The New York Herald Newspaper, May 3, 1854, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD. JAMES GORDON ENNETT, PROFRIRTOR axD ‘EDIEOR, OFFICE X. W. CORNER OF NABSAU AND FULTON Si .Now Ut Volume | wx. “AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. THEATRE. _Brosdwa Tash AM URANCE BURTON'S THEATRE, Chambers street—Tare Temper Tue Avromaron May BOWERY THEATRE, Bo Waren Wircnrs—Jacx —Tux Dewam or Lire— RD. NATIONAL THEA’ Chatham sére¢?—Afternoon and Bvening—Uncus Tom's Jain. LACK’S THEATRE, Brorstway—Nuusen Owe Bet AS Couneu—-Heanrs av Pacue—Hion Lire Bee Bow STrAine. AMERICAN MUSEUM—Aftermoor—Tex How evmo8%— Evening Marnimony—How ro Mace Home Harry. CHRISTY’S AMERICAN OPERA HOUSE, 472 Broad way—Erorortax Macopins by Cunisry’s MinsrRets. WOOD'S MINSTREL HALL, 44 Bro Saxsrueisy—Burietta of Uxcie Tom's Canin. BUCKLEY'S OPERA HOUSE, aev'e Eruorian Opera Trovr: BROOKLYN ATHENAEUM—Busen s Granv Concent Erniovtan 589 Broadway—Bucx- BANVARD’S GEORAMA, 596 Broadway—Panogama ‘vy rur Hoty Lann. WHOLE WORLD, 377 and 379 Broadway—Afternoon and Bvening. JONES'S PANTISCOPE—Aror1o Rooms. 2. We Malls for Europe. 4% NEW YORE HERALD—EDITION FORK BUROFE. ‘The royal mail steamship Asia, Captain Lott, will eave this port to-day at 12 o'clock, for Liverpool. ‘The European mails will close in this city at half-past teno’clock in the morning. Mhe Waxxiy Axnarp, (printed in French sna Eoglish,) awiil be published at half-past nine o'clock. Single copies, im wrappers, sixpence. Subscriptions and advertisements for any edition of the Mew Yous HERA will be received at the following places im Europe — Livenroot. John Hunter, No, 2 Paradise street. Lowpor.... Edwards, Sandford ¢ & Co., No. 17 Cornhill. ae Wm. Thomas & Co., No. 19 Catherine street. MARIE... 5. Livingston, Wells & Co., 8 Place de !a Bourse, Our exchanges have furnished us with detailed ac- eounts of the disastrous storms of last week in dif- ferent parts of the Northern and Eastern States, ‘the full particulars of which will be found in our eolumns this morning. It will be seen that they ex- tended from the Atlantic shore through most of the astern States, New York, along the Lakes and into Michigan and Llinois, in all of which the destrac- tion by wind, rain, hail, floods, and lightning, was gréster than ever before known. Ia some of the streams the water attained a height far above the high water marks of any previous freshets, and the ** oldest inhabitants” looked with awe and wonder upon the frightful scenes which the floods presented: Along the Hudson, the Mohawk, the Connecticut, and the Passaic rivers, dwelling houses, barns and Btables were swept away, and the carcasses of drowned cattle, dead horses and hogs, and even hu- man bodies were hurled down the swift ranning and turbulent waters of those streams to a degree which is represented as being frightful to look upon. The various accounts given are highly interesting. The investigation into the causes of the recen® calamity in Broadway was continued yesterday. A full report of the testimony is given in another part of to-day’s paper. The evidence of Chief Engineer Caron is very minute and searching, and cannot but lead to serious reflections on the part of all good sitizens upon the evils which unfortunately exist in the department over which he presides. The testi- mony of Mr. Sandford, master mason, is conclusive bility of the building destroyed. of this State were formally opened yes- About twenty thousand dollars have been ed at the Collector's office in this city for tolls since the commencement of navigation. The trial of Major Wyse, of the Army, by court martial, for refusing to embark with his troops on board the steamship Falcon, commences to-day at Governor's Island. The circumstances under which this trial originated are gmbodied in an article in another column, together with the charges and spe- Gifications, and a biography of Major Wyse. How the fact of the Falcon’s putting into Norfolk and the abandenment of the voyage to Aspinwall may ope- rate in this matter i not at this time necessary, perhaps, to consider. The New York (€ Jubilee at the Tabe: Maine Law mem ‘emperance Alliance had a le last night, to welcome the “s of the Legislature. The meet- ing was very enthw , aud pitehed into Goveraor Seymour for his veto in tigers style. Apropos—a teetotal Mayor was chosen in the city of Wilming- ton, Del., yesterday, by 170 majority. The Alliance on Monday presented a petition to the Board of Aldermen, settingdorth the multitudinous evils of intemperance, and p for a restriction of the grant of licenses generally, and in grocery stores particularly, which was referred to the Committee on Law. We publish elsewhere an account of the regular monthiy meeting of the New York Historical So- ciety, lield last evening, with a sketch of the paper on “ The Neutral Ground of Westchester,” by John M. Macdonald, Esq., of Flushing. The latest accounts from the scene of the ship- wreck of the Powhatan state that sixty-two bodies had been cast on shore by the waves at Brigagtine beach; six bodies had also been found upon Absecom beach, apparently Germans, and no doubt a portion of those on board the P. By an arrival at this port we have news from Port au Prince that the Emperor was making pre- parations for invading th epublic of Dominica. 4perations would commence immediately after the holidays were over, about the first of May. Of course while there is fun to be found the valiant Soulouque could not think of fighting. This is the fifth or sixth invasion that has been set on foot by the Haytiens to subjugate Don fallen thre eyes of the forms and wel polishing—1 blish to-da 6th ult. than important. c ity of M amus- a the gence is mo: det the baye loyal Mexi¢ decis S in the jon was delivered yesterds hy Jndge B claimed ande: in admiralty was deli « an important decision on pleadings velt The triai of Mra Ha: Lutener was commenced mination of the direct evidence ¢ deceased the case was adjourned to thi in the Court of Oyer and Te-miner Judge Roosevelt pronounced ser ment for the term of fo O'Conner, convicted of m u @egree in shooting Michael Conroy The May term of the Co eommenced yesterday. J case The despatch of our correapondent at t at Washing. ton is unusually ‘uteresting. ‘Ihe contemptated im- portant movement in the House o° Representatives on the Nebraska bill will bring all men ef allyparties | to their trumps, ané the absentees should hurry up | or they will justly be limble to the imputation of | pass the distribution of political authority in “dodging.” It is understood tha’ the Clayton amendment will ‘ye omitted in the bill presented by | the Chairman of the Comm‘ttee on Territories; and therefore it will stand precisely as it passed the Senate, with that exception. But itis very uncertain that the bill in that shape can command votes enough to pass it; fer, although the friends of the measure contend that the principle remains the same with or without the amendment, there are members who {vould insist on the dividing of a hair rather than yield a kearty support to a great constitutional doc- trine. The sincerity of these gentlemen is -very questionable. It is said that the President will send to the Senate his veto of the Insane land bill to-day. it is believed the message will discuss the subject of the disposition of the public lands in all its phases, andavill be square and above board. opinions of the members of the Cabinet have been | required on this subject, the document will be the most important that has emanated from the Execu- tive since his inauguration. ef the piratical land jobbers will soon be known, and ‘therefore it is useless to speculate upon it, But little business was transacted in the United States Senate yesterday. The report of the con- ference committee on disagreeing votes on the Mili- tary Academy bill—that the Senate recede from its amendments—was adopted. So the salaries of the professors of French and drawing will not be in- A resolution directing an inquiry as to the expe 'y of authorizing the President to cause an examination of coal fields near Deep river, North Carolina, witha view to the establishment of a na- tional armory at that place, was adopted. The Indian Appropriation bill was again taken up. Upon an amendment making an apprepriation for the Indians in California the whole subject of our Indian policy was discussed. The amcndmeat was finally agreed to, and the Senate adjourned. In the House the Chairman of the Committee on Territories, Mr. Richardsom, gave notice that early next week he should endeavor to bring up-the Nebraska-Ka bill. Some conversation ensued, during which Mr. R. stated that the friends of the bill intend to r t to every fair parliamentary means to bring the question before the House for consideration, but he did not intend to press it-to a vote. Leave was asked to submit a resolution a i thorizing the Secretary of the Navy to send out steam or sailing vessels in search of the missing mship City of Glasgow, but objection being the resolution was not received. Bills .g for the construction of roads in Min- nesota, and to relinquish title to lands own. ed and claimed by the Chippewa Indians in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and for their domestica- tion and civilization, were passed. A bill-was re- ported and referred to the Committee of the Whole authorizing the people of Ovegon to form a State government, and providing for their admission into the Union. A message was received from the Pre- sident covering the documents called for relative to the case of Rev. John Cook Richmond. It would ap- pear the letter of the American Charge d’Af- fairs at Vienna, whose conduct in the matter is approved of by the Secretary of State, that the reverend gentleman is extremely anxious to Kosta- rize himself. There was no change of moment yesterday in produce. Dealers are beginning to look with some anxiety for the arrival of the Cunard steamer due the present week. Thus, nosooner has the news of one mship been received and spread before the public, than merchants begin to look for the advent of another, Cotton was dull, and prices favored prov purchasers. Freights to Liverpool were easier. There have been recently some very important move- ments in iron. On Monday the sales of pig iron -amounted to sixteen hundred tons, at $33 50, six mon ths credit. + We ave informed that the merchants interested in the seizure of vessels ider the recent novel con” struction of the passenger act by the Surveyor of the port—alluded to in yesterday’s paper—will unite in a joint report to the public, setting forth all the nees in the matter. wVew m the British West India Islands to the 1gth ult has been received. The amount of wrecked property cast ashore at New Providence during the fortnight ending the 12th ult. was esti- mated at over half a million of doliars. The salt trade at Long Island was quite active. The new Governor of the Bahamas was daily expected at Nassau. Owing to the unhealthiness of St. Thomas and other difficulties, the coaling depots of the mail steamers will be removed to Antigua. The British government, it is stated, has determined to extend the provisions of the ‘‘Encumbered Estates Act,” now in force in Ireland, to the colonies generally. circum Our Relations With Caba—Speech of Mr. Sldell—Our True Policy. We are happy, at length, to find that aspeech hasbeen delivered in Congress worthy of a statesman, in view of the present momentous crisis in the affairs of the world. Hitherto, during the present session, all the learning wit, eloquence, logic and profundity of the members of both houses have been expended upon personal, selfish, congracted, or swindling schemes against the treasury. The most ex- citing and protracta discussions of the House and the Senate have been upon paltry expe- dients for bolstering up an imbecile adminis- tration, or for putting it down. It is particu- larly refreshing, therefore, at length, to take up the comprehensive, decisive and statesman- like proposition made in the Senate on Tues- day last by Mr. Slidell, of Louisiana, contem- plating the suspension of our neutrality laws at the discretion of the President, during the recess of Congress, when, in his judgment, our critical relations with Spain and the Island of Cuba shall call for the exercise of such au- thority. We cordially approve this bold and sound a Aci of Mr. Slidell, in reference ri It reminds lays of Jefferson and of Madison, and of the practical expositions of our exterior rela- 1s Clay, Cal- tions as laid down by such met houn and Webster. The general proposition of the Lonisiana Senator openly confronts the American branch of the present world-embrac- ing alliance between Fra and England; it bravely meets the and extraordinary state of things which has thrown Europe into confu- and looks forward to the poss’ble contin- gencies which, at no distant day, may involve us in the general convulsion. should the alternative demand it, to cut the in tricate entanglements between England, France 1 Sp concerning the island of Cuba, by a zion of our neatrality stipu)ations, be the quences what they may. We trust, too. the ate Committee oa Foreign Rels h this matter has been referred it that careful eansideration which 11 the immeasurable importance on demand, will retarn such recom. sion, He simply proposes, cor that Se tions, to w after giv the pertinent charge to th ticularly on the deairableness of the exe greater degree of industry on their part tho distinguished their predecessors, The “ Trainer case” was decided yesterday in the Kings coumy Circuit Court, the jury renderi verdict of five hundred dollars damages for the p! tiff. This, it w.‘U be remembered, was th ‘Trainer, a negro, against § tose Porter, for aly Lie daughter Jane, which created some jisocost eit fteen months ance. te as shall convince the that whatever eouces Jnited States as a neutral power in the European war, no en- croachments, nor intrigues, nor coalitions cal- culated to endanger our safety, or to embarrass our domestic institations, or to restrict our commercial ascendancy in American waters, will be tolerated by our government. As thewritten | What will be the fate | world’s history. The present European imbrog- liv involves a schedule of radical political events and revolutions unprecedented in the annals | of mankind. England and France have boldly | proclaimed their programme, not only to com- ike Old World, but the establishment of an ef- | “fective European balance of power in the New. Hence the tripartite overtures to Mr. Fillmore’s administration, the significant correspondence upon that subject, and the “happy accord” which Lord Aberdeen has declared to exist be- tween England and France, not only upon European, but upon American affairs. There can be little doubt that this self-complacent de- claration covers a secret understanding between the two powers for the protection of Cuba against what has been termed “the grasping ambition of the United States.” The case, we think, is circumstantially proved by the plain, accurate, historical re-capitulation | of Mr. Slidell, touching the diplomacy of Eng- | land for the last year or two in reference to the | island of Cuba. The late insolent acts of the colonial authorities at Havana can only be ac counted for upon the presumption that they are in-a position in which they may defy the power of the United States, and provoke us to a rup- ture, In this view, our relations with Spain are of the highest moment. The existence of an An- glo-French protectorate over Cuba, the object of which is permanently to cut off the acquisi- tion of that island by the United States, though it-may be necessary to reduce it to the condi- tion of Jamaica or of Hayti, we cannot, dare not, regard with indifference. It is a matter of vital interest to our national independence and our dignity, to our commercial rights, our ma- ritime defences, and to our internal hdtmeny and safety. dozen Nebraska bills or forty Pacific railroads, eould they be called into existence, like Alad- din’s palace, by the rubbing of a lamp. Con- trasted with the balance of power in the Gulfof Mexico, the Gadsden treaty, upon which the Senate have been expending week after week of earnest discussion, dwindles to the contemptible proportions of en adroit conspiracy to plunder the treasury of a few paltry millions of dollars, Mr. Slidell has presented the issue in its true light before the American Senate. The counter-check which he proposes against the insidious policy of the European coalition is radical, may be hazard- ous, butit is to the purpose. If, in order to prevent the transformation of the island of Cuba into the central State of a freenegro con- federation, it may only be necessary to sus- pend for a season our neutrality laws, the sim- ple question is, shall we do it or decline to do it? The immediate provocation may have passed by, but a thousand contingencies may happen during the next six months justifying the expedient as the only remaining alternative of self-protection. To meet these possible contingencies during the recess of Congress, Mr. Slidell proposes to arm the President with the requisite discretion- ary authority. It is time these Spanish out- rages upon our citizans, our commerce and our flag, at Hevana and other ports of Cuba, and these shilly-shally explanation? at Madrid, were ended. Such trifling is culpable folly in view of the “happy accord” between England and France. We are wasting time, while the Holy Alliance are perfecting their schemes against us. We have not inuch faith in, nor any great respect for, the courage or decision of character upon great issues like this, of the head of the present administration at Washington. But feeble and indecisive as he may be, the authority in the premises should be conceded; for public opin- ion is so clear upon this subject that even Gen e may be trusted as its exponent, His official position in regard to our foreign rela- tions entitles him to this discretion; and the policy of a timely warning to the allied pro- tectorate over Cuba, requires some decisive declaration from Congress. It is conceded on all hands that Europe is upon the threshold of the mightiest events and most radical changes, which, amid all her revo- lutions from the remotest ages, she has ever un- dergone. It has been declared that the alliance of the Western powers comprehends not only the European, but the American, balance of power. It is undeniable that this balance of power hinges upon the island of Cuba. It is manifest that a deep laid scheme is on foot to render Cuba forbidden fruit, and utterly re- pulsive, to the United States. It is evident that the colonial authorities are possessed of the secrets of their masters, and have been en- deavoring to foment a rupture which would compel England and France to hasten to the rescue. All these facts taken together, show that the rdle we shall be called upon to play in the grand crisis which is upon us, will be of the greatest magnitude, and involving the | mightiest influences upon the future destinies of our country and-our institutions, Hence we are happy at this timel ly and appropriate expo- sition of American policy from Mr. Slidell. We trust that the Senate Committee, the Senate itself, and the House, will second the move- ment with that courage and decision which the subject and the time demand. The day has come for a positive and conclusive settlement with Spain concerning the island of Cuba. We may have it now, and avoid a war; butif we hesitate and postpone the work upon quib- bles and explanations with every recurring co- lonial outrage, till the European war is over, we may be driven, for our security and our rights in the Gulf of Mexico, into a collision with England and ‘France. The Flaw in our Fire Department. We hope that no one who can spare the time will fail to read the evidence given yesterday by Chief Engineer Carson before the coroner's inquest. The rank held by the witness, his twenty years’ experience as a fireman, and his careful observation of the disaster combine to It is of higher importance than a | give to his testimony a degree of importance which that of no other witness can possess. Those who know Mr. Carson will not need to be told that his narrative of the occurrence which led to the inquest is, in our opinion, the most accurate and explicit that has yet ap- peared. It is clear from a perusal of the first twenty lines of his evidence, that he is a man given te telling the truth bluntly under all circumstances: and what he says ought at all events to command general belief until its falsity is very undeniably demonstrated. When, therefore, we find this frank spoken witness, whose experience of fires and firemen is certainly larger than that of any other indi- vidual in the city, state plainly that he believes there is a gang of men under the garb of fire- men who run to fires for the purpose of steal- ing, and likewise that he has known members of the Fire Department steal, we submit that system ought no longer to be a matter of con- troversy. Mr. Carson cannot prevent thieves from obtaining admission to houses, in the garb of firemen; he cannot prevent or ade- quately punish stealing even among the regular members of the depart- ment; and it furtier appears that instead of deriving aid or assistance from the Common Council, when sueh practices are dis~ covered, that body has actually screened and and in one instance reinstated the thief ir, his office. Is any thing more needed to sho y that, under a voluntary system, plunder mv ist be the rule and not the exception? Mr. Carson is of opinion that over half the fires which occur in New York are the wo rk of incendiaries: and most of us would be re¢ ,dy to endorse this statement. But neither Mr. Car- son nor any one else knows whose busin ess it is to ascertain the cause of fires, or pre :vent in- cendiarism. The condition into which we have fa ilen would really be inconceivable, if it were 1 10t areali- ty. The Chief Engineer swearing t! iat half of the fires which occur are the work ¢ sf incendia ries, and confessing his own help! .essness and that of his brother officers to de tect or check the progress of the crime—the # .me officer ad- mitting that thieves have found their way inte the Fire Department, that sour.e have been ex- pelled, while others, known t@ have stolen, are retained in office—and declaring that in his opinion bands of organized robbers make a practice of attending fires, and plunderieg under the garb of firemen—discloses a state of things which will shookthe most resolute mind What is safe, if half of the houses that are burat are set on fire, eur goods stolen by the very men who profess to save them, and our utter helplessness to prevent these things de- monstrated? Is not this the lowest depth among the miseries of anarchy ? To-morrow, shall we say, the store occu- pied by Mr. A in.one of the business streets in the city, is set on fire by scoundrels who want to plunderit. It is done at dead ef night, when no effective assistance can be rendered. As soon as the flames appear, the in- cendiaries emerge from their place of conceal- ment, and pass themselves off as firemen. In that disguise they obtain admittance to the house, which is closed to honest men, unless they be firemen. They carry off what they please; and authorities, police, and Chief En- gineer Carson himself, know the whole affair from beginning to end, but cannot prevent it. This seems an incredible case; but that it has occurred scores of times, and will continue to occur until the entire framework of our muni- cipal institutions is changed, we have no man- ner of doubt. That change has already begun in the Police Department. The control of the police has been wrested from the City Council, and placed in the hands of three respectable citizens. Since then the police have begun to evince a little efficiency; and the escape of criminals has been less a matter of course than it used to be. The attempt made to place things on their old footing having failed, there is some ground for hoping that a year or two hence we may have a police force that will be of some ser- vice. It now remains for us to effect somewhat similar changes in the Fire Department. The bill for depriving the City Council of the power to reinstate thieves in the department must be carried, and the control of the firemen must be placed in honest hands. After Mr. Carson’s evidence, we should think, no opposition will be made by our present fire companies to the abolition of the voluntary system. The respectable men who constitute the bulk of the body will be glad to escape from the odium to which such practices as those disclosed by lobby, Jie Cabinet lobby and the kitchen cabi- net, wy, ich makes all the difference in the world The b umatics yield no dividend to the spoilamen of the administration, Of course the lunatics are unconstitutional. But the land speculators ¥ ill pay, and pay handsomely, and consequent, Ny they are perfectly constitutional, .clear as daylight. They have now before the two houses various stock-jobbing bills, contemplat- ing land grants to Western railroads, amount- in all to not less, we venture to say, than sixty millions of acres, in great part the choicest and richest pickings of the public domain, And from all that we can learn from Washington, Gen. Pierce will sign all these bills, and as many more of the same stripe, and be glad of it, ifthey are sent up tohim. His ideas of public justice, of wise discrimination between right and wrong, and of a strict construction of the constitution, appear to have been sold out or given away to the spoilsmen and stock-job- ers, and treasury vultures, by which the "White House and the Capitol are infested. Will Guthrie’s surplus hold out this session, at this rate? Will the public lands suffice to satisfy the spoilsmen, though every acre may be sacredly devoted to their uses, to-the exclu. sion of all other applications, lunatics, old sol- diers, rivers and harbors, and everything else? Doubtful. Martin Van Buren, in less than four years impoverished the Treasury, filled the country with public defaulters, broke up all the financial, commercial and business interests of the whole Union to such an extent that Con- gress could find no relief for us at all, but in the sweeping repudiation act of a general bankrupt Jaw. This rejection of the lunatics, and this favor- itism to the land-jobbers—this “straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel’—indicates the same namby-pamby, but insatiable corruption on the part of the present administration. If, however, “the wise men of the East,” and of all sections in Congress, do their duty, these rapacious land-jobbers will be choked off, the Gadsden treaty plunderers will be stopped short of the Treasury, and the administration will be made to understand it. If the President ap- plies the constitution to the lunatics, let Con- gress apply it to the spoilsmen and their vari- ous schemes of plunder, and break up the nest of unclean birds which rule the roast in the kitchen, Tue Finsr Extrapition oF AN AMERICAN Crrizex—Conriicring Construction oF THE Asuburton Treaty.—The condition of the Jaw under which any American born citi- zen may be sent from the city of New York to Caleutta, or any remote territo- rial possession of Great Britain, to an- ewer for an offence of which, whether guilty or not guilty, he can be tried by a judge and jury here, must be a subject of deep interest to the community at large. The case of Van Aernam was the first in which the treaty of 1842 with Great Britain was sought to be enforced for the extradition of an American citizen, under any circum- stances. Mr. Commissioner Morton, before whom the accused was brought, stated in his decision: “The present is an entirely new case under the treaty, and may well awaken public attention, and requires, for gencral@atis- faction, that higher judicial authority should settle that construction of the treaty which the present demand for extradition requires and apparently sustains.”’ Judge Nelson, in the extradition case of Kaine, remarks: “I am yet to learn that the right of the ljperty of the citizen is not as dear to him, and entitled to be guarded with equal care by the constitution and laws, as the right of property. I am satisfied that this Court has jurisdiction to issue the writ of habeas corpus to the Chief Engineer must give rise. Shown as it is that it is impossible to prevent thieves from buying and wearing firemen’s caps and badges and so obtaining admission to burning houses for the purpose of plunder, no one can be so unreasonable as to contend that the sys- tem ought to be maintained. No advantage which it may possess can outweigh this fright- ful drawback. The question in fact now amounts simply to this: shall we continue to pursue our past course, it being proved that it stimulates theft and incendiarism? or shall we revert to the system which in Boston and in European cities has been found to go a long way towards extirpating both, besides diminish- ing the number of fires? We are content to leave the solution of the problem to the firemen themselves. Looking at it in their double ca- pacity of firemen and citizens, a proper degree of pride in the one case and a sense of interest in another cannot but induce them to take the lead in agitating for the reform. They have nothing to gain by upholding a system sunder which their good character is used by mis- creants to cloak criminal practices; while they have, in common with all of us, much to lose by the prevalence of crime and the frequency of fires in our midst. It cannot be that we shall have appealed to them in vain. The old proverb warns us against grasping too much at.once, and we will on'y add that the reform required in the city Council must be as thorough as that in the Fire Department. If it has ever happened that we have had ocea- sion to speak well of the Council, the circum- stance has escaped our memory; and to the best of our belief, the reinstating of thieves in the Fire Department is entirely consistent with the whole tenor of their administration of the public service. New York will not breathe freely till they are swept away root and branch. THe Luatic AD BOULATORS,— It is now pretty well understood that President Pierce will veto the Land bill for the relief of the poor lunatics of the whole Union, while he will cordi:lly approve all the land grants for the benefit of Western railroad stock jobbers. The lunatic bill, passed by a decisive majority of both houses, sets apart ten millions of the pul- lic domain to be divided appropriately among the several States, in aid of their lunatic asy- lums, and upon this bill Gen. Pierce discover that he is confronted by the Constitution; and he can’t sign it, Now, it appears that, according to the last census, the total number of insane persans in the United States is 15,768, and of the idiotic, 15,706, making a total of a most miserable and helpless class, of 31,474, intended to be benefit- ted by the ten million acre bill. But the Con- stitution of the United States being in the way of our remarkably punctilious President, he can't sign it, he must veto it, and so the poor wretehed lunatics and idiots will go by the board. The railroad land speculators, the active chaps operating upon Congress and the kitchen cabinet, do not number, probdbly, over five inquire into the legality of the commitment be- low.” Chief Justice Taney, on the same occasion, said: “I agree with my brother Nelson; the questions involved in this application, (the li- ability of the fugitive to extradition,) are very grave ones; and I should have felt it my duty tostate the grounds on which my opinion has been formed, had not the whole subject been so fully,and to my mind satisfactorily, discussed by him.” Judge Daniel, on the same case, remarked that “the question involving the lives and liberties, not only of those who from abroad may seek protection under our laws, but the lives and liberties of our own citizens, is un- doubtedly one of the most important which can clam the vigilance of our government in every department. Having deliberately compared my own views of this vital question, with what has been so well expressed by my brother Nei- son, and concurring as Ido in all that he has said upon it, I deem it unnecessary to do more than thus solemnly to attest my adherence to the great principles of law, justice and liberty vindicated by him.” Judge Story, when considering the constitu- tional inhibition to extradition to a distant State of the Union from the State wherein a crime may have been committed, thus feelingly refers to the disastrous consequences of its ¢x- ercise: “A citizen to be dragged suddenly from his family to o trial in a foreign territory, away from his friends, and witnesses, and neighborhood, and to be subjected to the ver dict of mere strangers, who may feel no com mon sympathy, or who may even cherish ani- mosities or prejudices against him, besides sub- jecting him to the most oppressive expenses, or perhaps even to the inability of procuring the proper witnesses to establish his innocence.”’ Notwithstanding such opinions, showing the extraordinary importance of the case lately be- fore Judge Betts, and the admitted fact that the prisoner could be tried by a New York judge and jury for the offence of forgery, it appeared upon the face of the papers read before the Court that at the time Mr. Commissioner Mor- ton delivered his decision to the prisoner’s coua- sel, a warrant of extradition was on its way from Washington—the Commissioner having only on the previous evening forwarded his cer- tificate to the President. The evidence and ax- | thorities cited could hardly have been conkid- | ered within several days. The act of Congress | has made various provisions, under the sapposi- tion that the Executive may suspend the con- cession of a warrant for extradition for a period of two months. The fate of Alexander Heilbronn might well | have stimulated “ the vigilance of our govern- ment in every department” in the case of Van Aernam, and opened the eyes of the judiciary to the abuses existing and likely to be repeated under the treaty of 1842. If the offence charged against Heilbronn was not provided for by the treaty, as English judges upon 9 moment's con- sideration have determined, then have the rights ally ; and it is due to both that Heilbronn be surrendered back to the sovereign power whose rights have been infringed through mistake, or that his pardon be required by our government from Great Britain. Van Aernam was substantially charged with the same offence, which was contended to be clearly excluded by the treaty of 1842. If it shall turn out that the Heilbronn transaction is repeated in his person, we will have revived and re-enacted before the American people something approaching to that high-handed ex- tradition perpetrated on board of the United — States frigate Chesapeake—an outrage which. the blood of the war of 1813 could not wash out or atone for, and the rankling memory of which will live while our Union laste and Eng. | land refuses to abandon the pretended and | odious right of extradition from American ves: | sels upon the ocean. .The extradition from the _ Chesapeake was by force; Heilbronn’s was in JSraudem legis, through misconception ané error of judgment. Van Aernam’s rests upor the qualified decision of a commissioner wh< recognized the solemn importance of the ques > tions, and called the attention of the prope: tribunals for the purpose of rescuing it fron his mere ministerial ‘fiat, and, if advisable, ti be considered by the Supreme Court of th; \ United States, then in session, whose decision! | constitute “the higher law” of the land. This would have been accomplished by th | Circuit Judge reviewing the decision of thi| commissioner; and upon the judge sustainin; that decision a habeas corpus would hav brought the matter before the Supreme Court Justice Nelson, in the case of Kaine, sitting ast CircuitJudge,reviewed and reversed the decisio1| | of Commissioner Bridgham, and discharged thy fugitive, although under warrant for extradi| | tion by the Executive. His Honor Judge Betts | sitting as Circuit Judge, does not fe:1 himseld | authorized to go beltind the decision of Co “missioner Morton, whose well-meant and cau: tious intentions have become neutralized What isthe law upon this all-momentous ques: tion? Are not the decisions in conflict ? oe are not the rights of the citizen cast adrift ? The conviction is becoming every day more general, and decided that Congress must eithe| repeal the law vesting in commissioners th: hybrid judicial power now exercised by “i officers in cases under the treaty, and feave the duty to be performed by the judiciary, or mak: the duties of the commissioners limited tc taking evidence and returning it to the Circui Judge. When this has been done, a plain sta! of facts can at once be agreed upon, and thi whole case, with its legal bearings, be presen’ ed to the court without having devolved upo them the preliminary and almost mere cleric: ‘and ministerial labor. Under the existing management the past are not satisfied. The bench andthe bar ar not satisfied, nor could they be so without be coming regardless of the repulsive incongruity too often presented between the magnitude anc momentousness of the cause and questions a stake, and the competency of the tribunal em powered to pass upon them. Mr. Butler’s Judiciary bill, now before Con gress, will afford an opportunity for correctin; the evils complained of, and ensure what doe not now exist—a knowledge and certainty ast, of the fagitive, the soil and sovereignty of the hundred. But they can be turned to a good We are entering upon a new cycle of the J the propriety of abolishing our present Gre | agcount in sharing the spoils with tie Congress State of New York, and the dignity of the Uni- | me ted States, been violated, though ynintegtion- | what is the law. Misera est servitus ubi oe est vagum aut incognitum. r? Wrisam Vincent WAuLACe, THR Comroser.—We under derstand that Wm. Vincent Wallace, the composer, wh. has for some time past devoted his time to compositiol* that will soon be produce, has, at the solicitation of number of friends and admirers, decided upon giving on) concert, instrumental and vocal, at Niblo’s saloon, pre vious to his return to Europe. Mr. Wallace will be a: sisted on the occasion by his wife, one of the most bri lant and accomplished pianists of the day, and his sister Madame Wallace Bouchelle, whose sweet ballad singin has made her an especial favorite amongst the musice community of this city. The concert, we belfeve, wi take place on Saturday evening next, and it will be brilliant aifair. Pavt Jusmen’s Concert.—The concert which the youth ful violinist has volunteered in aid of the fund of the Ne York Fire Department, will be’given at the Tabernacle Broadway, this evening. - If any inducement beyond th excellence of the artiste were wanted in order to ensur a crowded house, it would be found gt once in the praiac worthy object to which the profits are to be devoted. Execurioxs 1 May.—A slave named Merritt, who wa’ convicted of a fiendish assault and battery upon a whit) woman, was to have been hung on the ist inst. i} Charleston, 8. C, John Hendrickson, who murdered his wife, will na hung on Friday, the Sth inst., in Albany, unless authority of the Executive is interposed in his bel for which strong efforts are now being made. Patrick Doyle, who was convicted of killing a Will be hung in Naperville, 111., on Friday the 12th inst.) _ A slave will be hung in Aberdeen, Miss., on Friday th 19th. He was convicted on a charge of arson. James Parks, for the murder of William Beatson, la: summer, at Cuyahoga Falls, will be executed on the 26¢ inst. at Akron, Ohio. Parks robbed Beatson, cut off hi head, and threw his body over the falls. If may be re marked as a coincidence that the day on which Parks | to be hung will occur the great annular eclipse of th sun. ° Marine Affairs. Tre Catonro Sm Ericsson.—This veasel still remai submerged in the North river. A couple of ders steam tugs and other appliances have been brought t get her once more upon the water, and it is expected sh will be afloat again during the present week. Her pos tion has already been slightly changed by the apparatu The place where she lies is just off the dock used by th Cunard steamers, at Jersey city. THE Sikamsmr City oF Giascow.—In reference to tk unfounded report that the vessel seen lying at Cast Island, Babamas, was the missing City of Glasgow, letter from that place says:— “What business could the of Glasgow hav against wind and against the Gulf Stream, yet in perf order, at Castle Island? She is either a Spaniard wat ing for filibusters, or a Britisher for slavers, as Cast jand is one of the three Pp ‘Tarks Island, Cast| sland, and the Hole in the Wall—used by them in ering the Gulf; Crab Island, the former waiting pla or orders, being pretty well watched. ”? Gosxsmcn or New Yous.—The followi ber of vessels, of each class, arrived ne th their tonnage, for the month of April, 1854 No. Tonnage. 17,409 94,981 22,912 14,891 8A88 156,721 124.489 16,675 6,972 2,071 French, 353, ‘Potal....... Coxorence or Purtapstenta,—The following is a list foreign and coastwise arrivals at the port of Philadelp: for the month of April, 1854:-— FOREIG: is the nu is port, wi Sorws Swedial Danish. Porty Olen! iene. TE.» Mecklenbu: Sicilian.. rs Venezuelan . + iN. « 18 Schooners...... 0.6... - 10 Court Calendar—This Da: ‘Unrrep States Disraicr Court—20 to 24 to 30. Svrenion Court—(Two \—Nos. 574, 891, 106, 146, 676, 684, 1, 939, 11 896, 110, ea a Om A A 1 = he i fs i 3 a8 , 750, 752, 7 553, oh", a i obo, 615, 660, 662 to 670. So, vil (inj on Tuesday a/ernoo, fee ne ate tn