The New York Herald Newspaper, February 16, 1854, Page 4

NEW YORK HERALD.| BPTICH X. W. CORNER OF FULTON ND NASSAU —————— = Volume LIX c,-.creercece ers ree ——— AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING FOWERY THEATRE, Dowel y—Uxcixe Toa's Camm, \ HEATRE. Brosdway—Axroay axp wen Niowt’s DREAM. BROADWAY OreciaTna—& os THEATRE, Chambers stroot—-A& Kinsuw a odes Dauaa—Rariixn BxcitED. NoTIONAL (THEATRE, Chatham stroet—Afvernoos - Karite Kary Myoning— Unoie Tom’s Uanem, LLACK’S THEATRE, Breadway -Sosvier's Counr LL, Aste Firms, mur AYERICAN MUSEUM—Aftornoon—Coon as 4 Cucum men A Guost ty Sprrm or Himsmr-——vering Tie Buzzanvs | appy Mines’ Boy. BROADWAY MENAGSRIE—Sisxese Twine ap Wied Rasta, CHRISTY’S AMERIOAN OPERA NOUBP, 472 Brondy way—Erwioriam Mecopiss wy Cukisty’s MroeTa ane. WOOD'S #INSTEBLS— Wood's Minetwel Ball, 444 Broad- way- Bru0riaN BansTRELSy. BUCELEY’S OPERA BEUSS. aura Rrworian Oreras Tours. 639 Broadway—Boce- RBAYVARD'S TFORAKA, 598 Broetway--Pawvonawas ey rux Hony Lann. A RHENISA GALLERY , 665 Broadway—Day aud Brening BIGNOR |BLITZ—Sevv ye way. A TADEMY HALL, M2 Brondwsy—Pxenan's Gurr Sx WUNFrIONS Oy THE SeVEN MiL.y MIRM IR. #Y OF CHRISTIAN ART—8i3 Broad: BAYAN Gali way y, Beb, 15, 1834. ‘The The dense fog in which our c’ty bas been eo- 8, exceeds anything of ce May, 1837, at whiok time we were £0 completely shrouded in mist for unable to proceed to fea. The steamship Africa, ia attempting to come up to the city yesterday morning, got half a mile ont of ber course, and ran aground where the water veloped for the past few the kind experienced two weeks that vessels is only nine feet deep ai high tide. At lastaccounts whe was firmly imbedded in the mud, and lighters and steamtugs were removing her cargo, which wonsiets of three thovsend cases, making about one hundred tons. One conveyed to Jerse; ity yesterday afternoon. be got off by the aid of steamtugs. by the fog are the steamships Franklin for Havre. and the Piiladelohia for Havana an@ New Ocleans. ‘The former iv anchored at Quarantine, and the latter in the North River. The mails cf the Africa were delivered from the post office yesterday, whcn we received additional files of papers wich the letters of our correspondents in London and Paris. We give some very interest- ing extracts from the former, which, with the jet tery, will furnish our readers with a correct idea of European affairs to the moment the steamer tailed. The Canada is over due at Halifax with one week later advices, but owieg to the recent unpropitious weather, it is har¢ly probable that she will arrive be- fore to morrow or the day after. The proceedings in Congress yesterday were of a very liv ely and unusually interesting character. Hoa, John Wheeler, the national democratic member from the Sixth district of this city, delivered his maiden speech In the Honse, and is represented as haviog taken everybody by surprise. He denounced the eourse of the administration aud its free soil allies in language of burning eloquence, thet male a deep impressivnon the minds of the auditory, and cannot fail to be reed with interest by all par- ties in cvery section of the country. It is charac terized as the speech of the session, and as the great, est effort of the kind that has been made ia the Houre for ten years, General Houston concluded his speech on the Nebraska question in Senate; after which a vote was taken on We Weller’s amendment to the foar teenth section, whieh devlares the Missouri Compro- mise act sup adopted by yeas thirty-tive, nays ten. A spicy de: bate aft erds took place, in the course of which it was rendered apparent by the movements of Mr Chase that the free soilers inteod if possible to stave off, and thereby defeat the bill by saddiing it with nunecessary amendinents. Mr. Badger, of North Carolina, secured the floor and will speak to day.] In the early par: of the day a number of petitions, bills and reeolu'ior s were disposed of by the Senate; after which the French Spoliation bill was passed, by a vote of twenty seven to fifteen. Bills were also passed granting the public lands in Ohio to that State, and the graveyard in Dubuque to that city. Mr, Everett introduced a bill reviving the old ques tion of rewarding the diswverer of chloroform. Some sensation was produced in the House by the anpouncement of the Coairman of the Committee on Elections that he hai received @ paper, signed by citizens of New York, in which -it was declared tha’ Hon. Mike Wal-b is not s citizea of this coun- try, either, by birth or, na‘urslization. A Con mittee of Conference was ap ointed on one of the Beuate’s amendments to the bill for the relief of the troops who suffered by the wreck of the Ban Fran- cisco. The Committee on Foreign Affairs was dis- ebarged from the further considera*ion of the memo- rials in favor of arbitration in international disputes. Notice was given that another Deficiency bill was ready [to be reported, after which the House went into committee on the Homestead bill. Mr. Mea- cham, a Vermont whig, spoke a short time in favor of the measure, and then branched off against the Nebraska bill. He gave way to Mr. Fenton, a New Yerk soft shell, who commenced enlightening the members with regard to the democra fc difficulties in New York, and which hi was finished by Mr. Wheeler,to the edification of all concerned. From the tenor of the reports, the House was in a complete up- oar rearly all day. . Hon. James Albert Pearce, whiz, has been re. elected to the United States Senate by t.¢ Maryland Legislature, for six years from the 4th of March 1855. The members of the State Le sist d their constituents in disposivg of the canal question, will reassemble, for the purpose of pro ceeding with their legislative duties, at seven o'elock this evening. The lower branch of the Massachusetts Legislatare bas so amended the probibitory liquor law as to re quire ifs approval by a direct yote of the people and to prevent its goi from next May. The whigs of Connecticut yesterday went into convention and selected candi la‘es for State offi heading their list with Hon. Heary Dutton for Gov ermnor. A resolution was adopted ren against a repes! of the Missouri compromize The Weman’s Rights Convention was again in ses. sion st Albany yesterday, but the proceedings do no’ appear to have been considered worth telegraphing By the way. we have received four colamns of the ers address of this body to the Legislature, in which it ie alleged that “ihe tyrant, custom, has bee! Moned before t mon sense’ to ansve why the ladies joy the privilege of wear ing the breect le these women are wasting time at Al Tees ore ted in every part 0 the countr: €8 Ter y from five to twenty five dollars per month, according to capat Thes fewales complain thut f thei Tights—have o yet refuse to ic teem to be very minch like the deg fu tho 4 they 4 ger We have received files of Ha , 8h bot, as asual, they do ne ews t el ee 1 for he debvenuy Of ihe papese ig tle wiporiaut hundred and twenty cases were It was believed that when releived of freight she would An attempt was to be made to get her off at ten last might, but at midnight she had not reached her dock at Jessey City. Among the outward bound vesacls detained ed and inoperative, and it was of information, by Qoetalling all that had | red of interest with yegard to the policy of | Anancipado, theatrical and | M sch interest is manifested by | News ff om Rio Janeiro to the 7th ul’. arnounces price’s did not advauce in consequence of the scarcity of V essels and the high figures for freigi's—to Atlan- | tic ports $129 a $130. Owing to this ciccum- fsauce the clearances for this year were over a quar- ‘ter of a million bags less then last year. A despatch from Pittskarg states that the Ohio | river is believed to be permanently open for the sea- ‘The river 8 high, and the regular packets to St. Louis will resume their tripe to-day. This an- peuncement will be he ‘emigrants who are about to seek homes in the Great West. The Cunard steamer Arebia, which sailed from ton yesterdsy. took out very little spezie. Among bop itzpatrick, of the Mus sachusetts Roman olie diocess. One of the most ho: eo in ces of cruelty toa child by its perents we recollect to have ever read, wea revealed in one of the Philadelphia courts a few feys since. 1 the details of the brutal affair in icetion met last evoning at the'r rooms, corner of 2dand Elm streets, and trans- acted a Jarge amount of routine business, as will be seen by the report. In addition to further details of the Europein in- telligence, to-day’ inside pages contain an interest- ing communication relative to increased pay and @ retired list for the Army portant case with regard to the Star Police in the Marine Court; the new Ta- riff Project noy pending in Congress; Commercial, Theatrical and Miscellaneous News; Advertise ments, &c, Fhe Gadsden Treaty Speculation-~What ‘WIill the Senate Do? The Gadsden-Santa Anna treaty, with the amendment proposed to the Senate by the President of the United States, having been laid at full length before our readers, they are prepared for a deliberate judgment upon the merits of this extraordinery convention, including the suggested modifications. It wil be observed that the treaty substan- tially agrees with our reports heretofere, of its stipulations, and that only two important amendments have been made by the President. In the third article, as agreed 'to by Gen. Gads. den, the treaty provides that in relieviag Mexico of all claims of American citizens the Garay Tehuantepec company shall be expressly included in the relioquishment. This would leave Col. Sloo and Major Arnold Harris, of the Washington Union, in full and undisputed oc- cupation of the Tehuantepec inter- oceanic overland route—a very desirable consummation to the parties concerned. The President’s amendment, on the other hand, which proposes to strike out the specifi- cations touching the Garay contract and con- tractors, leaves the Sloo company to fight it out with the Garay association as best they can This amendment also accounts fur the trouble which is said to have taken place between the editors of the Cabinet organ and the Cabinet itself upon this question. The moral courage ot the’ President, therefore, is very much to be commended in a matter so vital to the interests of the proprietors of his special organ. Gen Gadsden’s arrangement would be worth several millions of money to the Sloo company; where- as, by ignoring it, the Conckling, or Sloo treaty continues to stand in the light of an unlawful supersedeas of the Garay treaty. There musi be something exceedingly rotten in the Sloo concern, when the President thus repudiates it uuder threats of an explosion with the Wash- ington Union and its financiers. The next most important amendment of the President is the striking out all the specifica- tions of Gen. Gadsden’s eighth article, for the capture and punishment of tlibusterees, which leaves nothing but the general stipulation that our government will cheerfully co-operate with Mexico in suppressing all unlawful invasions on either side of the boundary. This may not be very satisfactory to Mexico; but as it pro- vides a large loop-hole of escape to Col. Walk- cr. it is very tikely the two California Senators will use their best endeavors to carry the Presi- dent's proposition. excepting these recommendations of the Pre- sident, the result of frequent Cabinet councils, * the treaty stands approved by the Cabinet, -ubstantially as heretofore represented. We are to pay the sum of twenty millions of: dollars for a margin of the deserts cf Chihuahua and Sonora, literally worth- less, except as a more open field than the Gila boundary, for running down the Apache Indians. Of these twenty millions in gold or silyer coin, fifteen millions go directly for th relief of Santa Anna, and five millions to the action of an army of hungry speculators, ock-jobbers and moonshine claimants upon The concursence between the Mexican Commissioners and Gen. Gadsden to “crash out’ the Garay company being ignored by the executive, the scramble will become all the more interesting, should the treaty, with the President's modifications. be ratified. What will the do? Is the game worth the candle? The country we acquire being nothing more nor less than a waste and howling wilderness, stamped with the ine® ble curse of the Creator in all its liueaments “a country in which,” as described by Kit eon, “a wolf could not make his living”— bsurd to consider it as an equivalent for the tithe oftwenty millions of gold and silver coin. But we are released from all liabilities on account of our Indian depredations apon the Mexican frontiers, as provided for in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; and that is something. Senate We get comparatively open country for our Southern frontier west of the Rocky mountains, where we may hunt out the Apaches on horseback; we get the free navigation of the Gulf of California. which, perhaps, may be worth navigating when the Pacific Ruilroad is located on Cooke's wagon route; and we also’get Cooke’s wagon route, along which the building of a railroad will not average much more than a hundred thousand ars per ni Last, though not ‘least, we pacific settlement, for the time being, o! a | ary dispute. In fact, all with our M vo neighbors are ed upon this basis of fifteen millions for lef of Santa Anna, and five millious for tion of the speculators concerned. iil the Senate do? Santa Anna is money only to establish himself We shall, with the ratification agent in the become the, chi ion « ie dynasty upon t tue date Mesicna republic; aud this impos 4 d with’ joy by the numerous | dynasty may strengthen itself for the future with European alliances, “crashing out” the Monroe doctrine, and permanently arresting the march of ‘manifest destiny.” Is there not something due from us to republican princ’ples? —to the liberties of the Mexican people, such | country as an impostor; and then, as the only | remaining aliernative, between anarchy and that the stook of fleur was very light ard prices | iota) destruction on the one hand, and | Gsm, @t.$21 a 22 per barrel. Coffee was firm, but | safety and good government on the other, | the people of Mexico will seek the shelter of | our constitution and our laws, our flag, our | government, and our all-pervading happiness | and prosperity. What will the Senate do? Grant the five mil- | lions for the satisfaction of our claimants upon | Mexico, and they will most likely be absorbed, | as before, in two or three Gardiner claims, leay- ing the lona fide small fry to whistle for their money; grant the fifteen millions to Santa Anna, wnd he will most probably use itin forti- | fying bimself with foreign alliances against the United States. But let him alone—reject the treaty--withhold all subsidies, and Col, Waiker and the Californians will soon put the affairs of Mexico in o favorable train for a permanent adjustment, or, if he fails, the Mexican people will inevitably be driven as fast as we can de- sire, to the saving expedient of annexation. Finally, considering this Mexican compromise as involving a wasteful expenditure of money, and the establishment of a despotism inconsis- tent with the Monroe doctrine, and altogether a stock-jobbing speculation; and considering, too, that our true policy towards S@ita Anna and Mexico is to starve him out, we adhere to the opinion that the treaty onght to be re- jected. What will the Senate do? President Pierce on Blavery—Prospects of the Nebraska Bill, The anti-slavery opinions which we charged Mr. Pierce with having entertained in the years 1846 to 1851 have been disclosed within the last few days in a most striking and conclusive mavner. The organs of the administration have taken the matter out of our hands, and assumed the entire responsibility of proving to the country that Mr. Pierce was at that period even more ardently attached to the abolitionist cause than we had suspected. Their proo/s far outweigh anything that could be contained in the famous scarle! letter; and consider- ing the authoritative character with which the statements of the ew Hampshire Pa- triot and Evening Post are now invested, we fancy we may leave them to con- tinue our excavations, and at length suffer Mr, John Cochrane and his letier to rest in peace. Before doing so, however, it is right that) ‘we should place.op record the last exhibit that has been filed in thé case, which we cut for the pur- pose from the most violent anti-slavery organ of the North :— He (Mr. Pierce) had orly to say row, what he hed al waye ue 1egaided Estee one of the greatest moi evil —a oui the wuole vouxtry; aoc lieved toe the sentiment of ajl m:n, of all parties at tue North. Hy waa free to admis that he had himaelf approsobed this sabj+at of annexation with all b pre puseessions agalust it, acd en One ground alone— very feature. Hiacoavictions 0b thi enh c: were, ss bed nee id, Strong—aot the rewuls Cf aoy kew Light, but deeply fixed ana wdicteg Toe oply oifii sulty 12 sie mind ever Bed basa, tnatof a re cognitive by any new wot of our goverament of the in- stivuitco of cmertie tlavery, acd ho bed found tt ex pring his mind to » condition impsr argoment for aod r Gea Pirce’s Spachin rep y ta John ?. urch tn Concord June b 1815, as reported wn te Hamp have Patriot (J June V2 1849 1 (Mr Pierce) would take the ground of the no sion of flavory—that slavery shoul) nos bao-m9 Sat Coserecs bave caly re Uoien: toy denictog powcs aad loving the consecee Ist polat—ne willingly o usedad 1 fig teemvelyes vpan this aw cgatost the onto arse « paar feclog, resisted ibs agtiation which ia as aaittog all w B. ke Gen Pre%ee's Speec Constitenoral Camvention, Jaw 1, i861 It is utterly impossible for the most biassed partisan to read these extracts without pyr- ceiving that, at the time these speeches were made, namely from 1845 to 1851, Mr. Pierce held as extreme anti-slavery views as any or- gan of the North, as William Lloyd Garrison. William H. Seward, or Horace Greeley himseli. Fad these speeches been made public, er thse fxeis known at the time of his nomination, he never could have been nominated: had the country been aware of them when he ap- pealed to the citizens for their suffrages he could not have carried two States. His nomi- nation was a fraud on the convention ; his elec- tion a huge monstrous frand on the people, His protestations in his inaugural about in- voluntary servitude were glaring falsehoots; shame must have been dead in his breast or his voice would have failed him as he uttered them. He “who regarded slavery as one of the greatest moral and eocial evils, a curse upon the whole country’-—he who “saw no gia- gle thing connected with slavery that was not obnoxious’’—he who protested that Garrisonian abolitionists “did not feel more deeply than himself on the subject’”—must have beea en- dowed with sublime impudence by Heaven to present himself to the people of the United States onthe Baltimore platform, and to pro- nounce from the steps of the Capitol his ap- proving recognition of “involuntary seryi- tude.” But the whole of his career since June, 1852, has been one series of consistent unblushing frauds. He bas never wavered in the policy of deception with which he set ont. Convention- al delegates, eleetors, politicians, his Cabinet and his friends have each in turn beea his dupes. Itis only now that his character is being understood, and his power to deceive being im- paired. What prospect is there, with these facts re- vealed in broad daylight, that the President and his Cabinet sre truly and sincerely in favor of the final settlement of the slavery question, by the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill? I: is true that the organ of the administration after vacillating and shifting its position week ly, has finally settled down in favor of Mr. Douglas’s project, because the South adopted it, and it saw ruin staring Ms masters in the fac: in case they flinched from it. Bat all the f of the administration of Mr. Pierce in gland is spent against the measure; all ihe principles of the office holders and the organs of the Cabinet are in favor of anti-slavery, and opposed to Mr. Douglas's bill. Every Van Ba: ren paper with some two or three exceptions is as ardently opposed to the Kansag-Ne me bill as the organs of William H. Sewari we th journals under the influence of Garrivou and the original ant ery men. Mr. P st earnest in his hatred of slave was in the day when he defied Dr. c to surpass him in denon circumstances compel admi give outward countenance to the measure now under discussion, his private sympath'es aro al! with its foes, aud Whatever persoual aad Begres neing it; and, th 4 influence he can wield is sure to se given to their side. To suppose that the ‘sase is other- wise would imply either that "Ar. Pierce has changed his views and opinions radically since 1851; or that in that year ari] for six years previously, he had been g'ving out opiuions which his conscience disapproved. No one familiar with the s‘mvery controversy will suppose that honest conviction can have altered Mr. Pierce’s mind since 1851. Once an abolitionist, a man is al- ways one. The mania seizes hold of the feel- ings, an never releases its grasp. No man has ever sjsoken as Franklin Pierce did and after. words acknowledged his error. Nor can we Teasonably suppose that he was not sincere when he declared that he “ saw'no single thing cennected with slavery that was not obnoxtous.”” In one word. Franklin Pierce was aud is and probably will always be a rank anti-slavery partisan. The friends of the new measure which. if passed, would settle the hateful slavery contro- versy forever, should therefore look well to the double-fuced position of the President and Con- gress and the great danger of treachery there Jis’ passage would demolish the anti-slavery factions forever: and would establish the pre- sent party in power for twenty or thirty years more without any difficulty or fear of defeat All sensible men in the North would settle down in silence if the aati slavery agitation were once thoroughly quelled. If it is defeated ly the treachery of the administration and their free soil confedcrates in this State, it will lead to a most vexatious and tedious con- test at the polls lasting for some years tocome. lis rapid passage through Congress is the best guarantee we can have of peace and a final set- tlement of our internal troubles. The Election-The People Taxing Them- selves ‘Ten Millions by Acclamation. The election is over. The work isdone. The people, with a quiet sort of indifferent acclama- tion truly remarkable, have resolved to tax themrelves ten millions tocomplete the enlarge- ment of the Erie Canal as far as ten millions will doit. The measure has been carried with a coolness and indifference that are positively refieshing. The change in the organic law was consummated with less excitement than would have been created by a fight between Tom Hyer and Yankee Sullivan in California. The fall in breadstuffs, as the consequent necessity of cheap- ening their transportation ffom the West, may have bad some influence over the public mind; although the war with Turkey will in all pro- bability be ended before any reduction in flour is effected by the canal enlargement. Had a get nie from the Czar been received by the the reduction in flour which would have immediately followed might have some- what modified the result; but the ten millions were inevitable, peace or war. The vote is exceedingly small, less than thirteen thousand—or about one-fifth of the vote of the last Presidential election—being the sum total of both sides for this city. At this rate the vote of the State would be less than a hundred thousand, all told, for and against this amendment of the constitution. In the interior, however, from the returas re- ceived, the popular turnout has been much larger than upon this island, and the majority among the rural districts for the ten millions is even greater than here. Throughout the State, we should not be suprised if the tax were car- ried ten to one, upon one-fifth of the popular vote. In a word, the election has gone by de- fant, and ten millions are added to our State debt by general consent and indifferenee- Whut is a matter of ten millions to New York, with flour at ten dollars a barrel! The banks will rejoice at this addition to the basis of their paper inflations—Wall street will rejoice, the stock jobbers generally, and the canal jobbers particularly, will rejoice, at this great triumph for the spoils. And we are also inclined to rejoice. for the people are flush of money and liberal, and in this vote of yester- day clearly authorize us to raise the price of the Heratp to three cents a copy, cash down, We shall take the matter into serious consider- ation, These are flush times; and where ten millions aze a mere bagatelle who can grumble at three ecnts a copy for the Heratp? The returss of the election up to the hour of going to press will be found in another part of this paper. They are positively unique and re- freshing. Avnican Cotoymzatioy—The African Coloni- zalign Society affeet to believe that Africa is to be redeemed from barbarism by the intro- duction emong her savage negro tribes, of her comparatively enlightened and civilized chil- dren from our Southern States, Mr. Clay was a devotee of this beautiful idea of the reclama- tion of Africa, and the extinction of Southern slavery. in the removal of our black population to the country of their ancestors. Every now and then we see a paragraph in some of our sanc- timonious journals giving currency to this charming delasion. It was the opinion of Mr. Calhoun, however, —who certainly devoted some study to the characteristics of the African race—that con- stant reinforcements from the United Svates would be found necessary to keep the little re- publican colony of Liberia alive —or, that other- wise, in a generation or two it would sponta- neously relapse into the native barbarism by whieh it is surrounded. The downward pro- gress ofthe independent State of Hayti, and the rapid demoralization among the blacks of Ja- maica, go far to sustain this assumption. At all events, the idea of civilizing and Christianizing the black savages of the Afr'car continent by means of our emancipate] South ern slaves. introduced among them, remiads us of the report of one of the great missionary so- cietics of London, for the conversion of the Hin- doos. After expending seventeen years of hard labor among the Hindoos, with preavhers, teach- ers, schools, tracts, and Bibles. and after an out- lay in the good work of over a million of pounds sterling, they had achieved the conversion of five of those benighted heathen—two of whom had relapsed again into pagan idolatry. The fuct is that the eurse of Ham is borne out by six thousand years of the history of his de- scendants. Among the oldest tombs of Egypt he figures in their painted sculptures as agpve; and except in the condition of servitude or sab- jection to a higher race, he has never risen above the condition of a savage. Still, for the sake of maintaining Liberia, let the coloniza- tion scheme go on. Itis at least an oasis in the desert a How. Mixe Warsn’s Letrers.—It has been stated that Mike Walsh is not the author of the smart Jetiers written from Washington, and re- cently appearing in a Sunday paper.- They have always been understood to come from him Mike himself has not denied the pateraity—nor do we belieye he will or gan, squmeiiiian cia esighcamiiceaagaaiaaaidaies aidan eee bri tran the new Governor, hia ¢ other schemes, &c. | the Americans resid’ nt in Caba to ascertain what | | action our governm mt intends to take in the case f \ the seamen who b gye been so long imprisoned on xie ; what their friend, allege to be groundless chances, | 8 they are? Without the subsidies of this treaty, Congress called for the official correspondenceis this | Santa Anna’s ambit ous schemes will soon be matter some V teks ago, but there the affair seems to | superseded—he will be expelled from the ‘ave drepp A, Tue Ockan Maw Service or tax Unrrep Srarzs.—The attention of Congress has been directed to the present contracts for conveying the European and California mails. The Euro- pean mail contract with Mr. Collins cannot be altered or done away with at preseut: its terms provide that the contract shall continue for two years, and that Mr. Collins shall have six months notice of any new arrangement to be adopted. The contract will exptre in De- cember next, and six months from that time it may be rescinded. Thus it is apparent that Congress cannot do anything on this subject at preeent. The California mail service is that to which public attention is more,particularly directed at this time. The mail is now carried twice a month by the way of Panama, and the average Jength of each trip is about twenty-seven days. The expense of carrying this mail is, altogether, about eight hundred thousand dollars, and it is generally beater from one to two, and some- Nimes four days, by the Nicaragua line. The number of letters will average about thirty thousand for each mail. Many letters are now carried by the expresses aud by other means, and government loses a great deal of money by the excess’of the expenses over the receipts. This is briefly the state of things, to remedy which Congress is now called upon to exercise its wisdom. Two plans have been presented for its consideration:—Mr. Churchwell, of Ten- nesee, proposes that the contract shall be given to the parties who will carry the mail in the quickest time and graduate the reward according to the time occupied—say four hundred thousand dollars for twenty-five days; five hundred thousand for twenty- four days, and so on for every day gained. The spplicants under this contract would probably consist of the old Panama Com- pany, the Nicaragua Company, and the propri- etors of the new Ramsay route, via Vera Cruz and Acapulco. It is alleged that this plan will keep the contract always open to «competition, and whenever a shorter route as to time is es- tablished, upon it; being demonstrated the Postmaster-General will be required to have the mails carried by that route. If the priaciple of this bill is once fully established and carried out in the Post Office Department, an important change will be effected on all mail lices by ocean steamers and railroads. The government will pay, not only for length of distanc>, but also for shortness in time. Another important ob- ject will be gained in shutting the door against all partiality and corruption at Washington, ia- asmuch as it will not depend upon Congress- men, lobby members, or clerks in the General Post Office, to decide which line or route is the best as to time, as that will be tested only by actual performance. Therefore, the large sums of money now squandered at Washington to ob- tain mail contracts will be diverted to improv- ing the speed of steamers, straightening rail- roads, and other useful purposes, instead of feed_ ing the needy at the seat of goversmeat. The mail steamers will become models of excellence for speed, safety, and convenience, and the lines of railroads transporting mails will also afford equal advantages to the public. New steamers and new locomotives for the mails will always bein requisition. The public will be better served, and one prolific source of corruption at Washington be dried up. The other plan is proposed by Mr. Olds, of Ohio. He proposes that the contracts shall’be declared null and void, and that Congress shall buy all the steamers and perform all its own mail service. There are serious objections to this plan, if it could be carried out; and that is not so clear. It isnot probable that the owners of the California steamers will sell them, and Congress has no power to take them, unless in time of war, when they become the property of the government, and the government must pay a fair price for them. As we have shown above, the plan will not work at all with refer- ence to the European steamers. We should have a nice state of affairs, truly, if governmeat ehould undertake to carry its own mails in its own vessels. The present system is bad enough; but we tremble in thinking of the other. Mr. Churchwell’s plan looks feasible, and if it should be adopted, the Ramsay route people will carry the mail for two millions, and pledge themselves to get it through from San Fran- cisco to New Orleans in twelve days—two days from New Orleans to Vera Cruz, four days to Acapulco, and six days from Acapulco to San Francisco. If the mail is not carried in twelve days, the contractors will not get the mo- ney. We do not believe that Congres will give the two millions; but such a contract would have an enlivening and inspirating effect. particular- ly upon “ old coaches.” Something ought to be done. We pay enough to have the mail carried by the quickest route, and Congress should adopt some plan at once for the furtherance of that delightful end. How tue Streets are Cieanep.—The niu nicipal demise of the late lamented Mr. Arcula- rius, Commissioner of Strects, gives a particu- lar opportuneness to the following anecdote. Mr. Alderman Mott of this city lives ina street which is never cleaned; we don’t know which, but any name may be taken at hap hazard. Mr. Alderman Mott one day demanded authorita- tively that his street should be cleaned. No answer; no brooms; no carts; no cleaning. Mr. Alderman Mott reiterated his complaint and his request more imperatively than befdfe. Like result: no signs of cleaning. Fully roused, and feeling that as a reform magistrate he was bound to do something for his city, Mr. Alder- man Mott boldly assailed the lion in his den, the man ia his office. “ Why has my street not been cleaned ?”’ inquired the irate citizen. ‘Your street?” replied the official or his de- puty: “why my good sir, look here !” and with a pitying smile the denizen of the street clean- ing office showed the Alderman an accoant book in which several entries of sums paid for clean- ing the identical street met his astonished gaze. The dates were carefully inserted, and the amounts paid in dollars and cents were marked down with an accuracy worthy of Cocker. Fancy Alderman Mott’s ‘‘phelinx” as he walked out of the office. and began to think whether he could have beea dreaming siace new year, or whether all his friends and relations had en- tered into a conspiracy to persuade him that his street had not been cleaved when it had. Alderman Mott and bis street are the rule, not the exception. A thorough survey @f the Street Commissioner's books would, we doubt not. di » some very funay charges for stieet cleaning. Now that Mr. Arcularius is gone, We recommend people to call and see for themselves, Let them save themselves the trouble of abusiag that estimable fanctionary, We have no doubt he will spend a happy and a useful lif at bis country seat, sad when his na- tural death ocenra, will depart universally re- spected. Meanwhile, ifwe want to prevent the recurrence of such pragtiges a8 those which occurred under his administration, we must re vert to the good old plans of electing Mayor Councillors and Aldermen, and leaving then to appoint all subordinates. All other reform are sham. Resection or GrorGe SanpERs.—-The reja tion of the new Consul to London is a very sir gular event, not so much ‘on account of personal character, standing or reputation ( Mr. Sanders, vs from its effect on the chara ter of the Senate for consistency, clearness - vision and common sense, This same Sena’ confirmed Mr. August Belmont as our charg >> to the Netherlands; surely he was in every we more objectionable than George Sanders, i Senate confirmed Mr. Soulé as our ambassad. | to Madrid, though his fillibustering propen ties were well known, and his reputation as duellist did not need the affair with the Marqu de Torgot to establish it on a firm basis, confirmed Robert Dale Owen, the sociali: thongb his past career and present eecentriciti. of opinion (to use no harsher term) were wi known to the Senate. It confirmed John L. O'S: livan as our chergé to Portugal, though eve member knew bin as one of the chiefs of ¢ fillibustering party, which had attempted overthrow a neighboring power in defiance law aud the fuitn of treaties; though he-h » stood a public trial for the offence and only « caped through the disagreemant of the jm We understand that it has likewise approv the appointment of Mr. Daniels as chargé Sardinia; aud he certainly has been writi home far more objectionable letters than the ascribed to George N Sandera, If the Sen: or its orgao. the Sentinel, can explain the consistency which on the face of it &ppears exict between these confirmations and & ders’ rejection, we should like to see how t argument is managed. Tue Prestpent’s ORGAN GRINDERS AND 1 Conxuinc TreatTy.—It is reported that there serious trouble in the office of the Presiden organ, the Washington Union. The Preside it appears, wants to get rid of good old G Armstrong, and to place the concern entir: under the control of Maj. Nicholson, the man whom Gen. Cass wrote hia famous Nichols letter. But the Washington letter writers sy that Maj. Harris, a son-in-law of Gen. Ar strong, and the capitalist of the Union est ~ lishment, will not consent to this propo! change, unless the Conkling treaty, giving * Col. Sloo and company the exclusive use of Tehuantepec route, is ratified by the Sen: Col. Harris is one of the Law and Aspin California Steamship Association, and is un stood also to be a large stockholder in the speculation, which conclusively accounts | the milk in the cocoanut. It is farther alleg that the President refuses to send in the Co: ling treaty, but recommends a compromise | tween the Garay and Sloo people, on the by of the Gadsden treaty, as the best that he ¢ do. The danger is, that if the managers of President's organ are not mollified, even Ga den’s treaty may be lost. “A pretty piece business,” truly! When the conductors oi Cabinet newspaper become a branch of treaty making power, with the consent of President, we need not, however, be astonis! at anything. Why not give the Union p prietors a carte blanche upon the Secretary the Treasury for as much money as they want? It is the shortest way for giving th’ satisfaction, j Tne Prosector a New Tarirr.—Iin anot? portion of this paper will be found the new p ject of a tariff which has been laid before > Committee of Ways and Means. It has the; vantage of greater simplicity over Mr. Guthri scheme. Imports are divided into three class one is admitted free; another pays twenty-f° per cent; a tbird one hundred per cent: if i ported in American bottoms. The first cl: comprises nearly oll materials used in ma facturing. and dyeing. We are glad also to: that books and music are included in this cla The third class comprises wines, &c., which n: pay high duties. The second includes all az cles not in the other two, We see no eerio objection to this tariff. It is simple, and fa It will tend to deplete the treasury which the prime object to be sought in the prese alterations of the tariff. Whether wines oug to pay 100 per cent as in the project or be ¢ mitted free as Mr. Guthrie proposed is a poi susceptible of some discussion. The latt would tend to diminish the quantity of pois: now sold here under the name of wine; t former would release trom the burthens of Sta a category of articles which have no claim such @ favor. Ferry Leases uxper tae New Caarrer! The first sale of a ferry lease according to ti provisions of the new city charter, took pla at the City Hall yesterday, and the result w very satisfactory, as will be seen by a full r port given eleewhere to-day. This ferry is new one, to be established from the foot Chambers street to Pavonia avenue in Jerse City, a locality by no means equal, in a pec’ niary sense, to any other of the North river f, | ries. Yet the lease of this new ferry sold ye terday, at public auction, for a rent of $9,0% peranpum. How does this income compare wi that of the other ferries on this side of the city The Christopher street rents for $340, the Hob ken for $600, the Barclay street for $100, and tt Jersey City for $5.750 per annum. At suc rates as these, established under the old syste of selling public privileges at private sale, tl new ferry yesterdsy would not have been wort as many cente as it brought dollars. Was ign: ' outrageous—was it not an open robbery of tl public treasury—to lease the Hoboken ferry fr $100, if the Pavonia avenue ferry is wor) $9,050? Under the new charter, the lease each company expires at the expiration of ever \ ten years; and hereafter all these old corpor: tions have got to come under the hammer, av pay a fair.price for their grants from the cit; Judging from the sale yesterday, a handson income must accrue to the Corporation fro theee ferry grants. o> The Express, having failed to get up Dedini riot bere, to outstrip the disgrace of Cir cinnati or Pittsburg, is very savage on th { poor Monsignor, now that he escaped withot * a TOW. = er Opera Houses in New York and Bosten— wessee for the New Boston Theatre. Some three yenre clues Mr Jena E, Tanger aad sever ether eminent Bostonians ressived an ast ot incorporal from the Murs ebuvetis Lozi lature, ander the nam! style of the Borton Theatre Aswelation ’? The capt’ stock of (he aravelation {6 two bundred and fey thousee do Iara, divided fato aua ces of one thoasard collars eae? Thy secured alotot Iaudin Mason str Tasy the Proceeced to ect w theatre capable of seating thre This batliieg was oor sf thovradd five handree persowa menced in the eunmer of 1863, and 1; will be ocevpaency by the frat of Jaly. Tas great ay foor innumber—twoon Warhirgion eiroet and two ¢ Mavon street—ned the pastageways and etalcwaye lencle hereto axe as laxge as could be desired, Jno se?