre- cisoly similar objects to the inexcusable de. ception that the Senator from Ohio is en- deavoring to expose. It is justsuch lavish expenditure of money on a work wholly im. prachienble and useless, excopt 08 a means of disbnrsing Government funds, that furnishes the Bouth with a valid oxcuse for asking the ald of the National Treasdty for a vaat systom of internal improvoments. It is never too late to back outof n bad under. derlaking, and- if this resolution of inquiry, touching the Fox nnd Wisconsin business, develops what most peoplo think it will, the quicker we know the worst tho sooner the loss ean be ropaired. It issuspoctod also thint the houd of some expert who knows the Dottom facts is visiblo in the wording of the resolution, and those who read botween the linos will discover an Etlnopian in tho fence in that portion of it thut speaks of * attor- neys' fees,” settling for *‘right of way," “damages to private property,” and so on and wo forth. THE GOVERNMERT TIMBER THIEVES, 'The story of the robbery of Government timber in Oalcasien Parish shows the in. justice and demsgogory of BriiNz's outery against Sacretary Bouunz that in his effort to preservo Government property he was pui'. secuting some poor but honest woodmen, A corrospondent of the Cincinnati Commereial ins been investigating the Oalcasion timber. atealing, ond he has found out the true in. wardness that has prevailed in this timber- thieves' paradise, and hns so stirred up Jo’ Bramve's pity for the poor wood-chopper. Caleasion Parish is in the southwestern cor- ner of Louisiana, Its inhabitants are maln- ly French-Canadians, who herotofors bave made their living by farming; but when somo Yonkees and Bouthern speculators who had spied out the land, aud found that the CGovernment timber was abundant, started saw-mills, the people went to chopping for thom, nnd to such good purpose that at the time of the exposure of the rascality a fleet of filty vessels was engagod in taking lum. ber down the Caleasieu River to tho West Indian and other ports. A the tim. ber cost the speculators nothing except the trouble of stenling it, aud aa thoy paid the ohoppers only & seanty pittance, and that not in money but in stors orders, the piratos hod n good thing. Down to the timo that Sccrotary Sciusz entered upon his cru- sado to enforce tho laws, thore had Leen no interference with thom, as tho Government ngents sont down thors had been satisfied for a small consideration that ** thore was nothing tho matter.” Most of the ngents wera quioted with very small bribes; but it took $10,000 and a percentage on the timber profits to satisfy ono of Gnant's agonts that Calcasleu was the homa of Lonest labor, It waa just like Becretary Bouuez to send an ngent down thore who could not bo bribed. With the assistance of United Btates Marshal Trrmy, he soized 8 hundrod thousand logs that had been ntolen, and, with the aid of Prrxin's successor, Marshal Wranron, he carried out the ordors of the Becrotary and compelled the saw-mill owners to comply with the laws, and the wood-choppers to ceasa their’ threats ogninst his doputies, The poor oppressed spoculntors who have been making fortunes out of their thisverics, and who have aroused Jrt Bramwe's sympathy, have been compelled for o timo to cease their despoiling of the publio forests; but pa thelr mills are still ruuning it is probably only a question .of time how soon they will resumo their profit. ablo business of stoaling, especially when thoy have sympathizers in such high quar- tory, It is not improbable that the moment the vigilance of the Department is relaxed thoy will again resume thelr old business of earrying off Government property, Mean- while, if Congress wants theso thieves to go aliead with their depredations, why does it not repeal the Inw that makes it the duty of the Bocrotary of the Interior to prosecute them ond protect Govern- ment timber? This would appear to bo a more rational aond consstent course than making porsonal assaults upon tho Becretary, denouncing him as a Prussian, and his agonts gy spies and informers, and making an appropriation tlat is ridiculously inadequate for the enforcement of the law. If Dramwe is in favor of giving these speculators opportunitios of still farther en- riching thomselves by thievery, lot Limbond his efforts to the repeal of the law and throw the Government property wide open to all. QGiva the Timber Ring permission to take all they want. 'This would at least be consist. ent us compared with his assaults upon the Secretary for enforcing a law whioh makes it his bounden duty to protect those forests. At thie same time, na their constituents have no sympathy with rings of speculators organ- jzed to stesl publio property, they msy as well understand thot the people will have something to say. They have been pretty Lusily engaged of lato in smashing rings, and when it comes to the Timber Ring it {s not impoasible that some Congressmen sy be involved ju the general disaster, AMERICA, ENGLAND, AND RUSSIA. . The Americsn correspondent of the Lon. don Times sends that paper a plausible letter to show that, in the event of a war between Great Britain and Russia, the sympatby of America would ba largely with the former country, The corrcspondent belioves that prompt and equitable adjustment of the Ala- bams claims has done much to remove the ill-fecling towards Great Dritain which for- merly prevailed inthe United States, and that the fica display of British products at the Centennial Esposition * further softened Ametican resontments. The T'imes adopls thess views oditorially, and remarks upon them To the great body of Engllsnmen it ls slmost in- concolvably that thoat of the sawe race, and Hving uuder very wuch the same Laws on the other slde of the Atlastic, sbould support the Hussisu rather thau the British cunse tu tho peualog quarcel, sAmerican prejudice sgaiust Great Britaln uufortuuately bas too onduring a basiy to vermit of fts being ecasily removed The .doing the same thing, London Zimes has apparently forgotten the origin of this prejudico, And the manper in which it has beon restored to lifo whenover it scomed to be on the point of dying, by the condnet of England. The story of the War of the Rovolution fa still told in the school-books, and the feclings aroused by it, though not intonse, are not favorable to Great Britain, American children are taught that the peacs following that war was grudg- ing and ill-obsorved ; that the impressment of our seamon and constant {nsulta to onr flag led to the War of 1812; and that there- ofter English friendship for the United Btates was hollow and unprofitabls, cooling suddenly when the country had mont noed of it, during the Rebellion, and only returning in full forcs when the American Govornment was in a position to make reprisals for past offenses, These ‘arc some of the reasons why Americans have not loved Great Britain. ‘Whilo they are not disposed to cherish old grudges or to reject friendly overtures from a nation in many respects as admirable ns it ie great, thoy remember that the case is dif- forent with Russia. Bhe made hor firat nppeal to American sympathy by liberating ' her serfa, Afterwards sho was friendly when America most neoded friends, proventing the recognition of the Confederacy by France, and thereby keeping England from Sho stoud by this country whenever she had an opporiunity, It is true, ns the London ZT'imes remnrks, that her institutions are ns far romoved as possible from our own; but this fact, as it did not make her friondship less valuable, ought not to diminish the gratitude owing to that friendship. Thore is, besides, a question as to the merits of the dispute betwaeon Great Britain and Russa which may be supposed to have a diract -and im- portant bearing on American opinion of the war. If it shall appenr that Great Brit- ain is fighting for the re.enslavement of a Christinn population, and Russia for its lib- eration ; if tho formorseoke a pretoxt, where she has no reason, to dispute the results of Russian vietories; or if she plunges two great nations into war for a point of pride or for purposes of national nggrandizement, American sympathy will nnturally not be with her, ‘Whothor the drift of Amorican opinion favors ono side or the other, it shbuld be distinctly understood that as betwoen these combatants she preservos a strict and hon- orable noutrality. As n natlon, Amorica has nothing to do with Europoan quarrels except to kesp out of thom, Her recolloc- tion of British wrongs or of Russian benefila ia not so strong that she fecls called upon at this juacture to be moved ns o nation by ono or the other, Individuals mny be expected to express such proforences as they have when war breaks out; the Governmont ‘noither has, nor can have, any proforence as botween two nations which are in friendly. relations with the United Sintes. The gentlemau of the Fifth (TiL) Dlstrict thinks his bill would be popular fu lis district, but ho will be surprised to discover how greatly hels mistaken, One of the Assessors under the old law, residing {n Whitceldo County, sent us a letter, which was published the other day in Tur TrisuNe, fn which he described how the people liked tho Income-Tax law. We re- produce a fow passages from his communication for the delectation of Mr. Buncitarp and Can. Ten Hanusox, who are so greatly cnamored of this scheme of ralsior revenue fn preferonce to taxing tobacco or whisky: Your editorisl on tha incoms tax fs good, bat does not give all the objectlons to such & tax, Thoss who were revenue ofiicees whea the old ine come tax wasa law, will bear witness that the veunle bore il otber taxes imposed upon them witha cheerfulncss truly comniendable, bat the incomo Lax caused more complaint, than all other kinds put together, It waus not the dollars and cents that peopls ob- Jected to so much as it wad the inquisitorial nature of gettlagit, In ordertotnd out wiho has made $2,000, sn Assesnor must be appointed, ‘whose duty it Is to ascertain that fact. Experience teaches that you cannat slways tell who has an income of §2,000 and who has not; and, ass ro. ault, every man, whether In bua! s or pot, must moke & return, o Under the old Whiteslde County had {hree Awslatant Ausessors to do~Lhis work 1n the time allowod by law, receiving pay at the rate of 84 n day. The ooly way these Aaseasors can tell who has an incomwe tax and who has not s to notify nll“mmm o their respectivo divisions to appesrand make returns, f Mr, Busicuaro could atand snd 464 the {00k of contempt and disgust that came over poople's facos when questions were meked under oathastothe income frum children's and wifa's labor, outgoes to hired girls, doctors, and s thousand other equal- 1y odlous questions that musf be put under such s tax, he wuuid ucyer cast a vote to restore it, It ie my hunest conviction that the Income-Tax law did more to demoralize the American people than all the laws ever passed by Congress, many )‘mnpla regarding it pecfectly legithnate to make & false return snd swear to (. 1 have scen mon of untlonished reputation otheriies sivear to 8 falge roturn withont even a olush, ahd yet tliose men's wurd and oath were good n any other transaction. 1do not guess at {t, but 7 know, from an experi- enco of cight years with this and other Qovern- ment taxes, that the peopla of Mr, Buncnann's district would vote by an uoverwhelmiog majority aguinst restorlne this tax, and if he dues not un+ cerstand 4t b should do wo at once, e mny conclude thal it will bos 1o support this tax under the plea o 1ng the rich, " but le underestimates tho intelligouce of his constituency If he expects to be justified by such a piea. Fhe memory of that fax s not for- gottan, aud peopls romoniver that all must submit 1o the inquisitive Assessor wno but docs his duty best who s tha most nigid. ‘The troaclery of peoplo's momory I8 fearful un- dersuch & law, and thers are 04 many ways of construing v wondrons detalls as there must bo pelty oflicers o enforce it, and thers s not one mau in 8 thousand who ever made an income re- turny that did not elther ignurantly or willfully commit parjury. We may concede the justico of the tax, bat the manner of getting at jt is dtegaat - Ing In {ta detalls, icritating in its_appiication, and cruelly unjust aud domoraliziug in ita resuits, and teachos mento is0 & Governmant which makea ita subjects U y under oath how much butier cacli cow makes s year, and how much Is con- sumed by the family, and what it Is worth a rmmd. sod s on Lhiraugh the wholo cataiogus of ncomes and outy; £ e ——— The Washington lost, etc., inslsts that when it opposes and reviles TILDBN it {3 not {a fnz up crow agalnst the day of crow, and fn reply to our bumble suggestion that tho National Convention of 1550 might whoup Baxny through with a rushs While the motion fs pending to nominate Mr, TiLLEN by acclamation some geutlewsn from a sural district will arise and exptess bis doubte as to tho propriety of nominatiug s man the second time for an ofico who hadn't enough sand in his craw 1o take ?lllltllmn of it after having been Ilhlmnhlntl{le ocled |hulem) ucumnnnyln{ these remarke with & motion 1o lay the provosiis the table. ‘This, not being debatabie, will be dona by & singularly lurge vote, and the Convention will then proceed 0 name the next Prosident in the usual way. In case the Washington Post, etc., should— as wo lervently hope 1t will not—by the time that tho next National Conventlon assemblcs have gone to mect 137 other Washinzton papers, Its sccomplithed editor may have another op- portunity to head the Missouri delegation, Bug the Missourl delegation under the manage- ment of the accomplished editor of the Wash- fogton Fout, ete., is not Ukely to tatroduce such a resolutlon, noy lodeed to support it unless opinton is overwhelmingly o its favor, It will sort of remaln 'round the corner as it were, and on on when TiLDEN {s nominated our eateemod Wash- Ington contemporary will shy Its hat luto the said so.” alr and rewark, * Hooray! We al Tar Cuicico TRIBUNE's 0 Pacidc Rallroad bill, on the g **subeldy measury, " places that paper i lnmn-nu:lt -:;lm e, Al u:h wlm‘u earnes| eading Congress Lo gran! from 5.»5.000.001{ o sfl)o,m. 10 osthern Facide Rallruad Compauy, beeldes advocsiing enor- mous subsldies in Jand sud moaey for (he rosd of its boss, C. P. Hustingtof. Tuk TRIsUSE'S antis suneidy 6t only comes on when any Goveromeatsl ad Is ssked by the Bourh, ~Courier-Jouraul. By climinating the- followlog intentional misstatomeats, the above will correctly atate Taue Tuisuxs's position: First, Tus-Tuisoxs Dbas not *all thls wiuter " nor auy part thereof ¥ plesded carucatly ?? or carelusaly for LUty to _plete it {f Congress will permitthem, W, ons hundred milltons of subsidy 1 gy Northern Pacific, nor for. &ny ofher Am, 5‘ ond, 1t has not asked Conaress 1o grang ‘m Conpany a single dollst of money or hondy ht to guarantee & penny of Interceat on any 1,0' - for that or mny other raltroni, Toird, :d. not advocated ' cuormous subsidics in l;nd o money" for C. P, Hontinaton, Tlllen.'m hoa ssked nothing for the Northern Pacige o what {t has advocated for the unn'm Pacific. It has steadily apposed the gm,,:fm of money or bonds,or guarantecq Inler““' on bonds to either Company, The .\'nrmm Pacific Company merely nsk Conurregy N extend the tima for bullding thelr road wiy, th aliof the land-grant previously dhen; 1y, zh all they have petitioned for; thes haye uot. cd for a dollar of money, a single (lm-ernmnk. bond, an additlonal acre, or the quaranten nc[“ peouy of interost on the Companyly bflnd‘ All this the Courwour. well knoyws, 'n," Huxrivaron Company come forward and o pose to bulld the Southern Paclle Ruad, ay yy rate of 8o many miles the first and uch' l\lbu; quent year until it {s completeq, withony ¢, quiring from the Government a dollhr of mnne‘. bouds, or guarantee of fitercst on bonas, Ty ofter 10 take the right of way and Tou Score] landgrant. and_ buld tho rond. Tho Seqes Company baving broken down, ang bein, unable to go on with. the work on the term, of thelr charter, the IUNTINGTON Com, ' who have abundance of cash capital, Pronuss p; step futo their vacant shocs and sprodily pom, scen It stated tnat they arc oven willing t:l:m; tha road without receiving the land-grang, but this may be an orroncous report. But lhe’m Iy no atiestion aa to thelr proposition to take uj the work at the point where tho Bcorqump,n: broke down and immediately procecding with the lino trom both ends until it 18 finisheq I the carliest practicablo day. Why shiould fyrty millfons of Interest-guaranteed bonds ba gireg to the Philacelplia 8corr Company, when the Caltfornia HuxtineToN Company stands ready to construct the road without a dolar of pe. cuntary ald from the Government! Ang why does the Cour.-Jour, suppress aud inlsrepreseng the sctual facts ot tho casul — Mr. Cock Roacm, tho Fennsylvanla ship. bullding subsidy sceker, has ;uc“ently published a pamphlet **Un Shipbuilding and Ametican Steamship Linea,” in which e strenuoudy op. poses the admisslon of foreign-butlt vessels 1y American registry, and urges Congress o per. severe in tho sulcidal policy which 1s destroging vur ocean commerce fur Lhe purposs of enrich. ing Mr. Cock Roaci. A wrlter In tho 8ay Francisco Chronlcle ventilates the Roacn pam. phlet fn most admirable style, and convicts the author of a deltberato attempt to humbug Cag. gress and tho couutry, The following 1s 5 sampla: DAL DRIL sicarattip OF 1ho Aent sls e ieh price at winch the abip Js delivored to the ships otwner, aud Includes tha builders' proflt, Thop: which he gives an the cost of n fiest-cluse atestship bullt at Roacn's yard is exclusive of Mr. Roacu's pront. \hat thore profts smiount 1o is shown by lio following trures: The City of Peking, and City of Tokiu, 5,000 tons, each, cost, as stated by Mr. Roacu (for the Inforflintion of the President and Congresy), 832,600 vach. The City of 81 Franciaco, City of New York, and City n’ Bldney, 1,010 tons each, cost, on the same authoniy, $370,200 each, ‘Total cost of the v steamers, $2,303,000. Turning to the con. atruction account of the Paciffe Mail Steam- ship Company, as printed la thelr offeisl reportof April 30, 1870, we find that the Company pald Mr, ltoack for the City of Peking, 81,2 404,00 for the City of Tokio, 31, J tho City of San_Francleco, $744, 0t New York, $757,56u0.40; Ciyof 8 KL 61, —moking & total L, 78 n leaving honest Jonx ltoaci 8 vrofl, oy hisown showing, of $2,302,738 (Just 100 per cent) on the fivosteamors, The prica paid for the Peking and tho Toklio is excluslye of the $300, 000 expended With this ex methods for ** roviving American striving for the mastery of ihe elcns 1o follow his ples for ocesy Ilo says we cannot estabilsh and eep up stesm lines to forelyn parta wity. out liveral subsidies for long terms. Of coure wo cannot do withoit subsidics if aur ship-owners and steamship compsules aro to atars with paying a toll equal to 100 per cont on the cost of thew steamers and compete with forelgn soipo-wnern, It the Pacific Mail Company could hsve buopat thesr five steamers named abave upon tne Clyde, the Company woula have eaved $2,000,000 on thelr firat cost, and $300,000 In revalrs, besidis several months' detention to (he two large steamen, Allowing 20 percent per annum on this sum for intereat, insurance, and depreclution, the saving would bo equal to & subsldy of $520,000 peran. nam, plus the monoy expended overy winterat Washington in e(Torta to extors a subsidy frumibe toxvayers of the country through thels llepresests stives la Congress. ° on them in San Franclsco. of Mr. Roacu’ ocean, " it aubsidies, ———— By tho last census there wero nearly thres millions of farmers and planters who owned their lands, Thero wero abiout an equal number of men who ronted lands or worked as farm hands. In the Bouth these wero mostly freed- men, but {n the North fariners’ sons. The num- bor of land-renters in the North issmall as com- pared with the number of laud-owners, Tho whole number of men who work land for & liv- fug, including tenants, hired laborers, aud farmers’ sons, {8 not far from six milllons, and represout about five milllons of famlllcs, or more than blalf the total population of the American people, The queation is, to what ex- tent are thoy helped or hurt by the ecxisting bigh protoctlve tarill. Col. Monmisox, of 1llinols, tho other day fn the louse, dlscussed the subject. Wo mako a brief extract from bis apecchs "The home market 18 anothor chest andcatehword of the Protectionists, Afior protuction unequaled for half a generation tho homo market bas uob come Lo 18, but Is us far as ever romoved from ta¢ flelds of agriculiure; our surplua grsin has vate rown the.wondrous growih of ous population,snd t bas not abated and will not abate, Nutuolyl this true of the l:olmu, gancrally, but it true of Penueylvanla, tho chief weat of protecilon. We now prodnce and “3“" to the person abuat sb much as in 1860, Peunsylvanla produced to the person in 1840 45 bushels of wheat, 9,7 bushed of corn, aud in 1875 414 busbels of wheat and 11¥ bushels of corn to the persus; and so the pulem; of builaing a hume market for the products O geata-delde s a wham und acheat, [n 1300 15 pef cent of our inanufcturer found & m:xrxl: market; In 1875 only 2 por cont found o rarke! abroad, U8 por cent st home, In ‘1800 not 10 per cent of onr own agricultural products !;c:: exported for market, cstiuinting by export of wbes and corny And in 1870 22 per ceut of our whale sgricultural product hisd tutind a foreign mnkrllhx;: competition with (he proaucts growa by il *paupor Jabor " agalnat which wo have br"l‘l"x:t. tecting ourselvesat a cost of unnumbered millv iy For sericuliural products protection bss not 8 ¢cu not glve m home market. ———— Whatever may to sald ju favor of an 1nmm$ tax in the abstract, as *fair, muluhlg. l;:!m Just,” cannot be allrmed of BuucHanw's in clther respect. Elis bill would bear most ut justly upon .that at present largo class ot v»s sans who bold real estate heavily murtg:x.:u‘ Tuo biil sllows no deduction for interest b out. Bupposea man owna & |;mpertyv runu; ¢ for $5,000, but mortgaged for §70,000. The '.1 terest be pays out exceeds the rental recelreds and acconding to the proposed law hue must n:: s tax of 9 percenton the $30v) There 'da multitudes of people in Illinois whose rlunum not tquat tho interest they havo to pa¥ un'“u property; but they sre to be tazed on the rvt 3 without deductlon for (uterest on the lmu“ brance. A merchant or munufacturer u!'-\yl vaylng 82,600 to $25,000 a year reut m?w:u. premiscs in which be carries on bls bus ) He s not permitted, under the Bukcuaud nn; 1o deduct this rent from bis profts. Ifthe el ho pays is $10,000 and his profits the m’\:f. o ho corues out even barcly st tho cad of ¢ :‘r‘ % be fs still required to pay an fucoucs $8,000. s that right? te -Qov. 4, of Oblo, who was Lieutenst/ Oalv'-rg:: Ja‘%‘l‘x‘h? x4, says thet the I .»nmv.:;'w few Tdar Linda ot i, Ohi S vt o - ’i'::r": u::a&-a'y 15 Obio who speaks well of blw- Jay Gouid'a Trid. o -altd Ex.Gov. Youxa hes, we fear, lost ‘mdz« balanco ot bis mind since he bad & mnll % stallion named after him. We do not rec o this moment what tlssion of ths first ox-Gov. Youxj failed to wot. —————— The benefieont effects of Democratle ;\,A‘(Ill:n.;.( strikingly sbown In the prescot cou s the real-estate market jn New York. i crushiog debt hangiug over tho «ity, a0 f taxes mouuting up, no one cau be found 10 the vroperty every ons is snxlous o sell. e insolvency of BxN Woon, bimaclf 8 Demb‘: oyt mauate, shows this, Two yesrssgvbe :'a. ahouscga Fifth avenue vear Bizteeytd st